This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on November 9th 1995.

His grandfather milled corn at Arundel and he witnessed his former corn store ablaze and it being reduced to ashes, as told in last week's Remember When, now stories of olde Arundel continue this week with more of 74 year old Ron Greenwood's memories.

The fire at the corn store was not his only memory of the Merryweather steam pump pulled by four horses.

'I would have been about four years of age and walking home with my dad from our allotment in Ford Road. We'd left the gasworks opposite the cemetery and were walking along the river bank toward Surrey Wharf.

Vital freight link: A sailing collier being towed up the River Arun by a steam tug with coal for the gasworks, pictured in the early part of this century.

'A man came past on his bicycle and called out 'Hurry home Bill your house is on fire'.

'There was a crowd in Surrey Wharf to push through. My poor mum was frantic. Not only was the house on fire but I was missing.

'I was scooped up by mum, and by the time the brigade arrived dad had put the fire out himself.'

Apparently, the fire had started when Ron's grandfather had been preparing some tar to coat the garden shed.

Heating a bucket of tar from the gasworks on a gas ring positioned on the brick floor of the scullery he had fallen asleep. The tar boiled over and caught fire. In his attempts to put out the fire his arms and face were badly burned.

'When dad got there the fire was all over the floor. He picked up the 40 gallon water butt from outside and flung it through the window. Where he got the strength from he never knew.

'Afterwards, dad, a professional painter and decorator, had to redecorate the whole house as the smoke had gone everywhere. No one dare mention anything about tarring anything to my mother after that.

Arundel Castle's town entrance at the top of High Street pictured earlier this century. Home to the Duke of Norfolk whose own fire-fighting force assisted the town's fire brigade, both services using horse-drawn pumps.

On another occasion Ron's mother took in a couple for bed and breakfast one night.

'My father for some reason was very suspicious of them. Not wanting my mother to lose the 5/- a night charge, he waited around the next morning in the smithy to see if, as they said, they were going to the bank for money.

'They made off down Tarrant Street but soon turned around, shot quickly across the top of Surrey Wharf and made off toward Chichester. Dad called P.C. Woodley, who went off after them, made an arrest and took them to the Police Station.

'Well, what had we caught? They were wanted everywhere, not just for bed and breakfast jobs but big stuff as well. It kept poor old Letty up half the night. (Letitia Hills, who was school deputy head by day and telephone exchange operator by night.) Supt. Savage was in charge at Arundel and his daughter Nancy attended the school and I do so remember Letty saying to her the next morning 'My goodness, your father and I had a long night's work'. He was phoning all over the place. Scotland Yard had quite a dossier on those two.

'Both the man and the woman finished up with seven years hard labour, and that's a term you don't hear today more's the pity.'

What was life like for a miller years ago? You will find a graphic account in next week's episode.

This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on November 9th 1995.