WIN a Family Ticket to Gilbert White's House
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FREE SOUTHDOWNS VIEW SPRING/SUMMER 2019 Summer events schedule inside WIN a PAGE 16 family Help save the ticket to bees Gilbert PAGE 5 White’s Sally Gunnell House talks about PAGE 10 her love of the South Downs PAGE 8 PERFECTLY SEASONED .................................................................4 BEE LINES .......................................................................................... 5 THE POWER OF CHALK .................................................................6 VISITOR GIVING .............................................................................. 7 OLYMPIAN SALLY GUNNELL TALKS ABOUT HER LOVE FOR THE SOUTH DOWNS ........................................8 IT’S YOUR FUTURE..........................................................................9 The South THE HOME OF GILBERT WHITE ................................................ 10 Downs Centre HIDDEN TREASURES ..................................................................... 11 MAP .................................................................................................. 12 Midhurst, West Sussex, BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD ............................................ 14 GU29 9DH EVENTS ............................................................................................ 16 01730 814810 Home of the National Park Authority, NEW AWARDS CELEBRATE OUTSTANDING DESIGN IN THE NATIONAL PARK..................................................................22 a community hub, visitor information centre and exhibition about the SOUTH DOWNS RAMBLER ........................................................22 National Park. SPRING/SUMMER 2019 ALL IN A DAY’S WORK ................................................................23 Opening Hours This magazine is printed on 90% FSC® recycled paper. This FSC® paper is sourced from FSC® certified mills and is from sustainable sources. Monday to Thursday: 09:00-17:00 Please Friday: 09:00-16:30 recycle me after use CONTENTS Saturday & Bank Holidays: (Easter to end of October only) 09:00-13:00 Front cover photograph © parkerphotography/Alamy Stock Photo INFORMATION POINTS Aldershot Visitor Information Chichester Tourist Information Littlehampton Tourist Centre Centre Information Centre visit-hampshire.co.uk visitchichester.org sussexbythesea.com 01252 320968 01243 950412 Seaford Tourist Information Arundel Visitor Information Eastbourne Tourist Information Centre Point Centre seafordtown.co.uk arundel.org.uk visiteastbourne.com Worthing Visitor Information Bognor Regis Visitor 01323 415415 Centre Information Point Haslemere Visitor Information discoverworthing.uk sussexbythesea.com Centre 01903 221066 Brighton Tourist Information haslemere.com/vic Winchester City Mill and Shop 01428 645425 Point visitwinchester.co.uk/winchester- visitbrighton.com Horsham Visitor Information city-mill-shop 01273 290337 Centre 01962 870057 visithorsham.co.uk Burgess Hill Tourist Information Winchester Tourist Information 01403 597474 Centre Centre burgesshill.gov.uk/leisuretourism Lewes Tourist Information visitwinchester.co.uk 01444 238202 Centre 01962 840500 staylewes.org 01273 483448 2 SOUTH DOWNS VIEW – SPRING/SUMMER 2019 SOUTH WIN DOWNS £250 Rebecca Saunders Editor PHOTO COMPETITION Welcome to the South Downs National Park 2019–20 Escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life by getting outside and breathing in some fresh air Theme: Experience the can improve your mental and physical wellbeing Natural World immensely. etting active in the National The beautiful South Downs National Park provides the perfect Park is easy and fun. So, as space for everyone to get out into nature be it for a short 2019 is the national “Year of riverside walk, an adrenaline fuelled cycle on the South Downs Green Action”, our judges Way or some stargazing atop a peaceful hill, there really is are looking for inspiring Gimages that capture the beauty of the something here for everyone to enjoy. National Park – all while being active! In this edition of South Downs View, Olympian Sally Gunnell Whether it’s walking, cycling, tells us why she loves the healing power of the countryside and horseriding, walking the dog, counting how the South Downs have been her ‘green gym’ for training butterflies, bird-watching or having a throughout her career. picnic, we’re looking for images that show people out enjoying this amazing If you’re looking for some inspiration for a weekend landscape. Impress our judges to win adventure, check out the map on the centre pages which the first prize of £250. details some of the main South Downs attractions. Discover the This year we’re also offering £100 – show us homes of literary legends, explore the remains of historical hill for the best wildlife photo your close encounters with the stunning forts or simply sit back and sample some tasty local delicacies. species of the South Downs. On page 16 view a list of family friendly events taking place The competition closes at midday right across the National Park. With wildlife walks, country fairs, on Friday 18 October 2019. To enter, historical talks and farm open days there’s an event for every and for full terms and conditions, visit southdowns.gov.uk/photo- member of the family. competition. Inside you’ll also find two competitions. Grab yourself a family ticket to visit the newly renovated Gilbert White House and Museum (page 10), and six lucky winners can get their paws on a Dicky Bag – everything you need on a lead to make your dog walks in the South Downs that bit more pleasant (page 14). As always, while you’re out and about exploring the National Park, please tag us in your photos on social media #southdowns, and why not enter our photo competition: ‘Experience the Natural World’, which this year has a category specifically for wildlife photos. Finally, don’t forget you can keep up to date on all South Downs news throughout the year by signing up for our monthly newsletter – southdowns.gov.uk/join-the-newsletter. Happy exploring! Roe deer © Elliott Neep SOUTH DOWNS VIEW – SPRING/SUMMER 2019 3 Perfectly Autumn Gold by Seasoned Lorraine Heaysman We were inundated with entries for the 2018/19 South Downs photo competition, with an array of images showing stunning and interesting variations on the theme ‘perfectly seasoned’. Here are the winning photos… Early morning light casts shadows across an ethereal autumn mist, witnessed only by rolling hills and one small bird in Lorraine Heaysman’s winning image taken from the hills above Upwaltham. Lorraine’s photo has such emotional impact and really showcases the South Downs National Park as a world class destination ...says Competition judge Steve Watkins, editor of Outdoor Photography Magazine. “The competition was phenomenally tough this year but Lorraine’s ethereal photo, which completely fitted the theme ‘Perfectly Seasoned’, is a well-deserved winner.” Second prize went to Dominic Vacher for his picture ‘Race Race against time by Dominic Vacher against time’ taken from Tegdown Hill north of Brighton during last summer’s heatwave. The last light hits the dust of a farmer racing to bring his harvest home as the evening shadows lengthen. “I love the pace, lines and colours of Dominic’s photo,” says competition judge Finn Hopson, local photographer and owner of Brighton Photography Gallery. “This is the life of a farmer, out working in the National Park in 2018 and yet it captures the feeling of those old war time photos designed to remind people of what a special place the South Downs is.” Third prize was won by Clive Blott for his show-stopping portrait of a cow taken on a very cold January morning near Midhurst. “The textures in Clive’s photo are wonderful,” says award- winning photographer and competition judge Rachael Talibart. “He has made this cow, with its frozen eyelashes, ears hung with icicles and snow-covered nose, look heroic – like a polar explorer.” Freshly Frozen by Clive Blott 4 SOUTH DOWNS VIEW – SPRING/SUMMER 2019 BEE LINES The iconic chalk grassland of the South Downs attracts ...pollinators are not a multitude of pollinators (such as bees and butterflies) only an important part of with its array of stunning wildflowers. However, with a the food chain, they are deterioration in chalk grassland and flower-rich habitats vital to grow most of the these key pollinating species are on the decline and in food we eat. need of your help. Although originally extensive, chalk grassland now covers just 5,608ha of the How can you National Park (4% of its total area). During the Second World War much of help the downland across the South Downs was ploughed and has remained under To support the Bee Lines project cultivation. More recent intensification of the South Downs National Park farming methods has contributed to the Trust is looking to raise £75,000. fragmentation of this important habitat If you’d like to help protect bee making it harder for key pollinator species and butterfly species in the like the bee and the Adonis blue butterfly South Downs please donate via to thrive and move through the landscape. the Trust’s secure webpage: This is bad news for everyone as southdownstrust.org.uk pollinators are not only an important part of the food chain, they are vital to grow most of the food we eat. But all is not lost… Launching in late spring 2019 we will be working with farmers within the Arun to Adur area, to create wildflower corridors linking species-rich chalk grassland to sites which are in need of pollination. Simply sowing commercially sourced wildflower seeds is sadly not enough