On Sunday 24^th April we made our second visit to historic Kenley Airfield.

Established in 1917 where aeroplanes were constructed from sections and pieces and flown to Europe for combat in the First World War. Kenley was a very important airfield in the Second World War, and during the Battle of Britain was responsible for the defence of a large airspace over southern England.

Hurricanes and Spitfires flew from this airfield. Croydon and Redhill airports were under its control. English Heritage identified Kenley as “the most complete fighter airfield associated with the Battle of Britain to have survived”.

We were guided by Alan Morgan, Chairman of the Kenley Airfield Friends Group, and his knowledgeable team of Linda, Tony and Neil. We walked around the perimeter road while RAF cadets flew gliders above us. We were shown and told about the significant features of the airfield including the Blast Pens (where the planes were stationed awaiting duty) with their air raid shelters, the firing range (skilled use of a rifle was expected of everybody on the airfield), the Officers Mess (where officers would have their boots cleaned and polished by female Batmen .

Douglas Bader served here in 1931 and Hammond Innes was an artillery gunner during the Battle of Britain. It is thought that he used some of his experiences in one of his early books titled “Attack Alarm”.

There are two Squash Courts which date back to c.1921 which predate universal rules relating to the court size.

They are quite possibly unique. They even have different quality coat hangers for Officers and “others”.

Unlike other fighter stations that have been modernised, Kenley has retained its original runways, giving visitors a true flavour of its historic purpose.

The Airfield was closed as an operational base in 1959, but the runway and the remaining buildings are still owned by the Ministry of Defence.

After the tour we were permitted access to the Portcullis Club where the club bar has a large number of photographs and memorabilia.

Everyone had a very enjoyable morning and thanks are due to Ray and Joyce Jessop for organising this visit.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 

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

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