Friends of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve
Friends’ Events in 2026
These events are free to members, places for non-members are subject to availability @ £5 per person.
To find out more about what membership has to offer, visit the Friends’ website at: https://fhcpnr.org
Saturday 17th January from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Isabel Blackman Centre
What does the future have in store for Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve?
A presentation by Cllr Jo Walker.
The Friends are delighted to start the New Year with an overview of the vision, challenges, and opportunities for Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve over the coming years, including how stewardship, community, and vision shape the landscape.
Cllr Jo Walker was elected to HBC in May 2024 and has the portfolio of Environment and Neighbourhood Wellbeing. This covers many things, including, of course, the Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve.
She is a qualified Early Years Teacher and works as a childminder as well as running a Forest School parent and toddler group. Cllr Walker is a trustee for Ore Community Land Trust and runs the volunteer sessions at Speckled Wood and Ore Community Garden. She also has an interest in local and family history and can trace links to Hastings going back centuries!
Saturday 14th Feb. from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Isabel Blackman Centre
An illustrated talk: Fashion, Fury and Feathers, Women’s Fight for Change and how the RSPB came to be, with Tessa Boase.
When Tessa Boase told the RSPB she wanted to write their early story, they refused to let her visit their archives. To a former investigative journalist, this was a challenge she could not resist…
This talk shines a light on the hidden story of women’s love affair with plumage – and of the brave eco feminists who fought back on behalf of the birds. Etta Lemon, Emily Williamson and Eliza Phillips campaigned long and hard to crush the mighty plumage trade. They coaxed the British people to fall in love with birds. Yet they have not been remembered by history. With meticulous research, rare archive images and vivid storytelling, Tessa has brought to life the RSPB’s extraordinary origins story.
Tessa is an author, journalist and social historian. She has featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and has appeared on Tony Robinson’s History of Britain and also Secrets of the National Trust. Tessa grew up in the Ashdown Forest, Sussex and now lives in St Leonards-on-Sea, with a pair of binoculars by the back door. Birds or neighbours, she’s not fussy!
To find out more about Tessa and her work, including her publications, visit https://www.tessaboase.com
Saturday 21st March from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Isabel Blackman Centre
An illustrated talk: Bird ringing, with Christine George
We extend a warm welcome to Christine George who will talk to the Friends about bird ringing. Her presentation will cover what bird ringing is, why and how we do it, along with numerous interesting snippets and facts. There will be a selection of equipment on display and if time allows, we will see how to hold and ring birds using a model.
Christine has had a life-long interested in birds. The opportunity to start training to be a ringer came some 17 years ago. She mainly rings locally but has ringed birds on a remote Scottish Island, and in Kenya. She has also been involved with cannon netting waders on The Wash. Since starting to ring birds, she has progressed from ringing trainee to ringing trainer.
Saturday 11th April from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Isabel Blackman Centre
An illustrated talk: The moths of Sussex and the Sussex Moth Group, with Brett Taylor
We are very pleased that Brett is available to provide a presentation on moths, including those found locally, and the work of the Sussex Moth Group. In today’s talk we will learn, amongst other things, about how moths are captured and identified, the commonly seen species, changes in migration patterns, and the importance of reporting unusual sightings and the process for doing so. Brett will also talk about resources for people new to 'mothing'.
Brett has been trapping and recording moths since he was a teenager, and for the first years he lived in Hastings and recorded moths there. He has been a volunteer country park ranger for the Hastings country park, taking tourists on guided fossil walks on the beach at Rock-a-Nore. He is now an active member of the Sussex Moth Group where members and friends can meet to share experiences and information about the moths of Sussex.
Tuesday 12th May from 08:30 – 10:30 a.m. in the Country Park
A guided walk: Identifying birds, with James Duncan
We are delighted that James is available again to lead another ‘birding’ walk. No two days are the same and this will be an excellent opportunity to extend your knowledge of the species to be found in the Country Park in late spring, perhaps ones you’ve not heard or seen before.
James is a Wilder Communities Officer with Sussex Wildlife Trust, delivering walks, talks, identification courses and management advice across the county for the last 7 years. A lifelong naturalist, he's passionate about all aspects of natural history and conservation. Before returning to his home county of Sussex, he worked for the RSPB surveying corncrake and wader populations and leading guided walks in the Outer Hebrides, whilst undertaking a myriad of practical conservation tasks across the islands.
Saturday 13th June, from 10:30 – 12.30 p.m. in the Country Park
A guided walk: The plants of the East Hill, Hastings with Dr Judy Clark and Jacqueline Rose
This is another chance to join Judy and Jacqueline on one of their popular guided walks. This year they will be looking at the flora at the western end of the Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve. The East Hill was recently included in the management plan for the Reserve and is now being managed for the benefit of wild plants and insects. It might look as if there’s not a lot there besides grasses, but the area is surprisingly diverse, with a good variety of plants within a relatively small area. Come along and discover what is growing there.
Jacqueline and Judy are field botanists with many years’ experience recording plants in East Sussex, including in HCPNR as part of the monitoring of the success of habitat management programmes.
Saturday 18th July from 10:30 - 12:00, tbc in the Country Park
A guided walk: The Trees of Hastings Country Park, with Doug Edworthy
Ever wondered which trees love growing in Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve? Would you like to learn more about them and how they help nature thrive? Come on a walk through the reserve led by a ‘Tree Champion’ who will help you discover our native trees and the fantastic natural environment they provide for insects, small mammals and for people.
Doug Edworthy is Tree Warden for two rural parishes, a member of the Ancient Tree Forum and is a Verifier of Ancient and Veteran trees for the Woodland Trust. He leads guided walks in Dallington Forest, is a passionate advocate for trees of all ages and he delights in helping people, young and old, understand and appreciate these long-lived and important beings.
Saturday 29th August from 08.30 -11.30 a.m. in the Country Park
A guided walk: Bird migration, and grasshoppers and bush-crickets - what’s in the Country Park? with Ralph Hobbs.
We welcome Ralph Hobbs again to lead this popular activity, with the added bonus of finding grasshoppers! Bird migration will be in full swing by late August with various warblers centre stage. It is also the perfect time for spotting grasshoppers and bush-crickets. With luck and some warm weather, we can hope to find 3 or 4 species of grasshopper and bush-crickets as well as resident birds and the passing migrants. Guidance will be provided on how to identify all the birds and grasshoppers we come across, including how to recognise their distinctive sounds and songs.
Ralph has been a keen naturalist and birder all his adult life, since first becoming interested in butterflies at junior school! With a degree in Zoology, he has worked as a conservation adviser for the Sussex Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group and then English Nature and Natural England, more recently working as a freelance ecologist. Ralph has enjoyed watching and studying birds and bird migration for over 50 years, not only in Hastings Country Park and Sussex, but around the world. In retirement Ralph is kept busy as a Trustee for the Amateur Entomologists' Society and three nature reserve-owning Trusts and is also the Sussex recorder for Orthoptera (grasshoppers and bush-crickets).
Thursday 24th September from 19:00 – 20:30, starting at the Bale House
A guided walk: Looking for bats, with Jill Tyson.
Join Jill Tyson from Groundwork South in the Bale House Visitor Centre for a short presentation about bats, followed by a red torch walk along the edge of the Country Park to see and hear bats nearby. Participants will be able to use handheld bat detectors which make the bats’ ultrasonic calls and echolocation audible to the human ear. Please wear warm clothing and sturdy footwear.
Refreshments will be provided.
Jill is an experienced naturalist and has been working in Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve for the last 6 years. As well as managing the Bale House, she delivers activities and events, education sessions and practical conservation sessions in the Nature Reserve, which some of the Friends members participate in.
Saturday 17th October from 10:30 – 12:00 in the Country Park
A guided walk: Fungi foray, with Andy Overall
Kingdom Fungi is finally coming into focus in a bigger way, having lagged the study of Animals and Plants by at least a hundred years. Food, drink and medicines have all been influenced by fungi and now we are finding out more about how important they are for our environment. The diversity of fungi is bewildering, from coral-like forms, puffballs, brackets, discs, to trumpets and of course mushrooms.
The British woodlands and parklands are home to a vast array of these fungi, in all their forms and colours. A fungi foray is a good way of seeing and learning about some of these wonderful mushrooms and toadstools.
Andy is a Field Mycologist with some 25 years’ experience. He is a published author and writer on the subject and has carried out fungi surveys for the Royal Parks since 2008, including all the major parks. Andy has led walks and taken beginners’ workshops for a similar amount time.
Saturday 14th November from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Isabel Blackman Centre
An illustrated talk: Fossil Folklore, with Ken Brooks
In medieval times a fascinating variety of folklore beliefs developed around fossils, mostly about their medicinal and magical properties. Names, such as ‘thunderbolts’, ‘fairy loaves’, ‘snakestones’ and ‘devil’s toenails’ were widely used for different species. It was not until the 19th century and the development of palaeontology that the true origin of fossils was understood. During this illustrated talk we will learn about our ancestors’ ideas regarding fossils, and ‘hands on’ specimens will be featured and discussed.
After twenty years as a schoolteacher, Ken moved into adult education as a tutor specialising in history and geology. In 1992 his enthusiasm for earth sciences led to him forming the Hastings and District Geological Society. He has been awarded the Halsted Medal by the Geologists’ Association, presented for work of
outstanding merit, and published Geology and Fossils of the Hastings Area. He has also appeared on ‘The Sussex Coast with Kate Humble’, contributing a piece on fossils found locally.
Saturday 5th December from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Isabel Blackman Centre
An illustrated talk: Hedgehogs, and the work of the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service, with Trevor Weeks MBE
We are delighted that East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) can provide a talk for the Friends. It will primarily focus on hedgehogs, covering their ecology, habitat, population numbers and trends. They will also try to combat myths surrounding the species, as well as what threats hedgehogs face, before covering how we can help the species. We will also learn about the wider work of WRAS.
The talk will be given by Trevor Weeks, Founding Director of WRAS. He has had a life-long passion for the natural world, establishing what would ultimately become the charity back in 1985, when he was only 13 years old, taking in injured wild animals and – alongside his mum – rehabilitating them. In 1996, WRAS was formed, with a voluntary group supporting the rescue and release of local wildlife, becoming a registered charitable company in 2005. In 2012, Trevor received an MBE for his services to animal welfare.
The charity has continued to grow, now admitting tens of thousands of casualties per year and providing a wildlife rescue and ambulance service across the East Sussex region.
Parking for events:
Parking is available outside the Isabel Blackman Centre, 3 Winding Street, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3AT but there are only a few bays, and spaces may not be available. However, there is ample parking at the near-by Stade car park off Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3DW.
For outdoor events, there is parking available at the Bale House Visitor Centre, Lower Coastguard Lane, Fairlight, East Sussex, TN35 4AD. Details of the meeting place will be provided shortly before the event, and participants may decide that the Bale House is not the most convenient place for them and to use an alternative car park.
Find out more about the Friends at: