All posts by Luke Geoghegan

Sensing the South Downs

July 4th, 2017

How do people with impaired vision experience the South Downs? Karis Jade Petty has dedicated her PhD to finding out and this July she’ll present her findings at the South Downs Research Conference 2017, sponsored by Coast to Capital The South Downs is an iconic landscape, an epic beauty draped in the greens of woodland, […]

On the Ground in June 2017

July 1st, 2017

Don’t forget to say hello if you spot our rangers and volunteers out working in the National Park. Here’s a taste of what they achieved in June 2017. Surveyed for lapwing in partnership with the RSPB and found 16 lapwing chicks in 4 families on one survey site. Spotted small blue butterflies on the kidney […]

A Year of Achievement in the South Downs National Park

June 30th, 2017

In the spring of 2016 the National Park marked is sixth birthday and the successes of the following year have provided the best possible celebration. The award of International Dark Skies Reserve status was followed by our first Dark Skies Festival which saw 18 partners run events right across the National Park. Our £2.37m Heathlands […]

Sad news of our Barn Owl chicks

June 30th, 2017

Yesterday we were shocked to see both remaining chicks motionless. After a couple of days of wet weather, the adults might have been unable to hunt due to their feathers not being waterproof. We hoped that by not moving they were preserving energy until the next meal came. Unfortunately it seems that meal never came, […]

Insects on the heath

June 29th, 2017

The heaths of the South Downs can charm you at any time of year but during the summer months, when the purple heather blooms, they become magical places, ripe for exploration. With so much to look out for we asked Bruce Middleton, who runs the Heathlands Reunited project, about some of the smallest characters to look […]

South Downs Rangers on Tour

June 23rd, 2017

National Parks Week – 25 to 28 July 2017 The South Downs National Park is coming to town for National Parks Week this summer. From 25 to 28 July South Downs rangers will be bringing family fun and a little bit of the National Park into towns around Sussex and Hampshire. Learn how to make […]

The Murder Stone

June 23rd, 2017

Written by Martin Parcell, Western Area Volunteer Ranger. This is an excerpt from the June issue of Downland Thymes, our volunteer newsletter. Warning: Graphic content En-route to a recent VRS woodland task at Clare’s Copse near Hambledon, Hants, we passed a small unassuming head stone, known locally as ‘the murder stone’ placed near the entrance […]