Lewes
According to geography Lewes is right in the middle of ...... The Greenwich Meridan. The line recognised internationally to represent zero degrees longitude, passes through here. And through history Lewes is mentioned more than once. The Lewes Castle is a fine symbol of the Norman Conquest. Later on King Henry VIII had connections with Lewes - owning vast estates and having a house built for his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The house is now a museum.
A long time before LNCC revived the French connection Lewes had their eyes on France. Thomas Paine (1737-1809) lived in the Bull House. Paine was a radical philosopher and author of "Rights af Man" and he was also a member of the National Convention during the French Revolution. If you ever get the chance to see Lewes you'll find a lot of interesting places in the town to visit as well.
Lewes Nomads Cricket Club
They are a wandering club, closely associated with the ancient Lewes Priory C.C., which was founded back in 1830.
They are inveterate Europcan travellers on the cricket scene, their first continental tour being to Nykobing Mors in Denmark back in 1975. In recent years, the club has been to Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Holland. Their French visits have mostly been in the Paris region and the 2001 Tour de France will be their first tour in the Dordogne.
The players are a varied bunch. They come from Australia, from Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, from Aarhus in Denmark and from Holland, as well as from Britain. Youth and maturity blend together. You will often find ski instructors, teachers, insurance salesmen, students as well as shop fitter and landscape gardener in the team. Above all, however, excellence shines from their scores, one of whom has just been involved with the ICC Trophy games in Toronto (2001).
They bring the special qualities of a wandering club that welcomes players from everywhere and look forward to adding to their French friend with new ones from Eymet.
The Lewes Nomads team that is playing in the Eymet tournament this year (2002) comes from a variety of clubs throughout the world - from West Vancouver BC Canada, Kitchner CC Ontario, Lashings CC Kent, Sussex University, Aarhus CC Denmark and, of course, Lewes Priory.
The Nomads badge shows the crest of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the Lewes Lion. De Montfort defeated Henry III in the battle of Lewes in 1264.
Lewes is twinned with Blois, not a great distance from Eymet in the Loire valley. After the 11th Eymet festival last year, Nomads arranged a fixture with Frittenden in Kent and that game will have been played by the time that the 12th festival is here. The Nomads were very impressed with the organisation of the tournament and the friendship shown by all concerned and are delighted to be back for a second time.
In 2003 the history will continue.......