I awaited with interest your article about West Street, Sompting (The Argus, May 18).

I was, however, disappointed at how little information it included, focusing mainly on pubs. But the street doesn't end at The Marquis - it continues eastwards for almost another mile.

There was no mention, for instance, of the small building almost opposite The Smugglers Restaurant which was a Methodist Church hall, then for many years an outpost of The Salvation Army.

Then there is the village hall, one of the most important buildings in West Street. Built more than a century ago, it still serves the local community and is run by a committee of volunteers.

Next door, The Old Village Stores, now the home of Reverend Colin Frampton, was originally a small sweet shop owned by Mr and Mrs Boxall and has been very much enlarged over the years.

As well as sweets, it also sold tea, sugar, biscuits and other essentials.

Further on, The Old Rectory, now a nursing home, was a convent school in my young days. We never saw the pupils - they were probably kept away from the village children, of which I was one.

Still on the north side of West Street, where modern bungalows now stand, was a row of terraced houses and blacksmiths' cottages, opposite the old forge which was still in use when I was at school.

Cokeham House, which once stood on the site now occupied by Cokeham Court, was the home of the Misses Honeywell, always regarded as the "grande dames" of Sompting. I believe their father was at one time vicar of Sompting.

Next door are the two almshouses built by the Penfold family to house the poor of the village. Opposite, at No 7, altered out of all recognition, was Rowlands' sweetshop and tobacconist.

Finally, two small cottages at the bottom of West Street were the homes of the Weller family, carpenters and undertakers.

The undertakers is still there but a devastating fire some years ago destroyed the carpentry side of the business and yet another block of flats stands in its place.

-Mrs Pat Absolan, Sompting