Park News
September 2023
a previous litter pick
Autumn Clear up! – 24 September
Join us for our ‘Autumn Clear Up’ litter pick on Sunday 24 September at 10.30am. We’ll spend one hour clearing litter from around the park’s paths and hedgerows before it becomes hidden by Autumn leaves. We have a clear up every Spring and Autumn and it provides a boost to the good work of the park contracting team, helping to keep our lovely ‘Green Flag’ park looking pristine and a space to be enjoyed.
We provide litter pick sticks, hi-viz jackets and rubbish bags. We just ask you to bring your own gloves. Meet us by the North Parade car park in time for a 10.30am start.
If you want to spend just one hour of your time and make a big difference to the park, please come along on the 24th.
It will help us if you can let us know you’re coming. Please email Steve: [email protected]
Friends of Horsham Park AGM
Tuesday 10 October, 7.30 – 9.30 pm
at Horsham Park Barn
It’s been a busy year in Horsham Park and we’d love to share our news with our Friends, and hear your views on what we’ve done and what we could do next year and beyond. We know that the more of our Friends who get involved, the more we can achieve for our beautiful Park.
So please do join us at our AGM on 10 October. We are finalising our guest speakers but are planning to cover conservation of the Park and its wildlife, and hold an open floor discussion on the future of the Human Nature Garden. Now is your chance to have your say!
It would be lovely to see Friends old and new, so we hope you can join us. We’ll be serving wine, beer and soft drinks and if you’d like to bring a family member or friend who’s interested in our work, they’d be most welcome.
Please save the date and we’ll confirm speakers shortly.
Sally Sanderson
RSVP: [email protected]
Park People
Neal Matheson – The Friends would like to extend a warm welcome to Neal, HDC’s new Parks & Leisure Tree Officer. We understand that he has some exciting plans for improvements in selected areas of the park and remedies for damaged and failing trees. We’re looking forward to working with him. Watch this space!
Asif Mahmood – Asif has been a volunteer on the Friends’ Committee up until the middle of August, and we would like to thank him for his helpful contribution. Unfortunately, after a short time with us, he can no longer continue as he has moved to Essex. Asif and his wife are refugees and are currently in the processing queue. We wish them both all the best for the future.
Alejandra Teodosio – We welcome Alejandra who has joined the Friends’ committee and will help with our social media. She is also a member of the Wednesday morning gardening volunteers. Alejandra has already posted on Instagram, and will be helping us reach a wider audience. See our Instagram here. Look out for her in a future Committee Spotlight.
Committee Spotlight – Jennifer Ryan
Jennifer has recently joined the Friends’ Committee and we are delighted to have her on-board.
How long have you lived in Horsham, why you moved here, what your job is?
I find it hard to believe that I have been living in Horsham for nearly six years; it only feels like yesterday when I was circling potential ‘locations’ on the map to relocate to, due to embarking on a new job post as a Town Planner at a coastal local authority.
It was quite a risk given that I didn’t know West Sussex but Horsham had a good feel to it and I liked the fact that it offered good logistics so I went with my gut-feeling and decided to give Horsham a try! I haven’t looked back and I feel like I have landed on my feet! I am very settled here, importantly I feel very safe and I have the best of both worlds – easy access to London and to the coast and countryside. What more could I ask for?!
How often are you in Horsham Park?
During lockdown, Horsham Park became my saving grace and I visited the park everyday. At the time, I was living in a small flat that directly fronts Horsham park. The park was effectively my adopted garden where I could do my daily exercise of trying to hit 10,000 steps a day (no, I didn’t always hit it!) and it offered me a temporary respite from the pandemic world we were living in.
The park made me appreciate the importance of nature and access to outdoor space for health and wellbeing purposes. This prompted me to move to my new home with balconies and I am now able to fulfil my joy of growing plants, listening to the birds singing and undertaking al-fresco dining. Whenever I have family / friends visiting me, I always take them to the park; for picnics, for coffee and a stroll or for a scenic walk into the town centre. The park really is the pinnacle of Horsham!
What’s your favourite spot in the park?
This is quite a difficult question as I feel we are very spoilt for choice for things to see and do in the park! However, my top pick would be the sensory garden. It’s a very tranquil place and from time to time, when the sun is shining, I enjoy sitting on a bench and getting absorbed into a good book!
What’s your best memory of the park?
Hosting a Platinum Jubilee themed picnic in the park with my family to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee in 2022!
What do you enjoy about being involved in Friends? What do you think our biggest achievements have been?
I have been volunteering with the Ribbon Borders (the group meets once a month on the second Sunday) for just over a year now. It has given me a lot of confidence and it has enabled me to develop my gardening skills whilst meeting fellow Friends to socialise with. I found it particularly touching that the Friends, in partnership with the Samaritans charity, undertook ‘Bulbs for Lives’ planting exercise last autumn. This was a very poignant tribute with the installed bench providing a space for reflection.
If you could change or add one thing in the park, what would it be?
It would be great if some of the footpaths especially those located to the north (near the skate-park) and north-east of the park could be made to be a bit wider to allow ease of access for people to pass each other. Another suggestion is to have a segregated cycle and footpath.
What would you like the park to look like in 10 years’ time? And what needs to happen for that to be a reality?
Climate Change and biodiversity loss are the biggest challenges affecting the long term sustainability of the Park. I hope that in ten years’ time that the Park will be resilient to the increasing effects of climate change through the planting of new trees for carbon capture. By increasing awareness through campaign and conservation efforts, I hope everyone can play their part to protect the Park.
What would you say to other Friends thinking about getting more involved?
If you are looking to make new connections and to become part of the local community then please do get involved!
Walk & Talk
Feeling low? Walk and Talk sessions in Horsham Park where people connect, talk and enjoy the fresh air could be just what you’re looking for. Walking and connecting can enhance your mood and overall wellbeing.
Every Wednesday at 10.00am-11.00am and Every Friday at 12 noon – 12.40pm
Meet at the Human Nature Garden, Horsham Park. No need to book.
Our Quiz is back!
Save 25 November in your diary for our annual quiz. It’s always a great evening, very sociable and lots of fun. There will be drinks and snacks for sale, fabulous raffle prizes, and of course our amazing quiz. Start getting your team together!
It will be in our usual venue – Holy Trinity Church hall
12 Rushams Road Horsham RH12 2NT
A night not to be missed!
Sussex Green Living column, West Sussex County Times
If you missed our article in the WSCT about the climate change bed in Park House Sensory Garden, here it is:
Sally shows Carrie Cort, Sussex Green Living CEO, the climate change bed.
Planting for Climate Change
As water is scarce in our District, the Friends of Horsham Park wondered ‘How well can a garden do without being watered, especially in a raised bed where conditions are really tough?’
We wanted to create an experimental bed and happily were awarded a climate change grant from Horsham District Council in 2021 to plant one in the very popular Park House Sensory Garden.
The multiple challenge was: Can we plant drought resistant species that are also good for wildlife and still have a sensory appeal: sight, smell, taste, touch?
Hannah Neale, Landscape and Horticultural Officer at HDC, kindly designed the planting scheme, knowing that plants survive by adaptation, developing particular characteristics in their natural habitats. In Autumn 2021 the south facing raised bed was planted with a range of carefully chosen bulbs, herbaceous perennials and shrubs, selected for their ability to survive long periods without rainfall.
Summer 2022’s heatwave was a big test! We watered sparingly, only twice, and the summer was followed by a long, cold, wet winter meaning that the plants were tested at both extremes. In Spring 2023 we were concerned that there would be some big gaps in the border, but the bed overall has done well and even during our very hot and dry June, we did no watering at all.
The main plants are: Agapanthus ‘Bressingham Blue’ , Anthemis ‘Sauce Hollandaise’ , Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ , Choisya ‘White Dazzler’, Cistus x purpureus ‘Alan Fradd’ , Geranium ‘Orion’, Hylotelephium (Sedum) ‘Matrona’ , Lavendula x intermedia ‘Grosso’ , Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, Salvia officinalis ‘Icterina’, Verbena bonariensis and Yucca filamentosa.
Some plants have thrived so far – the Alliums, the Anthemis, Stachys, Eryngium, Yuccas, Geraniums, Rosemary, Verbena and Lavender.
How do some plants tolerate hot dry conditions while others require deep nutritious moisture retentive soils?
Narrow and small leafed plants reduce water loss from their leaves (transpiration) because their leaf surface area is minimal. Perovskia, Anthemis, Verbena and Lavender all have small leaves.
And in the same way that wearing a white T-shirt on a hot day reflects the light away, plants with white or pale foliage, such as Brunnera and Salvia Icterina reflect more light, which helps to reduce transpiration. Sedum, being a succulent, is able to store moisture within its leaves and stems so it withstands long periods of drought. Other plants (such as Stachys) have waxy or hairy foliage, which helps them to retain water.
All these plants provide a colourful display appealing to our eyes, ears, noses that helps us become calmer. They also provide great habitat for the all-important bees and insects – adding yet more dimensions to our enjoyment in the garden.
Sally Sanderson and David Hide
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.
Why not sign up today? It’s a win for the Friends and could be a bigger win for you!
Events in the Park
- Every Weds & Fri. Walk and Talk in Horsham Park. Meet at The Human Nature Garden Weds 10 -11am and Friday 12-12.40pm
- Every Sat parkrun 9.00am
- 24 Sept Autumn Clear Up litter pick (North Parade Car Park) 10.30 till 11.30am.
- 10 Oct Friends AGM at the Park Barn 7.30pm.
- 25 Nov Our Annual Quiz
Volunteering Opportunities
- Autumn Clear UP! Litter Pick 24 Sept at 10.30 -11.30. Contact Steve [email protected]
- 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]
