FRIENDS OF ASHDOWN FOREST NEWS
Annual General Meeting 2007
Our 46th Annual General Meeting was held
in Nutley on Friday 19th October, attended by 100 of our members. The past
year has been a very busy one, with our New Year recruitment campaign resulting
in 480 new members to date. Our membership now stands at 1,167.
Our chairman, David Streeter, announced that earlier in the year the Friends had bought 5.6 acres of land at Chuck Hatch, now known as Friends’ Field, lying within the historical Pale of the Forest. Other expenditure this year included the purchase of a new vehicle and a contribution towards Forest signage.
All existing officers were re-elected and approval was given by members. Larry Chappell, Peter Taylor and Steve Thorpe, retiring by rotation, were re-elected to the committee. Emma Newman and John Sharp were both elected as new committee members. We were pleased to welcome John Barnes for the first time to our meeting as the new Chairman of the Board of Conservators.
Mr Barnes warmly thanked the Friends, not just for their financial support, but for all the work done by Friends on the Forest and gave a talk on the background to the Conservators’ policy of Forest management and the make-up of the Board. The Forest Superintendent, Dr Hew Prendergast, gave a comprehensive and illustrated talk on last year’s activities on the Forest.
A special mention must go to an exciting new project, which has seen the employment of Louise, the new shepherd, who has field work experience on the Scottish moors, the Falkland Islands and Argentina. Together with her working dogs, she will lead her flock of 56 Hebridean sheep (plus one new ram!) to graze unfenced areas and the results will be monitored. A new exhibition at the Forest Centre is being planned for next Easter on the association between the Forest and warfare throughout the ages. Dr Prendergast appealed to members to contact the Forest Centre if they have any old maps, photos, artefacts, or even memories they could contribute to the exhibition.
