After extensive consultation, work is due to be carried out on trees in Blake’s Walk, South Malling between 12 February and 1st of March. The work will bring all of the trees into a size, shape and condition that will make it easier to maintain them in the long term and prolong the healthy life of the trees. It has been discussed and approved by the Blake’s Walk Tree Specialist Group which contains members of the Trees Committee of Friends of Lewes. Full details are below:
Lewes District Council has launched a consultation on Towards a Lewes Local Plan: Spatial Strategy and Policy Directions. The document aims to set the planning framework to 2040 and identifies potential locations for new housing in the LDC area outside of the South Downs National Park.
Friends of Lewes intends to comment on the plan and individuals are encouraged to read the plan and submit their own comments by following this link.
The closing date for the consultation has been extended to 12 pm on Monday 19 February 2024. Paper copies of the document can be viewed in Lewes Library and other locations.
Tuesday 20 February 2024, 7:30 pm by ZOOM
With Peter King, Director of the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust (OART).
The River Ouse catchment contains a diverse range of streams, brooks and lakes which flow through both urban and rural settings, offering different ecosystems and habitats for a variety of wildlife and a wonderful resources for people to enjoy. The Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust (OART) believe in the importance of understanding and data-drive science. Only by being out and about on the ground, collecting a variety of information and monitoring the condition of the Ouse can we focus our efforts where they are most effective.
In his talk Pete will provide an insightful overview of the river, the state it’s in, the pressures it’s under, and some of the solutions available including a summary of some of the projects OART has under taken in the Ouse catchment over the past few years and those planned for the future.
Photo: Courtesy of OART
This talk is free to members of the Friends of Lewes, and £4 to non-members. Non-members can buy a ticket (£4) from TicketSource, which will provide a link for this Zoom talk.
Members will receive an email with a Zoom link.
Please click on that link to attend the talk 5 minutes before it starts.
We would recommend a computer screen or an iPad as a minimum screen-size for viewing our Zoom talks.
Our presenters will be speaking live, and you can ask questions by typing in the Chat box in Zoom.
See the Diary page for a list of forthcoming events organised by the Friends of Lewes
The planning application on Reserved Matters for Old Malling Farm, Old Malling Way, Lewes is currently open for consultation and the deadline has been extended to Friday 26th January.
The application is “for approval of scale, layout, external appearance and landscaping following grant of Outline Planning Permission for erection of 226 dwellings including affordable housing, public open space and associated infrastructure including vehicular and pedestrian access from Monks Way.”
The documents associated with the application can be found via the SDNPA’s Planning Portal by searching for application no. SDNP/18/06103/OUT. Anyone wishing to make representations can do so via the Public Access page (see Guidance).
FoL’s Trees committee has been working closely with East Sussex Highways and others to develop an improved approach to the management of the trees along Blake’s Walk in South Malling. There had been a proposal for the poplar trees to be removed, but the new agreement is for the poplars to “be managed by pruning on a three yearly basis or as necessary” beginning with those on the east side in February 2023, with management of those on the west side planned for next winter. More details are attached.
The public consultation period for these revised plans began on 20 December, and runs until 22 January 2024.
A decision on the planning application was deferred at the South Downs National Park Authority’s Planning Committee meeting in October 2023. The amended plans include additional information to address issues raised at this meeting, including around highways and design. The application should go back to the South Downs National Park Authority’s Planning Committee in February 2024.
The revised plans are on the SDNPA website, where the public is encouraged to add their comments.
Lewes Phoenix, image: Google Maps
Arthur Redmonds: Exploring the Medieval History and Archaeology of Lewes Castle
The January Lewes History Group talk will look at the medieval history and archaeology of Lewes Castle in a range of contexts to explore its relationship with Lewes, and the surrounding Sussex countryside. The talk will also explore how it might have impacted and influenced the everyday lives of people around it.
As part of a PhD at the Universities of Exeter and Cardiff, Arthur Redmonds has been exploring how the medieval castle influenced those who experienced them within their localities and landscapes. Lewes is one of his urban case studies, and it plays a central role in the history and making of modern day Lewes. The talk will explore the impact of the castle on everyday life in the town, and Redmonds will briefly touch on some of the many sources and methods we might use to look at the medieval castle.
This talk will start with a brief look at how medieval castles operated, who worked within their lands and the types of sites and landscapes we might associate with them, before contextualising Lewes within the story of other castles both within Sussex and nationally.
Next, we will explore a biography of the castle, with the influence on the town and countryside explored at each stage of its life. This will include its construction, occupation, and finally its decline and partial abandonment. Along the way, we will briefly touch on some of the more important historical events in which the castle played a part, including its role in the 1264 battle of Lewes and its assault by peasants during the 1381 peasants revolt.
The Barbican at Lewes Castle, Photochrome Company postcard
To join this talk, you need to:
1) register your intention to attend in advance
2) receive LHG’s confirmation email with a link to the talk itself. Save that email, and
3) click on that emailed link to attend the talk 5 minutes before it starts
Lewes History Group Members can attend our talks for free. We will send members emails with a link to Zoom registration. Then please follow steps 1, 2, and 3 as above.
Non-members can buy a ticket (£4) from TicketSource. The ticket will provide a link to Zoom registration. Then please follow steps 1, 2, and 3 as above.
Please join the webinar at 7:25pm.
We would recommend a computer screen or an iPad as a minimum screen-size for viewing our webinars.
Our presenters will be speaking live, and you can ask questions by typing in the Q&A box in Zoom.
See the Talks page for a list of forthcoming monthly events organised by the Lewes History Group.
On Saturday 16th December, members of the Trees Committee planted seven trees beside Offham Road, near where the magnificent old Beech tree had to be felled. There are three Ulmus Lutece, (Elms), two Acer campestre, (Field Maple), and two Crataegus persimilis prunifolia, (Cockspurthorn). Thank you to East Sussex County Council for giving us planting permission. These trees are planted in memory of Paul Fouch and were sponsored by his family and friends.
Then, on 19th December, the Trees Committee met on at Brighton Road to plant five trees on the verge near the Hope in the Valley bus stop. The trees are three Ulmus Lutece, (Elms), and two Crataegus persimilis prunifolia, (Cockspurthorn).
Thank you again to East Sussex County Council for the planting permission. Thanks also to Trees Committee member Matthew of Bonny’s Wood for kindly sending a team to set up the barriers, lending their truck to bring the trees to the site, and then staying to help us to plant them.
Over November and December 2023 we have planted 51 trees altogether which brings the total number of street trees we have planted around Lewes since 2014 to 222.
Offham Road, and Brighton Road planting, December 2023
The Friends of Lewes Winter 2023 Newsletter is now available as a pdf [1.4mb]
Lewes Christmas Shops, by Nick Robinson
Friends of Lewes Newsletters and Annual Reports
Another wet but enjoyable day for our fourth working party this season – in Ham Lane. We planted five Alnus glutinosa, (native Alders), and five Populus nigra, (Black Poplars), between the Scout Hut and the Cockshut.
At the same time, the 6th Lewes Beavers and Scouts were busy doing a great job of weeding and mulching their wildlife hedge of mixed native whips. Thank you very much to their parents and troop leaders for helping us to carry the trees and the mulch to where they were needed – and then sharing their soup with us!
Thanks again to Lewes District Council for the planting permission and to Matthew for all his patient work in CAT scanning each site.
Today’s team was Nick, Peter, Chris, Jill, Keith, Duncan, Jamie and Audrey. Well done everyone!
Tree planting at Ham Lane, 9 December 2023: team photo, and Audrey with the 200th tree, a Poplar
