Tag: walking

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Our Centenary Year

Our Centenary year in 2023 provides a great opportunity to celebrate the South Downs and the role of the Friends of the South Downs, and to publicise what we do. To mark our Centenary year we are planning significant events and activities to celebrate the beginnings of the Society.

Seven Sisters from Cuckmere Haven Friends of the South Downs

It’s difficult to imagine a world in which people could build without restriction on a landscape of outstanding beauty, yet that is the threat that our predecessors faced almost 100 years ago.

After witnessing the construction of Peacehaven on the chalk cliffs to the west of the Ouse, our founder members feared what would happen to the rest of the eastern Downs in that time without effective planning controls.  To counter that threat they joined together in 1923 to form ‘a society for the preservation of the Downs’, which soon became the Society of Sussex Downsmen.  We later changed the name to the South Downs Society and are now known as the Friends of the South Downs.

Peacehaven our centenary year friends of the south downs

‘One spring day in 1923 on the chalk cliffs overlooking the Channel, two men, brothers-in-law, walking east from Brighton, were dismayed to come upon the new settlement of Peacehaven, developed on what was once downland. There was only rudimentary town planning in the 1920s and Peacehaven had been sold in plots, with no control over the dwellings to be built on them. It was no more than a shanty town.

‘Their day doubtless spoilt, Robert Thurston Hopkins and Captain Irvine Bately returned to their homes in Brighton resolved to try to prevent any further loss of the precious landscape of the Sussex Downs. Thurston Hopkins made contact with Gordon Volk. A committee was formed comprising Robert Thurston Hopkins, his wife Sybil, Captain Irvine Bately, his wife Lilian, and Gordon Volk. Volk then approached Arthur Beckett, a prominent newspaper owner. Beckett agreed to become President of the new society. Late in 1923, a crowded public meeting in the Royal Pavilion enthusiastically resolved to form a society for the preservation of the Downs.‘ Excerpt from Richard Reed’s A Centenary History of the Friends of the South Downs.

The threats to the Downs may have changed over the last 100 years but we still remain vigilant to protect the natural beauty of the area. To mark our Centenary year we are planning these significant events and activities.

South Downs for All:  a two-year lottery-funded project to encourage children to know and love the Downs. We’re working with two secondary and six primary schools to take children on field trips on the Downs.  The schools chosen have higher than average less well-off and ethnic minority children: groups which are less likely to visit the great outdoors.

A fascinating new book on the history of the Friends. Written by Richard Reed, who has been a member for a remarkable 75 years, the book traces our history from the struggles of the 1920s when there were few planning controls to the challenges of today.  The book is available to all members and available to purchase on our website.

Stimulating talks by prominent personalities. We have arranged tremendous online talks in 2023 by

  • Hilary Benn, the Labour Member of Parliament for Leeds Central who, in 2009, signed the order confirming the designation of the South Downs National Park. Register here!
  • Alistair Appleton, television broadcaster (Escape to the Country), psychotherapist and meditation teacher at Mindsprings in East Sussex
  • Isabella Tree, award-winning author of Wilding who, with her husband Charlie Burrell, run the rewilding project at Knepp Estate in West Sussex

Recreation of Hilaire Belloc’s Four Men walk We will walk in the summer of 2023 perhaps one of the first long-distance trails, Hilaire Belloc’s route from Robertsbridge to South Harting. We’re also thinking as well of ways to make the walk better known.

Making a length of footpath more accessible We plan to improve a selected footpath to make it accessible for wheelchair users. We’re still working out the details of the best site to choose and will keep you updated.

A cycling festival Cycling, particularly with electric bikes, can help people access suitable routes on the Downs. We are working with selected bike shops this summer to run events near the South Downs Way to demonstrate and try the latest regular and electric bikes.

Centenary appeal Would you like to help these exciting events and projects happen?  Please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!

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Sourcing Wood for our Benches

Benches for the South Downs, here at Saddlescombe with Chris Steibelt

Over the last year, our benches project was severely held up. Due to the Pandemic, there has been a huge rise in timber costs. Sourcing wood for our benches was a major challenge. Our supplier was not able to source locally grown oak at an affordable price.  After many phone calls to various contacts, I discovered the wonderful Northway Brothers who have a woodyard near Milland.

Doug and Erwin Northway are locals. They went to school in Midhurst and, having worked originally with a chestnut fencing contractor, they decided to set up their own business.  They are not easy people to find as they don’t have a website, don’t do social media and don’t advertise! Their business comes entirely from recommendations. Mine was from the Head Forrester at the Leconfield Estate in Petworth, home of our Patron Lord Egremont, where the brothers get their Forest Stewardship Council approved oak.

Doug and Erwin built their own sawmill machine when they set up the business and it is very impressive. They work in all weathers in an open shed, so it’s a pretty tough job but they seem very content with it.  

I arranged to go along and see the wood being cut for our project. Here are some photos of the process of sourcing wood for our benches. I learned a lot through meeting them and watching them work.

What’s next? We have other locations along the South Downs Way in the South Downs National Park lined up and we’ve been given the green light to go ahead and make the next benches.

Have you visited any of our benches? They are now installed at Saddlescombe, Harting Down and Ditchling Beacon. We’d love to see your photos. Visit us here on Facebook and on Instagram and on Twitter and don’t forget to tag us!

Caroline Douglas, Trustee

sourcing wood for our benches friends of the south downs
sourcing wood for our benches friends of the south downs
Sourcing wood for our benches friends of the south downs
sourcing wood for our benches friends of the south downs
sourcing wood for our benches friends of the south downs
sourcing wood for our benches friends of the south downs
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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 find The Lupin Field.

There has never been a village of Terwick as the soil near the church is poor. In 1646 there were only five houses in the parish but they may have been substantial households. Today, it is a lovely place to visit in late May or early June, depending on the weather, to see the lupin field at its best.

This field full of lupins separates St Peter’s from the A272 and is now in National Trust ownership.  Until after World War II the field formed part of the rector’s glebe. The Reverend George Laycock planted the lupins which self-seeded and bloomed year after year. He was Rector of Terwick for over 40 years until his death in 1933 (he is buried in the churchyard). He lived nearby in the large rectory and as he was not burdened with many parish duties, he spent much of his time using the field behind the church as a market garden.

The lupin field was later owned by Mr and Mrs Hodge of nearby Fyning House. She adored the view of the lupin flowers in the field framed by the South Downs. The surrounding land is arable and Mrs Hodge wanted to ensure that the view was protected and the lupins would always be there. On the Hodges’ death in 1939, the field was gifted to the National Trust with the condition that they would continue to grow lupins in part of the field. Through the decades the National Trust has worked with the Rogate community and the local farmer to try and ensure new seed is planted and the number of lupins  maintained.

Today, the lupin field still holds hundreds of lupin plants, but within this is a mix of wild grasses and flowers such as ox-eye daisies, poppies, vetch and meadow cranesbill, which have self-seeded and become part of the meadow. Harvest mice also live here and the space is now a ‘naturalised’ meadow which gives space and opportunities for wildlife to flourish amongst a more formal and farmed landscape. The NT manage the field in a similar way to a hay meadow. A cut is taken late in the year once the lupins have seeded and the grass is baled and removed. Russell mix lupin seeds are sown into the bare ground in spring. The lupins are commemorated in an altar frontal given to St Peter’s to celebrate the millennium.

A272 ROGATE to MIDHURST ROAD National Grid Reference: SU 81784 23512. Signpost to St Peter’s Terwick and parking behind the church.

Walks from here turning east back along the road from the church and then crossing the A272 can take you north to Borden where you connect to the Serpent Trail.

Caroline Douglas

Trustee

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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 we skirted the large, open field, giving the shoot a wide berth, Ruby couldn’t believe her luck when at least 10 deer, one of the clever local herds, leapt out of the hedge in front of us.

Photo: Graham Stockley

Given that Ruby was on the lead, 12 years old and covered in lumps and bumps, I wasn’t initially concerned but in the heat of the moment she somehow managed to slip her collar. An intervention or more accurately, a bellow, was clearly required! To my great satisfaction and pride, she stopped dead in her tracks and returned to my side, with just the slightest look of regret in her eye!

An encounter with deer these days, whether out on a walk or less fortunately, on the road, is fast becoming a normal occurrence.  The UK’s deer population is believed to be at its highest level for 1,000 years, with some two million deer in our countryside and semi-urban areas.

In conversation recently with Steve Walker, Manager of Kingley Vale Nature Reserve, north of Chichester, I learnt that he’d spent the previous night up on the Downs thermal imaging the fallow deer population with the tech wizards from Digital Fauna. The clever local herds have apparently gotten so clever at avoiding detection that night-time is the best time for getting concrete evidence. The images below clearly show how large some of the herds have become. While the Downs are not part of the reserve, these herds roam vast areas of the Hampshire/West Sussex borderlands, of which the Mardens and Kingley Vale are part.

Unfortunately, at Kingley Vale the future of the famous Yews is under threat from the deer. Yew is famous for its longevity and regeneration properties, but even it needs to produce new shoots for the long-term survival of the forest. With the young, juicy stems being eaten by the deer, the age diversity of the grove is being put at risk. Similarly, most of the woodland understorey has been browsed off. This is already leading to the decline of wildflowers, insects and woodland birds such as the Nightingale, Nightjar, Bullfinch and Marsh Tit, which all rely on this layer for feeding or breeding.  

The nature reserve is also home to an active dew pond restoration programme. Traditionally, their saucer-like design provided sheep with a safe means of accessing water, but their fragile ecology cannot cope with vast herds of deer descending for a drink. Barriers have had to be erected to stop them from eating all the marginal plants, which other wetland species require. Another problem associated with deer, that walkers will surely have come across in recent years, are the ticks that they carry.

Although deer are a beautiful part of our woodland ecology, in the absence of a natural predator like the Lynx, their population needs to be managed. This can only realistically be done by man in an ‘enlightened nature-mimicking way’. This will not only stop damage being done to protected areas, farmland and forestry by these clever local herds, but also ensure the herds themselves remain healthy. However, the ‘Bambi-effect’ is a significant hurdle to a humane cull. Furthermore, even if it was considered publicly acceptable, Covid and Brexit have seen the bottom drop out of the venison market.

If we are to solve all these problems, conventional wisdom suggests that we need to start eating more venison. This will help drive up demand for deer carcasses and make it economically viable for stalkers to carry out a selective cull. As a food source, venison ticks many of the key boxes: it is low in fat and carbon, high in protein and welfare, and full of iron, zinc and B vitamins. If you are yet to give venison a go, perhaps you might be tempted to try it the next time you are out for a meal. If anyone questions your gluttony as you tuck into a venison steak or burger, your rebuttal is clear, you are doing your bit to protect the South Downs…just as Ruby had clearly been hoping to do on our walk!

Malinka van der Gaauw

Walks Leader

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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.

Easebourne/Langham Circular Walk

You can start the Easebourne/Langham circular walk by parking at Langham’s Brewery carpark and walk clockwise or anticlockwise around the whole route (5.7miles) or make it into a figure-of-eight. If this is too far for you, just do the first half of the figure-of-eight (2.5 miles). If you do the whole route and would like to make the walk a little longer, the delightful Easebourne Street is lovely to wander down beside the little culvert which is the River Ez. You will be treated to a very unspoiled selection of the old houses and gardens of Easebourne village.  

Alternatively, if you start from Easebourne Street, where there is parking on-street (left hand side of the map), you can use the brewery as a half-way rest point. Warning! After a beer and Langham’s delicious pizza, the second half of the route seems longer!

Primroses in the River Ez

Langham Brewery offers a delicious range of fresh keg beer, cask conditioned real ale, bottles and cans – lovingly brewed at their award-winning microbrewery in West Sussex, in the South Downs National Park, near Petworth. The brewery is the perfect destination experience; walkers, cyclists, hikers and day-trippers are all warmly welcomed.

The Brewery’s Taproom and Shop are open 6 days a week, and this month the Taproom turns a year old. Please save the date for the celebrations: Saturday 16th April, from 5pm – 9.30pm. Expect live music, a hog roast (delicious veggie options also available) and a well-stocked, award-winning bar. This is a free-to-enjoy event, but please bring loose changes (and notes!) as there will be a collection for the https://davidnottfoundation.com

As well as an extensive range of beers, the team also serve soft drinks, delicious cakes, local, authentic Italian pizzas, and more. Try 4 Langham brews in a single purchase via their ‘flights’ – the brewery’s flight attendant (formerly BA!) is happy to guide you through your tasting experience. The Taproom is also available for private hire.

For loved ones who enjoy craft ale, a gift voucher makes an ideal gift – available for Brewery Tours, beer and merchandise, as well as the new ‘Be A Brewer For The Day’ voucher.

Easebourne/Langham Circular Walk leads to Langham’s taproom!
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The Great South Downs Sit Down

View from the newly-installed Saddlescombe Bench

Many walkers tell Friends of the South Downs that there is very little provision to sit down and rest along the South Downs Way, which runs from Winchester to Eastbourne. Today, 19 May 2021, marks the day we proudly reveal the first bench in our ongoing project to provide seats at intervals along the entire length of the iconic route.

The first bench has been installed at East Hill above Saddlescombe Farm on National Trust land. FOSD Patron Lord Egremont cut the ribbon to launch the campaign. Vice-Chairman Andrew Lovett addressed the assembled group of representatives from the NT, South Downs National Park Authority and Trustees of FOSD, at a small, Covid safe, celebration.

Chainsaw sculptor Chris Bain / Photo by Dan Fagan – National Trust

After first gaining permission from the South Downs National Park Authority, we turned to the National Trust, as a major landowner along the route, to provide the initial sites. The first benches are being carved by local chainsaw sculptor Chris Bain. Each bench will be made of sustainable, locally sourced oak and feature a small hidden downland creature. Benches will be individually designed to blend into and enhance the setting in a sympathetic way.

Caroline Douglas, the FOSD Trustee leading The Great South Downs Sit Down project, said, “we are so grateful to Jane Cecil, the NT General Manager and the NT Rangers for all their help and enthusiasm in getting this project off the ground and to Chris Bain for producing such a beautiful bench. More progress has been made with finding sites, so watch out for other benches appearing over the coming months.”

When you visit one of our benches, please share pictures onto our Facebook or our Twitter page! If you find any spots along the South Downs Way that might be a perfect place for one of our benches, please contact us.

Bench dedication ceremony, 19 May 2021. Photo credit: National Trust
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Missing Links

The Missing Link – creating an accessible road network in the South Downs National Park

We are pleased to report that the initial survey by SCATE and the Friends of the South Downs (South Downs Society) which kicked off at the end of August last year is now nearing completion. We have had a very good response.  A map has been made up and a schedule of comments/suggestions has been tabulated see links below. A workshop is being held in Lewes East Sussex on 25th January 10:30 to 12:30 to review the many inputs from that area. Click here to register for the workshop. Likewise a workshop is planned for Hampshire. Once these are complete we will present our initial findings to the National Park.

Despite completing this first phase more surveys and documentation is need on later responses we have had. Can you help? If so please contact us at enquiries@southdownssociety.org.uk

Current survey documents:

Click here for Missing Link Survey Sept to Dec 2019

Our thanks to Friends of the South Downs Society volunteer Mered Harries for his work in documenting the responses.

Maps (these are only photo extracts so quality may be limited :

East Sussex (click to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid Sussex (click to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

for background notes read on………..

 

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Help us complete that Missing Link!

We need your input – creating a more accessible road network in the National Park

Help us complete that Missing Link!  Do you know of a missing road link that is deterring you from walking or cycling in the National Park? If you do read on……….

The Friends of the South Downs (South Downs Society), along with organisations such as CPRE Sussex, Transport Action Network and the Sussex Wildlife Trust support an alliance which aims to persuade local councils, the National Park and the Government to develop safe and sustainable transport as well as better land use in planning. This organisation is titled: SCATE (South Coast Alliance for Transport and the Environment).  

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Registration of historic rights of way and of the benefits of extending the cut-off date for their registration – House of Lords Short Debate

On Tuesday 2nd April the House of Lords held a short debate to discuss the benefits of extending the 2026 cut-off date for registration of historic rights of way. Our President, Baroness Maggie Jones, spoke in this debate in support of an extension with a mention of the society, “… as the President of the Friends of the South Downs – which does fantastic work campaigning to protect and preserve the landscape of the South Downs National Park and providing a huge range of guided walks on the footpaths and bridleways.”

“The rights of way network is one of our nation’s greatest assets: it connects people to nature and our rural environment and describes how our ancestors interacted with, and enjoyed, the landscape over centuries.

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Greater renewable energy focus needed in development for 226 homes at Old Malling Farm Lewes

Re: SDNP/18/06103/OUT, Old Malling Farm, Old Malling Way, Lewes, BN7 2DY: Outline approval for residential development comprising up to 226 dwellings with associated landscaping and parking, with access from Monks Way (All Matters Reserved except Access and Layout).

The Society objects to the development in its present form. We believe that the current plan should be referred back to the developer so that the road layout and access arrangements can be reviewed along with the submission of a revised sustainability assessment. Accordingly, the application should be deferred so that improvements to the application can be made.

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