UPCOMING EVENTS

Now that lockdown measures have eased, we will be having a mixture of indoor and online Zoom meetings. Please check our newsletters or this website for details.

Meetings: are held in EITHER East Horsley Village Hall OR West Horsley Village Hall on the 4th Thursday of the month and are free to members
and £3 for non-members (except for events such as the Christmas Mulled Wine evening, when alternative price details will be advertised).

More information and details of how to get to the Halls are in the “About” section (above) on this website, as well as membership details.

Zoom Meetings: non-members are very welcome to our Zoom meetings for a £3 fee – please email callyharris35@gmail.com for details.

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23 May 2024 (West Horsley Village Hall (tbc)  7.30pm)

Spiders – illustrated talk by Mike Waite, Surrey Wildlife Trust

Mike is a professional ecologist of some forty years’ experience. He is a very keen naturalist with specialisms in birds, higher plants and, latterly, spiders. His talk will give an overview of spiders, the delights of arachnology, why Surrey is arguably the best county for pursuing it, and a gallery of what is out there. He will also touch on their relevance to the current state of nature in the UK, as well as what may be seen on sites closest to home. In 2020 he re-discovered the very rare Great Fox-spider on Hankley Common.

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26 September 2024 (West Horsley Village Hall (tbc)  7.30pm)

Restoration of Habitat A3/M25 – illustrated talk by Victoria Gilbey, Balfour Beatty Atkins

(Details to follow)

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24 October 2024 (Zoom meeting  7.30pm)

Hornets – Gentle Giants – illustrated talk by Stephen Powles

(Details to follow)

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28 November 2024 (West Horsley Village Hall (tbc)  7.30pm)

AGM followed by:

Camouflage (provisional) – illustrated talk by Adrian Davies

(Details to follow)

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12 December 2024 (West Horsley Village Hall (tbc)  7.30pm)

Geology of the Mole Valley & the Weald – illustrated talk by Andy Los

(Details to follow)

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OUTINGS

The Society occasionally organise outdoor walks and other events. Please check this website for details.

17 May 2024 (Walk – 6.30pm start)

Walk around Milton Court Farm – led by Hugh Broom

Hugh gave us a fascinating talk after our AGM on 23^rd November last year about his farm near Dorking, and we are so pleased that he can spare the time to show us around his land at Westcott Road, Dorking RH4 3LY (https://what3words.com/wipes.paths.silver).
Donations to the Farming Community Network (for farmers and their families going through difficult times) would be much appreciated.

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13 June 2024 (Walk – 10am start)

Fairmile Common Walk – led by Dave Page

A guided walk on Fairmile Common, between Esher and Cobham on A307 (The Old Portsmouth Road), led by Dave Page, Commons Steward for Elmbridge Borough Council. Dave has led this walk a couple of times for us, and there is always a bountiful mix of heathland flowers, insects (including Silver-Studded Blue Butterflies, Green Tiger Beetles and, if we’re lucky, the odd scared adder! Dave’s enthusiasm and love of Fairmile is catching – a super walk!
(Further information will be circulated nearer the time.)

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27 June 2024 (Walk – 9pm start)

Nightjar Walk – led by Mike White

A guided walk on Blackheath, near Chilworth Station, led by Mike White, to watch and hear the Nightjars. Nightjars are summer visitors from Africa, and they start calling (or “churring”) and flying at about 9.30 in the evening. If we’re lucky, we will see them showing off to the females by clapping their wings over their backs.
(Further information will be circulated nearer the time.)

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11 July 2024 (Walk – 9.30am for 9.45am start)

Walk across Ripley Green & along the Wey Navigation – led by Peter Croucher

A circular walk, covering a wealth of different habitats – meadow, woodland, Ockham Mill, Wisley golf course, the Wey Navigation and its fascinating “Fish Ladder”.
(Further information will be circulated nearer the time.)

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PREVIOUS MEETINGS

25 April 2024

Hedgehogs – illustrated talk by Dr Nigel Reeve of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society

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28 March 2024

Badgers – an illustrated talk by Bob Shatwell of West Surrey Badger Group

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22 February 2024

Nature Through the Seasons, Part 2 Autumn/Winter – an illustrated talk by Roger Hance

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OUTING REVIEW

Walk at Stokes Field Nature Reserve, Long Ditton (18 April)

It was a beautiful, sunny day and a small group of intrepid WSNHS members braved the Northern extent of Surrey to walk up One Tree Hill in Long Ditton, followed by a gentle stroll around Stokes Field Nature Reserve. We decided to do it that way round to get the “climb” in first, so that we didn’t run out of energy – and it worked!

We had great views from the top of the hill, of planes taking off and landing at Heathrow, Sandown Racecourse Grandstand and, if the trees hadn’t grown up in the past 10-15 years, we would have seen Hampton Court Palace on the other side of the Thames.

From the top of the hill, we made our way to the old rose nursery, which proved difficult to find, mainly because the roses had shot up 10 or 12 feet to challenge the birch, willow, oak and hawthorn saplings that had taken over the nursery since it had been abandoned, so that the roses were hardly recognisable. It would be worth returning in June when they are flowering to get the full extent of the waste of these beautiful plants. Sadly, a change of ownership of the nursery in the past meant that the present owner does not share an interest in cultivating the roses, but now just buys the plants and sells them on, and we mourned the fact that they didn’t offer locals the opportunity to dig up the existing plants.

We then made our way down again to do a circuit of the nature reserve – a mature woodland with lots of birdsong from Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Robin, Nuthatch, Wren, Blackbird, etc. The butterflies were rewarding too, with Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Orange Tip and Small White, and some fascinating tiny glossy golden moths, dancing in the sunlight, with seemingly enormous antennae – some research needed on that species, but initial attempts have identified the Green Fairy Longhorn Moth (Adela viridella) of the Incurvarioidae family.

For some, a light lunch at Squires was a pleasant way to conclude the outing, and there was even a Sparrowhawk spotted circling above.

Cally Harris