Tag: conservation

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Award Winning Performances at The University of Brighton

An interview with Haari Aswat, who won the Robert Thurston Hopkins Award for 2024.

Two years ago, trustees decided to create links with Brighton University to foster interest in the Downs from high achieving young people who could make a difference during their future careers. As part of this initiative, on 1 August two important prizes were awarded, that we are sponsoring, as part of Brighton University’s main graduation ceremony.The Robert Thurston-Hopkins award, named in honour of our founder, is for the highest-achieving BSc/BA final exam result in the Department of Geography, Earth and Environment.  It was won in 2024 by Haari Aswat.Also awarded was the Richard Reed award, in memory of the thrice Chair and recently departed stalwart of the FSD.  This is for the most improved BSc/BA student in 1st/2nd year in the GEE Department.  This was won by Dom Jarvis.

Haari Aswat on his graduation with trustees.

Our trustee Janet Goody was present at the ceremony, accompanied by both Joanna Thurston Hopkins (granddaughter of RTH) and Julia Reed (Richard Reed’s daughter).

Janet and I caught up later with Haari Aswat, whose BSc was in Environmental Sciences, and he told us about himself. 

Interview with Haari

Q: Where did you grow up?

Haari: In Coleorton, a village in northwest Leicestershire near Loughborough.

Q: Why did you decide to study Environmental Sciences?

Haari: The natural landscape was always important to me – my home was near two amazing places, Coleorton Wood (part of the National Forest) and Charnwood Forest Geopark.  Plus, Coleorton sits in a former coal mining district, and so I became interested in the environmental challenges of all sorts of mining. 

Q: Why pick Brighton University?

Haari: Firstly,I’ve always had a hankering to live near the sea. My Dad comes from Yorkshire, but my Mum is from Devon, and I have very happy memories of family holidays near the Devon coast.  Also, it’s a great city for young people.  And finally, the Geography, Earth and Environmental department at Brighton is, rightly, very highly regarded.

Q: What exposure did you have to the South Downs whilst in Brighton?

Haari: First year has a lot of field trips, and the memory of one visit to the Seven Sisters will stay with me for a long time. My roommate and I also enjoyed doing all-day hikes on the South Downs.

Q: What’s your view on how we should protect such landscapes?

Haari: Well, it’s important we do protect them. And the best way to encourage everyone to value their importance is to experience them directly.  So, anything that can be done to enable people to do that is vital to winning the case.  I’m really into rock climbing, and that has really strengthened my commitment to beautiful natural landscapes.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

Haari: I’m off to St Andrews University in a few weeks to study for an MSc in Geochemistry.  Beyond that, I’m clear we will need increasing amounts of minerals like cobalt, lithium and copper to move to a low carbon world, but the challenge is to do this in a green way.  It would be marvellous to have a career involved in helping to solve that puzzle. 

Paul Wilkinson

Vice Chairman

Haari Aswat

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Special Sanctuary for Nature

Noar Hill

The gentler landscapes of the National Park in Hampshire have their own special beauty. The open western Downs are some of the most tranquil areas in the Park. From the scarp slope north of Petersfield and the internationally important ‘hanger’ woodlands, to the chalk rivers of the Itchen and Meon and the Yew forest of Kingley Vale, the western end of the Park contains a variety of landscapes and important wildlife habitats. Amongst the latter are areas of chalk grassland, including Noar Hill, a special sanctuary for nature, a 63-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of the East Hampshire Hangers Special Area of Conservation, near Selborne.

Noar Hill photo courtesy of Ian Cameron-Reid

A 20-hectare section of Noar Hill is managed by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT) which, with the support of thousands of members, supporters and volunteers, has protected and cared for wild spaces and places in Hampshire for more than 60 years. The Trust manages more than 65 nature reserves across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, while also working with partner organisations and landowners to protect and connect wildlife sites across the two counties and inspire local communities and young people to care for wildlife and take action for nature’s recovery.

Noar Hill is one of the Trust’s most important and well-known sites, being one of its ‘Chalk Gem’ nature reserves. The Nature Reserve is nationally renowned for a wonderful array of chalk downland flowers, such as Juniper and Pyramidal Orchid. Every spring and summer, the vibrant flowers and butterflies which nectar on them create a magnificent canvas of colour against the backdrop of surrounding crop fields. Once the site of medieval chalk workings, a walk through this landscape always offers a fascinating experience with its ridges, banks and hollows creating niches for a wide variety of wildlife.

Our Support of this Special Sanctuary for Nature

Friends of the South Downs Council has agreed a donation of up to £20,000 during this year to support the Trust’s vital work at this popular and special sanctuary for nature. This donation will help fund a range of works with benefits to wildlife.  These include surveys that will enable the Trust’s team to record and monitor the rarer species at the site, helping to guide practical habitat management to ensure these species are protected. A programme of scrape creation will prevent scrub from dominating open areas, provide conditions for early, pioneer plant species, and create micro-climates offering warmth, protection and the right conditions for butterflies, an array of orchids and other chalk flora.  Some species require scrub (e.g. Brown Hairstreak, Duke of Burgundy, and rare hybrid roses), so scrapes will be sited away from the most sensitive areas.

The provision of ‘no fence’ cattle collars will optimise conservation grazing efforts for the benefit of wildlife, whilst new and updated signage and interpretation will help to deepen awareness, connection, understanding of, and support for, Noar Hill its wildlife, the HIWWT and the Friends.

These works will directly further the first purpose of National Parks: to increase the enjoyment of the landscape and help preserve the South Downs for future generations.  The project also represents our first truly environmental project and one of our first in Hampshire. We are therefore delighted and excited to be working in partnership with the HIWWT on this important and ground-breaking project.

For further information on Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, visit hiwwt.org.uk

Martin Small

Trustee

Fragrant orchid and Common twayblade photo courtesy of Mike Read
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Responsible Dog Walking

The South Downs National Park encourages responsible dog walking to help farmers and wildlife. Take the lead and keep those paws on the path! That’s the call to action to dogwalkers from the South Downs National Park Authority as ground-nesting bird and lambing season starts this March.

With dog ownership at an all-time high post-pandemic, the National Park is re-energising its “Take The Lead” campaign, which encourages responsible dog walking with simple actions, such as keeping canines on leads around livestock and bagging and binning dog poo. Since the National Park Authority came into being in 2011, the number of dogs in the UK has significantly increased – from around 8m in 2011 to around 13m today – meaning it’s more important than ever to follow some simple guidelines when walking your dog in the countryside.

Responsible Dog Walking

The four messages for Take The Lead are:

  • Keep dogs on a lead near livestock
  • Bag and bin your poo, any public bin will do
  • Stick to the path. Protect ground-nesting birds by sticking to the paths, especially between 1 March and 15 September during the breeding season.
  • Do not enter military training areas when the red flags are flying

To mark the campaign, the National Park is inviting dogwalkers to enjoy the stunning views and snap a picture of their pooch on the lead and sticking to the path in the South Downs. The competition starts on 15 March and runs through the Easter Holidays and Discover National Parks Fortnight, finishing on 14 April. The prize for the best image will be an amazing dog hamper full of tasty treats for your four-legged friend and a “poop scoop” Dicky Bag – an award-winning neoprene bag that’s lightweight, airtight, washable and leak proof to store your dog poo bags until you find a suitable bin.

To enter simply post a picture with #PawsOnThePath and #TaketheLead on Instagram or facebook. Dr Marc Abraham OBE, or ‘Marc the Vet’ as he’s usually known, a multi-award-winning veterinary surgeon, author, broadcaster, and animal welfare campaigner, will be judging the entries.

Unfortunately there have been several reported incidents of sheep worrying in the South Downs over the past couple of years and statistics from the National Sheep Association show that 70% of UK sheep farmers have experienced a sheep worrying attack in the past 12 months. It’s not only young lambs that are are risk from being chased by dogs, pregnant ewes can abort their unborn lambs if scared by dogs. For any farmer it’s devastating emotionally and financially to discover any of their flock has been injured, or worse, killed, in a dog attack.

Sticking to the paths is particularly important at this time of year as many birds, such as nightjar and curlew, lay their eggs directly on the ground and can easily be disturbed by a curious canine. Mothers will often abandon a nest and her eggs if disturbed.

Photo courtesy of Jamie Fielding

Andy Gattiker, who leads on access for the National Park Authority, said: “Our focus at the National Park is on education and engagement when it comes to dogwalking.

“Responsible dog walking is a great way for people to get out, get fit and experience the National Park. However, we also understand that having dogs off leads can potentially have a devastating impact on farmers, as well as fragile wildlife-rich habitats.

“The aim of our ‘Take The Lead’ campaign is to help everyone, including dog walkers, to have an enjoyable and safe experience in the National Park.”

One of the “myths” that often arises at the National Park’s engagement events is that dog poo enriches the soil and helps plants and animals.

Andy said: “Many of the habitats in the National Park, such as chalk grassland and heathland, have actually developed over thousands of years because of soil that is low in nutrients. This gives the amazing array of specialist species that we see today. Introducing dog poo can change this soil profile and interrupt these fragile ecosystems. It’s also very unsightly when you’re trying to enjoy this beautiful landscape and carries the risk of serious bacterial infection to humans.”

Sussex-based vet, animal welfare campaigner, and South Downs enthusiast Dr Marc Abraham OBE said: “Once again it’s a huge honour to judge the South Downs National Park’s #TakeTheLead and #PawsOnThePath photo competition. Dog ownership is at an all-time high post-Covid, so it’s never been more important to make sure our four-legged friends are kept under control at all times, which means sticking to the paths during ground-nesting bird and lambing season, as well as picking up their poop and disposing of it safely and responsibly, plus highlighting a new online ‘toolkit’ for communities looking to set up their own dog ambassador schemes.”

Dr Marc Abraham OBE

If you’re looking to raise awareness in your local area about responsible dog ownership you may want to think about setting up a dog ambassador scheme. Having regular dog walkers in your area talking to other dog walkers can be a great way of helping educate people about how they can ensure they have a fun and safe visit to the countryside with their pooch. The National Park has created an online toolkit, full of useful information on setting up a dog ambassador scheme, and it can be seen here www.southdowns.gov.uk/take-the-lead/dog-ambassadors-set-up-your-own-scheme.

For more information on Take The Lead visit www.southdowns.gov.uk/take-the-lead/

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Your Opinion Matters

Friends of the South Downs was established 100 years ago by ordinary people taking action to protect our precious Downland landscape. Over the past 100 years, our charity’s growth and the achievement of National Park status has been down to the continued involvement of people who care. Now, as we make plans for the next 100 years, we are keen to discover your views on our charity and the issues that you feel most deserve our attention going forward. Your opinion matters to us.  We value your contribution to our future planning and look forward to sharing the results with you in future.

The Friends of the South Downs is owned and run by its members and there are many ways in which you can help. We have many volunteering opportunities for people of all ages, abilities, skills and fitness levels. If you are able to give up some of your time to help us, you’ll meet many interesting and sociable people who really care and work hard to help protect the landscape and heritage of the South Downs.

We are almost totally reliant on our volunteers in helping us achieve our aims and objectives so anyone offering to become a volunteer is always made very welcome.

Here is an example of some of the typical activities you can help us with:

Walks & Strolls Leaders

If you have local knowledge of the South Downs and are good at organising events you can help research our annual programme and lead one or a few of our over 200 walks and strolls.

Trustees / Council Members

If you want to be part of setting the strategic direction of the Society and making sure that its aims are achieved then you would be welcome as a Council member. Your opinion matters. Council meets four times a year but in addition, most members are active in other areas of the Society’s work.

District Officers

Help us keep an eye on and comment on planning applications in your own locality.

Get in touch today!

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The Pump Barn

Seven Sisters Country Park was transferred from East Sussex County Council to the stewardship of the SDNPA in 2020 and remains in public ownership. Since then, several improvements have been made including a visitors centre at Exceat, a food outlet, offices and toilets. But the authority, due to financial constraints, was unable to fund the refurbishment of the largest structure on the site of the visitors centre, the Pump Barn, a magnificent 18th century building.

Seven Sister Pump Barn
Photo by Ian Lancaster

Friends of the South Downs Trustees agreed at the end of 2022 to provide £60,000 to refurbish the Pump Barn. The centre has up to 750,000 visitors each year who visit the Seven Sisters Country Park and walk the South Downs Way. The Pump Barn is structurally sound, has facilities for local businesses, meetings, presentations and other activities. These are the facilities that we are funding, and will include a section dedicated to the Friends of the South Downs.

Trevor Beattie, Chief Executive of the South Downs National Park Authority, said: “Seven Sisters Country Park offers some of the most stunning views in the world but it could be so much more.

“We would like to make it a national centre for biodiversity, conservation and climate change, telling the story of this extraordinary landscape to a wide audience and using it to test out new approaches to the national challenge of climate change.”

Friends of the South Downs dedicated the newly refurbished Pump Barn on Monday 25 September 2023 with Alistair Appleton, who held an inspirational talk at the facility.

Generous legacies have enabled the Society over the years to provide financial support to projects it feels worthwhile. To the National Trust for Harting Downs and Devils Dyke, as well as to helping provide a bunkhouse at Gumber Farm, Slindon. Supporting East Sussex County Council towards converting the barn at Foxhole Farm to a Bunkhouse and improving the car park at High and Over, with Disabled access to the nearest viewing point. Small donations have also been made to projects such as the Jack and Jill Mills at Clayton, St Mary’s Church, Stoughton, the Sussex Rights of Way Group and others.

If you would like to consider remembering us in your Will, please see our Legacy Giving page.

Pump Barn photos by Graham Stockley
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The Belloc Way

The Belloc Way is taking shape. The project is not yet finished, but there is an end in sight. We have now walked its full length for the first time. It was just under 100 miles and we did so over six days, averaging about 16.5 miles a day and walking Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday of the first two weeks of August.

the belloc way photo by jeremy bacon
Photo by Jeremy Bacon

The core group was four. We were three men and one woman and on different days, we were joined by various other members.

The challenge all along was to devise a walk that was true to the spirit of Belloc, but which at the same time, would be attractive to walkers. I have therefore tried to avoid roads wherever reasonably possible; not always easy given that the original walk was almost exclusively on public roads.

The Belloc Way Week 1

The night before we started, we stayed at The George. It has new owners. Some of the Belloc memorabilia had been destroyed in the move and they knew little about Belloc himself. The first day took us to Blackboys by way of Brightling, Mad Jack Fuller and his follies. It goes through the High Weald and enjoys some lovely countryside and great views.  It was probably the part of the route I knew least. Perhaps because of that it was one of my favourite days.

High Weald phto the belloc way
The High Weald photo by Laura Libricz

Day 2 took us from Blackboys, through Uckfield by way of a surprisingly pleasant through path. Then it was over Piltdown Golf Club, where there is no shortage of signage, but it did not all seem to be entirely accurate! After that it was on to Fletching, which has to be one of the most unspoilt villages in Sussex. Sadly, at that point it started raining and didn’t relent for the rest of the day. Heaven Farm was far from that and by the time we reached Ardingly, we were all soaked to the bone.

ouse valley viaduct the belloc way
Ouse Valley Viaduct photo by Laura Libricz

The rain stopped overnight and it was sunny as we walked out of Ardingly down the hill to the reservoir with the Ouse Valley Viaduct in the background. In fact, as we neared the Viaduct it was apparent that much of it is currently swathed in scaffolding while repointing work is carried out. Then on to Staplefield, under the M23, Slaugham and Warninglid, before reaching the Crabtree and on to the old Railway Station at West Grinstead.

Week 2

Resuming walking on Tuesday the following week, took us to the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Consolation and St Francis in West Grinstead where Belloc is buried and then on to Kings Land in Shipley where he lived most of his life. His descendants do still live there but clearly care little for living in an historic building as I had the front gate closed in my face as I tried to take a photo of it. That was fast forgotten though as we walked on through the Knepp Estate of rewilding fame, before crossing the A24 and on to The Fountain in Ashurst and then to Steyning.

First thing the next morning, it was Steyning to Washington, home to what was in Belloc’s day the Washington Inn and ‘the very best beer I know’. It is now the Frankland Arms and whilst it is a perfectly serviceable pub, you would be very hard pressed to describe its beer as the ‘best’. From Washington the route took us to Sullington where the priest came out of the church as we sat having a mid-morning break to offer us communion, a first, at least for me. Then it was on to Storrington, Parham Park and The Bridge at Amberley, another pub Belloc was fond of. The afternoon saw us push on to Bury, West Burton and finally to Sutton where there is a pub I am very fond of, The White Horse.

The final day, we walked out of Sutton on a lovely morning heading towards the Downs over a freshly harvested field. It was beautiful and would have been little changed over the centuries for all Belloc’s misgivings. The next stop was Duncton and The Cricketers (you should have noticed a theme by now); then Graffham, Heyshott and Cocking. Up on to Cocking Down and along the South Downs Way for a few miles before reaching the Devil’s Jumps and then down to Elsted and The Three Horseshoes, where the Four Men broke bread and pledged each other for the last time. From there, just like the Four Men: ‘ … and then again we took the road, and went forward as we had gone forward before, until we came to Harting.’      

It has to be said there was a sense of satisfaction when we finished, tempered by a realisation that there is still work to be done. I am proposing to do a commentary as an aide to anyone planning to do the walk. It would include maps, directions and some basic information about places of interest along the route. This is almost finished.

David Green, Trustee

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Be a Friend

Celebrating our Centenary this year, we have some exciting events planned as well as funding some projects that will make a real difference on the Downs. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our members for their continued support and invite all our new friends to join us today. Be a Friend of the South Downs.

Be a Friend of the South Downs

As a member, you have access to over 200 walks and strolls a year. Your membership helps support our team of District Officers who monitor planning applications throughout the South Downs National Park. Your membership also helps support our extensive educational programmes with schools.

The Friends of the South Downs has agreed a major programme of spending totalling over £100,000 in our Centenary year, to benefit the Downs in the short term and the long term. The Friends can spend this money because they are fortunate to have recently received two substantial legacies. You can help us make these legacies go even farther by supporting us. Be a friend.

Bigger Items of Spending in the Plan

  • £60,000 to the National Park Authority for the refurbishment of the iconic 18th century pump barn building at the Seven Sisters country park, which will be used to showcase the Downs for visitors and provide space for activities.
  • £20,000 for projects to encourage children to learn about and appreciate the South Downs.  We’re running the projects with bodies like the National Park Authority and Youth Hostels Association.  We’re aiming at children for groups who are less likely to visit the Downs.  The plan is to teach them about the landscape and history, and most of all encourage them to appreciate and value the Downs.

Be a Friend and Support our Projects

  • providing attractive wooden benches, converting stiles to gates to improve access and placing information boards at significant locations.
  • helping make a path more accessible for people with limited mobility, planned location Devils Dyke. 
  • Contributing to the cost of staging a play based on Hilaire Belloc’s famous book The Four Men about a walk across the Downs.
  • Financing prizes at Brighton University for academic work relevant to the South Downs.

Upcoming Centenary Events

  • 7 August – Pulborough Stroll of 8 miles including complimentary lunch at the Society Offices
  • 10 August – An exclusive stroll around Lord Egremont’s private woods at Flexham Park
  • 18 August – a Sunset stroll to the Devils Jumps
  • 16 September – Amberley Guided Village Tour and Afternoon Tea.
  • 25 September – A Talk by Alastair Appleton (from BBC Escape to the Country) exploring wellness and mental wellbeing amidst the beauty and tranquillity of the South Downs.

Be a friend and join today!

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Our Youngest Downlanders

“It is rather wonderful that some of our youngest downlanders have been able to celebrate the Centenary of the Friends of the South Downs, by marking out ‘100’ on the greensward of the Downs. Bury School, nestling, as it does in the heart of the South Downs, has worked with FSD on two of our schools’ projects and are now taking part in our latest educational project called South Downs for All. Only last month, I accompanied some of the Year 5 and Year 6 children on an eight-mile walk over the downs from Slindon to Bury. A great school with a real commitment to sharing the joy of the South Downs with all their pupils.” Chris Hare, Project Manager

bury school friends of the south downs south downs for all

Our latest educational project, South Downs for All, is a programme aimed at bringing together eight South Down schools and the FSD to enable more children to enjoy the South Downs and learn about the heritage of this wonderful landscape. Chris Hare is also project manager of South Downs Generations, a unique partnership between FSD and four West Sussex Primary schools. That project brings together young and old to explore our common downland heritage.

Year 5 and 6 children at Bury School proved their downland credentials by walking from Slindon to Bury, a distance of some 12 km. The day was perfect – warm but not too warm.

We walked by Slindon Folly on Nore Hill, built for the Countess of Newburgh over 200 years ago, and trod the route Roman soldiers took 2,000 years ago along a surviving stretch of Roman road at Stane Street, that once led all the way from Chichester to London.

There were plenty of stops, including one at Bignor Hill, where the fingerpost points to destinations written in the original Latin.

Finally, we descended Bignor Hill and came across a bubbling stream, fed from a spring in the Downs. On returning to Bury School at just after 3:00pm, all the party – adults, as well as our youngest downlanders, were pleased to rest weary feet and limbs. But all agreed: it had been a great day.

bury school south downs for all our youngest downlanders
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Kipling and the Seven Sisters

No tender-hearted garden crowns,

No bosomed woods adorn

Our blunt, bow headed, whale backed downs

But gnarled and writhen thorns

Most readers will instantly recognise these lines from the poem Sussex by Rudyard Kipling. Few poems capture the spirit and the beauty of the Downs which he had come to love at the turn of the 20th Century. It was written in the summer of 1902, just a couple of months before he and his family moved from Rottingdean, where they had been living for the past five years, to Bateman’s near the East Sussex village of Burwash, where they would live out the rest of their lives. They had moved to Rottingdean in 1897 at a time when he was one of the most popular and admired writers in the country, having captured the public’s imagination with his tales and poems of India which had earned him the soubriquet ‘The Laureate of the Empire’.

Kipling and the Seven Sisters friends of the south downs

Overall, the Kiplings’ stay in Rottingdean appears to have been a happy period in their lives, although clouded by the death of their eldest child, Josephine, who had died of pneumonia at the age of just six years old whilst they were on a visit to America in 1899. Looking back at their time in the village, writing in his autobiography Something of Myself, Kipling recalled, ‘I do not remember any violent alarms and excursions other than packing farm-carts filled with mixed babies […] and despatching them into the safe clean heart of the motherly Downs for jam-smeared picnics, […] Those were exceedingly good days, and one’s work came easily and fully.’

However, the Downs that Kipling eulogised in his poem were in a state of crisis. From the 1870s onwards, Britain had experienced a prolonged agricultural depression, brought about by cheap imports of wheat, meat and wool from abroad.  Land prices had plummeted and by the beginning of the 20th Century much of the downland lay derelict. However, where many saw crisis others would see opportunities. In 1915, a property developer called Charles Neville bought up land on top of the cliffs west of Newhaven, and after the war, divided the area up into plots of land for people to build their own houses on. With virtually no planning restrictions, the new ‘town’, which was given the name ‘Peacehaven’, was described as ‘a rash of bungalows, houses, shops, shacks, chicken runs, huts and dog kennels’.

The despoilation of the Downs at Peacehaven was, of course, the spur that led to the foundation of the Society of Sussex Downsmen (as it was then known) in 1923. Its first chairman was the journalist and newspaper proprietor, Arthur Beckett. At the Society’s inaugural meeting in January 1924, Beckett proposed that, ‘Mr Rudyard Kipling be asked to be President, or failing that, Patron of the Society.’ Kipling was a notoriously private person, and nothing appears to have come from Beckett’s proposal.

However, whilst he may have shunned the idea of an honorary post in the Society, Kipling obviously felt deeply about saving the Downs from development. In 1926, the Crowlink Estate, which comprised 480 acres of land along the top of the Seven Sisters cliffs between Seaford and Eastbourne, was bought by a building syndicate for £9,750.  In an effort to prevent development taking place, the Society approached the syndicate to buy the land to protect it. The syndicate offered to sell the land for £16,450 so a national appeal was launched to raise the money. As part of the appeal, a leaflet, entitled, ‘The Beauty of England must mean something to you!’ was printed to publicise the campaign. The leaflet describes the beauty of the Downs and states: It might have been this very beauty that inspired Mr. Rudyard Kipling when he wrote the fourth stanza of his Sussex:

Clean of officious fence or hedge,

Half-wild and wholly tame,

The wise turf cloaks the white cliff-edge

As when the Romans came.

What sign of those that fought and died

At shift of sword and sword?

The barrow and the camp abide,

The sunlight and the sward.

It is just this ‘wise turf’ and this ‘white cliff edge’ of Crowlink that have been threatened with defacement in our commercial age.

These lines could only have been printed with Kipling’s permission, and by allowing his lines to be quoted he would have added much weight to the appeal. The appeal caught the public’s imagination and the necessary funds were swiftly raised whereupon the Seven Sisters ultimately passed into the guardianship of the National Trust. In addition to Kipling lending his name to the appeal, Arthur Beckett writing in an article for The Sussex County Magazine shortly after Kipling’s death in 1936, tells us, ‘When I asked him if he would subscribe to the purchase fund initiated by the Society of Sussex Downsmen to save the Crowlink Valley […] he sent a cheque for a substantial sum.’ Kipling’s involvement in the appeal clearly demonstrates his concern over development that was taking place in an area of countryside that he had come to love.

Although the Seven Sisters had been saved, insensitive development would take place on the cliff tops to the east of Rottingdean. In his autobiography, whilst remembering the happy times at Rottingdean, Kipling regretfully observed, ‘Today, from Rottingdean to Newhaven is almost fully developed suburbs, of great horror.’ 

It is evident that Kipling loved the Downs and was happy to do what he could to protect them, whilst his evocative poem Sussex would go on to inspire others to go out and do the same. His role in the campaign to save the Seven Sisters undoubtedly contributed towards the success of the appeal and in many ways, he was in the vanguard of what today we would call the conservation movement.    

Richard Howell            

Richard Howell is a Council member of the Kipling Society. He lives in Sussex, and has recently completed an M.A. thesis on the history of the Bateman’s Estate.       

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A Year in the Life of the South Downs

The Friends of the South Downs are appealing to young people in Sussex and Hampshire to write about the South Downs, either as a short essay or a poem. Chris Hare, project manager for ‘South Downs for All,’ a project funded jointly by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Friends of the South Downs, aimed at teaching school students about the heritage of the South Downs, is currently working on a lavish picture book, A Year in the Life of the South Downs, that will show the landscape in all its different forms and moods over a twelve month period.

a year in the life of the south downs
Chris at Cissbury Ring

As Chris explains: “We photographed the downland landscape under the influence of the four seasons, from snow dusted hill tops, through bluebell woods in spring, to summer wheat fields and the red and golden leaves of autumn. We also photographed human activity across the year, such as the World Marbles Championship at Tinsley Green at Easter, to Lewes Bonfire celebrations in November. We have the photographs, all we need now are the words!”

As ‘South Downs for All’ is focused on working with schools, the project team felt that it is the children who should provide the words for A Year in the Life of the South Downs, rather than being written by Chris or other adults working in the field of heritage.

“I could write about the history of the downs for A Year in the Life of the South Downs and the traditional activities that take place there,” Chris explains, “as could many other South Downs authors, but the children are our future and they will be custodians of this wonderful landscape in the years ahead, so we want to know what the feel and respond to the South Downs – landscape and people.

Sheep Fair

Chris says that they are primarily looking at responses from children aged 8 – 12, but they will consider submissions from any school-aged children. Essays and poems should be no longer than 300 words and can be on any theme that has a South Downs connection. To help inspire young writers, the South Downs for All website has a gallery section of photographs, set out under seasonal headings. It is hoped that looking at these photographs will act as a prompt to imaginative thoughts.

Any young person whose work is included in the book will be fully acknowledged, including their name and town or village of residence. They will also receive two free copies of the colour, hard-backed book and an invitation to the launch event which will probably take place in late November this this year.

The photograph gallery can be found here

All entries should be submitted to Chris Hare by 31 May 2023 at chris.hare@friendsofthesouthdowns.org.uk All enquiries about the project should be mailed to Chris at the same email address.