ELIM CHURCH, 2008

I had a signpainting busines in Newhaven in the 1960s and I painted the Elim Church sign for Monty Mitchell. Monty built the box for the sign and was a church member and built boats from his business in the Quarry. Monty was also a local football star but died tragically and so young, not long after the church opened.

The sign was still there when I visited Newhaven from my home in Canada last week, June 2008. Not a bad sign for over 40 years.

I lived on the corner of Meeching Rise and Saxon Road and remember the Elim Church being built

Do you have any photos of the church when it was being built? and can you remember the year it was finished?

I remember the church being built. My whole family were church members here and I helped post leaflets through all the doors around town announcing the opening ! It was circa 1965 I think. We all moved to Nottingham in 1967 but we all returned to Newhaven in 1970 for a couple of weeks when my sister got married here.

It was November 1964 that the Elim Church opened. There were 2 people in charge Harold Holdstock and Brian Hayes. My Dad ran the church a few years later until he and my mum moved to Sheffield in 1973. Bett - I'm guessing that you were Betty King (- aby). 'Hope you are well! Denis

Hi Denis, yes it is me! All is well with me hope it is with you. Can't believe you live(d) in Sheffield, just up the road from me! Do you ever visit Newhaven? I go to visit regularly and last year Tony (my brother), me and our respective spouses visited for a long weekend to see all the changes first hand. Amazing how the town has changed.

Hi Bett, good to hear from you! If you want to get in touch you can find my email address through my work place at Portsmouth University. It would be great to have a chat. Den

Just came across this site by chance. I remember Harold Holdstock and family in Eastbourne in the 50s. Daughter Shirley was my first girl friend but I had to be a Christian first.... well I did that at the age of 17 and my faith lasted although the girl friend didn't. We both married somebody else! I remember attending a kind of tent mission in a field in Newhaven and being run by Brian Hayes and Harold H. I think that must have been before the church opened. We moved from to West Sussex to start a business in the 60s and joined a C of E for 20 years. I knew it would be ok on my first visit because they sang choruses that I learned at Elim in Eastbourne! I am now going on 74. Might pop over to Newhaven one Sunday if you still open on Sunday evenings. I'm not very good in the mornings....