The life of a South Downs Ranger: “This is long but satisfying work”
October 8, 2024
Ethan Purdy, Assistant Ranger, discusses the recent work of volunteers to help maintain the South Downs Way.
Snaking its way along the very spine of the chalk, the South Downs Way is a 100-mile-long exhibition to one of the best natural galleries in the UK. Artwork by nature and toil adorn its path in vistas stretching into the sea. It’s a wonderful testament to the beauty of our landscape, and one which we’re lucky enough to call ours.
With this ownership, comes responsibility, however. Left with no management – time and flora would reclaim the path and make it untraversable. So, with the steady hands of our volunteers, and trusted tools, we keep this trail open, for many more to discover its wonder.
Last month we completed a section of this work near Cocking, West Sussex. The volunteers – armed with grass hooks – cut swathes into the bank vegetation, raking the material up and collecting it to be unloaded in a prepared deposit site. This is long but satisfying work. The volunteers were also in charge of sharpening their own equipment as the day went on and found great satisfaction in keeping their tools in fine fettle – if for no other reason, because it makes them far more effective!
The collection of this material is for ecological benefit too. The verges can be a haven for many species, including many butterflies, and by collecting the cuttings volunteers allow this site to attempt to return to the chalk grassland we so desperately need in the National Park. Cumulatively over the past two centuries we have lost more than 80% of the chalk grassland in the UK. So, the ribbons that adorn the edges of the South Downs Way may well make all the difference.
When the engines of the brushcutters aren’t running, work up on the hill is a peaceful endeavour. A view to the horizon, filled with a patchwork of farms, soft green envelopes of woodland and in the distance, the caliginosity of the sea.
Moments like those make for opportunities to remember that within those confines, we get to make a difference.