THE OLD STONE SEA ANGLING CLUB
THE ORIGIN
Over the past two decades, many thousands of people who have visited Brighton to experience the vibrant nightlife, have ended their evening with a visit to the famous Market Diner, home of the original and still the best "Gutbuster". The Market Diner in Circus Street has long been and still remains the favoured meeting place of many of Brighton and Hove's Taxi Drivers, a place where the drivers congregate in the evenings to enjoy supper, socialise, or just simply relax over a mug of tea or coffee. It was during one such evening back in the late nineties when the topic of conversation moved from the mundane subjects of work, awkward people, traffic, speed cameras, etc, to sea angling. There are not many middled aged men who grew up by the seaside who haven't been fishing at least once in their lives, so from then on the interest in the sport seemed to develop and grow, and a fishing club was spawned.
To start with we organised a few individual events with lots of fishing tackle as prizes. These early matches were well attended with as many as thirty or forty people turning up to fish. The blokes who previously said things like "I used to fish with Grandad when I was a boy but haven't been since" were rekinding the old flames of enthusiasm, then as the fire developed and grew, like a pheonix rising out of the fire The Old Stone Sea Angling Club was born.
THE NAME
You may be thinking "why we are called The Old Stone Sea Angling Club" read on find out and you will also discover some very interesting local history.
We wanted the name of our new Club to reflect it was formed, run, and attended by the people of Brighton, many of whom have origins in the town, which can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century and beyond, back to the days when the population of Brighton consisted of mostly fishermen and farmers.
"Bristelmestune" was mentioned in the Doomsday Book, which was completed in 1086, though it is known a Saxon village existed in the area we now call Brighton long before that time.
By 1086, the village had dived into three manors, having to pay the King a rent of 4000 herrings per year. The medieval town was bounded by East Street, West Street and North Street, where the farmers lived on the upper lands and the fisherman on the lower approximately where the promenade is today.
Among the buildings of the lower lands stood a chantry (small chapel) dedicated to St Bartholomew, these buildings were destroyed by the great storms of 1703 and 1705.
Previously, in 1514, the French attacked, causing damage, so it was decided to fortify the town. By 1549 the fortifications were complete, with a battery of Cannon in place. The cannons which were bought down from The Tower of London served their purpose well, the French never attacked again, though it is not known for certain whether the cannons were ever fired in anger.
While in place, the costs of maintaining these defences were met by the local people with much of the money coming from the local fishermen. The fishermen thought it was unjust they had to bear the brunt of these costs so in 1579 they decided to petition the Privy Council in London.
At the request of the Privy Commissioners, the local people had to draw up a Book of Ancient Customs, in which the finances and organisation of the fishing community were set down. The result of the enquiry was to establish what was known as The Twelve, a body made up of eight fishermen and four landsmen, whose role it was to help the constable keep law and order, as well as keeping the defences maintained and paid for.
So until 1772, when The Twelve were replaced by an elected body of Councillors the majority of local governing was carried out by the local fishermen. In 1882 Brighton became a Borough; the elected body were again replaced by a Mayor, an Alderman and Councillors.
Eventually the defences fell into ruin and were demolished in in the 18th century; some of the cannons can still be seen in Brighton, standing as the gate posts at the entrance to Brighton Railway Station.
The town was officially named Brighton in 1810 though many local people, especially the fishermen, continued to call the town Brighthelmston.
Officially Brighton derives from Beorthelm Tun meaning Beorthelm's Farm, though we also read of a Saxon Warrior named Bishop Brighthelm, who was famous for, in 693AD, leading an army into battle, in whose honour the town was named.
There has been between 40 and 50 different recorded names of the town throughout the years, such names include Brighthempstead, Brighthelmstead and Brighthelmstone.
Most people would agree Brighton's most famous fisherman was Nicholas Tettersell, who in 1651 sailed the escaping Charles II to France on his boat Surprize, for which he was paid £60 a very tidy sum of money in those days. Charles was said to be so grateful to Tettersell that upon his restoration to the throne he made him a Captain in the Royal Navy, renaming his boat The Royal Escape. However, because Tettersell was just a fisherman made good, his new career didn't last long and he was soon dismissed from the Royal Navy. However, with his new found wealth and fame Tettersell went on to become Constable of Brighton. He died in 1674 and was buried at the Church of St Nicholas in Dyke Road, where his gravestone can still be seen today.
The word "Steine" derives from the old Saxon word "Stane" meaning place of stones. It is believed the large boulders which were scattered around the area we now know as The Old Steine were deposited there as a result of the thawing of the last ice age. These stones were useful to the local fisherman, though long since removed, they remain to the people of The Old Stone Sea Angling Club a symbol of Brighton's heritage.
Years ago Pool Valley, which is today a bus station, was a tidal harbour. When returning from the sea, the fishermen would drag their nets up to the Steine and hang them over the stones to dry and repair.
Following Dr Russell's famous publication of 1750, promoting the medicinal virtues of sea water, Brighton, because of it's close proximity to London, became very popular. By 1778 Brighton had developed so much the area around The Steine was becoming surrounded by grand, expensive buildings, Marlborough House being the best example.
By the beginning of the 19th Century, Brighton, as they say, was booming!
The Old Steine, as it is now known, had become very popular with the rich and famous who love to stroll along the foreshore taking in the sea air. In 1882 it was decided to enclose The Steine with an iron fence, even His Majesty the King paid £500 towards the cost.
This greatly upset the local fisherman who protested their right to hang their nets on the old stones. The furious fisherman, in protest, pulled two of their boats up on to The Steine to try to prevent the building of the new iron fence. The fishermen of course lost their protest, and the Steine eventually developed into what we see today. The old stones were gathered up and removed, except for one which was used as the foundation for the fountain, which was erected in 1846, and still stands today.
Back when we founded the Club, during the original debate about what it was to be named, I was all for "The Old Scales Sea Angling Club" because we started off with an old spring scale with a clock face about the size of Big Ben, however Brian Standen, who is a direct descendant of the old fishermen, recounted stories his grandmother had told him as a small boy, about the old stones. Having already said we wanted to associate our Club with the history and the fishermen of old Brighton, The Old Stone Sea Angling Club was the ideal name, the funny thing is, whichever name we had chosen, broken down into an acronym, we would still have become known as the TOSSA's.
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Thanks to Phil Lynch, who was a founder member of The Old Stone Sea Angling Club, who researched and recorded much of the information contained within these pages.
Reference and further reading:
Old Brighton Eileen Hollingsworth
Life in Brighton Clifford Musgrove
Catching Stories The Queens Park Press
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