I found myself visiting two barn conversions in Crawley last week. I had been to both before, but I don’t think I ever visited both in the same week.

The first was the Ifield Barn Theatre to see Alladin. Its a great little theatre. Only 80 seats, and a tiny stage, but the auditorium is raked and they are all proper soft tip-up seats. The facilities are superb for such a small theatre.

Its a quirky place (just like its web site) but has a certain visual appeal (unlike its web site – sorry chaps).

I was there with a school party from Manor Green college which had block-booked every seat in the house, but I didn’t take my camera what with it being dark and everything, and that corner of Ifield really is dark! You really are on the edge of town there and it does feel more like a village than anything else.

On Saturday I was over in Bewbush at the Barn Church, which is actually part of the Ifield Parish I believe, for the annual World AIDS Day memorial service – held a week late this year for some reason.

I’m sure I wrote about this last year. Its a brilliant service, kept short and sweet which is the only way I can handle church services, and with a decent buffet laid on afterwards.

Since last year Jayne has got a job with Mid-Sussex Body Positive who organise the service and got roped in to do the food. I was able to take these photos an hour before the service, after dropping off all the plates of goodies.

Its a fascinating building, as conversions so often are. It was a very simple barn – just a plain rectangular footprint – with those great old timber beams. The conversion has also kept it simple. There is a main church room at one end and a small community room at the other end. In the middle is a small entry hall.

The architects did a good job by keeping it simple, and achieved a very light and airy space by glazing the apex at either end and putting a large set of floor-to-ceiling windows on either side wall.

The furnishing of the church is in a similar plain but tasteful vein with an emphasis on blonde wood and wrought iron. Its like the Church of IKEA.

Apart from the building itself, the setting is remarkable. There is a large old house opposite, one of the original buildings from before Crawley started sprawling – now owned by the council – but otherwise its all standard modern Wimpey/Barratt/Persimmon-type houses.

The remarkable thing about it is how quiet it is. At midday on a Saturday there was just one small child on a bike. The place is well worth a visit – how about World AIDS day next year?

One last picture. I took this snap of a bench outside the church because I just liked the look of it, with the gaily-painted plant pots all weathered and worn. It was only when I loaded it onto the computer that I noticed the detail in the background in the left of the frame, but really it was not intentional. I am not that obsessed with the things. Well only a little.