On a glorious mid-September day, members of the Society visited Manor Farm at Wotton to learn more about farming in the midst of the Surrey Hills. After a brief introduction in the farmyard, we climbed into a large cattle trailer and were taken for an extended trip around the area to see various aspects of the business. 

We were privileged to be hosted by Paula Matthews and her husband Laurence – both of whom took time out to give us a fascinating insight into their work.  Whilst Laurence joined us in the trailer to give a commentary on what we were seeing, Paula did a sterling job driving around opening gates for our tractor / trailer and keeping everything running smoothly.  However, once we arrived at the Belted Galloways, we had a complete role reversal.  These are clearly one of Paula’s loves and the time we spent on that aspect gave us a much better understanding of the rearing of the animals, how they are used effectively for conservation grazing and, ultimately, how they become part of the food chain.

This latter aspect was particularly relevant since Laurence had taken the landrover at that point and dashed back to base to get the barbeque sorted out ready for our meal of home-made Belted Galloway beef-burgers plus all the trimmings.  Truly an example of “from farm to fork”.

Manor Farm is one of the larger farms in Surrey with the Matthews family managing about 3000 acres as tenant farmers, under about 10 landlords, plus another 30 or so of their own land.  We learned a little about the complexities of such an estate and the way that global economics play such a major part in modern farming.  One example of this was how the selling price of different grades of wheat are impacted not only by international demand but also by exchange rates and climatic issues – which are well beyond the control of the producer.

We all had a great time on this visit, learning a lot, seeing another important aspect of our Surrey Hills, and gaining a better appreciation of the way that farming shapes our landscape.  Oh, and we had some brilliant food as well!  The finale was the opportunity to order “Beltie Beef Bags” for the next sale of meat from the farm.  More details of this aspect can be found on their website www.manorfarmsurrey.com.

On an extremely wet day in August, a group of members visited two venues in Horsley engaged in growing things.

We arrived at Grace and Flavour while it was still fine and so opted to do the tour of the garden first. This is an amazing set up, totally run and worked by volunteers. For their pains they become members and can then purchase the fresh produce which is harvested weekly. The cost of the vegetables for you is then set depending on how much work you have put into the garden.

It is a no-dig system which seems to work very well – we certainly saw an awful lot of produce which would be harvested in the coming weeks. All the plants are grown from seed and the rotation of crops is carefully planned. There is fruit too – soft fruit and apples, pears and plums.

This year is their 10th anniversary and they have certainly come a long way from the walled area that was very overgrown with brambles and had become a dumping ground. They managed to secure a grant which helped them to build their large ‘potting shed’ which provided shelter for us as the rain hammered on the roof while John, the head gardener, told us all about the project.

Thanks to all at Grace and Flavour who gave up their time to show us around and particularly to John Fluker, a Society member and erstwhile chairman of Grace and Flavour who helped us set up the visit.

After warming up over lunch in the pub, we made our way to Plantpassion. We were particularly pleased to include a visit to a member of Surrey Hills Enterprises, another part of the Surrey Hills family. Claire Brown is indeed passionate about her flower growing and about providing flowers that are actually grown here locally. She gave us a quick introduction to what she is doing and then we wandered round the flower growing area looking at amazing dahlias amongst other things. Again the weather was not kind, but a cup of tea and homemade cake soon made up for it.

We then had a demonstration of how Claire puts together a bouquet from her flowers. We raffled the result which not only by chance gave the Chairman’s wife, Sue Jackson, a very attractive bouquet to take home but also raised some extra funds for the Society.

Everyone felt that we had made the most of a pretty awful weather day with interesting things to see at both venues.

1st September saw the start of Guildford Walking Festival – a month long series of free walks in and around Guildford Borough. Walks have been organised by a whole range of organisations and walking groups – including Surrey Hills Society (SHS) who are also joint sponsors of the festival. Of the fifty or so walks scheduled, ten of them are organised and/or led by us – a significant percentage!

The Society has always had a strong focus on getting the public out into the Surrey Hills and local communities so it should not come as a surprise that we have been strong supporters of the walking festival for some years. However, in recent times that involvement has grown significantly. For a good number of years, our then chairman – Christine Howard – formed part of the organising team but when the chairmanship of Walkfest was vacated, Chris stepped up and got the organisation back on track.

Helen Barnsley, representing Guildford Borough Council (GBC) was already involved but is also an active volunteer for SHS – particularly helping at our external shows and on our own walks. Other SHS members have also taken on various organisational roles: Jeff Holliday from our Events team, Pete Lambert organising and leading walks, Ken Bare helping to produce the brochure and as author of the Walkfest Blog, Steve Peacock – who undertook much of the mapping and walk development of our Tales of the Tillingbourne project – is leading a walk as is our new Chairman, Gordon Jackson.

All of the events with which we are involved are appearing on the Events page of our website and it was good to see a number of our members turning up for the launch walk on the 1st – clearly the advertising is working.

With Guildford Mayor, Richard Billington, cutting the tape to get the festival off to a start, this first event was a gentle stroll from Spectrum Leisure Centre. It took in nearby ancient woodland, WWII defences and then followed the paths around Stoke Park to discover some of the lesser known features. The 24 attendees thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the warm sunny weather and everyone discovered places and facts that were new to them whilst benefiting from fresh air and gentle exercise.

Why not take a look at the Walkfest programme at www.guildfordwalkfest.co.uk or pick up a brochure from Guildford Tourist Information office in the High Street, GBC reception at Millmead or various other locations across the town. Walks vary from less than a mile – for example Town Guides walks and many of the Walking for Health events – through to a small number of long distance walks along sections of the North Downs Way. There is even a sponsored walk on Saturday 28th September from Guildford to Dorking in aid of Guildford Street Angels – led, as you might expect, by SHS.

There really is something for everyone and as it says in the Walkfest advertising – Keep Healthy, Keep Walking.

Following the recent announcement of our Queens Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), we received an invitation from the Chairman of Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) to attend their full meeting on 9^th July.   Chris Howard, Ken Bare and Martin Cantor represented the Society and Ken talked for a few minutes over a slide show about the role of the Society and the importance of all the work done by our volunteers.

Mary Huggins, the Chairman of MVDC, then presented the Society with a certificate to recognise our achievement.

The slideshow/talk can be found as part of the MVDC webcast click here with the relevant section beginning about 10 minutes into the recording.

It was also pleasing that Carmel O’Shea from the Dorking based Patchworking Garden was also presented with a certificate for their QAVS.  The Society has visited the garden on two occasions and one of our key volunteers is also a core volunteer of that group – mainly as a result of being on our first visit there.

Four Surrey Hills Society volunteers took our Surrey Hills stall to the Cranleigh Carnival on Saturday 29^th June, as part of our summer shows programme of raising awareness with local people about the extent and the importance of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Chris Howard, Vice President of the Society and lead volunteer for the Cranleigh Carnival said, “I always look forward to the Cranleigh Carnival. It is such a friendly, happy community event, with so much to see and to do. I think the Carnival parade really makes the whole day. The local schools, Girl Guides and other local organisations dress up to a theme each year – this year being Cowboys and Indians.  Best of all though is the two samba bands that play every year. So colourful to watch!”

“It is such a nice way to spend a Saturday, talking to nice people about a wonderful topic – our precious Surrey Hills,” she added.

If you would like to consider offering to volunteer for the Surrey Hills Society Shows programme over the summer season – even just once a year at your local show, please contact: Jean4surreyhills@gmail.com to discuss further.

On 2^nd June it was announced that the Surrey Hills Society had received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS). This award honours the outstanding contribution of all our Surrey Hills Society volunteers in their support for the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).  It is the equivalent of an MBE and, as it states on the official website, “It is granted to exceptional volunteer groups across the UK who are making a positive impact on the lives of others.”

The selection process is rigorous, looking at all aspects of what the Society has been doing in recent years and how it achieves the objectives for which it was created.  But more than these processes, it is the people who make our organisation such a success.  We identified that there are currently approximately 70 active volunteers who give their time freely to support the Society across a range of activities.  Amongst these are our Trustees and management team, members of various sub-teams who deal with communications, events, our newsletter, membership, support at shows, finance, administration and so on. These people are the life blood of the Society and their work enables all our members – and those that we connect with through all our activities – to enjoy, enhance and conserve the Surrey Hills AONB.

But it is not only our current band of volunteers to whom we dedicate this Award success.  We could never have created such as successful and vibrant charity if it had not been for the hard work and foresight of those who helped establish the Society and have supported us throughout the years.  Many names come to mind but three in particular deserve a special mention. 

Our founding chairman – Neil Maltby – steered us through our first three years and is now our President.  Neil’s contacts and enthusiasm gave us the firm foundations from which we are still benefiting.

June Robinson came on board as a paid administrator but did far more hours as a volunteer than she ever did in return for payment.  June not only managed the Chairman and Trustees and kept the organisation pointing in the right direction but she was also the “go to” person when we needed input on Arts related matters or contacts in the area. Added to that, June was such a highly motivated volunteer that she was a major player in driving the Society forward through those early years. She famously said that she would have finished her job when she had made herself redundant.  By that she meant that all her work had been passed on to competent volunteers.  She succeeded and moved on to other activities – but is still a very supportive member.

Another founder member who had a major impact on the direction of the Society was Graham Butler who, sadly, died recently.  Graham was the first chairman of our Events team and it was he who instigated the early elements of our walks programme which now goes from strength to strength. 

Again, his breadth of knowledge gained via his role with the Ramblers and similar organisations, enabled us to kick start our events programme and create activities which our members wanted to take part in.  This then provided an engine to drive membership growth and support the rest of our work.

Over the years, many volunteers have been part of what makes the Society special and we thank all of them for their contributions.  One of the things which differentiates the Surrey Hills Society from many other charities and volunteer groups is that our remit is to promote, and conserve the Surrey Hills AONB but we don’t own or have responsibility for any land.  Thus we are able to work with, and support, any other relevant organisations across the AONB to our mutual benefit.  As an “umbrella” organisation we can work with other charities (large or small) and are quite happy for our members to head off and work with them if they find a topic of interest.  For example, we have members who volunteer with the National Trust in various roles – in some cases as the result of an interest triggered by one of our visits.  Another one took part in a visit to a therapy garden at Dorking, joined their team and this year that group has also been awarded the QAVS.  There are many more examples of our members becoming volunteers either with us or with partner organisations.  The key point is that all of them are doing things which they enjoy and that benefit the long term future of the Surrey Hills AONB.

Volunteers come from all age groups and backgrounds, with different skill sets and with differing interests or amounts of free time.  We have opportunities for all of them to help grow the Society so that we can show to the world that not only were we good enough to get the Queens Award for Voluntary Service in 2019 but that we are using it as a launch pad to get even better and more successful in future years.

A massive “Thank You” and “Congratulations” to all our volunteers – past and present.

More than 70 Surrey Hills Society volunteers have been recognised for their outstanding contributions in support of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as a result of the Surrey Hills Society receiving The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, which is the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer groups.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work done in their own communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of HM The Queen’s Coronation.

Surrey Hills Society volunteers promote this special protected landscape in many different ways, ranging from:

• Manning our stall at local shows across the county, handing out free walks leaflets and showcasing the special attractions of the area
• Giving talks to other groups and organisations
• Running events to educate our members and residents about the area
• Leading free walks across the county
• Supporting and promoting the work of other related charities

Our volunteers share their passion for everything to do with the Surrey Hills – from its wonderful flora and fauna and rare habitats to its unique culture and heritage, as well as its leisure opportunities. They also collaborate with other organisations across the Surrey Hills to raise funds for agreed worthwhile projects within the area, which benefits both wildlife and the residents of Surrey.

Representing all the award-winning volunteers, former Vice Chairman, Ken Bare and his wife Angela Hume, who is also a volunteer with the Surrey Hills, attended a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace recently to celebrate the charity’s success. Along with Chris Howard, Ken is probably the most well-known volunteer with the Society, as he has been the lead at shows and fetes across Surrey for the last ten years and is also the main public speaker for the talks programme that is delivered to a variety of organisations across the south east.

Ken said: “It was such a privilege to be invited to Buckingham Palace. Being a representative for all the volunteers across the Surrey Hills was a great honour. It was a wonderful occasion and we were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the magnificent garden at its best.”

Meanwhile all volunteers from the charity will be celebrating later this year, when the Surrey Hills Society will be presented with the award by Michael More-Molyneux, Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey.

Gordon Jackson, Chairman of the Society, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this Queen’s Award, which recognises the huge voluntary contribution this relatively young charity has made to this county. I am so pleased that our volunteers have been given the recognition that they deserve and we look forward to continuing to promote the iconic and distinctive landscape of the Surrey Hills and to help discover and conserve our Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty”.

Current Vice President, Chris Howard, who was Chairman of the Society for seven years and stood down only last year said “We hope our volunteers feel extremely proud of the recognition that this award represents. They have all been so wonderful to work with and many have become my dearest friends”. Chris added: “I would recommend volunteering with the Surrey Hills Society to anyone who shares a passion for the Surrey Hills’ unique landscape and wants to learn more about this wonderful countryside on their doorstep.”