Author Archives: Lesley Crofts

North Downs Way project with BBC Surrey

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We thought you would be interested to know that our President, Chris Howard and Vice President, Ken Bare have been working with BBC Surrey on a complex project which will form a major component of Surrey Day – which takes places on Saturday 7th May this year.

They have organised and hosted a four day walk along the North Downs Way from Farnham to Botley Hill accompanied by a BBC reporter and a BBC senior sound engineer/producer.

Along the way there have been interviews with numerous people including the Lord Lieutenant, NDW Trail Manager, local producers and business owners plus walkers whom they have met along the way.

Mark Carter’s monthly Surrey Show will preview the NDW walk this Sunday 24th at 17.30.

The interviews will be starting on Monday 25th April and for the next two weeks in the build-up to Surrey Day. You can tune into Radio Surrey (104.0 FM) and listen to them as follows:

07.45 – every day where they tell the story of the NDW walk.

08.40 – daily listen to head-to-head interviews with the producers and key people along the route.

14.40 – same as 07.45, telling the story of the NDW walk (this will also be on Radio Sussex)

07.45 – Saturday Breakfast, previewing NDW walk this weekend (and then telling part six of the story on April 30)

We hope you enjoy listening and hearing more about the Surrey Hills.

Surrey Hills Making Space for Nature Exhibition

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The Surrey Hills are delighted to host an exhibition of 30 illustrations of Surrey Hills indicator species at the National Trust’s Leith Hill Place, in response to our Making Space for Nature project.

These 30 original artworks were specially commissioned by Surrey Hills Society and funded by Surrey Hills Trust Fund.  Please click here to read more.

The exhibition is open to the public now and is included with the purchase of an entry ticket to Leith Hill Place, free for National Trust Members. It will continue to be on display at Leith Hill Place until the autumn.

Leith Hill Place is open Friday to Sunday 11am – 16.30pm.

Exploring Hankley Common and the Atlantic Wall

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Sunday 3 April 2022

Four Dachshunds and and a selection of bipeds completed the walk through the sandy pine heathland of Hankley common where we encountered the Atlantic wall. Happily no injury was sustained on the army training ground but sadly no sign of James Bond.  Here are a few photographs taken during the walk.

                                                     

 Thanks to Heather Aitken and Chris Howard for the photographs.

Allianz Tree Planting Day in Cranleigh Celebrates Surrey Hills Sustainability

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On Friday 25th February, Surrey Hills Society helped to deliver the first Surrey Hills Corporate Champions event, alongside its sister organisation and organiser of the event, Surrey Hills Enterprises.

The Allianz Tree Planting Day, saw over 100 Allianz staff come together to plant 1,000 native woodland trees at Knowle Park, in Cranleigh. This was part of recognising insurance company, Allianz’s efforts to reduce their paper use as a business.

Surrey Hills Society was involved in sourcing the native trees and biodegradable protection and led the planting on the day. Species planted included English Oak, Hawthorn, Field Maple, and Sweet Chestnut and will make up the ‘Allianz Copse’ for future generations and visitors to the park to enjoy.

Read more here.

 

Surrey Hills & Queens Green Canopy

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Surrey Hills thanks the hundreds of community volunteers planting 13,500 trees for the Queen’s Green Canopy in the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

This winter, Surrey Hills Society have worked with 300 volunteers from a diverse range of communities to support the planting of over 2km of native hedgerow and 1000 woodland trees in the Surrey Hills. This engages with the unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which is inviting people to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee” in aid of The Queen’s Green Canopy. This 2km of hedgerow forms part of the 7.5km being planted in the Surrey Hills through collaborative land manager groups funding by the Surrey Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes fund (FiPL). The trees that have been planted are a mixture of native species including hawthorn, field maple and hazel which create essential wildlife corridors and habitat for a wide variety of species such as the hazel dormouse, brown hairstreak butterfly and turtle dove.

Gordon Jackson, Chair of Surrey Hills Society and Surrey Hills Trust Fund comments;

“Thank you to all those who have given up their time to be involved in our tree planting efforts. Surrey Hills Society have engaged with members of the community, secondary school students, corporate staff teams and members of the Surrey Choices Growth Team, who all have the common aim of wanting to contribute positively to the environment. It has been wonderful to witness the enjoyment of volunteers, in learning more about both the environment and each other, as well as experiencing the benefit of being outside.”

The Surrey Choices Growth Team in partnership with Surrey Hills Society are funded by FiPL to work one day a week at Newlands Corner, helping to manage access for people and improve habitat for nature as part of the Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers programme. In February, the Surrey Hills was delighted to host The Rt Hon Lord Benyon, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Rural Affairs, Access to Nature and Biosecurity) who visited the Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers to view the excellent progress that they have made with removing invasive scrub from the chalk grassland, a habitat which is internationally important for its rarity and species richness.                                                                                                                                      The Rt Hon Lord Benyon with the Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers from Surrey Choices Growth team and Surrey Hills Society

The Rt Hon Lord Benyon with the Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers from Surrey Choices Growth team and Surrey Hills Society 

Over the last few months, a huge variety of volunteer days have taken place in the Surrey Hills. This includes the first Surrey Hills Corporate Champions tree planting day with Allianz Insurance, a partnership between Surrey Hills Enterprises and Surrey Hills Society. The Allianz Tree Planting Day was held on Friday 25 February at Knowle Park in Cranleigh and saw 1,000 trees and shrubs planted.

Allianz staff volunteering at Knowle Park, Cranleigh with Surrey Hills Enterprises and Surrey Hills Society

 

The Lord Lieutenant of Surrey at Knowle Park, Cranleigh with Surrey Hills Enterprises and Surrey Hills Society

These essential efforts to help support biodiversity and conservation could not be possible without the engagement from farmers, landowners and volunteers. Angus Stovold of Lydling Farm, comments on the fantastic community work that has been undertaken to help plant trees on the farm;

“I knew the local community was interested in our conservation work but we were blown away by the enthusiasm and help they gave willingly. It has made our decisions to continue at a pace much easier to fully integrate our farming with nature recovery”.

The support of local Members of Parliament (MPs) has also been invaluable. On Friday 11 March, which was National Tree Planting Day, a group of Surrey MPs attended Lydling Farm, Shackleford to play their part in planting a Plane Tree that was donated by a local resident.

Angela Richardson, Member of Parliament for Guildford comments;

“I was delighted to be invited to Lydling Farm in the Surrey Hills to participate in some tree planting in aid of The Queen’s Green Canopy. The astonishing efforts made by the Surrey Hills, farmers, landowners and their community volunteers will create a legacy of essential habitat for rare and vulnerable species for years to come.”

Jonathan Lord MP for Woking, Gordon Jackson Chair of the Surrey Hills Society, Angela Richardson MP for Guildford and Angus Stovold of Lydling Farm

Hedgerow planting – Connecting people and nature across the Surrey Hills

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Over the last few weeks, Surrey Hills Society has engaged with over 200 volunteers at a range of locations across the AONB.

Working in partnership with landowners and farmers, the Society has been coordinating volunteers to assist with the planting of native hedgerow and trees, to increase connectivity and habitat in the Surrey Hills.

The Society has engaged with members of the community, secondary school students, corporate staff teams and members of the Surrey Choices Growth Team, who all have the common aim of wanting to contribute positively to the environment. It has been wonderful to witness the enjoyment of volunteers, in learning more about both the environment and each other, as well as experiencing the benefit of being outside.

 

So far, this incredible volunteer workforce has helped to plant approximately 1.5km of native hedgerow, which will help to benefit both people and nature in years to come. By the end of the planting season, in March, the Society hopes to extend this by a further 1km.

The Society is currently developing Spring and Summer volunteering and community engagement opportunities, so please keep your eyes peeled for more details and please get in touch if you would like further information.

Many thanks

Christa Emmett
Project and Volunteer Coordinator
Surrey Hills Society
christa4surreyhills@gmail.com

Surrey Hills Boundary Review – Update

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In 2021, Natural England finally agreed to take on a review of the boundaries of the Surrey Hills AONB. For many years there had been talk of the need for a review – indeed the discussion was already ongoing when the Surrey Hills Society was established back in 2008! Our Surrey Hills AONB was only the second to be created and the boundaries which were agreed then were subject to significant debate amongst local councils and other influential bodies. Some excluded areas were subsequently given a degree of protection as Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) but should probably have been included in the original designation.

This current review aims to redefine the boundaries by including areas which adjoined the 1958 boundaries but which can be shown to have equivalent (or indeed greater) landscape value that the already included parts. The map on the Surrey Hills AONB Boundary Review website highlights where these ‘Evaluation Areas’ are located.

It has been stated that this is a “once in a generation opportunity” for the boundaries to be reviewed and relocated. It is, therefore, very important that those who know the area best – residents such as yourselves with an interest in the Surrey Hills plus local councils, countryside organisations and charities or others with local knowledge – all play their part in providing the information required to make this review robust.

The review is ‘data driven’. Natural England has appointed consultants to undertake the data gathering and the emphasis is on ‘facts not emotions’. It is important that all the decisions taken can be justified on the basis of what makes the particular area a ‘special landscape’. The fact of it being ‘nice’ or ‘well used’ is not sufficient. The clue is in the title – Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – although there is an acknowledgement that all our landscapes are the result of human intervention over many centuries.

So, if you are able to use your local knowledge to highlight features, history, wildlife, biodiversity and all those other elements which add up to the term “outstanding”, then you should be contributing to the review by completing the “Call for Evidence” form on the review website. This stage of the process appears to be placing significant emphasis on the provision of photographs to support the written evidence so it is worth digging out pictures which you may have taken in recent times (few places look at their best on a grey winters day!).

Make sure that your local parish council or conservation charity is also getting involved and playing its part. Many already are but with the deadline for responses being at the end of January, it is worth checking that the Christmas or Covid disruptions haven’t caused them to miss the tight timelines for discussing and responding to the review.

The outcomes of this review will impact the Surrey Hills for many decades and will influence the degree of protection or development across the entire area. Remember that once land is defined as outside a ‘protected’ designation, it is far more vulnerable and once it has gone, it has gone forever. So don’t just think ‘it’s someone else’s problem’. Get involved and help to conserve the Surrey Hills and surrounding areas for future generations.

Surrey Hills Society joins the Surrey Green Social Prescribing Test and Learn Project

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Surrey Heartlands Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is a GP-led organisation, responsible for planning and buying health services for the local population out of a budget of around £1.5 billion. Working with Surrey County Council, Surrey Heartlands CCG is one of seven national “test and learn” sites for Green Social Prescribing, which aims to connect people to the health benefits of nature and green spaces to improve mental health outcomes. More information is on the Healthy Surrey website.

The two-year project will review green interventions and work together with residents on new initiatives to assess effectiveness for a variety of health and wellbeing issues, including those surrounding people who experience health inequality.

Activities can include walking, cycling, community gardening and food-growing projects, and practical conservation tasks such as tree planting. For people who need help to get involved this could include supported visits to local green spaces, or waterways and other outdoor activities.

Part of the project includes working with a series of partners to identify the green opportunities already available in Surrey – the Society is involved in the consultation which includes health, district and borough councils, as well as voluntary community and faith sector organisations. The aim is to ensure that nature-based activities are easy to find and to develop new initiatives that are culturally relevant whilst helping the green sector become a more accessible place for our diverse population. Surrey Heartlands are also developing a quality standard which recognises good practice for Green Social Prescribing in Surrey.

The Society is naturally extremely supportive of this initiative and as the project develops over the next two years we hope to build on the initial research that we facilitated through the Into the Wild project. We are already working with a number of landowners and youth groups to encourage hedge planting through the Surrey Hills and we also see opportunities for Society volunteers to assist with green social prescribing opportunities such as guided walks and conservation activities.

Editors Note: The article “Social Prescribing – at local level” looks at how one medical centre in the area is putting these principles into practice.