All were warmly welcomed by our President, The Lord Egremont, and our Chair, David Johnson.  David gave special thanks to all our dedicated volunteers – particularly to those toiling so hard in the Districts - dealing with challenging planning issues and applications, attending arduous local plan examinations whilst offering advice to members and the public when possible. 

Special appreciation was expressed to Lorna Train, our Tours & Talks Volunteer Co-ordinator.  Lorna was presented with a gift and thanked for her ten years of organising a wonderful programme of members’ events.  In fact, a total of 52!  Without Lorna these events would simply not take place.  We are delighted that Lorna will be continuing and is already planning for 2018.

David expressed appreciation of the work underway for The CPRE Sussex Countryside Awards 2017 by Margaret Moore, joint Vice President and Awards Co-ordinator, and our Judges  - Lady Caroline Egremont, Dr Geoffrey Mead, Sir Charlie Burrell and Nick Gant.  Our judges are travelling the width and breadth of Sussex, visiting 21 short-listed entries during June and July.  A final short-listing will take place shortly culminating in the Awards Ceremony at Petworth House on 11th October.

We welcomed Dr Geoffrey Mead, Landscape Lecturer and CPRE Sussex Countryside 2017 Awards Judge.  Geoffrey gave a fascinating presentation - ‘Sussex on the Rocks - The Story of Our County Landscapes’ – describing the collection of landscapes formed from the geological underpinning; from the sandstones and clays of the wooded High Weald to the chalks and flints of the downlands. The talk explored the complex physical and human landscapes that are Sussex; Weald to coast and Rye to Thorney.

Finally, we enjoyed a delicious and hearty lunch provided by Duncan Workman and staff at the Shoreham Centre.

Those with energy to spare, joined Dr Geoffrey Mead guided walk: ‘Down by the River-a Fluvial Amble’. 

Sas Drury and Lorna Train on the welcome desk, CPRE Sussex

Shoreham harbour

Lorna Train