National Trust, The South Downs

Book your place on this creative writing retreat from our partners Writing Our Legacy 💚

Join us for a one-day writing retreat with Razia Aziz & Anuja Sharma at Saddlescombe Farm on the 10th of August, from 10am to 7pm. Part of , led by National Trust, The South Downs, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. We'll embrace tenderness amidst a fast-paced world, connecting with our hearts through sound, silence, and nature. Expect a guided inner reflection and exercises, a fire circle, optional walks, writing time & a meal!

This workshop is for all writers, from beginners to seasoned professionals. Pre-work and prompts will be provided. Sharing is optional, but we encourage you to come with an openness to read your work. Join us for the entire day to fully immerse yourself in the experience! Refreshments and snacks will be provided all day. Please bring your own lunch.

To find out more and/or to book your place:
https://writingourlegacy.org.uk/product/summer-season-wol-changing-chalk-creative-writing-retreat/

Amazing work by South Downs National Park volunteers at Castle Down. 😍

Come along on Saturday 6 July to the Tiny Beasts Bug Hunt at Southwick Hill!

Bring your family along to this FREE EVENT and spot some superb Southwick Hill nature. Climb the hill to a whole new world and meet the tiny creatures and bugs that live here.

Part of the Southwick Hill Festival of Nature and History. Find more details on our website or at the link in our Bio

Drop in 11am to 2.00pm.

Meet at Mile Oak Farm opposite the farm shop, or come and find us on the hill 😊🦗🌿
Please park considerately, parking under the tunnel on Mile Oak Road before the farm.
Please dress appropriately for the weather. All events involve some steep slopes. For more information contact [email protected]

Led by the connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by the thanks to players, and .
Together we are

📷 ©National Trust Images/John Millar
🐛

Did you know that over 13,000 acres of the South Downs belongs to the people of Brighton and Hove?

🦋🦗🐝

Join us next Friday at Shoreham Port's Sustainability Week to hear about Brighton and Hove Food Partnership’s first agroecological farming project, Land Use Plus. We'll discuss our vision for food, people and nature on the downs, and how we are supporting Brighton and Hove City Council to deliver their City Downland Estate plan.

Book your spot via the link in our bio.

Find out more about how worked with the and to discover archaeology in Eastbourne’s Parsonage Gardens and Manor Gardens. This community project is helping to bring the Bourne’s story alive through a range of activities: archaeology, creative writing, folklore, memory and local history.

One of the objects they found was this Royal Navy Button.

Read the blog about the project here

https://www.blueheart.org.uk/bourne-blog/

Led by connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by - thanks to players, and .
Together we are

Holiday clubs from our partners Railway Land Wildlife Trust 🐾🪲🌿

🙌Brilliant feature about the work of another Associate Artist Alinah Azadeh (artist)😍

A huge welcome to Pauline Rutter who is the newest Associate Artist for 2024-25!

Her project, ‘From Collections to Connections,’ launches on June 29th, 2-4 pm @ 194 D**e Rd, Brighton BN1 5AA. This initiative welcomes Black and minoritised youth, their families, and communities to explore the flora and fauna history in the South Downs National Park. 😀🌿🎉

Two great events coming up from our partners Writing Our Legacy including a fascinating talk about the life of African American taxidermist, caterer, exhibition organiser and showman James Henry Hubbard who purchased the D**e estate at Devils D**e in 1890. And what a life it was! 🐾🐻‍❄️🎡🎠

How do you see the world around you? How do you interact with it? How do you explore it? Through a series of short films and images the Connected Downs exhibition charts the journey and discovery of how some young South Downs folk see the world around them and the role that digital technology plays in this. Themes that we will be exploring in more depth through the project.

Visit: July 3 – 6 11 – 4

The Minthouse, Pevensey, BN24 5LF

This exhibition is a funded project by the University of Brighton through the UKRI Impact Acceleration Account, from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It has been led by Mark Wells who is a senior lecturer in the school of art and media at the University of Brighton.

Supporting: Changing Chalk: Led by the connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by the - thanks to players, and .

Eastbourne Borough Council

Did you know Devil's D**e is Britain's longest, widest and deepest dry valley?

Unlike many valleys, it wasn't formed by glacial action but instead by a huge volume of water cascading over the Downs as part of the thaw at the end of the last Ice Age.

📷 Daniel Greenwood photography

**e

Members of Sussex Past are invited to get involved in a fantastic opportunity this July, as part of the Changing Chalk Project, a partnership led by National Trust, The South Downs.

Running from Tuesday 9th to Friday 12th July, Members can take part in an Aerial Identification and Earthwork Survey Course at Saddlescombe Farm, near Brighton.

The free course will contain a mixture of classroom learning and practical work on some impressive earthworks.

Find out more here, including how to get involved:
https://sussexpast.co.uk/changing-chalk-volunteering/

What is conservation grazing? In this blog series from our project partners they ask the following question

“Can livestock, grazing for nature recovery on the South Downs, also be part of a sustainable local food system?”

Follow the blog series on their website

https://bit.ly/4exXkUX (link in bio)

Led by the connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by with thanks to players, and .

Together we are



📷©National Trust Images/John Millar

Light influences our world in fascinating ways. As we join global cultural celebrations for the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year, let's consider how these astronomical events impact even the tiniest creatures around us.

Here's how changing daylight affects wildlife:
☀️The length of day and night signals changing seasons to living organisms. For those at higher latitudes, this dramatically impacts their biology, especially reproduction;
🦋 Insects at higher latitudes often exhibit a “long-day” response, with heightened activity, development, and reproduction during the short summer nights;
🌙 Seasonal changes in the length of day regulate development. Short summer nights and higher temperatures speed up growth and development of insects, ensuring they mature at the optimum time;
💡Light pollution can disrupt this delicate balance, changing insect behaviour, growth and development, potentially putting insects out of sync with the natural rhythm.

👣 Let's be mindful of our light footprint and its impact on nature. This Solstice let’s make sure it is .

ℹ️ Find out how 👇
www.buglife.org.uk/campaigns/light-pollution/curtains-for-light-pollution/
📷 Female Glow-worm in South West England ©️ David Smith

This Gypsy Roma and Traveller History Month we celebrate the history and heritage of the generations of communities that have lived and worked on the South Downs.

Visit our website to read a piece about the traditional occupations of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community on the South Downs by Romany Gypsy Historian Janet Keet-Black.

https://bit.ly/49dZ4iL

Led by the connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by - thanks to players, and .

Together we are

📷©Royal Pavilion & Museums Brighton & Hove

Why not start off with a Sunday Butterfly safari at the wonderful Waterhall nature reserve 🦋🌿 Its FREE

The Butterflies & Day-Flying Moths of Waterhall
Join Wilding Waterhall's ranger Paul Gorringe on a Butterfly safari around Brighton's newest nature reserve!
Saddlescombe Road Brighton BN45 7DB
Sunday, June 23 · 11am - 1:30pm
Register for this free event here:-
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-butterflies-day-flying-moths-of-waterhall-tickets-927166478897?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Every June since 2008, people from across the UK have celebrated Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month (GRTHM)

has been working with Gypsy Roma and Traveller equality charity Friends, Families and Travellers on a cultural heritage project which aims to uncover hidden histories and recognise and celebrate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage as a vital part of the Downs story.

Jake Bowers, journalist, filmmaker, Romany blacksmith and project collaborator says: "For many hundreds of years Gypsies and Travellers have lived, worked and travelled in the South Downs, contributing their bit to one of the most beautiful of British landscapes. Yet look closely and evidence for that past is almost impossible to see".

One way that has been highlighting the heritage of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community is through commissioning 'Prissy – Queen of the South' a life-sized sculpture of a Gypsy cob horse.

Her story began in early 2023 when Jake and members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities set about her creation.

Watch the film of Prissy’s story and creation here.

Led by the , connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by the - thanks to players, and .
Together we are

Meet Priscilla Queen of the South Meet Prissy, a life-size Gypsy cob horse forged in steel by artist blacksmith, Jake Bowers, as part of Changing Chalk’s Gypsy, Roma, Traveller cultural histo...

Today is and we are celebrating the communities that have lived here in Sussex on the South Downs stretching back over thousands of years.

As part of the Downs from Above project with Historic England has used aerial imagery to map hundreds of archaeological sites dating from the Neolithic to the Second World War across 192 square kilometres of the South Downs on the outskirts of Brighton. Some of which is now lost under modern development, but most is now waiting to be rediscovered.

Now we need your help to visit these sites, assess condition, and interpret what we see on the ground to learn more about how the landscape of the Downs has changed. We are also asking you to help enhance the stories our heritage tells us by adding your own memories, old photos or comments to the area.

In turn you will be helping others to discover and connect with this incredible Downland landscape and its remarkable past.

You can link to the interactive map here https://bit.ly/3yWLfIl
or at the link in our bio.

Led by the connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by the - thanks to players, and .

Together we are




📷National Trust/Laurence Perry

We are thrilled to announce a talk about the African American taxidermist, caterer, exhibition organiser and showman James Henry Hubbard, who in 1890 purchased the D**e Estate at Devils D**e, on the South Downs in Sussex. Join us for this talk to uncover the hidden history rooted in the South Downs!

🗓️ Sunday, June 30, 2024
🕚 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
📍 Saddlescombe Road, Brighton, BN45 7DE

James Henry Hubbard was born in Toronto, Canada in 1847, one of nine children, and was of mixed-race descent from a family of refugee American slaves that arrived in Canada from Virginia in 1840. He collected specimens of large animals in the Canadian Arctic which were exhibited in London and ended up at the Horniman Museum.

Author and pier expert Martin Easdown will be present, along with representatives from Brighton & Hove Black History and writers from Writing Our Legacy’s Changing Chalk project. Writing Our Legacy CEO and Founder Amy Zamarripa Solis and National Trust ranger Dan Fagan will also be there to welcome you.

Don't miss this fascinating event! 🌟
Get your free ticket. Donations welcome:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/916270869837?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join our free ‘Maisha Stories | No Place Like Home’ workshops in June at Lewes Depot, an accessible venue.

📅 Dates & Times:
Sunday, June 23: 12pm - 2pm
Sunday, June 30: 2pm - 4pm
✨ Share your experiences with Sussex Police and help improve EDI in police practices through storytelling.
👥 Open to BPOC individuals in Sussex. No experience needed!
🎨 Enjoy oral storytelling, creative writing, and visual arts with guest artist Akila Richards
🍴 Refreshments provided.

Hosted by Writing Our Legacy and diversitylewes.org.uk Don't miss out!

Book your free place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/912118489957?aff=oddtdtcreator



Supported by the University of Brighton's Community - University Partnership Programme. This University of Brighton project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Funded by AHRC Impact Account and Arts Council England.

Great news from the Rangers of another rare visitor to Southwick Hill. 😍A male Cirl Bunting!

Last spotted in Sussex in 1996 and not thought to have bred in the county since the 1980s, the Cirl Bunting was once a widespread species in Britain. Intensification of agriculture over the last century has led to a catastrophic decline, with a reintroduced population on the Devonshire and Cornish coast being the only breeding population left in England.

With moves to more sustainable practices, there are small signs of the species beginning to recover and it is a great honour that this amazing bird has decided that the recent conservation work we have been doing with volunteers at Southwick Hill is to his liking. 🎉🌿

The species needs a mix of diverse mature scrub and grassland, with a rich supply of invertebrates in the breeding season to feed its young, and ample seed over winter in close proximity as they don’t disperse very far.

The tenants of neighbouring Mile Oak Farm have been working to support farmland birds, with the creation of seed rich headland strips on arable margins and supplementary feeding stations.

Lynn Beun who is a Farmland Bird Surveyor for the British Trust for Ornithology has seen an increase in Red-listed Linnet and Yellowhammer over recent years as a result, and is delighted that she manged to record a Cirl Bunting for the first time on her most recent transect.

Led by the connects nature, people and heritage to restore lost habitats, bring histories to life and offer new experiences in the outdoors.
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund with thanks players, and .
Together we are



📷 © Keith Wilson