Environment – Dallington Parish Website

Extended Deadline for Dark Skies Children’s Writing Competition

In view of the interest generated by the recent High Weald Wild about Dark Skies Festival (28 Oct-10 Nov), the editorial board of The Messenger Magazine have decided to extend the deadline for our Children’s Creative Writing competition (previously announced in the September issue of the Messenger) to 15^th November, 2024

The Festival aims to celebrate the High Weald’s dark skies and raise awareness about the negative impacts of light pollution – on wildlife, climate change and our own wellbeing – and how we can help reduce it.

Our writing competition is designed to inspire and celebrate children’s responses to this topic. It is open to all children aged 5-11 living or attending school in the area served by the Messenger. We invite entries of poems, or short stories or articles (maximum 250 words) on any aspect of the theme of Dark Skies. Here are some questions to get them thinking:

- What’s special about dark skies and why do they matter?
- What are your own experiences of the dark?
- What can you see in the night sky?
- What do you like about the moon and stars?
- What are the stories behind constellation names?
- Why is darkness important to wildlife?
- What would happen to animals, birds and insects if it stayed light all the time?

The new deadline for entries is 15^th November, 2024 and results will be announced in the new year. Prizes will be awarded in the two age categories:
– Young 5-7 years
– Junior 8-11 years.

The winners in each age category will each receive a £20 book token from Rother Books and their entries will be published in The Messenger. Runners up from each of the four villages will receive a £10 token. All entrants will receive a special Dark Skies bookmark. Your school may be taking part in the competition but individual entries are also very welcome.

Competition Rules

Subject: “Dark Skies”
Word count: Up to 250 words (excluding title)
Judging criteria: Originality, engagement with theme, language (entries will not be judged on spelling and grammar)
Only one entry per child
Entries must be the original work of the child and should be submitted by a responsible adult (parent/guardian or teacher with parental consent).
By submitting, the responsible adult grants permission for winning entries to be published in The Messenger. Copyright remains with the author
Child’s name & age on 15^th November 2024 should be included with their entry, along with address and contact details (which will not be published) for notification of results.
Entries may be handwritten or typed and submitted by email to [email protected] or by post to
The Messenger Children’s Writing Competition,
Hunters Farm, Kent Lane, Brightling TN32 5HU
Entries must arrive by midnight 15^th November 2024; late entries cannot be considered
The judges’ decisions are final

This Saturday 2nd November Dark Skies Talk

Apologies for another reminder but it’s come to my notice that the incorrect time was shown on one of the pages of the Messenger Magazine – so this is the correct information again:

Dark Skies Poster In Dallington, local expert Doug Edworthy (Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society) will be giving a talk about the wonders of the stars and the impact of light pollution on nature, people and the sky . This will take place at Dallington Old School Village Hall on Saturday 2^nd November at 7.30. That is the weekend of the new moon, which means it will be particularly dark so we may be able to enjoy the skies on the way to and from the hall.

Wild about Dark Skies Festival – latest news

As previously announced, Dallington is participating in this year’s High Weald Wild about Dark Skies Festival. Running from Saturday 28 October to Sunday 10 November 2024, the Festival promises a fortnight of stargazing, workshops, talks, walks and fun family activities. Find out more at https://highweald.org/get-involved/dark-skies/wild-about-dark-skies-festival/

Dallington School is also joining in with the festival. Paul Cox, Head Teacher, reports that the older children are currently working on a project based around the Dallington Village Dark Skies Festival. They have been visited by the amazing Rachel Bennington, who works for the High Weald. They have done lots of wonderful work around the stars and light pollution. They will also be writing some poems around the night sky – to be entered for the Messenger Magazine Childrens Writing Competition on the Dark Skies theme.

We hope to arrange some additional events later in the month, including a star gazing event and a bat walk (details tbc).

Dallington Parish Council supports the Dark Skies Festival and when commenting on planning applications, takes account of the High Weald Dark Skies Planning Advice Note which aims to reduce light pollution.

Dallington Forest Guided Walks

(Posted on behalf of Doug Edworthy)

It hardly seems possible that 2024 is already half over, the days are getting shorter, and summer is still absent-without-leave. But regardless of the current unseasonable weather, there are three guided walks in Dallington Forest planned for the rest of the year:

Sun July 28th
Sat Sep 14th
Sun Nov 17th

If you’d like to come on any of these walks please contact our walks administrator, Brenda Booth ([email protected]), who will email you details of our meeting location and time.

A lot has changed in the Forge Wood part of the forest following last summer’s clear-fell of non-native Western Hemlock, Spruce and European Larch. The landowner has some interesting plans for this piece of woodland.

So, don’t worry if you’ve been on our walks before, as well as seeing the ancient woodland ghylls, veteran Beeches, standing decaying wood monoliths, walking trees, sandstone ‘ripple beds’ of the early Cretaceous period 145-100 mya, and learning about the landscape and history of the forest, there is still lots to see.

The walks are usually 2-3 hours, influenced by how much talking I do! Depending on the time of year, the weather can be wet, and the tracks can be muddy and slippery with plenty of trip hazards. So, appropriate clothing and footwear are essential. Dogs are welcome on a lead and we ask that owners clear up after them and take the poo out of the forest.

We ask for a £5 cash donation per person, collected at the start of the walk, which goes towards the hosting and maintenance of the Dallington Forest website (www.dallingtonforest.uk – which I urge you to visit and learn more about the forest).

I hope to see you on one of the walks!

Doug Edworthy Tree Warden, Brightling and Dallington parishes

[email protected]

Brightling Moth Breakfast Saturday 13th July

(posted on behalf of Caroline Moore & Brightling Environment Group)

May be of interest to Dallington residents too?

Last few places for the Brightling Moth Breakfast:

Brightling Environment Group’s latest event is a Moth Breakfast. Local moth enthusiast Caroline Moore – who’s been trapping moths and recording species and numbers for 24 years at her garden in Etchingham – will be doing a live moth-trap opening and species ID on the morning of Saturday 13 July, 8.15am for an 8.30am reveal at Brickyard Lane, Brightling. Come along for breakfast (bacon and/or mushroom rolls, plus coffee, tea and juice) and to see how the moth count compares from three traps, set across three different local sites, each with different habitats and levels of light pollution. Numbers are limited, so email [email protected] to book your place and receive full details of the location. (Please note, BEG will be asking for a donation of £5 to cover the costs of breakfast.) See you there!

(Web editor’s note: light pollution and how to mitigate its impact on wildlife including moths are all part of the High Weald National Landscape Dark Skies Festival (28 Oct-10 Nov), designed to celebrate and protect some of the darkest skies in the South East. More information at https://highweald.org/get-involved/dark-skies/wild-about-dark-skies-festival/. We’ll be posting details over the next few months about how Dallington will be taking part in the Festival.)

Make the most of local rights of way

[The following article by Stella Bellem was previously published in the Messenger magazine; due to a production error the sketch map was printed in B&W so we are reproducing it here in colour (click image for larger version). You can find additional information at https://row.eastsussex.gov.uk/standardmap.aspx ]

We have plentiful public rights of way in Dallington – in other words, where people, horses, bicycles and any other mode of transport are allowed by law. These include:

- footpaths, for walking, running, mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs
- bridlepaths for walking, horse riding, bicycles and mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs
- byway open to all types of traffic including cars
- restricted byway for any transport without a motor and mobility scooters or powered wheelchairs

They are marked on Ordnance Survey maps by means of symbols. More information available at https://row.eastsussex.gov.uk/standardmap.aspx

The landowner can of course allow other users to cross their land. and we are lucky that many landowners are generous enough to allow the public to use their land to join some paths together to make circular routes.

If you notice anything amiss on your walks, such as fallen trees blocking access, or stiles or bridges which are rotten and dangerous, you can let the Rights of Way team at East Sussex County Council know via https://row.eastsussex.gov.uk/standardmap.aspx or by phone, or by letting your Parish Council know.

And finally: would you like to help produce some map guides to short walks in and around Dallington? The focus could be on nature, local history, interesting buildings, child-friendly routes, or anything else. Please send your own suggestions for points of interest (and photographs if possible) to Stella and Pauline at [email protected]

Warmer Homes Event 29th February Brightling

Dallington residents are also welcome to attend this event taking place at Brightling Village Hall.

Warmer homes event

Please join us on Thursday 29 February at 7:00 pm in Brightling Village Hall for a helpful, informative and friendly evening looking at how to retrofit our local homes – particularly the many older buildings found in Brightling and neighbouring villages – to adapt to the future of home heating. In other words, how to stay warm, for less money and with less impact on the environment.

Our main speaker will be Joe Daly: architect, energy adviser and retrofit coordinator for Energise Sussex Coast (a not-for-profit community energy co-operative).

There will also be 3 short case studies from local people:

a local resident who installed an air source heat pump in an older property
a local resident who installed a ground source heat pump
a local resident who installed solar panels, batteries and now profits from surplus electricityPLUS a demonstration of the thermal imaging camera. The thermal imaging camera can provide a heat image of YOUR HOUSE showing where the heat is leaking out. After the demonstration, it will be possible to request a free thermal imaging visit to YOUR HOUSE (initially open to Brightling residents who come to the talk – limited availability).

The event is free but we are asking people to book tickets so that we can manage numbers. Book tickets using the button below or email [email protected]Important note. The button will take you to the EventBrite booking page. When you reach that page, select the number of tickets you require and be sure to click the red “Reserve a spot” button.

Book tickets to the event

There will be free refreshments including soft drinks and wine (small voluntary donation requested for wine).

Funding available to High Weald farmers and land managers

(Forwarded from High Weald AONB via Doug Edworthy):

£1 million awarded to High Weald farmers and land managers

More funding still available from the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme

Farmers and land managers across the High Weald are benefiting from advice, support and funding from the High Weald AONB team, through the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant programme.

More than £1 million has already been awarded, with more money available until March 2025. We want to get the word out to all eligible applicants, so please share this email with anyone you know who might be interested.

What can I apply for?
Full criteria can be found on our website, but successful projects so far have included:

Mobile planned grazing infrastructure (fencing, gates and mobile drinking troughs) to enable regenerative farming
High seats for deer control programmes
Deer larders and chillers
Hedge planting to connect existing hedges and woods
Habitat surveys and soil testing to inform new farm management plans.

Find more inspiration in our 2022/23 grant summary >>

What is Farming in Protected Landscapes?
The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is funded by Defra and managed locally by the High Weald AONB team, with decisions made by a farmer-led assessment panel. It gives grants for projects in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks that:

support nature recovery
mitigate the impacts of climate change
provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage; and
protect or improve the quality and character of the landscape or place.

Interested? Click the button below to visit our website and register your interest:

Shoot dates in Purchase Wood, Deer Park, Brightling/Dallington

Message from Doug Edworthy, Tree Warden, Brightling and Dallington parishes:

“Forestry England have let me know of dates when there will be shooting on their land in Purchase Wood, Deer Park.

It’s in the North of the wood but best to avoid on those days, especially going off main tracks.

November 6,9,13, 16,20,23, 27,30
December 4,7,11,14, 18, 28,
January 8,11,15

People with nervous dogs, especially, might want to avoid the wood on those dates.”

Dallington Forest Walk 23rd April

(Posted on behalf of Brenda Booth)
Dallington Forest Walk 23rd April 11am.

For further information and to reserve a place, please contact Brenda Booth
[email protected]
07730402980