What's It Like To Live There?

Living in Mid Sussex

Mid Sussex - a region, as the name suggests - in the middle of East and West Sussex. The area includes Horsham, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and the surrounding smaller towns and villages. This part of the south east has much to offer, rolling unspoilt countryside, The Sussex Downs, nearby coastal towns and resorts.

Many major companies have headquarters, regional offices or manufacturing plants in the area Standards of housing, health provision and education are high.

Communications

Communications are excellent. Horsham, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath are all easily accessible by road, rail, sea and air. The A/M23 joins the M25 to allow fast and easy access to London and all major cities. Gatwick Airport is around 20 minutes by road. Heathrow is about 1½ hours by road. Train services to London and the rest of the UK are operated by Connex South Central with direct services as far as Edinburgh. Several bus companies and reputable taxi services operate within the towns and the surrounding area.

Mid Sussex Is Home To Many Beautiful Cottages

Education

In Horsham there are many playgroups and nurseries and some companies offer creche facilities. Some 14 state primary schools feed four secondary schools in the area, together with several independent schools, the most famous being Christ's Hospital. Northbrook College of further and higher education has a campus in Horsham with specialisms in art and design. Additionally, the Pitman Training Centre offers business, computer and secretarial training, while the Forest School operates day, evening and weekend courses in over 400 subjects for Adult Education.

In Haywards Heath there are the usual nurseries and playgroups, primary schools and secondary schools and a large Sixth Form College with an excellent reputation as well as several independent schools including Ardingly College. There are good Adult Education facilities with courses in GCSE, A Level and business subjects, sports and hobbies and varied skills.

In Burgess Hill the nurseries and schools are also highly regarded, for Sixth Form education most pupils go to either Haywards Heath or Brighton. Hurstpierpoint College and Burgess Hill School offer independent education as do many smaller schools. Adult education is also available in the local secondary schools.

Entertainment, Sport & Leisure

Horsham Arts Centre is a buzzing, thriving entertainment centre offering a programme of drama, music, opera, light entertainment, films, exhibitions and much more. There are children's drama workshop and dance classes. Christ's Hospital Arts Centre offers a wide range of performances in a unique setting, including a 500 seat theatre in a courtyard style. Slightly further afield the major local theatre is the Hawth, in Crawley, which produces plays, concerts, ballet, outdoor festivals, pantomimes and film, as well as a fringe venue which regularly plays host to leading contemporary dance and drama companies, jazz, blues, folk and rock bands.

Mid Sussex Has Wonderful Houses To Visit

Fine restaurants in and out of town offer a tremendous variety of cuisine, from country house style at Cisswood House and South Lodge, through excellent pub/restaurants to pizza/pasta houses in town. Nightclubs are few and far between in the Horsham area but there is a good choice of pubs and wine bars, many offering live entertainment.

Over 200 clubs and organisations in the area provide places to meet new friends, follow hobbies, raise funds for charities and learn new skills. From allotment associations to bee keeping, animals to arts and crafts, business to drama, astronomy to computing, there must be something for everyone here.

Horsham boasts some excellent sporting and leisure centres. The District Council's flagship leisure centre is at Broadbridge Heath offering an outdoor athletics stadium, outside courts and pitches and a synthetic playing pitch. Indoors there is an athletics straight, badminton, basketball etc., a fitness suite and sports clinics. Elsewhere in Horsham there are public swimming pools, recreation centres and private clubs offering many different sports and coaching facilities. Of particular note is the sports complex at Christ's Hospital which offers private membership and excellent facilities for tennis and squash, swimming (indoor and outdoor pools) and a first class gymnasium. There are also several country parks in the area, Buchan Country Park with woodland glades and pond fishing, Southwater with its lake for fishing and boating and wildlife and Warnham Nature Reserve which provides valuable natural habitats for wildlife.

Haywards Heath is smaller and has less in the way of ancient buildings and major entertainment centres. The town offers an excellent rail service to London and the rest of the UK, an excellent variety of restaurants, cafes and pubs and good shopping facilities. Clair Hall is a small theatre offering concerts and varied theatrical productions, pantomimes and films. It is also regularly used for local events such as fashion shows and fund raising presentations, model railway exhibitions and other community events.

There are more country estates and houses to visit in the surrounding countryside, as well as the famous Bluebell Railway at Sheffield Park, one of the finest steam engine centres in the country offering train rides and Bluebell "specials" such as candlelit dinners and Christmas trips. There is an excellent sports centre, The Dolphin, offering swimming, squash, badminton, a fitness suite and much more. The town also boasts sports clubs, associations and leisure clubs of every type. Every year there is a town week incorporating a carnival and funfair.

Burgess Hill is another fairly new town, again popular for it's excellent commuter services to London and Brighton, offering more restaurants and pubs, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and a sports and leisure centre, The Triangle.

Clubs and associations abound within the town and its many surrounding villages and The Orion Cinema has the latest releases. Burgess Hill has a Civic Hall incorporating an entertainment venue, The Martletts, which is used for many local events, productions and concerts. Burgess Hill Town Week runs a carnival and funfair with other local events held regularly, run by the council and local groups. There is a new shopping centre, the Market Place, with a daily indoor market and a twice weekly outdoor market, as well as major supermarkets and good general shopping.

Burgess Hill

47 Station Road
Burgess Hill
West Sussex
RH15 9DE

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Haywards Heath

32 The Broadway
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH16 3AL

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