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December 2019 Services & News

(posted on behalf of Bobbie Steel)

Church services in December

Sunday  1st             11am                 Service of The Word
8th                            6.30pm            Evensong
15th                           11am                 Holy Communion
22nd                       6.30pm             Lessons and Carols
24th                       11.30pm     Christmas Holy  Communion
29th.                      11am.               Service of The Word
After the carol service there will be coffee and mulled wine and mince pies. The repaired heating in the church is working very effectively. One rather imagines that for years we have been heating the space under the foundations and now the heat is being directed inside. The disruption in the vestry made it a very good time to clean and paint, and a working party, led by John Day, has made a remarkable difference. A new carpet has been laid and now our Treasurer, Douglas Sewell,  is negotiating with our insurers as to the division of fiscal responsibility, or, who pays for what?

The Christmas tree will be brought into the church and decorated on Saturday December 14th. This will be after the school Nativity Service and in time for the children’s Carol Service before they break up.
Everyone is welcome to help on tree-decorating morning. It is always a very jolly time, just arrive between 10.30 and 11ish.

Dallington WI.
By the time this article is published in the magazines the W.I. here in Dallington will have held the Annual Meeting at which it will be wound up. There will be one last Christmas lunch on December 19th, in the Old School Village Hall at 12 for 12.30.

Dallington Planning Application – RR/2019/2199/P

Planning application for Dallington.
Swan Farm, Woods Corner – partial demolition and partial conversion of existing agricultural buildings and construction of two detached dwellings with associated parking.
Click on the link below for full details
http://planweb01.rother.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/planningDetails?reference=RR/2019/2199/P&from=planningSearch

This planning application will be on the agenda at the Dallington Parish Council planning meeting on 15.10.19 – agenda to follow.

 

 

 

 

Dallington Forest Rare Insects Found

(Posted on behalf of Doug Edworthy )

Photo of wetland cranefly
Photo ©️ J. Salmela

Dallington Forest is home to so many treasures. A recent survey – Dallington Forest Saproxylic Invertebrate Sampling report – just published, has found a number of nationally rare and endangered species including a wetland cranefly Ellipteroides alboscutellatus (pictured here)  described in the report as “a remarkable discovery”

From April through October 2018, 150 species of insect were identified from sampling in Dallington Forest; 48 of the Coleoptera species, 37 of the Diptera and 2 Hemiptera were saproxylic – dependent on decaying wood, giving a total of 87 saproxylic species; 16 of the species trapped are of special note due to their rarity across Britain, and these comprise 5 Nationally Rare and 11 Nationally Scarce species.

The report by Ecological Consultant Dr. Keith Alexander was commissioned by Dallington Forest Project. It was funded by a grant from Sussex Lund, grant application assisted by the Woodland Trust, Ancients of the Future (a Buglife project funded by the heritage Lottery Fund) provided traps and materials, and Peter Chandler identified the Diptera.

A PDF copy of the report is available here:
Dallington Forest Saproxylic Invertebrate Sampling 2018 Keith Alexander

Saproxylic invertebrates are those invertebrates that are dependent on dead or decaying wood (or dependent on other organisms that are themselves dependent on dead wood). These invertebrates may not be dependent on the wood for their entire life cycle but at least some stage is dependent on wood.

A good example of this are the larvae of some beetles that feed on decaying wood. The adults may feed on other things (such as nectar).

Dead wood is an essential component of woodland ecosystems, but one that is often overlooked and cleared away as unsightly or on the grounds of safety or neatness. As a result, invertebrate species that rely on dead wood are now some of the most threatened in Britain. It is vital to retain a variety of dead wood habitats within the woodland. This includes standing trees, dead branches, stems and snags on living trees and fallen branches and stumps. A range of dead wood at all stages of decay will provide a range of habitats for more specialist saproxylic (dead wood) invertebrates.

See the following websites for more information about saproxylic invertebrates: –

https://www.buglife.org.uk/search?combine_2=saproxylic

http://ec.europa.eu/…/spec…/redlist/beetles/introduction.htm

https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/saproxylic

April 2019 Parish news

(Posted on behalf of Bobbie Steel)
St Giles Church
Services in April

  • Sunday  7th April        11 am.       Service of The Word
  • Sunday 14th              6.30 pm.      Evensong
  • Sunday 21st.              11 am.           Easter Sunday Holy Communion
  • Sunday 28th.            9.30am.       Holy Communion

The World Day of Prayer service was held at Dallington on Friday March 1st. As well as members of the congregations in our benefice we were joined by friends from Heathfield. The service, which had been prepared by the women of Slovenia, was very thought-provoking, and the title, “Come, everything is ready”, welcomed and included all present.

History Group: the last two meetings of this Spring will be:
Wednesday April 10th  Jenny Stiles will talk about Dallington after 1066.
Wednesday April 24th Douglas Sewell (postponed from March) on Dallington’s war graves
Both meetings in the Old School from 7 for 7.30pm

Flower Club Angela has written a note about the Flower Club:
I am very sorry to say that, reluctantly, it has been decided to finish the monthly meetings. This is mainly due to the lack of support and interest. Looking back, we have learned a great deal and had many happy afternoons. I think it began some 8 or 9 years ago when Dorothy Messer approached Pam Fuller with the idea of starting a flower-arranging group locally. We have made large and miniature arrangements, used a kitchen utensil and a dustpan, made Harvest and Christmas wreaths, joined in with a couple of Flower-Festivals and learned to make Christmas arrangements to use at home. I also remember trying to make crepe-paper poppies, daffodils and anemones. How hopeless we were. Pam used to tell us that the Brownies she taught were much less awkward than us! Many thanks to Pam for all her help and enthusiasm over many happy Thursday afternoons.  Angela.

Dallington WI. At our February meeting we had the pleasure of listening to our neighbour, Robin Taylor, talking about the life and work of Elizabeth Bishop, a poet of whom he is very knowledgeable. We very much enjoyed hearing Robin share his interest.
In April we look forward to a return visit from Chris McCooey, with his talk entitled, ‘News from the Home Front’. The April meeting will be in the Old School Village Hall at 7.30pm on April 18th.
Please note the summer evening time and do not get caught out by arriving in the afternoon. Visitors are always very welcome.
Bobbie

Library Cafe As usual the Library Cafe is open in the Old School village hall every Monday (except Easter Monday) from 2-4. The monthly Saturday morning openings are April 6th and May 4th 10-12. We will be including a sales table for plants and produce in all Saturday sessions throughout the season – please bring along any spare plants, seeds and garden produce to swap or sell

St Giles Churchyard closed for retiling works Friday 1st February

(Posted on behalf of Diana Day)

This coming Friday 1st February, there will be men in the churchyard replacing tiles on the roof. The churchyard will be closed for about 2 hours around lunchtime. This is to protect both the workmen and the public from any accident or mishap. Diana will be putting up “men at work” signs and will be around to redirect any visitors.

Looking for volunteer tree surveyors

The Woodland Trust is looking for volunteers to take part in the Observatree project which aims to protect the UK’s trees, woods and forests from new pests and diseases.

Volunteers receive training to enable them to correctly identify signs and symptoms of Observatree’s 22 priority pests and diseases as well as carry out effective site surveys

if you are interested, you can find out more at https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/opportunities/tree-health-surveyor-various-locations/

Sheep killed by dog(s) in Dallington

A farmer with land close to Dallington Forest has just informed us that a dog or dogs have killed two ewes, that a further lamb was missing and other ewes had bite marks and injuries. The whole flock has been traumatised.

The dead ewes were found yesterday [Thursday 24th May] but it isn’t known when the attack occurred – it would have been between an inspection the day before and yesterday afternoon.

A number of owners let their dogs run free in Dallington Forest and on a number of occasions this Spring have been seen running around on this piece of land. But, as the attack wasn’t witnessed, it’s not known if the dog(s) came from that direction.

Naturally, a close watch has been mounted of this flock as dogs getting a taste for sheep-killing tend to return.

Particularly at this time of the year owners need to keep their dogs under close control.

Dog owners should note that farmers are within their rights to shoot any dogs found worrying sheep.