Ash Life spring 09:Layout 1 - Ashdown Forest

Fly-tipping...
We continue to be the target for those antisocial
people who think nothing of spoiling the beauty of
the Forest by fly-tipping, dropping litter, leaving
gates open and even starting fires. We need to
identify these individuals and to prosecute them
if possible and we need the help of everyone who
cares about this unique environment. If you see
anyone engaged in any of these activities and you
have an opportunity of recording a registration plate,
time and place of an incident and a description of
the vehicle and occupants, then please telephone
999 (in the event of an emergency like a fire) or
0845 60 70 999 (Crimestoppers). We all need to be
vigilant because unfortunately this type of behaviour
is on the increase.
FRIENDS OF ASHDOWN FOREST EVENTS For bookings, telephone 01892 611414 or email ashdownfriends@aol.com
Wednesday 20th May Private group visit to the British Wildlife Centre, Newchapel. 2.30 p.m. Tickets £10.50 in advance.
Sunday 7th June
Tuesday 16th June
Saturday 4th July
A field walk in Pippingford Park, Nutley. 2.30 p.m. from Millbrook East car park.
A Nightjar walk. 8.30 p.m. from Long car park.
Walk in Old Lodge Nature Reserve. 2.30 p.m. (booking essential).
DIARY DATES
Sunday 17th May Wildlife Watch Roadshow. In association with the Sussex Wildlife Trust. Please contact SWT on 01273 497561.
1.00 - 4.00p.m. at the Forest Centre.
Wednesday 27th May
Until 20th July
Sheep Day. Hebridean lambs, shearing, spinning and weaving demonstrations. 11.00 a.m. at the Forest Centre.
On the Forest Floor and Beyond. An exhibition of natural artworks by Pamela Hurwitz at the Forest Centre.
Wednesday 29th July and Wednesday 19th August
Roman days. Just announced - see website for details.
Sunday 2nd August
Wednesday 12th -
Sunday 16th August
August onwards
We are always grateful for volunteer help - all ages welcome!
Why not become a Friend Contact www.friendsofashdownforest.co.uk
THE CONSERVATORS OF ASHDOWN FOREST
Ashdown Forest Centre, Wych Cross, Forest Row, East Sussex RH18 5JP
T: 01342 823583 E: conservators@ashdownforest.org
www.ashdownforest.org
Amazing Ancient Ashdown Forest Living History Walk. A walk led by costumed guides to meet the
Forest's past inhabitants! This forms part of the annual Festival of Archaeology. 1.00 p.m. at the Forest Centre.
Please book with Ruth Dawson (High Weald Unit) on 01580 879954. Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.
Same Sky artist in residence building a Maiden of the Weald for Ashdown Forest (from wood and willow)
at the Forest Centre. Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.
Ashdown Forest - an Artist's View. An exhibition by Nutley-based artist Juliet Murray at the Forest Centre.
Additional photography: Rich Allum, Louise Amos, Paul Cooper.
Editorial: Paul Cooper, forest.marketing@btinternet.com
Design and production: Studio 4, m.marriott@btconnect.com
Only printed on paper from sustainable forests.
All paper used is FSC Certified and produced only at mills holding ISO 14001 certification.
We are grateful to Natural England for supporting Ashdown Forest Life.
ISSUE NO. 7 SPRING/SUMMER 2009
ASHDOWN FOREST
For all those who care about the Forest www.ashdownforest.orglife
FROM DEER TO DARWIN
HERITAGE LOTTERY FUNDING
ENJOYING THE FOREST -
BIRD WATCHING
CONSERVATORS
AND COMMONERS
SHEEP NEWS
SPRING AND SUMMER
ON THE FOREST
FLY-TIPPING
NEWS AND DIARY DATES

Welcome
Cover: Wrens Warren -
photograph by Dave Brooker
Enjoying the heath
One of many! -
photograph by Matt Pitts
Welcome to the summer 2009 issue of Ashdown Forest Life. As you
can see we have increased the size from 8 to 12 pages due to the
popularity of the publication and the positive response we have had.
In this issue we cover a wide range of topics from deer to Darwin,
explain the make-up of the Board of Conservators and the role of
commoners, bring you up to date with all the news and highlight
some of those aspects that still cause real concern such as deer
collisions and fly-tipping.
We have also taken advantage of our extra pages to explain the
various ways you can gain the most enjoyment from visiting the
Forest. Whether you come to walk the dog, have a picnic, ride a
horse, watch for birds or simply stroll over the open heath and
enjoy the wildlife and spectacular views, we will give you tips
on the best places to go, at what time and what you may see.
In this issue we are featuring bird watching and hopefully this
will help and encourage people to start this fascinating pastime
in an environment where rare species can be seen. Our ongoing
programme of heath restoration is really having a positive
effect on wildlife.
Thanks again to Natural England for their funding of various
aspects of our work including this publication.
Let’s hope for a drier summer than the last!
Hew Prendergast CLERK TO THE CONSERVATORS
From deer...
Like the New Forest, Ashdown Forest was created for the hunting of deer.
It was enclosed as a royal hunting ground by the 13th century,
its boundary created by a “pale” of bank and ditch that
is still visible today in some places.
Over the centuries the original population of
red deer disappeared from the Forest and the
population of fallow deer has fluctuated
between none at the end of the 17th century,
when the pale was no longer maintained,
to the very high numbers we see today.
In the 1970s there were about 250 fallow on
the Forest. Now twice as many get killed on
local roads every year. To deal with casualties
over an ever larger area, the Ashdown Area
Deer Group, with representatives from
East Sussex County Council, Sussex Police,
the Deer Initiative, the RSPCA, the British
Deer Society, land-owners and the
Conservators, has this year been training
up deer wardens. The Group’s efforts also
produced the conspicuous deer warning
signs on the A22 between Wych Cross and
Nutley – a stretch of road with the highest
recorded number of deer casualties anywhere
in the whole country.
Away from the roads, the Deer Group has
been collating information about the extent of
damage done by deer in the local environment
(for example to trees and woodlands).
While everyone seems to like deer, there is
increasing realisation throughout the country
that their increasing numbers may need some
form of management.
The Deer Group minutes may be seen at
www.ashdownforest.org/conservation/deer.php
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...to Darwin
Few can be unaware that 2009 is the 200th anniversary
of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th year since
the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species’. What may
be less well known is that Ashdown Forest also had a role
to play in his extraordinarily productive scientific life.
"During the summer of 1860, I was surprised by
finding how large a number of insects were
caught by the leaves of the common sundew
(Drosera Drosera rotundifolia) on a heath in Sussex.
I had heard that insects were thus caught, but
knew nothing further on the subject."
These are the opening words of his book ‘Insectivorous
Plants’, published in 1875. In 1860 he was staying with
his sister-in-law who lived in what is now Colemans
Hatch. We don’t of course know which plants he
actually saw, but there is still a large population of the
common sundew on nearby Broadstone Heath, growing
in wet ground with sphagnum mosses. Darwin became
fascinated by the adaptations of plants to impoverished
conditions such as the poor acid soils of heaths.
© The Linnean Society of London
Heritage
Lottery Fund
In November came news of an award of
£1.92 million from the Heritage Lottery
Fund to the Weald Forest Ridge Landscape
Partnership Scheme. For the Board of
Conservators, one of the 18 partner
organisations involved, this will mean
providing the means to communicate
with a wider number of people about the
Forest and the work of the Conservators
needed to look after it.
Work is already underway on producing
new walks leaflets (to be downloadable
online) and equipping the Education
Barn at the Centre with more up to date
and child-friendly furniture. For more
information about the Scheme and
its focus on the four Norman hunting
forests of the High Weald see
www.highweald.org
Enjoying riding on the Forest
Enjoying the Forest
Walking
You are entitled to walk anywhere on the common land of Ashdown Forest at any time – 10 square miles
of walking freedom! It is best identified by reference to the Map and Guide obtainable from the Forest Centre.
If you don’t have a map, it is generally safe to assume that if you walk out from any Forest car park you will
remain on the Forest until you come to a boundary fence. An exception is the grazing enclosure fence, but it is
usually clear that the land on the other side of the fence is a continuation of the common land.
Horse riding
You may ride your horse on the Forest subject to obtaining a permit from the Centre. Permits are issued
either for six months or one year.
Dog walking
Dog walking is one of the most popular activities on the Forest. Probably, on average, for every 10 visitors
to the Forest there are six dogs! Heeding the bye-laws and the Countryside Code is important for everyone's
safety and enjoyment. In issue 3 of Ashdown Forest Life (spring/summer 2007) we featured an air ambulance
undertaking an emergency evacuation of a rider thrown from her horse near King’s Standing. The cause of
the incident was a dog that startled the horse. This led to a court case where the insurers for the dog owner
admitted liability on the basis that the dog had not been kept under control. Also over the last few months
there have been a number of very distressing reports concerning dogs – for example a Rottweiler attacking
a pony on the edge of Crowborough, Bedlington terriers chasing sheep near King’s Standing and a longcoated
yellow retriever eating a deer alive near Blackhill. Please ensure that you keep your dog
under control at all times, preferably on a lead. Dogs worrying livestock can, by law, be shot.
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Friends’ Clump - photograph by Dave Brooker
Inset: Dartford warbler - photograph by Steve Walton
Bird Watching
With its wonderful landscape and range of habitats, the Forest is a great place
for birds and bird watching and for seeing species not found in the back garden.
However, for those who would like to take up this fascinating pastime, it can seem
a bit daunting knowing quite where to start. So we asked Clive Poole, a resident of
the Forest and bird watching enthusiast, to give some basic tips on how to get involved.
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED
Don’t be put off, thinking you need expensive
equipment. Obviously, the more you can
pay the better, but a pair of second-hand
binoculars is all you need but remember to buy
one with a high optical quality – it really does
make a difference in seeing colours you might
not notice with the naked eye, especially in
poor light.
Generally binoculars with specifications
between 8x30 and 10x40 will be fine –
the first figure is the magnification, the second
figure is the field of vision. You should also
buy a field guide bird book.
WHAT TIME OF YEAR IS BEST
If you are new to bird watching, spring and
early summer would be ideal, when the
resident birds and summer visitors from Africa
are singing and displaying on the heather and
gorse, from the treetops and in the air.
WHAT IS THE BEST TIME OF DAY
Most birds wake around dawn and start singing
and moving. This activity has quietened down
by about 11 a.m. Some species, shy of
humans, move to less accessible places later in
the day as disturbance increases, so the earlier
in the day the better. There are exceptions of
course and a few species, like nightjar and
woodcock, are active around dusk.
WHICH SPECIES SHOULD I LOOK OUT FOR
Thanks to active management over many
years that is maintaining the heaths and their
characteristic features of openness and
extensive heather and rough grass with
scattered trees, many species which depend
on such areas flourish on the Forest.
Without this management these birds would
all be lost from the Forest – along with
statutory protection.
They include:
MEADOW PIPIT, SKYLARK,
DARTFORD WARBLER
Found in areas of extensive heather, where
they breed on or close to the ground.
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Bird Watching
REED BUNTING
Found in more boggy areas of heather,
often with scrub willow and birch.
STONECHAT
Found in areas of gorse with nearby heather –
they sing and nest in or on the gorse.
YELLOWHAMMER
Males sing from gorse, holly or saplings in areas
close to rough grassland.
WHITETHROAT
The male’s scratchy song-flight issues up from
a gorse bush.
TREE PIPIT
Dull summer visitor with pretty song:
males sing in flight or from the top of
lone pine in open areas of heath.
REDSTART
Summer visitor from Africa. Most of the Sussex
population breeds on Ashdown Forest in pine clumps
on the heath, where males sing from treetops.
Yellowhammer - photograph by Garth Peacock
CUCKOO
Good numbers here, because females lay eggs in
meadow pipit nests. Males call in flight. May is a good
time to see them around the heather and gorse from
Smugglers or Broadstone car parks.
WOODLARK
German name is Heidelerche - translated heathlark.
A rare bird, males having a beautiful, liquid song
“lu-lu-lu-lu” in spring from the air or an isolated tree.
NIGHTJAR
African summer visitor; males best heard and seen late
May through June, around 15 minutes after sunset,
churring and wing-clapping over heather / gorse.
“Good luck and I hope you really enjoy your early
mornings in this amazing environment.”
Clive Poole
You could also consider joining the Ashdown Forest
Bird Group. Its principal role is to monitor bird life on
the Forest but members also enjoy a full programme of
trips and events. If you’re interested in joining, contact
Sue Phillips at: suephillips@ashdownbirdgroup.co.uk
and visit the website at www.ashdown-forest.co.uk
Conservators & Commoners
BOARD OF CONSERVATORS
The responsibility for managing Ashdown Forest lies with
an independent body, the Board of Conservators of Ashdown
Forest, which was originally set up in 1885. But who
actually makes up the Board Eight representatives come
from East Sussex County Council, two from Wealden District
Council, five are elected by commoners and one, the
Chairman of the County Council, represents the Ashdown
Forest Trust, in whose name ownership of the Forest is
vested. Most Conservators either live on the Forest or in
parishes bordering it, but some do come from outside to
represent the wider community. The duties of the
Conservators are laid out by the 1974 Ashdown Forest Act.
In essence, the Conservators need to balance the objectives
of conservation with the role of the Forest as a public
amenity, as well as protecting the traditional rights of
commoners (such as grazing livestock). Like everywhere
else, the Forest is also subject to further legislation and to
conservation designations from both the UK government and
the EU. The most pressing management work is to look
after the heaths.
COMMONERS
More than any other group of people, commoners have over
time been responsible for the existence of Ashdown Forest as
an open, undeveloped area. They won an important court
case in 1885 that brought the Conservators into existence
to protect their rights. This fascinating story is told in
The characteristic heathland landscape
‘The Ashdown Forest Dispute’ by Prof. Brian Short of the
University of Sussex (available at the Forest Centre).
Common rights are attached to properties. For historical
reasons most of them are not on the Forest itself; some,
indeed, are as far away as Fletching. Apart from the pastoral
rights, commoners are entitled to vote for representatives on
the Board of Conservators or be elected to become one.
By law commoners must pay a Forest Rate, which goes
towards the expense of managing the Forest. In 1965,
the Commons Registration Act forced all commoners to
re-register their rights. Approximately half didn’t bother,
which explains why it is possible to have a row of identical
cottages, some with common rights and some without. Of
the 730 properties with rights today, only a very few take
advantage of them. After WWII the Forest suffered from the
decline in traditional grazing and the cutting of wood. As a
result, trees previously suppressed by livestock (and perhaps
by rabbits in pre-myxomatosis days) grew up and invaded
the heaths. It is to turn this ‘tide’ that the Conservators
embarked on its heath restoration work in the early 1990s
(when funding became available) and erected the grazing
enclosure that allows commoners’ livestock to graze in
relative safety away from major roads. If you own a property
with common rights on the Forest, you might find it useful to
look at the dedicated commoners’ page on the website
www.ashdownforest.org/history/the_commoners.php.
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Bracken clearing
Below: Phil Kidd with Ben
Female glow worm moving from side to side -
photograph by John Tyler
News
Over the winter months Forest staff, together with
outside contractors, continued the vital work of
restoring the heaths in twelve widely scattered separate
areas. Elsewhere, two ponds have been dredged at
Chelwood Vachery thanks to funding from British
American Tobacco, as detailed in the last issue of
Ashdown Forest Life, and a survey of potentially
dangerous trees was undertaken, resulting in the
removal of a large beech tree at Wych Cross which
was identified as being a high risk to traffic. The
ongoing campaign of controlling the rhododendron,
bracken and Japanese knotweed will continue into
the summer months. Fundraising will begin for the
building of new modern toilet facilities at the Forest
Centre together with a new entrance to the Centre itself.
These upgrades would form part of further
developments that are still under review.
After the last issue we had a lot of response on
the subject of mountain biking on the Forest.
After much discussion (recorded in minutes of
meetings on the website) the Conservators decided
to retain the current policy of not allowing it.
Some local bikers have been very helpful and
dialogue continues with them.
We have also recently launched the Ashdown Forest
e-news service and you can register on our website to
receive the regular emails detailing news from the
Conservators. www.ashdownforest.org
Spring & Summer
on the Forest
SHEEP NEWS
We are pleased to welcome Phil Kidd who
joined the Ashdown Forest team as an
assistant shepherd in November 2008.
He grew up on a smallholding and was
always helping with the family sheep.
He studied at Plumpton College for two years
and then worked on a sheep and dairy farm
prior to joining the Forest team.
Phil says “I really enjoy working on
the Forest as an assistant shepherd.
I enjoy the great views, working with the
sheep and most of all working with my
trusty dogs Ben aged 12 and Cloud who is
only 9 months old and in her first steps
of training.”
Our shepherd Louise and Phil will be busy
with lambing in late April and we will
report on this in the next issue of
Ashdown Forest Life.
We continue to hear of sightings of large
cats and wild boar on the Forest. The number
of these sightings makes them hard to
dismiss, but what we really need is evidence
of the existence of these animals. So, if you
see anything and can provide some form of
photographic proof, we would really be
pleased to hear from you.
On a less dramatic note you could look out
for the amazing glow worm this summer.
The glow worm ( Lampyris noctiluca ) is not a
worm at all but a beetle. This is more obvious
in the male, which is about 12mms long, has
wings, and is a light brown colour.
It is the female that glows. The green light
she produces, to attract the males, is about
as bright as an LED and is created by a
substance in the abdomen called luciferin.
When mixed with oxygen, it breaks down to
create the light. She has complete control
over the light emission and is able to
switch it on and off at will. In areas where
there is artificial lighting, males get
distracted from locating females so for this
reason glow-worm populations seem to
survive better in areas with less light
pollution. Glow worms are active from May
to late August but are most noticeable at
night in June and July when the females
light up to attract the males.
Glow worms are in national decline.
If you see them on the Forest please do
let us know!
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