There are two upcoming opportunities to volunteer on some interesting Surrey Hills Arts projects. You can offer just an hour of your time towards these activities which play an important part in making them happen.
Firstly, you can volunteer to come up to the beautiful viewpoint at Winterfold on Tuesday 21st April to assist in assembling some cedar shingles on ‘Perspectives’ the sculptural shelter created by artist Giles Miller. These newly engraved shingles are part of our current project raising funds for the Surrey Hills Trust Fund. See www.inspiringviews.org
Secondly, you can volunteer to be a steward at an outdoor performance at Waverley Abbey on Saturday 6th June. There will be two site-specific performances that day that last just an hour. There will be six performers joined by six dance students from the University of Surrey who are creating a new piece together and allowing visitors to experience this stunning, historic site in a new way. We are delighted that this project has received Arts Council funding. We will need a body of volunteers to assist directing people to the site and cars into the car park.
For either of these opportunities, please contact Ali Clarke, sa.visual@surreycc.gov.uk
At our recent visit to the Surrey Copper Gin Distillery, I was delighted to present Jeff Holliday with a bottle of Albury Estate Sparkling Wine in recognition of all his hard work over many years as Chairman of the Events Committee. Last year the Events Committee oversaw nearly 60 events and Jeff has done an enormous amount to ensure that we are able to put on a varied programme that promotes everything that is good about the Surrey Hills. Although Jeff is standing down as Chairman, he will continue to be as active as ever with the Surrey Hills Society. Jeff will continue on the Events Committee to support our new Chairman, Sall Baring (pictured here) and we are working hard at the moment on developing an exciting series of events for the Summer and Autumn.
We are so grateful to Chris Smart and his daughter, Sarah, for introducing us to the amazing family business that is the Surrey Copper Gin Distillery. Founded in 2017 and based at Unit 222 at Dunsfold Aerodrome, we heard how this Surrey Hills Enterprises business has succeded in a competitive market.
Craft gin has become something of a phenomenon over recent years with young people in particular being keen aficionados of speciality gins. Often pubs now carry an extensive menu of different gins. Gin sales in the UK reached £2.3 billion last year, far exceeding whisky sales.
Our members learnt how the gin is handcrafted in small batches in a copper pot still using a blend of botanicals inspired by historical recipes discovered in library archives. The botanicals include Juniper Berries, Orris Root, Angelica, Lemon Peel, Coriander, Pink Peppercorns, Cubeb Berries, Rose Petals, Hibiscus, Elderflower and Lavender. The gin is gently distilled to release spirit vapours which pass through the carefully selected blended botanicals. This spirit vapour infusion yields fragrant flavours and aromas to create an inimitable and elegant gin.
The gin still at The Surrey Copper Distillery is very
special. She is a 300 litre Mini Carterhead designed specifically by one
of the world’s leading craft distillery manufacturers, Green Engineering of
Italy. Green Engineering not only bring a tremendous amount of technical
expertise to still design, but as craftsmen with typical Italian flair also
produce beautiful stills. The still has been named “Clara” after
the mother of Charles Dicken’s David Copperfield. The literary
theme has been continued with the two signature gins being named David
Copperfield Volume 1 and Volume 2 and the gin bottle being rectangular in the
shape of a book, with historic recipes on the inside of the label. Volume
1 was based on the oldest gin recipe that could be found, dating back to the
1700’s. Volume 2 is juniper-led and exceptionally smooth with fragrant floral
notes and subtle hints of spice.
A further Volume is on the way after the huge success of a
new recipe created especially for the Craft Gin Society, which became a
Christmas 2019 Best Seller.
After a fabulous afternoon tasting the gin and hearing so much about the distilling process, we left reflecting on how lucky we are to have such exciting small businesses flourishing in the Surrey Hills.
For February’s free walk, which we organise for the first Sunday of the month, we headed off to Farnham. In the winter months we try to organise walks which make use of hard surfaces and hence an exploration of some of Farnham’s hidden delights made an ideal theme. Clearly, others agreed because we had over 40 people who booked to join us for the visit.
The event was led by our two vice-presidents – Chris Howard and Ken Bare – who split the group into two and took us off in different directions around the town.
We all covered the same territory but by having the smaller groups, we could all hear what our leaders had to say about the sights and history we came across along the way. And it was fascinating!
We heard about famous Farnham people such as William Cobbett, JM Barrie, George Sturt (aka George Bourne) and John Henry Knight – plus of course – the Bishop of Winchester.
Farnham Castle, looking out over the town, has been the seat of the Bishop since 1138 and our exploration of the Keep and enjoyment of the views over Surrey from this vantage point was definitely one of the high points (pun intended) of the morning.
But the tour took in much more than the well-known sights. We discovered “mathematical tiles” small tiles which look like bricks and were used to face old buildings when bricks first became fashionable.
Our guides had obviously been doing their homework because another hidden gem which they showed us was the ceiling in a jewellers shop (20a West Street). This a unique 17th century ornate plaster work produced as an example for the Earl of Shaftsbury to enable him to see what his own ceiling would look like. This was worth a visit to Farnham in its own right!
Farnham has a fascinating history. Having become rich from agriculture – and the connections with the Bishop of Winchester – it then had a second period of wealth creation by becoming the centre of hop production. Farnham hops were considered to be the best in the country and were priced accordingly. This led to many of the houses being “improved” by the addition of Georgian frontages although in many cases these were tacked onto the front of much older properties.
There was so much to see. Our guides made the point that we had only had time to look at a small number of the gems which make Farnham such a fascinating town to visit. It is certainly worth going back and spending a whole day just exploring more of what there is to see. Many of the group obviously thought so because several commented that they wanted to return and investigate further.
Come and join us next month, we are exploring Newlands Corner.
Fifty members of the Surrey Hills Society attended the first event of 2020 – the charities monthly free walk somewhere in the Surrey Hills. This month the group explored the beautiful market town of Godalming – often included in the top 5 in any survey of the best places to live.
Our members, on this town walk, could all see why it is such
a popular place to live. Apart from its
convenient commute to London by train, its ancient High Street, with many of
the buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries,
and expansive countryside seen all around, gives it a very attractive feel. The
large Jack Phillips Memorial Gardens, sitting alongside the wet lands nature
reserve of the Lammas Lands, give the residents of Godalming an attractive
place to come and enjoy all year round.
Jack Philips was the radio operator on RMS Titanic, the
fatal ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. He stayed at his post to the
end, sending out SOS messages in the hope of being heard by passing ships. The
local community and the Wireless and Telegraph Company he worked for created a
fund to commemorate this 25 year old Godalmian. The cloister was designed by
famous Arts and Crafts architect, Hugh Thackery Turner and the surrounding
gardens by influential garden designer and local resident, Gertrude Jekyll.
What a tremendous turnout for our annual Walk off Your Christmas Puddings walk! About 55 people congregated at the March Hare in Guildford.
It was quite a sight as we trekked down through the the back roads on to a route that took us along the North Downs Way and then gently up through the Chantries to enjoy spectacular views to the West and South with Shalford and Chilworth lying in the valley below.
After all the rain we have had recently, there was inevitably a little bit of mud to negotiate, but overall the walk was remarkably dry. It was great to see some new faces, and several people I spoke to said that they just hadn’t realised that there was such beautiful countryside, a few minutes walk from the centre of Guildford.
Puddles
Avoiding the mud and
through the gate
From the Chantries, our walk leader, Pete Lambert, led us towards Pewley Down through pleasant green fields below Halfpenny Lane where we admired some very impressive houses in the distance .
With so many people joining us, we met quite a few walkers, who wanted to know who we were. It was great that so many immediately knew of the Surrey Hills Society and recognised the work that the Society does for our precious landscape.
On the top of Pewley Down we drank in further wonderful views and we were able to see some of the work that is being done by the Pewley Down Volunteers, who clear areas to protect the habitat of the small blue butterfly, by encouraging the growth of kidney vetch that is essential food for its caterpillars.
On top of Pewley Down
From here it was a short walk back to Guildford and a well deserved mulled wine at the Keep Pub. By the end we all felt we had at least done something towards counteracting our Christmas feasting and we really couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy a mild Christmas morning out walking in our special Surrey Hills
.
Lovely walk and now for some mulled wine
Thank you to all the volunteers, who assisted with the organisation of our last walk of the year.
Following on from our annual walk up Holmbury Hill, followed by mulled wine and mince pies at Belmont School, on the first Saturday in December, our second festive event is natural wreath making and decorating for Christmas. Sixteen members of the Society gathered for a sunny morning walk, gathering greenery in a private wood in Wonersh, near Guildford.
Foraging for winter greenery
The group then spent two happy hours talking and drinking mulled punch and mince pies while making some beautiful natural wreaths from twigs, moss, holly, ivy, yew and rose hips.
Volunteer leaders Chris Howard and Charlotte Choi led the group, while Jeff Holliday and Ken Bare kept the mulled punch and mince pies flowing. Chris said ” we had such a range of people come from a mum and 7 month old baby, to a mum with three grown up daughters who come every year to our wreath making. It is one of their family’s little treats over the festive season.”
Chris also explained that with all the talk about Climate change and habitat loss, it was important to cherish our wonderful native plants like holly and ivy. The prickly holly makes a great hiding place for small birds, and the berries a natural food source. The ivy flowers late in the autumn so is a great source of nectar for insects, as well as great nesting sites for birds in the summer. Chris added “I encourage the participants to plant holly, ivy and yew in their gardens, so not only can they decorate their houses festively and cheaply at Christmas time, but they are also helping to sustain this counties wildlife all year round.
All finished and feeling Christmassy now
The next event in our festive season line up is a walk around Guildford on 27th December, called “Walk off your Christmas Pudding” led by Pete Lambert.
