Tilling (Sussex) Tilling Green, in the fictional county of Ledshire, appeared in one of Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver stories, "Poison in the Pen" (1955). Tilling (Sussex) Tilling is a fictional coastal town, based on Rye, East Sussex, in the "Mapp and Lucia" novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940). Tilling takes its name from the River Tillingham which flows through Rye. Benson himself moved to Rye in 1918, where he lived in Lamb House, former home of the novelist Henry James. Benson was mayor of Rye 1934-7 and was elected Speaker of the Cinque Ports in 1936. Tilling first appeared in "Miss Mapp"
Tilling-Stevens World War I because the Army considered their petrol-electric chassis were not suitable for use in France. The low-mounted electrical items were considered vulnerable. Many men were trained to drive during the War on vehicles with conventional gearboxes and developments in gearbox design made their vehicles quieter, more reliable and lighter, resulting in better economy. All this combined to lead to a decline in popularity of the Tilling-Stevens' and other Petrol Electric systems. By the 1930s, TS chassis were being produced with conventional petrol/diesel engines, gearboxes and transmission. Tilling-Stevens split from Thomas Tilling in 1930 and renamed itself T S