Park News
August 2023
The Pond // Green Flag Award // Wednesday Volunteers // Corporate Volunteers // Climate Action Survey // Spotlight on Philippa // Funday Sunday // Thanks to David Lee // Battle of the Bands // Habitat Mapping // History of Horsham Park // Wild Denne // Help the Friends and Win a Prize // Events // Volunteering opportunities //
The Pond
The final phase in the pond restoration work continues and is nearing completion. The viewing area has been levelled and a refurbished, more accessible path has been created. The pathway is now open, and all that remains is to landscape the borders. We are looking forward to seeing it completely finished for everyone to enjoy its peaceful calm.
Green Flag Award 2023/24
We’re delighted that Horsham Park has won a Green Flag again for the fourth year in a row. This is a prestigious award, which shows the park has great facilities, is welcoming, safe, and a lovely green space. Well done to the Parks and Countryside team Horsham District Council, and all the volunteers who make the park so lovely. What a fantastic community asset for all to enjoy.
HDC Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Green Spaces Cllr Jon Olson commented:
“I am thrilled that our iconic park in the centre of Horsham has been honoured again with this prestigious national award.
My thanks go out to our officers, the Friends of Horsham Park and our many volunteers and partners for all the hard work they put in planning, developing and maintaining this much loved green space to achieve these standards.”
Chair of Friends of Horsham Park Sally Sanderson said:
“We are delighted that we have another prestigious Green Flag for the park. It is recognition for the wonderful range of facilities in the park, the hard work of the Parks and Countryside team and the generosity of the volunteers.
The Friends’ Wednesday volunteers last year provided over 2,000 hours of gardening and litter picking and there are many more who volunteer in the park too. We are lucky to have such a fantastic, well-used and supported community asset at the heart of the town.”
Wednesday Volunteers
As you can see from the Green Flag photo above, our Wednesday morning volunteer group continues to thrive and there are now over 20 people who come along regularly, making it a very sociable group who have fun and achieve an amazing amount each week. Our committee nominated them for HDC’s Volunteer Awards for the ‘Dream Team’ category. We were delighted that their fantastic efforts were recognised as runners up in the competition and they were each awarded a badge.
They have been very busy this summer, now that they are maintaining additional beds at the pond and in the Human Nature Garden. If you visit the latter you will find that some gaps have been filled with vegetables – tomatoes, courgettes and butternut squash. Some of these have started to fruit, so if passing, and you see a tomato or a courgette that you fancy for your supper, please help yourself. This is a community garden.
In the Sensory Garden you will also notice that the defunct fountain has now been turned into a planter and has been planted with the following: Caryopteris X Clandonensis ‘Dark Knight’, Sedum ‘Sunsparkler Plum Dazzled’, Scabiosa Incisa ‘Kudo’ Thyme Sparkling Bright’ and Thyme Rose’. This continues the theme of the Climate Change bed with its Mediterranean feel!
Thanks to all our volunteers. We appreciate all that you do, and long may you continue.
Thanks to our corporate volunteers
Sometimes volunteers from local companies join our Wednesday team.
Schroders sent a team in July and they helped clean up the sheep in the Human Nature Garden. Richard did six sessions with us.
Next Phase Recruitment send a small team every few weeks. They really enjoy giving back to the local community and we enjoy working with them.
Thank you to the local companies supporting the park.
Climate Action Survey
HDC has started working with organisations and communities to try to get the District’s carbon emissions down to zero by 2050. Reaching Carbon Neutrality across the whole District will be a big challenge and the council is seeking the views of all residents by asking them to complete a short survey.
Please complete the survey, click on the link below. It should take about 10 minutes and you will be asked questions about what climate actions you think are most important, as well as what you are already doing, or would consider doing if you had more support.
Spotlight on Philippa Charman
This month we Feature Philippa Charman who has recently joined the committee as our new Treasurer.
How long have you lived in Horsham, why you moved here, what your job is?
I’ve lived in Horsham for all my life. Although due to work I moved away for short periods, I always kept a base in Horsham. I am now permanently based in Horsham and I’m involved in a variety of voluntary roles. I have recently joined Friends as treasurer, having qualified as an Accountant in 1991.
How often are you in Horsham Park?
The park has been a small but constant part of my life. My childhood memories of the swings, slides, sandpit and outings to the pool. My excitement at the visit of the annual fair. I even participated in some carnivals, which finished in our stunning park.
These days I regularly attend Pavilions mostly for Pilates or the gym.
The swimming pool has always been a regular outing, both as a child myself and later with my family, my nieces and nephews. Hopefully it will soon be the turn of my greats; my great niece and great nephew! I regularly visit the sensory gardens when meeting friends for coffee and a catch up. I’ve also seen a number of bands in the Nature Garden and at the annual fake festival. The over-riding thought from my memories is that the park has provided enjoyment at all stages in my life.
What’s your favourite spot in the Park?
It has to be the duck pond. As a child, I always loved to visit to see the ducks and swans.
What’s your best memory of the Park?
It isn’t a personal memory although it feels like it is, as I have heard the stories so often. My father and his 5 siblings used to visit the old outdoor pool throughout their childhoods as they lived nearby. They would spend their summers at the pool, even throughout the war!
What do you enjoy about being involved in Friends? What do you think our biggest achievement/s have been?
I am new to the group, but immediately felt involved. The group is so welcoming and inclusive. I’m not yet qualified to give an opinion, but I am impressed that I have already been able to meet a judge who was assessing the park for an award. So much is going on, behind the scenes.
If you could change or add one thing in the Park, what would it be?
I think the park needs accessible toilet facilities. We hold so many activities and should have modern toilet facilities on our 60-acre site. If I am cheeky a second thing would be renewing the track used by the park run.
What would you like the Park to look like in 10 years’ time? And what needs to happen for that to be a reality?
I would like the park to have maintained its size and availability to the Horsham community. The council should still maintain the park, aided by volunteers. It must be respected by all.
What would you say to any other Friends thinking about getting more involved?
We are so lucky to have such a great park available to us, we should all give a little back in whatever way we can.
Funday Sunday
The Friends had a stall at the Funday Sunday event in the park on 9 July. We enjoyed meeting lots of people and had great fun with the bumble bee and butterfly activity where visitors voted for their favourite – the bumble bees won!
Children had fun with our spinning wheel, featuring the 6 protected species in the park, and getting an information card all about the creature or plant they landed on.
We were delighted that over 30 people agreed to become Friends and receive this monthly newsletter – Welcome everyone!
Thanks to our Webmaster
David at the Funday
We are all very sad that David Lee, our fantastic webmaster, has had to stand down from the Committee due to other commitments. He will be a loss to our team. He has transformed our website and built up our social media presence. He has also been a great contributor to our meetings and events. David, with Jess Ryan, created a fantastic bees and butterflies activity for the Funday Sunday, which we also used at the recent Strawford Centre Culture Day.
We get many comments on how good and useful the website is, including recently from the In Bloom judge who was impressed by how informative it is.
Battle of the Bands
Weekend of 22-23 July the Battle of the Bands was hosted in the Human Nature Garden. Saturday was very wet but didn’t dampen the enthusiasm (or the volume!) of the bands competing. It’s a great competition for up and coming bands such as Fire Escape, below, the youngest original band to get to the finals. Although they didn’t win, they are a great illustration of the purpose of the event to give bands a professional platform on which to develop their confidence and talent.
Habitat Mapping
Habitat mapping team on 8 July
On 8 and 10 July, Horsham Green Spaces held habitat mapping workshops in Horsham Park as part of the ‘Get Horsham Buzzing’ project to identify and create pollinator flyways through the town. Nigel Langridge gave us an hour’s introduction on how to map habitats and then we went into Horsham Park to try out our new skills at identifying and recording the different habitats.
We looked at one section, which has a wide range of habitats – from the North Street entrance to Park House, to the maze. Tim Thomas joined the team to identify species as we walked around and recorded 45 plants, 11 animals and 9 bird species. The base of Park House estate wall proved surprisingly rich, and of course Park House Sensory Garden was an insect haven.
Here are some of the insects we came across. The first one is a Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum). This loves the Stachys in the Sensory Garden and shaves the hairs from the leaves to furnish their nest cells, which is no doubt where its common name comes from!
The little one found by the wall is one of about 34 species in the Lasioglossum group. These are generally known as Furrow Bees and most (if not all) need to be identified to species by microscopic keys. Most nest underground.
The Beetle is known as a Yellow and Black Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata). Quite common and easily identified by its bright colours. It loves undisturbed decaying timber especially birch where it lays its eggs. The adult really stands out especially when feeding on top of large wide-open flowers.
History of Horsham Park
In last month’s Park News you will have read about our plan to write a book on the History of the Park, in time to publish it for the park’s centenary in 2028. We are very excited by the people who have stepped forward and want to get involved – a very impressive team with a range of research, writing and editing skills and experience. This all looks very promising. Our first meeting will be during Love Parks Week – very fitting! We’ll keep you posted.
More about Horsham Park’s history here
Wild Denne
We’ve been finding out about an exciting wilding project in the Denne area of Horsham which we thought you’d like to hear about too.
Wild Denne is a small independent project that has been running for two and a half years in the Denne neighbourhood with great success. Its aim is to establish wildflower meadows within the area, which is part of Horsham Town. As a result of its activities, not only has the number and range of plant and animal species grown dramatically, but littering has declined to zero and the site has become very popular with nearby residents and other members of the public, some of whom have been inspired to create similar re-wilding projects in their own gardens.
Horsham’s Denne Neighbourhood has lots of open spaces ranging from small to large, which could be converted to wildflower meadows, to both increase the quality and beauty of the neighbourhood and town and to restore habitat for butterflies, bees and other vital pollinators.
In Horsham we are blessed with a significant amount of open space, which could be managed as meadow and other habitat, and in so doing help offset the impact of a densely populated urban area on the wider environment.
The Wild Denne project is organised by Horsham Denne Neighbourhood Council and is part of the Wilder Horsham District project, set up by HDC and Sussex Wildlife Trust.
Help the Friends and you could win a prize
£25,000 Jackpot every week!
Have a better chance of winning the lottery when you play the local Horsham District Community Lottery, and you will be supporting the Friends!
By signing up to the local weekly draw, you can subscribe any amount from £1 upwards. Each £1 ticket has a chance to win £25, £250, £2500, or £25000. Just match from 2 to 6 numbers to win a prize.
By selecting The Friends as your chosen good cause, 50p from each £1 ticket goes to support much-needed funds for the Friends of Horsham Park; and 10p goes to other local causes.
Sign up here. It’s a win for the Friends and could be a bigger win for you!
Events
- Sat 19 Aug Fake Festival
- Every Weds 10 -11am and Friday 12-12.40pm Walk and Talk in Horsham Park. Meet at The Human Nature Garden
- Every Tues & Fri Bowls taster sessions
- Every Fri Bowls Bash – until 25 August
- Every Sat parkrun 9.00am
Click here for details of all the Summer events.
Volunteering Opportunities
- Ribbon Border Volunteer group – every 2nd Sunday
The RBV group meets every second Sunday in the month at 10am by the entrance to the North Street carpark, everyone welcome.
For more information please contact David at [email protected] - Gardening and Conservation group – every Wednesday
“The Wednesday Morning Group” meets at 9.30am at the Jubilee car park next to the entrance sign to the Human Nature Garden. Their main tasks are planting and pruning and generally making improvements to the park’s appearance for all to enjoy. All tools provided.
Please contact Sally at [email protected] - Helping at events – as required
We need Friends to help out at events we hold in the Park. It may be just for a couple of hours occasionally, or as a one off. It can be great fun. Any help is much appreciated.
Please contact Sally at [email protected]