Born at Three Bridges, Crawley, West Sussex in 1920, Mrs Sybil Rouse recalls life there long ago.

One of the large country estates was Milton Mount which stood in Worth Park and was owned by Lady Montefiori. Rumour had it that she had fallen out with her only son Sir Francis, who had his own residence at Farmleigh, at the other end of the estate.

This had its own farm, dairy, laundry and stable block but it is difficult to remember just where the house stood, so many other houses have sprung up almost overnight.

The dairy and stables, now private residences, look a little out of place among the modern houses, supermarket, pub, school, fish and chip shop and bowling alley.

After Lady Montefiori died, Milton Mount became for a time a school for the daughters of the wealthy, the daughter of Haile Sellasie, the Emperor of Ethiopia being a pupil. She became a nurse during the war which was to follow. The Mount became a billet for American troops. Alice can remember parties they gave for the village children in the Montefiori Hall and then this lovely red brick house was pulled down to make way for another hideous block of flats, although the view from the top across the countryside, or what is left of it, is magnificent.

The balustrade, wide stone steps and covered wall are all that remains of the old building, reminders of days of long ago.

At least, no one has suggested yet that the trees, hundreds of years old, be chopped down, although the Great Storm in October of 1987 brought down many of the beeches, limes and chestnuts that lined the drive of West Park. The lake has been drained, refilled and stocked with fish. There are several kinds of geese, ducks and a family of swans.

There was a near miss by a flying bomb during the war, which stopped the clock on the annexe a little before 7 pm on an evening that I remember very well. Very pregnant at the time I was walking home when the bomb passed over and the engine stopped. I managed to get my head inside the Morrison shelter, already occupied by my parents and my two children, Brian and Jayne.

Farmleigh holds many happy memories for me, for it was from the garden there that husband-to-be, Fred, once stole flowers for me. A whiff of spring flowers can still take me back over the years.

The Saxon church of St. Nicholas, built before William the Conqueror landed at Battle, stands in what is left of the once great hunting forest of Worth. One can imagine the wild animals, smugglers and highwaymen that roamed those dark and gloomy woods. What dark and dirty deeds were perhaps committed then, but why such a large church was built in such a lonely place will forever remain a mystery.

Some people believe that it was once used by Royalty and that royal remains are buried there. King Henry V111 is known to have hunted in the forest.

An old house, once a coaching inn, stands next to the lynch gate. I once visited the house with mother whose friend was a cook there, but being very young at the time the history of the place made little impression on me. I wish now that I had taken more interest.

The lane that winds behind the church leads (once one has braved the motorway to Gatwick Airport) to the village from whence came the notorious Copthorne gang of smugglers. Maybe long, long ago, the gang galloped through those dark woods to hide their contraband in the coaching inn or maybe even in the church itself.

Members of the family of Percy Bysst Shelley are buried in the crypt below the church. With the motorway so near, one wonders if the church will stand for another thousand years.

Several members of my family are buried in the churchyard; a brass plaque inside the church bears the name of cousin Gordon, killed in action when his Wellington bomber was shot down over Germany.