HEATH NEWS Friends of Reigate Heath Newsletter Summer 2010 Issue 11 [email protected] c/c Heath Farm, Reigate, RH2 8QP www.reigateheath.org Free mailing list & newsletter. Donations welcome .

YOUR VIEWS …. YOUR HEATH! ‘We need to know your views on how we should shape the future of the heath.’ Reigate & Borough Council have organized various consultation events including an exhibition which is an exciting new initiative to give everyone an opportunity to learn and comment on the way the Heath is managed in the future. Full information is attached to this newsletter.

There will be a Public Meeting at 6.30pm on 12 July at the Town Hall , at which the Reigate Heath Management Plan 2011 – 2015 will be presented. Concerns about the scale of tree-felling will be on the agenda after the recent local petition highlighting public concern on this issue.

The Heath Church by Anthony Parker Moths, Bats & Glow-worms by Robin Gritton

Most local residents know about the Windmill After a slow start due to adverse weather Church on Reigate Heath but fewer are aware of conditions, the second season of moth surveys is the Heath Church, down the lane at the SW end of underway. The hard winter, late spring and the the row of houses on Flanchford Road. The persistent winds from northerly direction have not church’s notice board at the corner of Flanchford produced ideal conditions. However there have Road shows where it is, but the building itself is been some surprises. Moths are capable of barely visible from the road. It stands in a small travelling great distances and some species which well-tended garden, largely concealed by a hedge. either have never been recorded in the county or have not been seen for many years are appearing. The church was opened in 1907. It is one of a Along with bees and other insects, moths play an number of prefabricated 'iron churches' which important pollinating role. “It will take about five were built at this time, both in this country and or more years before we can begin to build a overseas. More than 50 people worship here picture of what is out there on Reigate Heath” regularly. While they would be the first to admit says team-leader and moth expert Robert Cramp. that from the outside it is not the most beautiful church in , they would also claim that the It is good news that the comparatively rare interior is much brighter and more welcoming Serotine Bats along with the more common than the exterior implies. Pipistrelle have been identified on the heath this June. There are reports too that Glow-worms are A daughter church of St Mary Magdalene, in present in greater numbers this year which is Chart Lane, the Heath Church has services every encouraging news for the heath. If anyone has got Sunday at 10.30am, and at 6.30pm on the second records of sightings over the years, please do and fourth Sundays of the month. A number of contact us! other activities take place, and a monthly mid- week service is held. The church will be open on Heritage Open Day, Saturday September 11 th .

Many thanks to Councillor Whinney who has generously recommended us for two Councillor Community Awards ! in 2009, £150 towards work printing and mailing costs of our newsletters; in 2010, £200 towards the essential equipment and running costs of the moth survey. This is a great help as we rely on donations Reigate Heath News Summer 2010 Issue 11

In memory of DEREK HILL (4 Feb 1925 to 22 Dec 2009)

A personal message from Susan Medcalf:

It was with great sadness that I heard of Derek’s death last December. Derek will be sorely missed by many of us, not only for his extensive knowledge and understanding of our local flora but for his kind and generous nature. He was always encouraging and informative in the early days of Friends of Reigate Heath and was ready to offer help on a variety of levels despite his fragile health, such as on guided walks, newsletter articles and providing help with the heath plant database. His modesty and sense of wonder in the local flora was and continues to be an inspiration.

In the 1980s Derek tried, unfortunately unsuccessfully, to encourage Wildlife Trust to purchase the formerly lush wet meadows near the Skimmington, called the ‘Eastern Marshy Meadows’ still part of Reigate Heath SSSI. He was aware of the botanical significance of this site on a national level, particularly as it contained populations of a hybrid orchid in addition to many other rare species. He could foresee the threat to this special area from local water extraction. Unfortunately he was right and now we have all but lost this special habitat through negligence. We owe it to Derek’s memory to do all we can to pull together to help raise the water level of this area again. His lasting legacy has to be the gift of an insatiable curiosity for exploring and sharing with both old and young in the wonders in our local flora - in familiar open spaces like the Heath but also right under our noses in our lawns and verges! Thank you, dear Derek.

Derek’s obituary by Peter Coxhead, reprinted by kind permission of the Surrey Botanical Society.

Derek grew up in Purley where he attended a school on Purley Downs. In 1940 he went with his mother to North Wales for safety from the bombing of . This increased his love of the countryside particularly of that area and it was there, too, that he decided one day he would keep bees. Sciences, particularly chemistry, were of great interest to Derek. In due course he went to university and obtained a degree in general science – a degree in chemistry came later. Eventually he was employed by the then well-known paint manufacturer Hadfields in where he became Chief Chemist and later their Technical Director. The company was sold and Derek took the opportunity to set up a manufacturing consultancy in .

He and Pamela married in 1951 and had a home built in Colley Way at the base of . Meanwhile Derek studied part time for his Ph.D. In the front lawn of their home there was a population of naturally occurring Ophrys apifera (Bee Orchid) in which he took great pleasure in caring for. It was here that he satisfied his boyhood dream of keeping bees. He became Chairman of the local branch of the British Beekeepers Association and carried out several national surveys on the over-wintering of bees which led to him being invited to become a Fellow of the Linnean Society.

Derek and Pamela joined the Surrey Flora Committee (SFC) in 1984 and it was not long before flora records were sent to Joyce Smith, the county recorder at that time. Derek was elected to the post of Chairman of the Surrey Flora Committee in 2002, only resigning in 2005 through ill-health. During his chairmanship the name of Surrey Flora Committee, founded in 1957, was changed to Surrey Botanical Society. Derek was also, for some years, county recorder for the British Bryological Society.

He was particularly interested in some sites – Colley Hill was one. It has an interesting chalk flora and is especially known for its small colony of Salvia pratensis (Meadow Clary), which he looked after for English Nature. Just north of his garden is a meadow that he managed for Colley Wood Syndicate. For the same syndicate he managed a nearby copse.

Reigate Heath was another favourite site which had a flora distinctively different from Colley Hill. Derek knew it when it had some significant wet areas – sadly no longer there because of a lowered water table.

. Reigate Heath News Summer 2010 Issue 11

Information from Reigate & Banstead Borough Council:

Full details can be found on http://www.reigate- banstead.gov.uk/leisure/parks_and_countryside/parks_and_playgrounds/reigateheath/heathmanage mentplan/index.asp Reigate Heath Management Plan consultation

We need to know your views on how we should shape the future of the heath.

Reigate Heath is managed by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council in accordance with a management plan. The first plan was written and adopted by the borough in 1993 and has since been updated in 2000 and 2006.

We are currently revising the 2006 plan to guide management of the Heath from 2011 to 2015.

Consultation events

We will be hosting a number of consultation events. Please let us know your views and give us your suggestions by filling in the questionnaires available at these events or completing the online survey at the bottom of this page.

Monday 21 June - Sunday 27 July

Exhibition at Reigate Town Hall and Redhill Library.

Saturday 26 June

Exhibition at Priory Park Community Festival (Countryside Rangers stand).

Monday 28 June - Friday 2 July

Exhibition at the sports pavilion at Reigate Heath.

Tuesday 29 June

Guided Walk at 12.00 noon. Meet at Flanchford Road Car Park, Reigate Heath.

Wednesday 30 June

Guided Walk at 6.30pm. Meet at Flanchford Road Car Park, Reigate Heath.

Open session afterwards

There is an open session afterwards at Reigate Heath Golf Club including exhibition and light refreshments.

Reigate Heath News Summer 2010 Issue 11

Tuesday 6 July

Guided Walk at 10am. Meet at Flanchford Road Car Park, Reigate Heath.

Monday 12 July

Public meeting to discuss Reigate Heath, 6.30pm at Reigate Town Hall.

If you are unable to attend any of the consultation events, the exhibition can be viewed here. Please email any comments or suggestions to us at [email protected].

Documents to download:

Please go to http://www.reigate- banstead.gov.uk/leisure/parks_and_countryside/parks_and_playgrounds/reigateheath/heathmanagementpla n/index.asp to find these. These files are large and may take time to download.

• Exhibition • Leaflet • Poster • The current management plan 2006-2010 or current management plan 2006-10 (Word doc) .

Online survey

• Reigate Heath Management Plan consultation .