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Lewes Notable and Veteran Trees
As a volunteer for the Woodland Trust, I have taken on several 1 km squares to survey. These include 4 km centred over the north, south, east, and west of Markstakes Common near South Chailey – and where I live: Lewes—the south of Lewes down from the Brighton Road and the High Street, bordering the Winterbourne stream to the Brighton to Eastbourne railway and A27 Lewes bypass.
My expectations were that I would find nothing more than a handful of ‘locally notable’ trees to add to the three long-recognised veteran trees: two wild black poplars and a mulberry tree, all, as it happens close to the Winterbourne stream, which runs through this part of town.
I’m meticulous. No longer walking our dog Evie, who died two months ago, I am nonetheless eager to get out and about and away from my computer screens, books and printing for a few hours every day. I spend this time poking around beneath trees. Several weeks into this task, I have finally started to let go of pretty tall trees (there are plenty of these) and focus instead on the geriatric – those trees with one foot in the grave, in an advanced state of decay, knotted and gnarled, dropping bits and by all traditional terms ‘ugly’ – even Arthur Rackham, in his wildest dreams, wouldn’t see an elf or goblin climbing around these trees. They are the forgotten ‘lost’ trees.
The trees I am expected to spot have ‘ancient characteristics’: they show signs of a hollowing trunk and hollowing branches, crevices and holes in their bark, water holes, fungi blooms, lichen and moss, burrs, broken branches and dead wood on the ground.
On my way to Houndeam Bottom, I stopped to consider and measure what Lewesians consider to be the sentinel tree as you enter Lewes by car from Brighton. It is a mature sycamore, two-stemmed, mature but not old. It is significant in the landscape but has few, if any, ancient characteristics. It might get recognised as ‘locally notable’.
Then, on the margins of the boundary line of the official Lost Woods project area for Sussex – a designated area covering both counties which resembles the shape of a slightly knackered sweet potato, I spotted something resembling a large Cirque du Soliel up-turned three-legged spider down a steep, nettle-covered embankment. This looked promising: a significantly hollowed trunk with plenty of decay, long, fat, thin, old, fresh tendrils of limbs stretching this way and that – some dead and decaying, some twisted, with burrs and repeated episodes of epicormic growth – all indicators of a struggle with disease, decay. There would have been a time in the 1950s and 1960s when the road over the grass and footpath here would have been heavy with traffic, and there’s been ash die-back, of course, something that kills younger trees that older trees like this survive.
This is my kind of tree.
It was late March or early April. I’m starting to get my head around tree identification, but with bark this damaged and no leaves yet, I had little to go on. I should have been able to spot the ash buds, but I think these were somewhat withered. The seed ‘keys’ were a clue. It had to be ash. I have a measuring tape, my phone is my camera, and to finish off, I usually do a 10-minute sketch to better pick out its form and character.
The details included in the survey for the verifier to establish which category the tree falls into (notable, veteran, or ancient) include photographic evidence of hollowing, dead wood, fungi, epiphytes, invertebrates, and bats.
Pollution : noise, air and light …
Name your top three pet peeves.
This makes me sound like someone who should live far away from modern life and people – ideally by the sea for the muffling and calming sound of the ocean or in the countryside, in a wood away from walkers, farmers and hunters.
Noise pollution begins with busy roads near residential areas: motorbikes revving engines, ridiculous sports cars and music blasting from speakers. It only gets word on a residential street – delivery vans with music turned up loud before, during and after delivery; tuning a motorbike on the street as a Sunday morning hobby. Living under a busy flight route is a pain – 27 miles from Gatwick but I hear them starting in at around 4:30am and have no where to get away from jets out doors.
Air pollution can be intermittent – the burning of rubbish or just a bonfire in the garden but is made worse in winter when cold temperatures cause smog from coal and log burners.
And light pollution is caused by the county council insisting on having ridiculously bright lights on residential streets – they should be made to subsidise the cost of black out curtains, or better still, shade the lights or put them in timers.
That depends …
What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?
Long free of school and undergraduate calendars and family holidays I no longer feel that holidays associated with July/August or December and April make these ‘favoured’ months; rather I’m swayed by the weather and what it brings. This, living in southern England is variable as jet-streams throw weather patterns in off the Atlantic, pull in warmth from Northern Africa or bitter cold from Scandinavia and Siberia – and I like that.
I enjoy sunshine and warmth, up to a point – droughts become threatening and bore to the landscape. I love when a storm blows in and we have a day or so of rain. I don’t like relentless flat, low grey cloud. Snow and frost are both rare – but a dream. Last year we had a bit of frost and snow in the second week of December; some years we may wait until April.
Change in the woods I love means I have favourite seasons – fall for the perfect days when enough trees have colour on them and there is a mosaic of browns, reds, yellows and oranges on the ground. This suggests November as a favourite month.
Spring creeps ever earlier in the year and can burst upon us or evolve over weeks – enough verdant green in the canopy and by then fading bluebells on the ground is a favourite time. This would suggest late March or early April.
I’m less excited about the winter months – unless it snows; less excited about summer which can settle into a dull sameness.
But what about events? Family birthdays in June. Christmas of course. The carnival mayhem of 5th November given that I live on Lewes, East Sussex.
And the promise of the new academic year and my birthday – September.
I rather think I can find something wonderful any month of the year.
Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve
What is your favorite place to go in your city?
I don’t live in a city – Lewes in East Sussex has a population of 16,000 or so.
We are a recognised ‘urban arboretum’ with easy, walkable distance onto the South Downs.
We are the largest town in any National Park in the UK.
For the last few years my go to place, is Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust – not least because our dog Evie loves her walks there and there’s parking close by; she is 15 years old so only manages a short totter about.
RLWT has so much: the river Ouse, the Winterbourne stream, maturing trees a good 50 years old now as well as a few ‘notable’ trees from a Victorian landscaped garden, bird life, including kingfishers and herons, mushrooms too, as well as views to the South Downs , views back to Lewes Castle and views to the iconic Cliffe Bridge, the wonderful hub for all things nature related that is The Linklater Pavilion … and a short walk to oubs like the John Harvey Tavern, eateries like Bills and a coffee/pastry from Bake Out!
Have I sold it to you yet?
Otherwise I’m to be found in Southover Gardens, but dogs aren’t allowed.
Barcelona
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’ve been to Barcelona four of five times in the last seven or eight years. I’d love to go again.
Or Northumberland, or British Columbia, or France near the Alps or Pyrenees.
Wherein lies the problem. I love variety – mountains, woods and lakes and the seas, as well as thriving urban scenes for museums and art galleries.
Maybe 23 years in Lewes, East Sussex says where I most want to be – it has easy access je the English Channel, rail network, Gatwick and Heathrow. It has modest hills, woods, rivers and the sea.
Lewes Mayor Making 19 May 2023
This was my fifth time to attend Lewes Mayor Making and this the first of a second term of four years. We didn’t need to make a play of 12 Green Councillors out of 18 – there would be change with an emphasis on climate resilience and sorting out the problems Lewes has in our heads and now on the agenda.
There were little differences; several of us chose not to wear the Victoriana, or academic robes as I would know them. We may don the garb and the equally anachronistic headgear for public celebrations such as the kids moving on parade ‘Moving On’.
Before the event, many of us picked Dirk Campbell’s brains on his escapade with Jacob Rees-Mogg at the National Conservative’s Conference. It amused us, those of us who are, have been, or toyed with being active in Extinction Rebellion. The way forward with these kinds of action is getting a point over with humour, even humility, as well as surprise —as if the subjects of our invective are the characters in a Private Eye cartoon.
There was also talk between Greens and Lib-Dems about how the local elections at District and Town had gone, no longer rivals, we could congratulate and commiserate.
The double semi-circle of councillor seats were placed in reverse alphabetical order, which had me dead centre in the front row, rather than consigned to the rear. The perfect spot for the best photos, but I kept my phone down, just for notes, until the event was over. Had I mini-tripod for the camera, I may have run it as video and picked the best clips from it. An ‘Owl’ streamed the event live – high audience figures are doubtful!
The most excellent Rev Ben Brown (there’s something ‘Bill and Ted’ about his demeanour IMHO) spoke about what good leadership requires; he developed an idea of ‘vulnerable leadership’, something more than being humble, to with with listening and creating an ‘open space so that others can be heard’. He should be doing ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio 4.
The Vote of thanks to the outgoing Mayor, Shirley Sains, suggests to me why I may not be taking it on:
118 events
10 full town councils
6 extraordinary meetings
2 town twinning events in each of Germany and France
Amd church services across Sussex. And on in London to attend.
Her departing words were that Lewes should ‘grow but not at the expense of our unique heritage’; we all agree.
Cllr Dr Wendy Maples proposed Matthew Bird as Mayor, talking of his visibility in the community, his achievements at Lewes District with sustainability, and his involvement with the likes of Love Our House and Rights for Rivers. To cap it all, Matthew’s day job is at Sussex Wildlife. The newly appointed mayor then spoke briefly of the challenge of change over the last year, his gratitude to the staff and colleagues, and, addressing his daughter, how we need to make the town fit for her generation—a point perhaps lost on her.
Cllr. Janet Baah proposed Imogen Makepeace as Deputy Mayor, something a long time overdue and in the previous administration unnecessarily resisted by a group of Liberal Democrats who took offense at her stand on some issues important to her (and the Greens).
We then had a succinct, well-choreographed full council without grandstanding, points of order, or interruptions that plagued us over the previous four years. This bodes well for the future. We’re going to get on, know when to step forward, share our duties, and do the town proud.
In a moment of reflection, I dwelt on the history of the Town Hall, built in the early 18th century as a hotel and staging post. Through the window, I could see 1613 emblazoned on the building. Lewes goes back, of course, to the Norman Conquest and the castle on our hill above the lowest fording point over the Ouse. Matthew returns to the river, its place in the community, why the town is even here, and how we must return the river to the heart of things instead of exploiting it as a dump.
Given his career involvement with sustainability initiatives as well as his regional interest in the restoration and protection of the River Ouse through organisations such as Love Our Ouse and the Rights of Rivers, Matthew Bird is a touchstone for environmental issues in Sussex, not just in Lewes and Lewes District. When he appeared on the Town Hall stage to offer a toast, he put on a ‘Coat of Hope,’ the creation of artist Barbara Keal, the very coat that had wended its way from Newhaven to Glasgow for Cop26 in November 2021. The newly appointed mayor explained what this coat of hope represented and what meaning it would bring to his tenure, stating that due to the drought last year, events that were predicted to happen in 2030 had already occurred in 2022.
“We are unprepared, but it is within our power to find local solutions,” he explained. “If any town can show the way, it’s Lewes.”
Despite his overarching theme of climate change, Matthew quickly turned his attention to the people of Lewes. He warned those attending Mayor Making to be “aware of pockets and people who struggle to stay afloat,” noting that 600 families rely on food banks and require our assistance. He stated that rather than supporting individual charities, he would direct the mayor’s fund to food banks. He then expressed concern about the number of closed shops and other unused buildings in town and how these spaces could be used by collaborating with the Lewes District, the Chamber of Commerce, and younger people. To conclude, Matthew returned to the environment and a topic near and dear to his heart—the significance of the river—emphasizing that sewage was only a small part of the pollution problem. He spoke passionately about the Ouse, saying that “it is the reason why the town exists” and that rivers are “entities in their own right.”
For the following hour or more, I moved around familiar faces and was introduced to some old ones, from Lewes Priory to the Pells Pool, Lewes Urban Arboretum, and others. I have some new acquaintances and may have some tasks and challenges for the next four years: Finance Committee, Buildings and Assets Committee, Outside Bodies: The Railway Land Wildlife Trust and Lewes Priory Trust
Lewes: the place to go to see what the future looks like
If you were able to attend the Human Nature Phoenix Planning Application Launch on Friday (27 January 2023) at The Depot, Lewes what did you come away feeling? What key phrases rang in your ears? Have you done anything as a consequence? I did.
To the event: it was heaving with people and full of the kind of bonhomie that The Depot is so good at. It was Robert Senior – The Depot who introduced things: “This is an exciting development for the town, and I’ve invested in it”, he said. In brief introduction he compared getting it right for the North Street Development as similar to the transformation of the former Harvey’s Brewery Depot site, with the same issues and expectations, but on a far larger scale. Robert Senior expressed his hope that the Planning Application will go through without a lot of issues.
Katie Derham hosted the event. She’s lived around here for 15 years apparently (closer to Haywards Heath than Lewes) and unless I am mistaken I taught her children to swim with Mid-Sussex Marlins at The Dolphin (hers was a familiar name amongst parents for a time) … I digress.
Jonathan Smales, Executive Chairman, Human Nature resisted the temptation he must rightly feel to sell the virtues of the project for an hour or so and kept to his allotted ten minutes. He provided a potted history of Phoenix Ironworks and the issues that arise from a ‘wickedly’ difficult brownfield site. In this context I understand the term ‘wicked’ to contrast with ‘messy’ – management speak for ways to describe different creative problem solving approaches, a ‘wicked’ problem having no easy fix, requiring as it does much subjective soul searching and inventiveness, while a ‘messy’ problem has to be addressed with logic and analysis. That’s my take on it, Jonathan Smales might say he just plucked the adjectives from there air.
A planning application in Lewes passes through the gut of four planning departments: Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council, East Sussex County Council and South Downs National Park Planning Department. Each has some, a bit, not much or a lot of influence on the other, or not, depending on the issue, and how aligned the thinking and understanding is across the individuals in these departments. That is my personal take on the situation after nearly four years as a Lewes Councillor and 25 years poking my mind into ‘local issues’ here in Sussex (20 years) and Warwickshire (5 years).
To say that the North Street Quarter is “Not in great shape after 20 years of dereliction and blight” is an understatement. It is sad that sites like this are too commonplace – so good luck truly, bonne courage, to those who wish to take on and transform such sites that for multiple reasons can stagnate, become blocked or caught up in development/planner/legalistic imbroglios.
The bullet points were:
- The safest part of the town for flood defences
- The only large-scale carbon regenerative development (in the UK, Europe, possibly the world/universe … I was getting my thumbs wrapped around ‘regenerative’ as I took notes on my phone (I should have just recorded a sound note of the entire thing).
- The involvement of 15 architects
- A potted history of Phoenix Rising
- The biggest affordable scheme in ESCC
- £400m investment
- Find out more on the Human Nature website.
As a someone who loves being on, in or beside water (lakes, rivers and the sea … and swimming pools!) I was interested in the slipway on the development (Lewes needs another with public access). Though not if this creates a safety risk or sees jet-skis on the water.
I am intrigued that artists often imagine the development at high tide (twice in 24 hours, not always in daylight), and in mid-summer, with the sun shining brightly through from the north east (around 4:00 am). The reality of living here will be different, not in a bad way: we have weather (cloud, rain, wind, drought) and we have constant change in the river. An animation, rather than artist’s sketches would better show what a place will look like and be like to live in (though costly I suppose). Trees too, mature 30-50 year old trees – Surely there should be no problem showing a three year old sapling and recognising that it will take generations to grow to maturity (unless of course, mature trees are going to be planted here). We shall see. I’m sure Audrey Jarvis of Lewes Urban Arboretum could provide advice.
The Lead Designer, from Periscope, Dan Ray then spoke. He talked about the development having to fit into Lewes, “for the next few hundred years”.
With the castle on the hill and the Saxon layout of the High Street and Twittens that might be rephrased ‘for the next thousand years’. It should be built to endure.
Points covered included:
3 minutes walk
- Flood attenuation
- Landscape systems
Robert Ash of Ask Sakula Architects then introduced the first parcel of the development which will be at the far end of the site next to Wailley’s Bridge and the Pells. I was taken by how European it looked, with suggestions of Barcelona in the brightly coloured, sunny artist’s impressions or certainly something from the Netherlands, or of some community developments in Strasbourg. He’s a fan of shutters; so am I.
I don’t understand why external shutters aren’t commonplace across the UK, as they are across continental Europe both to shade windows in summer, but also to keep in the warmth in winter. The Georgians had internal shutters, why no more? Double-glazing? Cost cutting? We need them, the Phoenix Development will have them.
There were various exemplars of sustainability, such as green walls. The community should grow to care for these, especially to find a way to keep them alive in the case of a drought. Will the development be able to extract water from the Ouse when water becomes in short supply? Drought as well as flooding has to be mitigated against.
The panel for the Q&A introduced themselves, of value in its own right, but it ate into time that might have been better spent taking questions from the audience. Half-an-hour for this and 12 minutes or more went on introductions – though I sense this wasn’t the place for tackling potentially awkwards questions which would have come up had it gone on longer – a shame, as the panel would surely have been able to address these, the ‘known unknowns’ and ‘unknown unknowns’. I felt like mentioning a few ‘known unknowns’ but felt better about it.
Most impressive was Professor Raphie Kaplinsky, an Economic Historian (retired, he’s an emeritus at University of Sussex), formerly of The Open University. Google him and you learn that “Since his formal retirement at the end of 2014, he has begun working on the green economy and urban regeneration in Newhaven and Lewes (towns close to Sussex University), and in Greece” and more besides from his website Raphie Kaplinsky.
He summed up 300 years of global Economic History in about 8 minutes flat, mentioning in passing four, what he called ‘long wave techno-paradigms’ from the Industrial Revolution with waves of creative destruction that interrupted conservatism, taking in periods of populism, standardisation, mass production, individualism and decentralised. Henry Ford got a mention; he might have added Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. His rallying cry was “Lewes: the place to go to see what the future looks like!”
Others on the panel, none of whom took a question, if I recall which rather turned them into set dressing included: Julia Oxborrow, Environmental Campaigner; Kelly Harrison, a leader in timber projects.
Zoë Nicholson, of Lewes District Council, asked the first question. She spoke of a positive ‘alignment of partnership working’ and summarised the presentation made by Human Nature for the North Street Quarter by praising recognition of the importance of: housing density – and so not building on greenfield sites or close to and adjacent to ancient woodlands; sustainability, in relation to becoming carbon neutral and meeting the problems of the energy crisis, as well as affordable homes – so that Lewes people can live and work here.
David Cown qualified this from the panel saying that the development has to be “a place where people live, not just a housing development.” There was criticism of the ability of the South Downs National Park to make the right decision, given that they have agreed to a widening of the Exeat Bridge over the Cuckmere without pedestrian or cyclist access.
Jonathan Smales used a footballing metaphor to describe having to “play the ball in front of you … and having to be ruthlessly pragmatic”, pointing out that the South Downs National Park “is obliged to listen to everyone”.
A question came from Cllr Dr Patricia Patterson-Vanegas, Wealden District Council (Greens). She is the one who described the plans for the Lewes North Street Quarter as ‘music to my ears’. Her question concerned water – in particular relating to sewage, or “toilet flushing” as she politely put it. This opened up a discussion on rain gardens, water harvesting and flood management.
Conversations continued for a short period over a buffet lunch. I was able to introduce myself to Prof Kaplinsky, felt too shy to ask for a selfie with Natasha (no one else was), noted the views of Patricia Patterson-Vanegas and spoke to several fellow Town Councillors ahead of the first of several upcoming meetings of the Lewes Town Council Planning ‘Task & Finish Group’ in relation to the Human Nature Phoenix Development.
When I got home I googled Raphie Kaplinsky and then ordered ‘Sustainable Futures’ which may be the first in several books I read through of his given how taken I was by what he said. Can Lewes truly be “what the future looks like” ? Not a bleak dystopian science-fiction future, but more Shangri La – a Blue Lagoon for families? Without the required climate impacts delivering Mediterranean weather to the South Downs.
Ouse Valley Catchment Project with Matthew Bird
Matthew spoke at the Lewes Greens AGM, to an audience in the hall and online, about the communities vulnerable to flooding along the Ouse and the creation of an illustrated ‘fly by’ from the coast to Lewes showing the extent of potential flooding which became the inspiration of projects that have developed since.
The desire has been to come up with practical ways to do something to address the many problems that have been identified. It has taken several years to bring many disparate groups together. Eventually ten key partners came together including the South Downs National Park, Greenhaven, Ovesco, Transition Lewes, Sussex Community and Sussex Wildlife Trust along with 60 or more organisations.
In the first instance £150,000 of development money was secured to run a year of events which engaged with 110 groups from Barcombe to Newhaven, Peacehaven to Seaford.
More recently £2.5m has been awarded, one of only 16 projects in the country to be selected, which will seek to develop climate resilience, and knowledge of nature and skills, nature based responses to flooding by creating leaky dams and scrapes to hold water.
There are also a number of specific projects such as: the Cockshut alignment scheme, community scheme on the Neville, the zero carbon Barcombe scheme and climate hubs – a charter of ‘rights of the river’; working with the Ouse and Adur River Trust and Love Our Ouse to promote a passion for our rivers and One Planet Living – a framework for measuring sustainability.
End Investment in Fossil Fuels
Organised by Divest East Sussex, Eco Action Families Brighton, Lewes Climate Hub, Lewes Green Party, Seaford Environmental Alliance, Transition Town Hastings, Transition Town Lewes, XR Brighton, XR Eastbourne, XR Lewes a large group gathered outside Lewes Station on Tuesday morning. On a Lewes scale this was a modest enterprise of eager activists who were armed with drums, whistles, placards and flags. For a larger turn out we’d need to do this outside working hours (and probably at night with burning torches and fireworks).
A good humoured group, I was amongst their number. I looked around for familiar faces: Green Party Candidates for the 2023 District Elections, three current District Councillors and a fellow Town Councillor.
I took along my poolside whistle from the swimming club. I had had ideas of creating a large paper drum to wear, or a top hot in the style of an oil drum but decided to give these a miss. Being, aptly, the first day of a heatwave, like everyone, I kept to shorts and a T-shirt. Stripes were there thing to wear; whistles the simplest thing to take along. Though I admired the ingenious drums some had made from pots and pans. We were out noised by a band of drummers and the occasional blast from a portable speaker system; could we have faced arrest? Hasn’t noisy protest been banned?
Thinking I’d be on a short amble from the Station, up Station Street and onto the High Street to East Sussex County Hall I was surprised when we turned right at the Lansdowne and headed towards Friar’s Walk. I went along with it. Outside the Bus Station, itself a subject that is generating a lot of noisy protest, we met up with the Lightship Greta.
The two groups, approaching the size of a small bonfire society now, or some Year 11 students from a village school doing their ‘Moving On’ parade, made their way up School Hill. I had my white Green Party umbrella to deploy – as a parasol. Its message is ‘Down Blame me for the Weather; I voted Green’.
Onwards past the War Memorial and a wave from the steps of the Town Hall from the Town Clerk and two of her staff. Along the way people hung out of windows to watch and wave, or said supportive words and took a leaflet. We passed one grim looking gentleman in a Porsche SUV; caught in the march like a giant turtle in a fishing net I was surprised he had his window down. In Edinburgh there was a spate of letting the air out of these monsters of the road.
It was both a colourful and a noisy march. Lewes does this kind of thing with aplomb. There were stewards everywhere monitoring and managing us, and also managing the traffic with Stop/Go signs. Stuck for 5-10 minutes most occupants of cars/vans etc: appeared good humoured. I don’t suppose they could protest.
On the High Street I made sure I got plenty a photos that included the elms planted by Lewes Urban Arboretum which I would like to feature in a painting that imagines the street 50 and 150 years hence. I’m still conjuring up the story I can tell, beyond a dull set of before and after pictures showing trees that have grown a bit bigger (or died, fallen over, been replaced …)
Finally on to the ground of East Sussex County Hall, a ghastly edifice of concrete and glass declaring boldy its 1960s origins. We ‘made a lot of noise’, stopped at the entrance for TV and photo ops, then circled the building with the intention, clearly picked up, of rattling the councillors then in session voting on investment by East Sussex County Council in oil giants Shell and BP.
Does it have an impact? Would it make councillors more stubborn than compliant? Are marches, however noisy and colourful effective? They attract interest and build their numbers. I wonder if it changes the minds of those who matter though. Rather, local and regional elections needs to see progressive and Green councillors elected.
Mind Bursts 