Winter on the Steyning Downland Scheme

After a blooming beautiful spring and summer, the season has arrived where the flora and fauna out on the downs hide their faces for a while.  This is the time we can do work around the area to make sure it is in the best possible condition for the wildlife and the community to thrive there.

A small herd of Sussex cattle are already in the Rifle Range, grazing the long grass which will help return the area to the rich chalk grassland it once was.  There is only 3% left of what there once was of this kind of habitat, and we have our own patch of it right here by Steyning!  Pepperscoombe Bank, at the Newham Lane end of the Horseshoe, will also be grazed, and Steyning Coombe will be grazed later in the season, for around two weeks at a time.  Please continue to enjoy the open access to these lovely areas, and just keep dogs under close control when near the cattle. 

Steyning Grammar School Forest School will be taking form groups from year seven out on to the downs on Wednesdays from December onwards.  They will be learning about our local area, and this year, focussing mostly on ensuring the paths are usable for folk who enjoy coming to the area, along with some scrub clearance where it is needed.  We are also hoping the walk to cattle between pastures, so the Forest School will be making part of the Horseshoe suitable for this by widening the path.

As ever, we are keen to be in communication with anyone who enjoys the area – so if you have feedback or ideas, we would love to hear from you.  Please see the website for further details of the scheme – a place to enjoy, a place to protect, a place to be proud of.

Contact Bryony Webb:  bryony@wistonestate.co.uk; 01903 812129

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