Defending our Protected Landscapes
To our Members of Parliament: The Friends of the South Downs stand behind the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) and share their deep concern about the fate of our National Parks and Protected Landscapes in England. Today we share our concerns with you. It is our hope that we can work together to ensure we
Collecting Redundant Tree Guards
We applaud our District Officer, James Brown, who was out collecting redundant tree guards around the King Edward VII Estate in Easebourne last month. In ten hours, he collected over 500 tree guards. They’ve been stacked and await removal for recycling. Now the work begins. We all know that tree planting forms a key part
The Lupin Field
Against the distant background of the South Downs, a small church stands alone among fields and woodland. It is a modest building from the late 11th or early 12th century with extensive 19th-century alterations including the addition of a porch. This is St Peter’s Church in the West Sussex village of Terwick and here you’ll
Tree Guard Cleanup Day
On Saturday 21 May 2022, our Trustee Chris Steibelt was out in Singleton Forest with volunteers and Forestry England representatives for our first tree guard cleanup day, collecting redundant tree guards to be sent off for recycling. Tree planting forms a key part of our goal to reach net zero carbon emissions in the next
Clever Local Herds
Out on a walk with my dog Ruby recently around the Mardens, at the west end of the South Downs, we stumbled across a shoot. Whilst their target was pheasant, the sound of gunshot ringing around the densely wooded hillside clearly had an unnerving effect on the other inhabitants of this otherwise tranquil area. As
Easebourne/Langham Circular Walk
This Easebourne/Langham circular walk is an easy walk starting either in Easebourne or at Langham Brewery and takes you through open fields with views of the South Downs and patches of woodland with a small amount of road walking on the end by the brewery. You can start the Easebourne/Langham circular walk by parking at
We Need Volunteers
Our campaign to create more awareness on plastic tree guards takes a hands-on approach in March 2022. In partnership with Forestry England we are organising a clean-up of old tree guards which are littering an area of Singleton Forest. Read the press release regarding plastic tree guards here. We need volunteers. Best estimates are that
Ban Plastic Tree Guards
National Park campaigners call for a ban on plastic tree guards as Government considers banning other types of single-use plastic Campaign for National Parks, Friends of the Dales, Friends of the South Downs and nine other National Park Societies have joined forces to call for a ban on plastic tree guards. Chris Steibelt, Trustee of Friends of the South Downs, is
The Environment Act
Over the last few months, I have been busy with the government’s Environment Bill in the House of Lords. It was undoubtedly a landmark Bill, with ambitions across many aspects of our environment. However, opportunities like this do not come along very often so the Lords, across the parties, worked very hard to improve it
New Heritage Website
Within weeks of our ‘South Downs Schools Living History Project’ starting in January 2020, we were hit by Covid and the first lockdown. Given that the focus of this project was for primary age children to interview the older people in their communities, this could have been a fatal blow, but through ingenuity and modern
News Updates
General news from the Friends of the South Downs
