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Announcements
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ACTION FOR ACCESS
Walking and working for a people’s countryside
We broke open Breaky Bottom!
[aerial photograph & map]
Press release
12th June 2010
Today a bunch of walkers from as far away as Dorset and the Chilterns walked the forbidden Access Land site of Breaky Bottom
farm and vineyard, near Rodmell, to say:
“A big Raspberry to the selfish landowner who wishes to remove a right of access that has taken 130 years[i] to secure”.
They had with them Kate Ashbrook, General Secretary of the Open Spaces Society and doughty fighter against Nicholas Hoogstraten’s
footpath stopping antics, and Marion Shoard[ii], the author whose books highlighting the destruction of the countryside and the
inequities of landownership have turned around the politics of the countryside in the last generation.
Sixty walkers and their children, with folk from the Ramblers Association, Red Rope[iii], and The Land Is Ours[iv],
watched as we symbolically fenced the steep slope of a tiny chalk pit which the landowner has been using as his excuse
for excluding the public from this statutory Access Land site. We decorated the new fence with our ribbons, banners and placards.
Despite owning “the most fenced farm on the entire South Downs”, with every tiny paddock and vine row fenced or hedged,
this landowner so far refuses to fence this chalk pit because its presence as a safety hazard constitutes the excuse he needs
to secure a Restriction Order forbidding us access to this ancient flowery pasture.
Kate Ashbrook in her speech said: “It is outrageous that we are banned from this lovely site.
The Access Land on the Downs is pitifully sparse in any case. Breaky Bottom is the entry point to a delightful but very
under-used part of the Downs, and is only a short distance from the South Downs Way. All the landowner needed to do was to
put about 70 metres of fencing[v] around the quarry to comply with the requirements for making Access Land safe for the public”.
Marion Shoard called for “a right of respectful access everywhere in the countryside, as already exists in Scotland[vi].”
Dave Bangs, of Action For Access, said. “The landowner wants his right to privacy, even though he already lives in one of the
remotest and most under-visited parts of the South Downs. Yet what about the rights to enjoy the countryside and nature which
all those millions of us cooped up in our cities, towns and villages need for our health and recreation?
Wealth and land ownership should not be what determines our right to enjoy the countryside.”
Our campaign is determined to return and return again to Breaky Bottom until we see Lewes District Council and Natural England
secure the permanent fencing of this little chalk pit and the consequent re-opening of this site to public access.
Breaky Bottom Protest (video)
12 June 2010
Contacts
Dave Bangs
Tel 01273 620 815
E-mail dave.bangs@virgin.net
Kim Turner
Tel 0771 716 0530
E-mail kim.icity@googlemail.com
Notes
[i] The campaign for the right to roam has been going since the 1880’s and the first Parliamentary Bill was put forward by
James Bryce in 1884. In 2000 the CROW Act (Countryside and Rights of Way Act) was passed, which gave walkers a limited
right of access over “mountain, moor, heath, down and common”. In practice the amount of Access Land on the South Downs
increased by only 2%. Breaky Bottom was one of the ‘precious fragments’ of old Downland which was given this statutory right of access.
[ii] Marion Shoard published the famous book “The Theft of the Countryside” in 1980, to be followed by
“This Land Is Our Land” in 1987, and “A Right To Roam” in 1999. Her website has contact details.
[iii] Red Rope is a socialist walkers and climbers group which has long fought for responsible public access to the countryside,
has always worked for equal opportunities in access, and has led countless group walks and holidays into remote and lovely places.
[iv] The Land Is Ours was founded twenty years ago by George Monbiot, and has led strong campaigns for land rights on both urban and
rural issues. They publish a magazine called ‘The Land’. The Land Is Ours in Sussex organised the series of mass trespasses in 1998-9
which was at the heart of the national campaign for the Crow Act.
[v] The landowner, Peter Hall, has recently spent £15,000 on hundreds of yards of new barbed wire fencing on this Access Land,
splitting this slope up into four separate paddocks.
[vi] The newly devolved government of Scotland passed a new access law which gave people the freedom to walk at will anywhere in the
countryside they wished, provide they did no damage and did not enter private domestic or business space. It has worked well.
This legal and customary right has always been held by the people of Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, and is known as “allemansratt”
(every man’s right). RESS
Reference
Breaky Bottom, Rodmell, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 3EX
Breaky Bottom online
English Wine Producers: Breaky Bottom
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WORTHING SQUARES - SQUARE DANCING CLUB
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THE GIRLS
A new group for women over 45 who want to get out and about, make friends, and do things that they wouldn't do by themselves. Some members are single and some married; some are working and some retired. The members individually choose which events they want to go to. The members also offer up ideas for events. If you live within a convenient distance of Worthing and are reasonably fit, then this could be the group for you.
Website thegirls.org.uk
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SussexLOCAL
Magazine
Community information, news and events delivered free each month to
homes in Findon, High Salvington, Clapham and Patching.
For more information, or to submit an article or event for publication:
Contact
Kris Thomas
Telephone 01903 868 474
Mobile 0797 606 1109
E-mail kris@sussexlocal.net
Website sussexlocal.net
PO Box 2237
PULBOROUGH
RH20 9AH
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THE ART GROUP IN ASHINGTON
New members welcome
A group of painters in all mediums, including experienced artists as well as people trying painting for the first time.
Date: Wednesday mornings (except the last Wednesday in the month)
Time: 09h30-12h30
Location: Methodist Church Hall, London Road, Ashington, West Sussex RH20 4AL (the hall is situated behind the church)
[aerial photograph & map]
Contacts
Yvonne Ticehurst
Telephone 01903 892 112
E-mail yvonneticehurst@tiscali.co.uk
Website ashingtonart.org.uk
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GOSSIP IN THE GUESTBOOK
- Sarah's parents were married at St John the Baptist
Church, in 1949.
- Janice's relative mortgaged a property in Findon,
circa 1764.
- John was one of the original founders of Findon News.
- Jenny's ancester was the publican at the Gun Inn,
circa
1871.
- Vanessa's husband proposed marriage to her on Cissbury
Ring.
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NAMES IN THE GUESTBOOK
- Starley Boyd
- Alfred William Ford
- William Goater
- William Charles Newman
- Percy Stenning
- Jack Whybrow Robinson
- Jeffrey Twort
- John N F Witham
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Coming events
WORTHING DOWNLANDERS
Action for Access Walk
Location: Amberley Downs and Arun Brooks
Date: Saturday 24 July 2010
Duration: 11h30-16h00
Meeting time & place: 11h20 @ Amberley Station TQ 026 118
This walk will be between six and seven miles long.
Visit Facebook for further details, or
contact me before Saturday if you would like the details to be emailed to you.
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FINDON
SHEEP FAIR
AND VILLAGE FESTIVAL
10 & 11 September 2010
It is traditional for the annual sheep
fair to be held on Nepcote
Green during September.
The village festival began following the foot-and-mouth disease closures of
the South Downs in the year 2000.
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Past events
RICHARD JEFFERIES DAY
John Richard Jefferies
(6 November 1848 - 14 August 1887) was an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays,
books of natural history and novels.
Description
Talk and readings on the life and works of celebrated Victorian naturalist, to mark the anniversary of his death in Worthing.
Also visit to his grave in Broadwater Cemetery and optional Downland excursion.
Date: Saturday 14 August 2010
Time: 14h00-17h00
Location: Broadwater Parish Rooms,
90 Broadwater Street West, Worthing BN14 9DE
[aerial photograph & map]
BCA (photo of 'The Broadwater Reading Rooms')
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WORTHING SQUARES
Get Happy
Get Healthy
Get Square Dancing!
Students' Group starting
Date: Any Monday in September 2010
Time: 19h30
Location: The Barn, 37 Compton Avenue, Goring, Worthing, BN12 4UH
[aerial photograph & map]
Contacts
Telephone Marjorie 01903 244 515
or Thea 01403 731 120
E-mail dorotheaanne@talktalk.net
Website uksquaredancing.com
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CLYMPING FESTIVAL WEEKEND
[aerial photograph & map]
Saturday 12th June 2010 10h00–17h00
Sunday 13th June 2010 13h00–17h00
Clymping Festival Weekend 2010 will include Open Gardens, Scarecrow Competition, Church Flower Festival, Children's Miniature Garden Contest and Evening BBQ with Live Jazz.
In addition there will be free parking, courtesy minibuses around the village, raffle, plant sale, crafts, bric-a-brac, music, poetry recitals, Pimms, lunches, cream teas, cake stall, ice creams and much more!
Tickets £5 (under 12's free) from outside Clymping Church on the day.
For details of how to enter the Scarecrow Competition
Contact Anne and Mark Miller
Telephone 01903 716462
Mobile 07870 507 809
For details of how to enter the Miniature Garden Contest
Contact Jean Sprenkel
Telephone 01243 551 916
The BBQ and Jazz evening (this is a BYO event, bring your own drinks, chairs, picnic rugs, etc.) is being held in the grounds of Clymping Church Hall, Church Lane on Saturday 12th at 19h00, inside if wet.
Tickets are £10 in advance.
General information and BBQ tickets
Contact Fi Douglas
Telephone 01903 718 423
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WORTHING DOWNLANDERS
A Midsummer Downs Walk
Date: Sunday 20 June 2010
Time: 11h00-16h00
Location: Meet at Highdown car park [aerial photograph & map]
Description
Chris Hare, local historian, will be conducting a circular walk - from Highdown to Patching Hill, taking in some historic Sussex downland. Pub lunch or picnic en route.
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FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME
Awareness Day - 12 May 2010
Organiser of Worthing and surrounding area support group and author of a monthly newsletter.
Contact
Nichola Bond
Mobile 0779 665 3477
E-mail youandme1@sky.com
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WASHINGTON LANDFILL SITE
Location [aerial photograph & map]
Washington Village, at the base of the South Downs within the AONB and
where the A283 joins the A24, might have had a 4th landfill
site in the deep Windmill Quarry. Wiston Estate, with Veolia,
put in a speculative planning application for landfill. The site is
not in the current West Sussex Waste Disposal plan. Sand extraction
ceased in 2008.
Pollution
There could have been 250 trucks visiting the site daily, from 07h00 to 18h00.
Noise and pollution would have been a major factor, affecting local residents.
On the very boundary of the sand quarry there are a family fruit farm
and a campsite
for walkers and horse riders.
John Nicholson IRELAND (1879-1962) composed some of his music in the windmill.
Proposal
The proposal was to fill the quarry to follow the original land
contours. The various strata of sand, besides being
beautiful, are a unique geological feature, home to wildlife including
Sand Martins, Rough-legged Buzzards and Peregrine Falcons. The quarry
is the principle view to the north from the South Down Way, from Chanctonbury Ring.
Protests
CLAG (Chanctonbury Landfill Action Group) organised
a gathering at Chanctonbury Ring.
Outcome
Veolia backed down.
CLAG (Chanctonbury Landfill Action Group)
Website good-golly.com/clag/
Contact
Steve Logan
Telephone 07810 168 777
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External links
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