I'm sitting in the Lewes home of a man who's been described as “Britain's greatest investigative journalist” but also as “a media-hating zealot”. So how does he introduce himself?

“I would say I’m just Nick Davies from The Guardian. It doesn’t make any sense, all this ‘greatest investigative reporter’ stuff, it’s completely unscientific.”

Our conversation starts with the subject of Nick’s adopted home town. “One of the few good decisions I made in life – with the mother of my children – was moving out of London to come here. Lewes has become a refuge where it’s basically peaceful and the air is clear. It doesn’t matter whether I’m going through a good phase where everybody’s saying ‘well done’ or a bad phase where everybody’s saying I’m the devil's seed, the people I bump into in the streets of Lewes couldn’t care less; they just treat me the same way. So it makes me feel extremely safe.”

In the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion, Nick wrote Flat Earth News, “a book about the media and why we so often push out stories that are full of falsehood, distortion and propaganda.” He then investigated ‘phone hacking’, which led to the closure of the News of the World newspaper and a number of arrests.

“The hacking scandal itself has got several years to run. There’s a lot of people awaiting trial. There’s a lot more people who’ve been arrested and are waiting to discover whether they will be prosecuted. Its ramifications for Rupert Murdoch have yet to work their way through, because there may be an inquiry by the FBI into the parent company. We haven’t finished on the implications for media regulation; there’s a tremendous struggle going on about what should happen. And we haven’t resolved the most important thing, which is about the political power of media proprietors.”

The story so far is told in Nick’s latest book Hack Attack, now due to become a film directed by George Clooney. I tell Nick that I was surprised how much of the hacking investigation involved his work. “There was a small group of people”, he points out. “Me and two or three MPs and a handful of lawyers – and then more journalists become involved. It definitely isn’t a one-man show but it’s quite a small group.”

Was there a point that Nick thought (or realised) he was becoming part of the story? “There was a specific sense in which I and the editor at the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, were worried that we would become the story – which was that the newspapers involved in committing crimes might choose to punish us by exposing our private lives. That in itself would be scary – and if you consider the amount of distortion they would pour into it, it would be really very worrying. As it turned out, they went after one of the MPs – Tom Watson – and two of the lawyers. The News of the World hired a private investigator who specialises in covert surveillance to follow them and secretly video them, hoping to catch them out in some kind of inappropriate sexual behaviour that could be used to punish them, humiliate them and deter them from investigating. But that was fruitless because they didn’t find those three people doing anything. And as far as I know, they didn’t do it to me.”

Does Nick think his work has adversely affected press regulation… and can journalists ever be justified in breaking the law? “Well, we’ve got no regulation at all – so nothing’s changed there! You’re seeing the law being enforced, which is a rather different thing. I’m a hundred percent sure we haven’t reduced the freedom of the press.”

“I think just about everybody recognises that it can, in unusual circumstances, be right to break a moral rule or break the law for some important reason. What went wrong in some of these newspapers was the commercial drive to make profit simply took over. The breaking of rules and the breaking of laws was no longer exceptional, it was routine. And these are crimes which have victims.”

Yet despite his high-profile work in exposing wrongdoing, Nick admits the results aren’t always permanent. “I don’t have any illusions about the power of the press – or the power of a writer”, he says. “You expose the bad thing, the people responsible for it get very angry with you and make all sorts of threats and loud noises... and then they carry on regardless. I think we’ve reduced the level of crime in newspapers to zero for a while – but other than that, I don’t think we’ve achieved very much. That doesn’t surprise me. Words aren’t always as powerful as they were for Tom Paine.”

Tom Paine is the 18th-century democracy campaigner who lived in Lewes for several years, later writing works that supported American Independence and the French Revolution.

“Recently I was watching a documentary about Tom Paine. And it struck me that perhaps no human being in history – with the possible exception of Jesus – has ever had such impact on events, purely by using words.”

What books does Nick like to settle down with? “I read a lot of Henning Mankell, the Swedish detective writer. He’s telling you a good story but he’s also getting you to think about the world.” And journalism? “The best books by journalists or about journalists… I would say Harry Evans, who used to be editor of the Sunday Times. His memoirs, called Good Times, Bad Times, are just wonderful. Stories behind stories. All journalists should read it.”

“I like Tom Wolfe’s early stuff. His early stuff, when he’s just writing non-fiction, is incredibly well researched and vividly written. I think Charles Dickens is interesting, too. He worked as a journalist as well as a novelist. And he’s like Henning Mankell in his novels; Oliver Twist is a furiously angry exposure of child poverty in Victorian Britain. He’s telling a great story and trying to tell you something important about the world.”

Nick Davies is talking this month at an event arranged by Lewes Liberal Democrats. Does this suggest he might be considering a move into politics?

“No, no, no. I say ‘yes’ to local things. I’ve known Norman Baker for 20 years and I like him as a bloke. I think he’s got hidden depths. He’s very clever, politically, as well. So I’m perfectly happy to do it with him but I’m not going to go anywhere near mainstream politics. I’m going to carry on writing.” 

Hack Attack with Nick Davies and Norman Baker MP, Sun 14 Dec 2014, 6pm, St Thomas’s Hall, Cliffe High Street, free but £5 donation requested (redeemable against signed book)

This is an extended version of the article first published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 99 December 2014.

Here’s an unlikely story. One of the country’s best-known economists invests in a controversial new theatre, despite a lack of public support. Seventy five years later, the theatre is going strong and has become a much-loved local institution.

This story starts in 1925, when the Rev Kenneth Rawlings arrived in Lewes as rector of St Michael’s church. He formed the Lewes Players in 1929, later campaigning to establish a permanent theatre for the group. However, his pacifism – as the Second World War began – resulted in many local people turning against him and his ambitions. Despite this, he managed to buy an old chapel in Lancaster Street for £400, thanks to donations including a sizeable contribution from John Maynard Keynes. The building was officially a private club rather than a place of public entertainment, hence the formation of the ‘Lewes Theatre Club’ to run the Lewes Little Theatre in 1939.

This month, the group is celebrating the anniversary of its creation with a show containing highlights from some of the 500 plays and musicals that its members have performed since the days of Rev Rawlings. In addition, club member Paul Myles has written The Genesis of a Theatre, which tells of the theatre club’s history. It’s a 24 page stitch-bound referenced article with images of letters by Keynes and programmes of early productions, available from the theatre club for £2.50.

The Play's The Thing runs from Sat 11 until Sat 18, with tickets available via 01273 474826.

First published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 97 October 2014.

“Someone asked me recently what I did, and for the first time ever I said ‘I'm a writer’. But then I blushed because it seemed so impertinent. I wanted to be a writer from the age of six, so to be able to say it now seems unreal. And a bit of a joke.”

Beth Miller is being unduly modest, I reckon. She’s deputy editor of this very magazine [Viva Lewes], so she’s hardly unfamiliar with writing. But she’s a novelist as well. A novelist whose debut, When we were Sisters, is available from bookshops this month.

The book tells of two teenage friends, Laura and Melissa, and how their relationship changes across two decades. “It's a novel about a slightly dysfunctional friendship and the impact of separation in families. It's got some rude bits and I hope it's a bit funny, too.”

Which of the main characters are you most like? “There's a bit of me in both of them, I think. Originally Melissa was all about me – in fact, she is considerably nicer than I am. Laura is much more spiky and cynical. Initially the book was rejected by publishers because they said Laura wasn't likeable enough. I take that as a massive compliment because I think there's quite a lot of me in Laura.”

Key aspects of the novel’s plot are generated by different perspectives of people who have experienced the same event. Where do Beth’s ideas come from? “Often it comes in the writing: you start writing about what the character would do, you think you're going to make them do something and suddenly it becomes really obvious that they should do something else. I always have ideas in the shower. There's something about just standing there with your head empty, and the water, and not having to do anything for a bit. I'm thinking of getting a waterproof notepad.”

Beth started writing When we were Sisters in 2001 and finished the first draft in 2005. “Since then I've rewritten it so many times that there's considerably more of the original story not in the new book than is actually in the book.” A second novel is already on the way. “This one's completely fictional, there's no autobiography in it. It's about two neighbours whose lives become entwined.”

So what’s it like to be a writer? “Before I was writing regularly, I always felt there was something missing. As far as an anxious mother can feel fulfilled, I am fulfilled in regular writing. It's obviously something I need. And my writing process has improved so much. I just wrote into a void when I started the first book, wondering what would happen. I've now got to the point where it doesn't touch me deeply if someone doesn't like my novel. I'm just interested to know what they didn't like. It's not like someone insulting your baby.”

When we were Sisters by Beth Miller is published by Ebury Press.

First published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 96 September 2014.

I'm Suffolk born and bred but moved to Sussex in 1994 to work for Cliffe Veterinary Group. I was head nurse at the equine clinic for many years before going on to specialise in dentistry. I absolutely love my job.

To assess the dental needs of each horse I use an oral speculum and a head torch for examination. A lot of my routine work is performed with motorised tools. When I first started it was all performed with hand tools, which nurtured shoulders not befitting of a lady!

A horse’s teeth erupt throughout its life. In the wild a horse will browse and graze for many hours, wearing their teeth down at a steady rate. Due to domestication and many other factors they now need help from a dental technician to prevent their teeth from getting sharp. Whether they’re a highly-tuned athlete or simply a pleasure horse they deserve to be comfortable in all the work they do.

I’ve been around horses since my childhood. Working with animals can be incredibly rewarding; if you are kind and caring they will rarely do you harm. Much of my work is based on mutual trust.

The worst moment at work was when a horse collapsed and unfortunately shattered my left leg. I’ve since had reconstructive surgery using a donor knee. It’s an amazing gift that’s left me incredibly grateful to whoever signed the donor register.

We cover an extensive area across Sussex. Most treatments can be performed on the yard, including sedation and analgesia if they’re required. Any horses that need advanced treatments such as tooth restoration, extraction or further diagnostics can be cared for at our clinic in Laughton.

I passed the British Equine Veterinary Association exam in 2007 and am now a fully qualified member of the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians.

Sugar lumps cause the same problems for horses as they do for humans. A mint would be preferable, ideally sugar-free!

cliffeequine.co.uk

First published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 96 September 2014.

Oil on canvas, 132cm x 152cm, £5,500

What inspired this particular painting? It’s based on images of Bondi Beach in Australia. I found some pictures on the internet a few years ago and later spent time there taking more photographs. An important part of the process is editing and manipulating the source image on a computer before I start ‘making a painting’.

Where did you complete the work? It’s all done in my studio, which is in the garden by my house at Hamsey.

What’s so special about the seaside? This is landscape at its most basic. Basically it’s a chunk of sand or shingle, a stripe of water and a lot of sky. And it’s repopulated from scratch on a daily basis. If you want to think about bodies in space, it’s the most perfect thing to observe.

How do you achieve the impression of detail? Playing with how the image dissolves into abstraction is a central part of what I’m doing. It’s about a bunch of processes that interconnect to produce that kind of seductive illusion.

How long have you been a professional artist? Since I graduated from art school in the late 1970s. I’ve had to do various other things as well in order to survive – for the most part, that involved being a lecturer at colleges and universities – but these days I do very little teaching.

What’s your next project? At the moment I’m working on a bunch of paintings about some snow-dusted fire-ravaged ponderosa pine forested hillsides in northern Arizona that I visited earlier this year. There was an extraordinary starkness; a sort-of pine tree version of the beach paintings.

How does inspiration strike you… and how do you respond? I make research trips every couple of years. But really, paintings develop from other paintings. When I’m searching through America or Australia, I’m actually looking through the filter of my own art. Inspiration comes from going into the studio early every day and painting until something happens.

What piece of someone else’s art would you take to your desert island? A self-portrait in sepia ink by my father. He, like so many other people in my family, was an artist. It’s hanging in our kitchen at the moment.

Mark Bridge

Nick’s work can be seen at St Anne’s Galleries as part of this year’s Artwave show. stannesgalleries.com

First published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 95 August 2014.

A 'slam-up knees-up' for all ages

I ask Beth Chequers to describe Tongue & Groove, the Lewes-based band she sings with. Her answer is packed with the enthusiasm of a fan. “A crazy, fun, function party band who are up for anything”, she says. “Great musicians with a really good front man.” And the type of music? “We have disco, funk, soul, a little bit of chart and a little bit of ‘dad rock’ in there. If you want to have a good slam-up knees-up party, everyone's going to sing along – whether they're 11 or 104.”

Anyone who’s seen Tongue & Groove is likely to echo Beth’s passion. Led by Phil ‘The Fox’ Rhodes, the band is renowned for more than just its music. “We dress up the stage as well as ourselves”, explains Beth. “Phil likes to vomit rainbow everywhere, wherever he goes.”

The band had already been together for a few years when Beth joined. She’d known Phil as one of the lecturers from her course at Sussex Downs College in Lewes – “a crazy guy with a ginger afro who made incredible stuff” – when one of her other tutors told her Phil’s band needed a backing singer.

“It was New Year's Eve four years ago when I was 18. I went there with no rehearsal and felt really out of place but everyone was so warm and welcoming. After the gig Phil said ‘Right, you're in the band, I'll email you when the next gig is’ and paid me. It was lovely.”

Having completed her college course at Lewes, Beth’s currently studying for a degree at Brighton Institute of Modern Music. She also teaches performing arts at two schools, runs a choir, is in another band called Retro Ladies and is a professional session singer as well. “All of that has helped pay for Uni, which is pretty good. Every single job I do is fun – most of the time. I think I'm very lucky and very blessed to have that.”

Teaching is particularly close to her heart. “I love the confidence that children can get from singing. I have a child in my class who didn’t ever speak outside home and now speaks in my class. I got her to sing before she would talk. Singing's a magical thing.”

The next opportunity to hear Tongue & Groove in action is at the annual Midsummer Pool Party at Pells Pool this month. “It's crazy”, promises Beth. “Fire, light, explosions. Every year Phil is like ‘What else can I do?’ I'm convinced one year he'll somehow make himself fly, just for Pells Pool. He will achieve it. He's a health and safety nightmare."

What about Beth’s longer-term plans? “Whatever I do, it will be in music forever – and I definitely want to utilise teaching because I love doing it. I want to be my own boss and make my own rules. If I want to walk away from it I can… and if I want to stick to it and make it something magical, I will.”

Midsummer Pool Party, Pells Pool, Sat 21. Music from 5pm, main event from 7.30pm. Tickets £6/£3, £15 family of four, from Pells kiosk or Union Music.

First published in Viva Lewes magazine issue 93 June 2014.

The temporary greenhouse studio of mixed media artist and mosaicist Maia Eden. Photographed for Viva Lewes magazine, issue 92, May 2014.