South Downs News, December issue


The SDNPA has discovered that celebrities can be used to plant trees. They have managed to plant one tree so far but, if another 7,999 celebrities step forward, they will be able to meet their quota for this winter. At least 8,500 celebrities will also be needed next year. No word on any fees payable. Chief Executive Trevor Beattie reports that the government has committed £257m for cycling and walking in 2021-22, perhaps because government policy has ensured that, for most of the population, cycling and walking will be the only transport options they can afford in that year. You can also read about the Community Infrastructure Levy, a fund set up by the SDNPA to accept and administer bungs paid by developers. The Park’s Volunteer Development Officer reports that voluntary activity has largely ceased due to the immense health risks that the Park poses to volunteers. However, despite the danger, one such volunteer did manage to write an informative little column on ivy. There’s also a page on nitrates in the aquifers that features quotes from David Ellin (Paythorne, Perching) and Roly Puzey (Saddlescombe). No mention of glyphosate, however. Despite the government’s ongoing armageddon against small business, the Park has split £40,000 between 27 petitioners “following a rigorous and impartial selection process”. The accompanying photo shows two ladies in a food shop, neither of whom is wearing a mask. Perhaps their Maundy money needs to be retracted. There’s an interesting column on Tide Mills, home to the Black Kite, the European Bee-Eater and the Short Eared Owl. And there is a page of poems by some of those temporarily released from detention. Finally, two pages of suggested walks that you can only do if you happen to live near the route (the SDNPA frowns on the use of the automobile).

HDC Open Spaces Survey 2020

Field Paths and Green Lanes
The parish of Fulking falls within Mid Sussex District — but only just. The local territory to our West is all part of Horsham District. Even Edburton falls within Horsham District. Fulking residents know that useful parking discs (i.e., Henfield, Steyning) have to be purchased from HDC, not MSDC. But HDC’s relevant responsibilities extend beyond village car parks. They also look after public open spaces (Henfield Common, for example) and rural trails (a large section of the Downslink, for example) that Fulking residents are as likely to make use of as those living in Edburton. So you may feel inclined to complete their current survey.

The Devil’s Punchbowl 200

The Devil's Punchbowl route

Our cycling and Civil Defence correspondent, General Sir Frederick (”Tiger”) Nidgett, writes as follows:

The summer offensive continues. Garish hordes of gore-tex Visigoths and spandex Vandals will be blocking traffic and intimidating pets and pedestrians as they drive an aesthetic assault along the Clappers Lane salient, The Street, and Edburton Road on the evening of Sunday 15th July, between 20:00 and 21:30. An MTB patrol from Fulking Home Guard will be out earlier in the day to set cycle traps, install temporary misdirection signage, and leave a crate of complimentary nitrite-enhanced rehydration packs beside the pump house.

Greater Brighton

The Devil's Dyke Loop
Mr. Grylls, our Religious Affairs correspondent, writes:

My fellow parishioners are surely proud to be living in Greater Brighton also known, since 2014, as the Brighton & Lewes Downs UNESCO World Biosphere Region. We are to be vigorously and thoughtfully reminded of this tomorrow, Sunday 1st July, by a vibrant mid-morning stream of pullulating urban visitors encased in a throbbing day-glo rainbow of hi-viz lycra. Their mission is “to connect people and nature and so inspire a positive future that benefits us all” by “combating homelessness, creating opportunities, promoting change”, “conserving and enhancing nature” and “promoting environmental knowledge, learning and awareness”. Faced with such overwhelming beneficence, our humble role, as rural laymen, is simply to smile, wave, throw rice, and accept complimentary copies of The Watchower.

The Petworth End of Summer 200

cyclists

Sunday 29th October 2017

Stage 2 (40k) retracing back to Steyning you then pass through Bramber, before turning East through Edburton and Fulking. From Fulking you head North, avoiding many main roads, and pass through Wineham, Warninglid and Handcross, before arriving at the Pease Pottage Services.

They are likely to be blocking Clappers Lane and The Street for much of the morning.

Mountain Bikes on the Downs

View of Fulking from escarpment with MTB handlebars in foregroundWe’ve all seen them. Youngsters on fearsomely expensive mountain bikes skilfully descending precipitous trails on the Downs around Fulking…

Well if you look closely, you may find that some of those youngsters aren’t that young, the bikes aren’t that expensive and the trails may not be a fearsome as you imagine.

Fulking has some great MTB trails for riders of all standards to enjoy – many that only the locals know about. So to encourage more of us out, we’ve put some of the lesser known and shorter circular routes on the website. More will be added in future. Take a look and if you’re already into mountain biking, please contribute your own favourite routes by emailing webmaster@fulking.net.