The members and guests of Ferring Conservation Group welcomed Ian Everest for a return visit, this time to give a talk about the lives and times of shepherds of the South Downs. Ian’s father was a farm worker in the village of Bishopstone where Ian was raised and this kindled a keen interest in farming, with a focus on the Shepherds of these ‘Chalk Uplands’.

Although a Shepherd was the most important worker on the farm they were paid a pittance despite their knowledge and expertise. They would have to be knowledgeable about the many diseases of sheep as well as calculations regarding their feed requirements.

For the past 200 years or so South Downs Sheep have been one of the most popular breeds in the country and the downland from Shoreham to Eastbourne supported 400,000 sheep, the highest population per acre in the world.

Ian informed us that John Elman was the first shepherd to breed South Down sheep, which became a favourite and the predominant breed in this area for many years – his tomb is in Glynde Cemetery.

Ian regaled many interesting facts including that Shepherds often placed orphaned and sick new born lambs in large heaps of steaming dung up to their heads in frosty weather, to keep them warm. Also that Shepherds would have a section of fleece placed inside their coffin so that God would know they had been busy tending their sheep and therefore ‘unable to attend church’!

Lewes hosted one of the many sheep fairs and used to attract over 40,000 sheep. It was also the venue where the best Shepherds would be approached by neighbouring farmers to come and work for them. This usually resulted in a pay rise! Sadly Findon is now the only sheep fair that exists today in this area and takes place the second weekend in September.

In the second half of the meeting Graham Tuppen presented the Nature Notes slot and displayed to the audience fascinating photographs of the stone patterns that are regularly produced on Ferring beach. Graham managed to speak to the artist one day and he explained to Graham that the patterns actually have meaning. Graham was delighted to say that signs of spring had arrived with the odd Crocus showing through in sheltered spots and some beautiful bright pink dwarf Cyclamen in his garden. Sadly a part decomposed young dolphin had been washed ashore and was found by a member’s dog on the beach. Also an adult hedgehog had been found in a member’s garden again by an inquisitive dog. Three Grebe, a Kingfisher, Snipe, twenty Oyster Catchers, a flock of Sanderlings and a Cormorant had all been seen in the vicinity.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with news on the planning front:

The Lansdowne Nursery application is still to be decided.

Comments can still be submitted on the proposed housing estate on land at Kingston Lane, Littlehampton and also at Ham Manor on the land alongside the A259 (opposite Sainsburys at Rustington).

The building work on the approved housing estate on Rustington Golf Course has already commenced as well as on the Roundstone Farm site.

The Persimmon Homes planning application for the Chatsmore Farm site is still with the Court of Appeal.

Plans for the possible Highdown Vineyard housing estate has still not been submitted

With an attendance of around 70 members Ferring Conservation Group welcomed Dr Geoffrey Mead to their October meeting (his second visit to the Group), this time to give a talk entitled ‘Sussex Landscapes’.

Dr Mead is an Associate Tutor with the Geography team at the University of Sussex. He specialises in the landscapes of SE England in both urban and rural areas. He did his doctorate in the suburban growth of the interwar period and is passionate about the Sussex landscape.

With illustrations and many photographs Dr Mead began by explaining that humans have greatly influenced the way our present landscape looks today and many post-industrial areas, although manmade, now have a natural appearance.

The oldest rock formations are found in the High Weald in the form of the Purbeck beds which were formed 140 million years ago. The High Weald gives way to the Low Weald which runs down to the Coastal Plain where the youngest rocks can be found and Newhaven beach is the only place layers of chalk can be viewed in the rock profile. Each area has its own soil type, distinctive landscape and vegetation which influenced the building materials used, from Purbeck stone in the High Weald to sandstone around the Ashdown Forest and Tonbridge Wells. Where there were large deposits of clay it provided suitable material for the production of bricks and tiles, also in addition around Horsham, stone was found in the form of slabs and this was extensively used for roofing in and around the town.

The South Downs provided an endless supply of chalk which was quarried and turned into cement. Gypsum was also produced from the chalk and used to produce plaster and other products. Nodules of flint were formed millions of years ago during the time when the chalk, produced from the remains of trillions of sea creatures, was used to construct many buildings and walls in villages on the South Downs. The Coastal Plain contains the youngest rocks and the soil is mostly brickearth, a grade 1 farming soil.

Nature Notes delivered by Graham Tuppen followed a welcome break for tea and an interesting photograph of a Knott Grass caterpillar that had been spotted in Graham’s garden was shown. This common black, white and red caterpillar feeds on a wide variety of herbaceous and are often seen during daylight hours. A Fox Moth caterpillar was also seen but with its brown hairs and shorter dark orange hairs on its upper surface was far less attractive in comparison. As in the past few years Graham kindly cleaned out the nest boxes that graced many trees throughout Ferring. Unfortunately a few contained dead chicks and eggs but interestingly one nest was found to contain yellow fluff from a tennis ball showing the resourcefulness of many birds. Poor Graham suffered many flea bites during this exercise and vowed to wear more protective clothing next year. It has been reported that sadly there are numerous bare areas on the Angmering Park Estate because of the clearance Ash Die Back wood.

Many types of fungi have been seen along the banks of the Rife, including Porcelain Fungus. A Sparrow hawk has been seen along with 21 Brent Geese in the area, and 34 Goldfinches had been counted in Graham’s garden although they had now disappeared. Graham warned that Asian Hornets are in the area and if spotted then for people to immediately contact a local beekeeper via the British Bee Keepers’ Association who are trained to trace and deal with Hornet’s nest.

To conclude the meeting Ed Miller gave news that the proposed detached house to be built in the garden of 1, Sea Drive had been refused by Arun DC.  A planning application to build a bungalow at the back of 1, Ocean Parade has been submitted.  Kingsley’s Coffee shop had applied to have its opening hours extended, plus an alcohol licence on and off the premises. Also Persimmon Homes have been granted leave to appeal the High Court’s decision on Chatsmore Farm also known as the Goring Gap.

A good audience heard a very encouraging presentation on the ‘Weald to the Waves’ project, given by one of its leading lights James Baird. The project is to create a series of green wildlife corridors from the borders of Kent and Surrey to the sea. The main corridor is to run from the Ashdown Forest, near East Grinstead, westward across to Ardingly and Horsham, south through the Knepp estate, towards Steyning and then across towards Bury and south to Climping. James Baird owns and farms the large estate at Climping in a two-mile wide Gap down to the sea.

He said the Knepp Estate was a key partner in this project but their commitment to rewilding was not the only way for landowners and public bodies to be part of the green corridors. He and other farmers would continue to cultivate the land and manage livestock but now with an eye to maintaining habitats for wildlife and allowing small animals to move freely from farm to farm, parkland to the downs and from field to forest, along green corridors.

There would be more corridors in future, largely following the river valleys – the Adur and the Arun, and Ferring could very well be part of one, following the Rife and linking the Gaps either side of Ferring to Highdown, the National Park and the Duke of Norfolk’s estate. Conservation Group members were very impressed with his optimism and commitment – a change from the all-too-frequent hand wringing and despair from Conservation campaigners.

The meeting also had a report on local wildlife sightings, including birds on migration, the Grey Seal that is frequently seen off Ferring beach and a Common Seal filmed right up the Arun near Pulborough. Ed Miller gave an update on planning issues: Chatsmore Farm was now under crops again but the threat of more housing estates in the Gaps had not gone away. And changes to the planning system were soon to be announced which would probably make it even more difficult for residents to object and Councils to refuse applications.