During the afternoon of 7th June, Surrey Hills Society was delighted to be awarded the ‘Working in Partnership with Communities’ award by Surrey Choices as part of their Celebrating Success Awards Ceremony at Denbies.

The award recognised the strong partnership working and commitment that the Surrey Hills Society and Surrey Hills National Landscape have towards working with the Surrey Choices Growth Team over the last 18 months.

Surrey Choices provides a range of support services which are dedicated to improving the independence, confidence and life skills of disabled people, autistic people and those with other support needs, whatever their age, in the local community.

In particular, the Surrey Choices Growth Team provides its customers with fantastic opportunities to gain conservation, access, and gardening work experience. Customers are offered training and support to carry out practical gardening and conservation tasks which help preserve the Surrey countryside and public spaces.

The Growth Team have contributed enormously to conservation and access projects across the Surrey Hills managing habitats and access for people and nature. They are now recognised as Surrey Hills Conservation Volunteers and have engaged in hedge planting, tree popping, scrub clearance, tree planting, Himalayan balsam pulling, dead hedging as well as contributing to the new Yew Tree boardwalk at Newlands Corner.

The team are trained to use strimmers and other machines, which many of our volunteers are not trained use so the contribution they make is invaluable and a great asset to the management of the Surrey Hills.

The Society has absolutely loved working with the Growth Team and getting to know individual members more closely.

We are honoured to have won the award and look forward to continuing working together on future projects across the Surrey Hills.

Christa Emmett and Gordon Jackson

In early June a group of some fifty of us were lucky enough to take part in Surrey Hills Conservation Day at Cross Farm in Shackleford organised by Christa Emmett Surrey Hills Society Project and Volunteer Co-ordinator.

Members of the SHS along with local families and friends with ages from three years upwards found there were plenty of activities to enjoy.

It was particularly rewarding seeing how the younger visitors including those in their teens were interested in all aspects of conservation, actively participated in the various activities, and were willing to ask questions.

Angus Stovold, whose family have owned and farmed at Cross Farm for over 80 years, is passionate about conserving the Surrey Hills and a great advocate of environmental farming. On a tractor ride around the farm, he not only pointed out stunning countryside views but engaged us all by explaining the importance of the extensive planting of hedgerows and trees, avoidance of any pesticide and leaving wild-flower meadows.

We also learnt a lot about bats from the Surrey Bat Group and about hedgehogs and how to attract them safely into gardens by an ecologist from Kingston University.

Many of the younger group enjoyed making bird feeders and finding a variety of insects by sweeping the meadow with large nets. Bug Life, the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, highlighted the decline in insects and what can be done to save them.
Finally on a nature walk through the fields while we spotted only a couple of butterflies because of the strong wind we saw grasshoppers and ladybirds along with a variety of birds including swallows, swifts and red kites.

On arrival we were given a “Five Senses Nature Scavenger Hunt” to tick off, but with so many other activities I am not too sure how many were completed.

It proved to be a very enjoyable and productive day; I am sure everyone of us came away having learnt something new.

We are grateful to all volunteers who gave up their time to make it such a success.

Susie Turner

On Wednesday 17th May 2023 we worked with the Community Investment and
Engagement Team of Surrey County Council at Woodcote Farm in West Horsley.

Read the whole story here.

To help all of our members, we are introducing a system whereby every walk will be categorised as either Easy, Moderate or Challenging.  The details of these categories are set out below.   

Easy 

A sedate walk at a relaxed pace with frequent stops and no steep inclines. The walk is normally  between 2 and 3 miles.  There may be stiles to negotiate.

Moderate

A medium walk with a constant but reasonably comfortable pace.  You should expect sections of different inclines and some steep hills.  There may be a few short stops at points of interest but otherwise it will be at a unbroken steady tempo.  The walk will be around 4 to 5 miles.

Challenging

A reasonably demanding walk, for people who are fairly fit/brisk walkers.  The pace will be around 2 to 3 miles per hour and the terrain may be difficult.  There may not be any stops incorporated into the walk.  The length of walk would normally be around 6 miles or more.

All walk leaders will know the walk they have organised and they are responsible for all attendees.  If they feel that you may not be capable of keeping up with the pace they need to set in order to complete the walk within the time allocated, they will be at liberty to refuse you to join the group as this may affect the enjoyment of the other attendees and could prove to be dangerous.  Please be aware of your own personal fitness to avoid disappointment.

Gordon Jackson, Chairman

As the nice weather arrives for the Easter holidays, the entire series of our North Downs Way walk is now available on BBC Sounds. The link below takes you to the 4 episodes and you can also link to the individual days on socials.

Click here to listen.

Chris Howard

On Tuesday 21st March, a group of 22 society members made a visit to Bletchingley and some of the surrounding area. We formed two groups so that numbers were more manageable with one group doing a walk in the morning, and the other a tour of the village, and in the afternoon, after lunch in the Red Lion, we swapped over.

Mr. David Martin of The Bletchingley Conservation and Historical Society kindly took us around the village giving us plenty of interesting and historical information.

The walks were led by Victoria Gregory, also of the Bletchingley Conservation and Historical Society. She took on the task of walking us to the outer lying places. Thus providing the opportunity to stumble across some other interesting buildings. The house at Place Farm formed the gatehouse of Bletchingley Palace; a great Tudor house, which Anne of Cleves occupied after her marriage to Henry VIII, was annulled. Also, to the north can be found Brewer Street Farm (15th century) and the Old Rectory (1786).

The existence of the village can be traced back as far as Saxon times and was subsequently mentioned in the Domesday book. It is still possible to find signs of this long history today; parts of the Church date back to 1100 with considerable enlargements in the 13th century. This long history means that it is still possible to see several buildings that date back to around 1500 in the High Street area.

David was able to tell us a lot about the church while we were in there, before our walk up the High Street.

In 1225 there is mention of Bletchingley as a borough. In the Middle Ages a borough was created either by the King or one of the Lords as a potentially profitable element in the development of their estates. It appears that after the 14th century Bletchingley began to lose its importance as a borough, perhaps losing out to the market town of Reigate. However, at one point it managed to achieve the status of a rotten borough !! Parliamentary elections were held in what is now the Whyte Harte Hotel.

This was a very interesting, informative and enjoyable visit, so next time you are in the area we recommend that you stop and have a wander.

Joyce and Ray Jessop

A small group of off-roaders continue to carve out illegal tracks in an area of ancient woodland in the Surrey Hills. In response, off-road user groups, residents and landowners are now united in taking action by reporting this illegal activity to the police to assist them in prosecuting the offenders.

Green Lane Association Director and Surrey local Stuart Boreham said “It’s always infuriating to see the selfish actions of a few damaging the countryside we all love. Driving unsurfaced roads and byways, often called ‘green laning’, is a hobby enjoyed across the nation by our 5000 members and many others. We see drivers of all ages, races, and backgrounds, able-bodied and less able, peacefully using their vehicles to access the countryside. The Green Lane Association will, as here, always support councils and local groups to promote and enforce safe legal laning for all. I look forward to action being taken against the vandals.”

Kristina Kenworthy, Chair of the Surrey Hills Byways Working Group said “I am saddened and shocked by the ongoing abuse by a small group of off-road users, inflicting such destruction in the bluebell woods and special landscape of the Surrey Hills. This is not a new issue, but I am pleased to see the collaboration between residents, community groups, local councils and organisations and the Surrey Police to take serious action. A huge thank you to Surrey County Council for all their efforts so far in supporting the mitigation of this issue.”

Chairman of Mole Valley District Council, Paul Potter, who is a keen motorcyclist and advocate for safe and respectful riding along our green lanes, and Claire Malcomson, member of the Surrey Hills Board and Climate Change Cabinet Member for Mole Valley, with residents and concerned stakeholders have been attending regular meetings in the Ranmore area to try to save our green lanes. Some parts of these ancient byways are being destroyed by what could be just a handful of off roaders breaking the law through trespass, churning up the land and destroying the special woodlands in the Surrey Hills. This creates deep ruts in the tracks that then fill with water and make them impassable.

These meetings have welcomed the support of Surrey Police to help take serious action against this illegal and destructive activity.

Cllr Malcomson said, “We are so very thankful to the police for taking this seriously and supporting the residents. We want to also thank the Surrey Hills National Landscape for organising and funding the initiative. This will then deter the behaviour, supply evidence of who is doing this and identify the culprits. What a team.”

Damage by Off Road vehicles at Ranmore Common in the Surrey Hills National Landscape.

The Surrey Hills National Landscape is one of 46 nationally protected landscapes in the UK, having equal landscape status and protection to a national park. The Surrey Hills was designated on 8 May 1958, which makes it the first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now known as National Landscapes) in southern England to be designated (the first was the Gower Peninsula near Swansea in 1956). The Surrey Hills National Landscape stretches across a quarter of the county of Surrey and includes the chalk slopes of the North Downs from Farnham in the west to Oxted in the east, and extends south to the deeply wooded Greensand Hills which rise in Haslemere. The Surrey Hills Board is a Joint Advisory Committee which is funded by Defra, the National Trust, Surrey County Council and the local authorities within the Surrey Hills area. For further information on the Surrey Hills please visit www.surreyhills.org

On Thursday 26 January we visited The Guildford Institute, an old and venerable building just off North Street, where after climbing many stairs (or taking the lift), we enjoyed learning about our Surrey area past and present.

The sell-out lecture was delivered by Lorraine Spindler a Military Historian, Genealogist, ex curator of Leatherhead Museum and all-round knowledgeable Surrey lady.

The informal talk was accompanied by slides and the clever technology that was able to pinpoint areas where past architecture could be uncovered beneath the various guises of different stages and eras of modernity.

Guests attending were encouraged to ask questions and there were many “oh I remember” comments on the nearer past about buildings which are long gone or replaced. We were also shown projected images of our towns planned modernisation. There was not a great deal of enthusiasm shown for future “improvements”!

Suitably educated and in need of refreshment we all trooped into the Institute dining room for tea, coffee, and an array of homemade cakes. Here we were beautifully entertained by the accomplished Trevor who played semi classical and “music from the movies” tunes on the old and perfectly preserved Bechstein piano.

The Institute has proved to be a good venue offering many possibilities for future events…..watch this space!

Heather Aitken