Every month or week, indeed most days of the year are marked as being a time to focus on particular events or themes. Today and tonight must be one of the few anniversaries or days to mark that almost everyone is aware of particularly in Sussex where many people will be preparing to celebrate an event that took place 413 years ago. The hard work and creativity that has gone into the many events that will take place, a major one of which will take place in Lewes on the flip side leads to many pet owners and some residents and workers based in Lewes with many challenges as the town is effectively closed from 4.45pm until nearly midnight. Our three main blue light services will all be working very hard tonight and let us hope that all of the local plans and risk assessments will go well and that no one in Sussex will be hurt and no property will be damaged as a result of the celebrations for an attempt to overturn the Government of the day.

 Along with Bonfire night there are no doubt many other events that are taking place today and this week. One that I am aware of and know is worthy of a mention is ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers Week’ which is a campaign that has been organised by STEM Learning in an attempt to inspire young people to consider a future career in engineering. The week will play a key part in the current Year of Engineering which is an attempt to raise the profile of engineering as a vital element in our society which becomes even more critical as we prepare to depart from the European Union which has been the source of many engineering skills over the last 40 years. There are many places in Sussex where the impact of engineers and engineering can be seen or experienced and indeed the fireworks that will explode this evening rely extensively on engineering techniques. A few days ago I had the privilege to meet with one of the Engineering Tutors at the University of Brighton. Although the University is an organisation I am very familiar with on several levels, having studied in the same Department and also because the engineering company I work for is one of the University suppliers, it was fascinating to hear about the history of the engineering elements of the institution. Long before the University or its predecessor the Polytechnic was formed, the Municipal School of Science and Technology played a vital role in the town of Brighton when it was established at the end of the 19^th Century. This year marks 125 years since the Borough Council made a decision to create the Municipal School out of the seeds laid down a couple of decades earlier when Science theme was added to the Art School which was established in the Royal Pavilion 160 years ago. A year after Science was added to the Art School, the water pump in the Goldstone area of Hove was completed enabling local residents to benefit from the provision of 150,000 gallons of water that could be pumped every hour from the deep well. The pumping station which is now called the Engineerium is one of the very useful icons for engineering in Brighton and Hove along with Volks Railway which opened 135 years ago, designed by Magnus Volk who was born in Western Road, 32 years before his railway was established. It seems amazing that someone could have overseen the construction of such a major feature in their early 30’s. Another place in Sussex that has a strong engineering dimension is the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre in the Arundel area of West Sussex. The University uses Amberley to help educate their students as part of their courses and it is clear that the Museum contains many aspects of engineering in its 35 acres.

 It seems vital that the Sussex based MPs take the opportunity this week and during the rest of the year to ensure that they emphasise the role of engineering when communicating with local Schools. Several MPs have established understanding of the theme. Nusrat Ghani, the MP for Wealden is the Minister responsible for the Year of Engineering, and Nick Gibb who is the MP for Bognor and Littlehampton is Schools Minister so both of them are officially responsible for promoting such matters. However Gillian Keegan, MP for Chichester is also one of the few MPs across the nation who has a background in engineering. It seems vital that the three of them encourage their other 13 Sussex colleagues to help promote engineering throughout the many Schools and Colleges in Sussex before the end of this Year.