Meet the conservation group - Sandgate Conservation Society

Across the Low Weald and Downs, many woodlands, green spaces, and nature reserves are taken care of by volunteers. These dedicated conservationists are making a real difference to actively managing habitats to improve biodiversity across Sussex.

We caught up with Sandgate Conservation Society, formed in 1974 and the longest-running local conservation group in the Storrington area. Melanie Gambrill from the Society explains more about the group and how to get involved:

Sandgate woods is a magical place with various habitats - wet and dry heathland, grass and woodland - supporting a wide variety of wildlife.

The original focus of the Society was to prevent widespread housing development and preserve this special area for wildlife and people to enjoy in perpetuity. One of the first key members was Dr Roy Armstrong, founder of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, who donated part of his garden to Sandgate Park and built the 11 humped bridges which are a charming feature of Sandgate woods today.

In addition to conservation sessions, many social and educational events have been organised by the Society and these are documented in the annual newsletters which have been published for over 50 years.

I love meeting people who share my interest in nature and conservation and working together on a project to help preserve our local green spaces.

I really enjoy being part of the Society and producing the annual newsletter is a great opportunity to learn more about the flora and fauna in our local environment. I have also picked up some local history knowledge too, which is another interest of mine.

Get involved

We welcome volunteers of all ages (children need to be accompanied by an adult) and you don’t have to be a member to join the sessions. Although we would love to see you regularly, you can come ad hoc as each work morning we do a specific task.

The work mornings are great fun, educational and offer an opportunity to meet like-minded nature lovers and conservation enthusiasts. There is no pressure to do any heavy work. Just come for a chat if you like!

You need to wear suitable clothing and you may prefer to bring your own gloves. We provide all the tools and there are spare gloves if required. Tasks we do include bracken bashing, cutting back invasive rhododendron, scrub clearance, sapling removal (mostly birch and Scots pine), cutting back gorse growing on the tumuli at Sullington Warren, clearing paths, building leaky dams on the wet heath and making fences. Outside of bird nesting season we often have a fire to burn off the scrub and cuttings. This is a favourite activity for our younger volunteers.

Our Saturday work mornings take place as follows:

Sullington Warren (managed by National Trust)

9:30 – 12:00 on the second Saturday of each month (except July/August). The meeting point is usually the ‘Green’ in the middle of the Warren, RH20 4DD.

Sandgate Park (managed by Horsham District Council)

10:00 – 12:00 on fourth Saturday of each month (except December). The meeting point is usually at the benches by the heather mound, near Sandgate Lane entrance to woods, RH20 3HJ.

Work morning updates including meeting places are posted on our Facebook page and website. We also publish a printed annual newsletter each Spring which contains a wealth of interesting articles about local conservation projects, flora and fauna and contains some stunning photos. Contributions are always welcome, whether full articles, snippets or just pictures.

For more details on Sandgate Conservation Society and to request a copy of our newsletter email sandgate.newsletter@outlook.com.

We look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming work mornings.

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