Tag: Hampshire

Having concluded our South Downs for All project with Sussex schools last year, we are now delighted to bring the same heritage learning opportunities to seven partner schools in Hampshire.

These schools struggle financially and have many pupils with special learning needs or from homes classed as being low income or with issues of family stress. With a grant of £70,700 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £15,000 contribution from Friends of the South Downs, the aim of the two-year South Downs for All (Hampshire) is to engage with these children and introduce them to the wonderful heritage of the South Downs.

To do this, we have also partnered with three living heritage museums, all situated in the South Downs, either in Hampshire or close to the Hampshire border. Butser Ancient Farm, Gilbert White’s House, and the Weald and Downland Museum are all outstanding centres of heritage conservation and heritage learning, celebrated for their achievements in the UK and internationally. All three have dedicated education officers and run learning programmes tailored for children and the requirements of the National Curriculum, particularly Key Stage 2.

The funding we have secured means we are able to offer our partner schools the opportunity to send their pupils to each one of these centres of heritage excellence. Not only does the funding allow us to cover entry costs and hands-on workshops, it also covers the cost of transport, which will generally mean the cost of coach hire (an ever increasing cost for schools). Without this funding, most of our partner schools would never be able to offer their pupils such wonderful learning opportunities.

                                                                                                   

Children will be able to visit Butser and see recreated homes from the Neolithic to the Saxon period in which our ancient ancestors lived. They will learn how these people lived, worked, and socialised. Weald and Downland at Singleton, takes up where Butser leaves off, offering children unique learning experiences from Saxon to Victorian times, in real period buildings, rescued from redevelopment and rebuilt at the Museum. To complement these historical experiences, Gilbert White’s House, the home and now museum of the great eighteenth century naturalist in Selborne, will introduce children to the exceptional flora and fauna of the South Downs.

Our Chairman, David Green, said, “The Friends of the South Downs are delighted that this generous funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will afford more children the opportunity to experience and learn about the wonderful South Downs. The Friends believe that such opportunities are vitally important to instil in children an appreciation of the natural world and an interest in this nationally important countryside on their doorstep.”

We are delighted that we have again been fortunate in securing the services of Chris Hare of History People UK to manage this project, with his deep experience of researching local and regional history and teaching both children and adults. Chris feels there is something rather special about this project, saying, “The feeling of anticipation and enthusiasm, both from the schools and the museums is palpable and bodes very well for the progress of our work over the next two years.”

In addition to the visits to each of the external learning centres, the partner schools will benefit from in-school workshops as part of the project. As well coordinating all the activities, Chris will also be delivering heritage workshops tailored to the needs of each school e.g. an overview of South Downs heritage, from the earliest times to the present day, or specific presentations on the Romans or Saxons. Michael Blencowe, formerly of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, will be delivering workshops on South Downs flora and fauna and taking the children on field trips in the summer and autumn terms.

Hundreds of children will now be able to visit and enjoy learning about the heritage of the South Downs in outstanding learning environments, all situated within the heart of the South Downs. We will be updating our South Downs for All website, which will record all our activities with our partner schools. The website also records our previous work with schools in Sussex, and is well worth a look,  www.southdownsforall.org.uk. We will keep members updated on the project’s progress as it develops this year and next.

Martin Small, Trustee    Chris Hare, Project Manager

 

 

In 2024 Knepp Wildland applied to have the Knepp Estate and Storrington jointly designated as a ‘European Stork Village’

This was in recognition of Knepp’s reintroduction and breeding success of the white stork.  The application to Euronatur was accepted and announced in mid-March 2025.  Only one area per country may be granted this status.  Euronatur is a charitable foundation who run the ‘European Stork Villages Network’ initiative.  Their aim is the protection of wildlife and its habitats in Europe. 

The formal conferment of European Stork Village will take place on Bank Holiday Monday 5th May 2025.  This honour will be celebrated by a “White Stork and Nature Revival” Festival organised by Storrington and Sullington Parish Council.  Representatives from Euronatur will come to Storrington to formally award the certificate jointly to the owners of the Knepp Estate and the Chair of the Parish Council on behalf of the Storrington community.  There will be a variety of family-friendly activities, stalls and talks in and around the Chanctonbury Leisure Centre between 10:00 and 16:30, with the naming ceremony at 10:30am.  Parking will be at Hormare Field, just off the A283 and only a short walk away. 

It is worth reading on to learn about the background to these festivities.

The association of Storrington with storks is clear, although there are alternative interpretations.  It is often stated that the Saxon name for Storrington – ‘Estorchestone’, means ‘the village of the storks’.  In the 12th century it was known as ‘Storketon’, or ‘Storcatun’ in old English, meaning ‘homestead with storks’.  Others claim that Estorch may have been the name of the local chieftain, and that Estorchestone meant Estorch’s village or homestead.  Another theory is that the area may have supported a significant population of stork-like birds such as herons and egrets and that these were referred to as storks.  Though it’s doubtful our ancestors, with a much closer connection to nature, couldn’t tell the difference!  Whichever way, Storrington celebrates its storks and the village sign, unveiled in 2002 at Place Villerest in the heart of the village, has two storks as its emblem.

Around Storrington, particularly north and east of the village, there are a number of wet and marshy areas around the Arun Valley, which could have supported large numbers of wetland birds.   Before storks became extinct in the UK, about six hundred years ago, there may well have been a population of storks in the area.  There is strong evidence that white storks are native to the British Isles and were once widely distributed.  Habitat loss e.g. due to draining of wetlands, hunting and persecution led to their decline so that they became extinct in the British Isles, at least as a breeding species, in the early 15th century.  After that date, they remained irregular visitors to Britain, flying over but no longer settling to form colonies.

L. Kadava

In recent years storks have again become associated with the area through the reintroduction of storks at Knepp Wildland.  Its ‘White Stork Project’ seeks to re-establish a wild, breeding population of white storks in the UK.  Knepp’s new generation of storks now once again migrate to Southern Europe and Africa in the late summer and early autumn and return in the spring.  Storks are increasingly seen foraging on sites such as the RSPB reserve at Pulborough Brooks and around Amberley.  As the Knepp population of storks increases, it is likely they will seek new nesting sites outside of the Knepp Estate. 

Habitats that support white storks also support other species.  Also, their nests can provide:

• a habitat for other species, including invertebrates that are a food source for other species, and
• nesting sites for other birds, such as sparrows and starlings which will inhabit the stork nests while the storks are using them, but also other birds.

Keep an eye on the live 24/7 stork’s nest webcam at Knepp.

 

A recent initiative by the South Downs Trust is to raise funds to support the restoration of dew ponds across the South Downs.  This ‘Pounds for Ponds’ initiative has enabled the South Downs National Park Authority to restore a number of dew ponds in the South Downs landscape to help nature thrive, and it aims to restore many more. Dew ponds support amphibians like frogs, toads, and newts, as well as insects, birds, and small mammals, all of which are a food source for foraging white storks.  Locally, one such restored dew pond is at Chantry Hill, just above Storrington.  We could be seeing white storks on this site and a number of other sites on the South Downs in future years.

Storks and wetlands belong together and thus the white stork is the European ambassador for the protection and restoration of wetlands, wet meadows and pastures.  A nature festival will be held in Storrington each year from now on in celebration of the white stork as a symbol for nature recovery and to inspire people to take further action to restore the natural environment. 

Written by Joan Grech, Storrington resident and conservation volunteer,

Horsham District Councillor for the Storrington & Washington Ward,

HDC’s representative on the South Downs National Park Authority

Our formal comments on the South Downs Local Plan Review

The first public consultation on the Review of the South Downs Local Plan ended on 17^th March. The Local Plan is a very important document for the South Downs National Park as it sets out both the policies against which planning applications will be assessed and which sites are allocated for development. 

The FSD therefore took an active interest in the preparation of the original Plan in 2017 and we have carefully scrutinised the Review. In particular, our District Officers, who keep an eye on planning applications in the National Park, have assessed each of the 48 proposed new housing allocations. 

We have submitted over 100 comments of varying detail. We have agreed with many of the policies, including those on landscape character, design, tranquillity and biodiversity. However, we feel that the Vision for the National Park should be more robust and that the Plan should refer to the strengthened duty of relevant authorities to seek to further National Park purposes. We also consider that the Plan fails to set out an adequate strategy for the undeveloped coastline within the Park.

We accept that some development should take place in the National Park to meet the needs of the communities within it. However, we have objected strongly to some of the proposed housing allocations, including those west of Liphook, east of the A286 at Cocking and west of the village hall in Rogate, because of the harm we believe that development on these sites would cause to the special qualities of the National Park.

We are now looking to the National Park Authority to take our comments into account in revising the Review.

View the full document with our comments here.

 

 

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 1^st/2^nd year in the GEE Department.  This was won by Dom Jarvis.

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

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.

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