Newsletter

Winter 2024-2025 (published in February 2025)

From William McKee

I hope you all have been able to enjoy the Heath since our last newsletter despite the seemingly unrelenting inclement weather. Your committee met recently and after our usual reports, I set out our plans for events and actions during 2025.

AGM 2023-2024

The AGM was held at Headley Village Hall on 16 November 2024. The present committee was re-elected, Paul Curtis agreed to continue as Treasurer and George Nixon was re-appointed Auditor.

The finances are healthy with assets of £12,134. Total income for the past year was £568.00 and expenditure £645.00 resulting in as small deficit. The Accounts had been signed off by the Auditor and all regulatory and statutory requirements met.

The Friends continue to have sufficient funds from membership fees to undertake its regular activities and to provide appropriate financial help from time to time to support the National Trust in its work on the Heath.

During 2023-2024, several events were held and regular newsletters sent out. The event highlight was a walk on behalf of the NT led by Peter Denyer and Cliff Finnis which explained the part Headley Heath played in the run up to D Day.

Membership remains small with an increasing older age profile. While there is no immediate crisis, we need to attract new members.

Lastly, I expressed my thanks to the Friends for their continued support and to the members of the committee for their hard work.

National Trust Update from Ranger, Theo Howard

Volunteers have been working on Purley Plain, beating back the gorse, to open it up. It is a slow and steady process, removing the gorse roots, to effect a permanent removal – not just cutting it back, as before. The hope is to keep pushing the gorse back in the succeeding years as well as provide bare ground, for basking insects and reptiles and exposing the seed bank for encourage species like sheep sorrel and heather to germinate.

Purley Plain is the main focus at the moment. The work is sprucing up the paths, widening them and thus improving access. The gorse arisings are going into the dead hedging around the bird havens and around Brown pond which not only protect these areas, but provide shelter for all sorts of the heath’s local fauna

Report on Wildlife by Peter Denyer

It has been a wet and stormy winter up to Christmas. followed by a cold snap in January. The Heath has often seemed a bleak place with little sign of wildlife. There was one day when the atmospheric conditions coated all the spiders’ webs on the Gorse with tiny water droplets, which caught the sun and the Heath sparkled.

Probably the main thing of interest was an invasion of Hawfinches, mostly in Sixth Valley. Hawfinches are quite rare and are the largest of the Finches seen in the UK.

There were up to 30 birds present and they attracted many birdwatchers to see them. They were here for several weeks and then moved on. At the same time, there were good numbers of Goldfinches in small flocks and Linnets with them.

There are slight signs of spring coming with the first leaves of the Bluebells poking through in sheltered woodland and the Gorse is showing its cheery yellow blooms.

Ongoing work of the Committee

Ecologist Dr Giles Groome has delivered to the Friends his latest survey of eight permanent botanical sites on the Heath. Started in 2009, this is a regular survey to monitor the health of the Heath commissioned and paid for by the Friends with the results passed on to the NT. They give the Ranger an idea how his management work is influencing the plants on the Heath. The results of the latest survey are still being analysed and will be reported to Friends in a future Newsletter.

Two silent films made in the 1960’s by Humphrey Mackworth Praed have been digitally restored and subtitles added to describe what is happening. Work is nearly complete on an accompanying slide show introduction to the Heath which includes the principal matters of interest from prehistory to the present day.

Members are invited to see both in Headley Village Hall at 14.30 on Sat 23rd March with tea. Please let us know if you would like to attend so we can make appropriate catering arrangements.

Following the very successful event held on the Heath to commemorate 80^th anniversary of the D Day landings reported above, the National Trust is creating a new Trail on the Heath to be called the Military Trail. The Trail will guide visitors to sites where the Canadian army trained on the Heath and other locations of military interest.

The Friends have a very generous bequest from the Bridges family to be used to mark the contribution of Robert and Tessa over many years to the wellbeing of the Heath. We have agreed with the family to use this to pay for the new Trail with the contribution of the Bridges family acknowledged on the Trail.

An event to open it will be held with the NT and other organisations on 10 May at 11.00. Please let us know if you would like to attend.

Other events planned for 2025 are a butterfly walk to be led by Theo Howard on Saturday 19th July and one on fungi sometime in early October hopefully by an expert mycologist. More details on these will be given in the next Newsletter which will be sent out in early May.

The other Newsletters in 2025 will be sent to members in early July and early October.

Lastly, I hope everyone will continue to enjoy our wonderful Heath and I hope to see some of you at the forthcoming events.

William McKee