The Four Men

Belloc’s book, which he subtitiles a farrago (a confused mixture) describes a journey across Sussex from Robertsbridge to Harting at Halloween in 1902.  Belloc, as the character ‘Myself’, is joined along the way by an older gentleman, who he calls Grizzlebeard, a sailor and a young Poet, all 4 representing aspects of Belloc's character. Together they frequently stop at Inns to drink ale and eat cheese, praise the sussex countryside, laugh, quarrel, tell stories and sing Sussex songs.  They also express their fears that Sussex is changing and take a wide detour to avoid "towns of the London sort".

The photographs record the inns they visit, the rivers and scenery they admire particularly in what they describe as the "better part of the county", the Downs around the Arun and west to Harting plus some of the Sussex tales they tell.  These include the builder of a 25' pyramid in a Sussex churchyard, why is there only one cheese in Sussex and how Battle got it's name (according to Belloc nothing to do with the Normans!).

The photographs were exhibited alongside a dramatic reading of the book at the Sullington Tithe Barn in October 2023. 

You can view the photographs as a flip book below. Use the crossed arrows symbol in the black menu bar, which appears when you hover on the image below, to see the book full screen and then press Esc to return to this screen.