Category: Uncategorized

Climate Change: Implications for Coastal & Fluvial flooding in Lewes and the lwr Ouse valley – 19 June

Wednesday 19 June 2024, 7.30 pm, Council Chamber, First floor, Lewes Town Hall, High Street entrance (Disabled entrance & lift on Fisher Street)

John Gower, Friends of Lewes

Climate change is bringing increasing rainfall and building development is paving over green surfaces causing more and faster runoff which makes its way into our streams and rivers.  Sea levels are rising and the landmass of the South of England is sinking by 1.5mm a year. All this combines to increase flood risk to Lewes and the lower ouse valley.

John Gower, the Flood Lead for the Friends of Lewes, will be giving a talk on the 19 June on Climate change: implications for coastal & fluvial flooding in Lewes and the lower Ouse valley.

John has recently retired after a lifelong career as an environmental scientist and climate change/ flood risk manager with the Environment Agency.  John will explain the risks around ever-increasing flood risks, what we can do to mitigate these and how we will need to adapt in the future.

This talk is free for Friends of Lewes. Non-members can pay £4.00 on the door to attend or join here.

See the Diary page for a list of forthcoming events organised by the Friends of Lewes

Seaford Head Great storm of 1987, source: Environment Agency
Lewes October 2000, source: Environment Agency

New historical plaque in St Anne’s Crescent

A new historical plaque has been added at 29 St. Anne’s Crescent to commemorate Lewis Bilbie Rees, a jockey born in 1898, who lived there from 1924 to his death in 1972. He won the 1922 Grand National on ‘Music Hall’. His brother Fred had also won that race in 1921 on ‘Shaun Spadah’, now buried near Lewes Racecourse. For a full list of historic plaques please see Friends of Lewes List of Plaques (April 2024 update)

FoL AGM & Talk: Retrofitting in Lewes – 24 April 2024

Wednesday 24 April 2024, Lewes Town Hall, Fisher Street entrance

Chris Rowlands and Nicki Myers of Ovesco

How can Lewes to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, especially in conservation areas? Community Energy Company Ovesco (Ouse Valley Climate Action) is helping residents with advice to generate energy and become more energy efficient. OVESCO knows that more homes are installing PV, heat pumps, batteries and EV charging points. But local energy generation needs to be delivered with energy efficiency for a low carbon future and this requires existing homes to retrofit. The solutions can be complex especially in a conservation area where we need to protect the character of Lewes as well as the environment. The need to work together to find affordable solutions for everyone has never been more important as we adapt to climate change.

Find out more from OVESCO and Sussex based installers OHM Energy (represented by Jason Lindfeld and Courtney Frazer-Bates) with sustainable buildings expert Suzy Nelson, architect Ian MacKay from Deeper Green.

The talk and panel discussion will start at around 8.15pm, following the Friends of Lewes AGM which begins at 7.30 pm. The AGM is for members-only but non-members can attend the talk by paying £4 on the door.

FoL Response to Planning Application for Former Bus Station site

The Friends of Lewes maintain their strong objection to the planning application ‘SDNP/23/02973/FUL: Former Bus Station Eastgate Street: Demolition of existing buildings and construction of mixed-use development comprising 3 houses (Class C3), 32 self-contained flats (Class C3) and 198 m2 of ground floor commercial space (Class E), with associated access alterations, landscaping and parking. (Amended Plans and additional documents)

The Friends of Lewes have written to the SDNPA as follows:

former-bus-station-eastgate-streetDownload

Lewes Bus Station: Reconsultation open until 22 March 2024

The SDNPA has received amended plans and additional documents regarding Generator (Eastgate Street) Ltd’s planning application for Lewes Bus Station. These may be viewed by searching by the SDNPA’s Planning Portal for proposal SDNP/23/02973/FUL. The application is open for comments until Friday 22 March 2024 (in writing to the SDNPA, by email to planning@southdowns.gov.uk or online) .

In addition, the SDNPA has refused Generator’s application for retrospective planning permission for temporary hoardings and gates around the bus station for an additional 12 months. The reasons for the refusal can be viewed via the Planning Portal by searching for SDNP/24/00114/FUL.

How to protect yourself from surface water flooding – 30 March 2024

Saturday 30 March, 11am-12.30pm, Lewes Climate Hub, 32 High Street, Lewes, BN7 2LU

Lewes has experienced severe flooding several times and the town is at increasing risk due to climate change and development. One particular problem is surface water flooding, which happens when there is too much rain for the drains and streets fill with water. One way of reducing this type of flooding is to slow down the water so that it can sink safely into the soil or drains. This event will look at steps that you can take in your home, garden and street to help protect yourself and your community from surface water flooding. Join us to delve into the practical solutions and meet experts including from the Friends of Lewes and Love Our Ouse with support from the Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust. Bring your questions to learn more about practical techniques for sustainable flood prevention and climate resilience.

NB. This is a NEW date which replaces the event previously scheduled for 23rd March

Plant Power! 24 February 2024

On Saturday 24th February, 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m., Western Road School will be hosting a special event at Lewes Climate Hub, Lewes House, 32 High Street. Come along and find out how they have been using their hedgerows, (planted with the help of the Trees Committee of Friends of Lewes), the Forest School area and their dye garden to improve the biodiversity of the school grounds and support the wellbeing, creativity and learning of the pupils.

On Saturday there will be free educational activities and seeds to take home and sow. Cards and badges, based on the beautiful art work of the pupils, will be on sale.

Visitors to the Hub may also preview the exhibition from Wednesday 21st to Friday 23rd February.

Lewes History Group Talk : Mr Defoe’s tour through South East England 1724 – 19 February 2024

Monday 19th February 2024, 7:20pm for 7:30pm start – Zoom Webinar

Daniel Defoe is well known as the author of Robinson Crusoe, but he had a multitude of jobs from failed brick maker to government spy! His work on travels in Britain at the turn of the 18th century was published in 1724 as ‘A tour of the whole island of Great Britain’. This talk looks at aspects of his journey in SE England using mainly modern images of the places he mentions alongside his commentary.

Defoe’s ‘Tour…‘ is a travelogue through a country in the initial phases of the industrial revolution, with growing urban centres and a diverse rural economy; but it was a country that had experienced recent internal strife, great political and religious changes and yet at the same time was acquiring a nascent world empire with a rapidly expanding industry-based economy. His tour [or was it his..?] through South East England takes us to places he notes are barely worth a mention (Rye, Winchelsea and Hastings!), along with a town being ‘devoured by the waters’ (Brighton) and a ‘site of much licentious behaviour and gambling’ (Tunbridge Wells). His journey through the agricultural landscapes of the Kent countryside, the High Weald forests and along the West Sussex Coastal Plain are described in some detail. His itinerary takes him west into Hampshire and returns through Surrey and Kent to the capital. The quotations from the ‘Tour’ are illustrated with mainly modern views of the same locations.

To join this talk, you need to:

1) register your intention to attend in advance
2) receive our 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

LHG Members can attend our talks for free. LHG 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.

A computer screen or an iPad is recommended as a minimum screen-size for viewing our webinars.

The 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.