Name lines of Sussex was born in early August 2020. In the month of our fourth birthday, we thought it would be fascinating to take a walk down memory lane.
What did our writers write about in 2020? What were our readers’ top concerns four years ago? So much has happened in the meantime that it’s easy to forget the issues that were at the center of local and national news then. Sometimes it’s healing to look back at what we’re doing in this selection of articles published in our first weeks.
Fortunately, some of the fears that motivated authors to report on important issues at the time have faded into the background.
The storm clouds over the future of the Newhaven ferry appear to have cleared. Bookings have increased and the future of the service is secure for some time.
Plans to upgrade the section of the A27 between Beddingham and Polegate, which would have cut a swath through the Downs landscape, are almost certain to be shelved by the new government, with former MP Norman Baker vehemently opposed.
Other concerns are still very much alive even if events have moved on. The damage caused by the Johnson government’s handling of Covid, for example, or the hollowness of claims about trade deals supposedly replacing our trading relationship with the EU after Brexit.
One positive example from local politics still holds true. The “Rainbow Coalition” formed in 2020 by Lewes District councillors from progressive left parties has held up despite some inevitable setbacks. The model of cooperation across party lines is a ray of hope for those who want less tribal politics in the future.
In the meantime, come with us on a journey into the past…
By Ginny Smith
The ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, a topic that is close to our hearts.
By Petra Kopp
“The lockdown gave me the opportunity to be creative in a way I hadn’t been in a long time.”
By Harriett Willmoth
One of many articles on Covid, but in this case by one of our younger authors about what returning to university after lockdown might look like.
By Norman Baker
The first article Name lines of Sussex on the plans for the A27, a topic that we subsequently returned to several times.
By Viv Griffiths
The first article by Viv Griffiths to mention the Tory government’s “world-beating response” to Covid. Four years later, Viv writes about the Covid inquiry, which paints a very different picture.
By Ginny Smith
Local politics has always been close to our readers’ hearts.
By Rick Dillon
The first article we published about migrants, a topic that still makes many headlines.
By Juliet Lodge
One of our first articles on the Brexit transition period and trade deals. Four years on, Brexit continues to suck the lifeblood out of the country, as we always expected.
Here’s to the next four years and maybe many more!
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