IN THIS ISSUE:

• Introduction… • Recipe of the season… • Grazing Update – enter

the Hairy Cows… • Forest History - Dame

Margery Corbett Ashby

• Health Walks… • Wag Log… • Conservation Group…

• Conservation and

Management News… • From the Director’s

Chair…

• Forthcoming events

and exhibitions…

• Events review…

• Coffee morning…

• Christmas Party…

• Christmas Trees…

• Barn – Christmas and

Winter Opening…

• Uniform…

• Mileage expenses…

• Length of service…

The Newsletter for all Ashdown Forest Volunteers

Issue 17 – September / October / November / December

Probably the oddest summer weather we can recall. The Forest has been a

quagmire with endless days of rain suddenly followed by the odd hot

sunny day! Luckily one of those days happened to coincide with the BBQ

and we were able to eat outside! Thank you for all your very positive

feedback, we are really pleased you enjoyed the evening!

The wet weather had one benefit – we were able to ‘fire’ up the Jubilee

Beacon, without setting anything else alight! Here are a couple of rather

nice pictures.

We also had a very successful opening night for Mervyn Hathaway’s lovely

exhibition. Over 100 guests enjoyed a glass of wine and nibbles. Sales on

the night were brisk. The photographer who attended took some really

nice shots of the barn – here is just one from the early part of the evening!

A very big thank you

must go to Richard and

Julie Lowe and Jane

Withey for their help

setting up, behind the

bar, washing up, sales

and car park/traffic

management – you

were great guys!

Well, that was all a bit weird!!

The Volunteer

The Volunteer - Page 2

Update on Grazing…from Caroline FitzGerald The spring deluge continued all summer, as you all know. From our point of view, this at least got us out of

having to haul water. But, it also meant that there is a huge growth of grass this year making the efforts of the

animals inadequate to the sea of molinia.

Our cattle trial has gone really well, with our six borrowed Highlands having a lovely summer wading in the

stream and trashing birch trees. They are really well designed to utilize the course vegetation and seem to

thrive on it.

You can still see them until the end of September if you go to Townings car park and walk down the hill. Our

Sunday checker, Karina, is moving house so we are looking for somebody who is interested in looking after the

sheep at the weekends. Please get in touch with the Office if you would like to get involved. You will need to

make a regular commitment of time on a Sunday, training will be given. We are also interested in anyone up

and around the Forest who may have vacant farm buildings that we could use.

This Scottish venison recipe, by well-known TV chef

Nick Nairn, really does benefit from long, slow

cooking, and develops a beautifully earthy sweetness

- try it as an alternative to turkey, or for Hogmanay.

It serves 8 and can be easily doubled. Preparation

time is 15 mins and cooking time 1 hr 50 mins or

until tender.

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

1. Fry the vegetables in a little oil and butter in a

heavy-based casserole for 4-5 mins until golden.

2. Tip in the garlic and fry for a further min, then

set aside.

3. Put the venison into a plastic bag with seasoned

flour and shake to coat.

4. Add a little more oil and butter to the pan, then

fry the venison over a high heat, stirring now and

then, until well browned.

5. Don't crowd the pan - cook in batches if

necessary. Set aside with the vegetables.

6. Add the redcurrant jelly and wine to the pan,

and bring to the boil, scraping up all the bits that

have stuck to the bottom.

7. Pour in the stock, and then add the thyme, bay

leaf, meat and vegetables.

8. Season if you like and bring to the boil.

9. Cover and transfer to the oven for about 1½ hrs

or until tender.

10. Remove from the oven and check the seasoning.

11. Serve with mash or a jacket potato

Succulent braised venison…

Ingredients

2 carrots, roughly chopped

140g turnips or swede, roughly chopped

2 onions, roughly chopped

3 celery sticks, roughly chopped

olive oil and butter, for frying

1 garlic clove, crushed

1kg boned leg/shoulder of venison, cut into chunks

5 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

2 tbsp redcurrant jelly (or rowan or hawthorn jelly)

450ml dry red wine (Rioja is good)

450ml beef stock

2 thyme sprigs and 1 bay leaf

The Volunteer - Page 3

Dame Margery Irene Corbett Ashby,

DBE (19 April 1882–15 May 1981)

was a British Liberal politician,

feminist and suffragist.

She was born at Danehill, the

daughter of barrister Charles Henry

Corbett who was sometime Liberal

MP for East Grinstead and Marie

Corbett herself a Liberal feminist and

local Councillor in Uckfield.

Margery and her younger sister,

Cicely Corbett, were educated at

home. Charles taught the girls

classics, history and mathematics and

Marie taught them scripture and the

piano. A local woman gave them

lessons in French and German.

Margery Corbett Ashby wrote fondly

about her childhood and her account

was included in her Memoirs

published after her death:

“No one can have had a happier

childhood than myself, brought up,

with a younger brother and sister, in

a large, old-fashioned, country

house. In my youth I shared every

advantage with my brother equally -

from love and affection to the best

possible education and opportunities,

and the critical but unstinted

encouragement which to the young is

like sunshine to a plant.

My mother became an energetic

cyclist, rebuked by her neighbours for

showing inches of extremely pretty

feet and ankles; regarded as highly

indecorous. It was not only to the

ankles that the neighbours objected.

My parents were Liberals… at that

period as much hated and distrusted

by the gentry as Communists are

today, and regarded as traitors to

their class. In consequence they

boycotted them… I suspect this

boycott threw my energetic mother

even more fervently into good works

amongst the villagers, where, in the

days before the welfare state,

poverty was widespread. We were

educated at home. Lessons were

divided. Mother took scripture and

music. My father taught us history,

geography, mathematics and Latin.

From the age of four I read

everything I could lay my hands on. I

Forest History – Dame Margery Corbett Ashby, suffragist…

remember lying on the floor reading

contemporary accounts of the

Indian Mutiny and the Crimean War

in my grandfather's library, where

there was a complete set of

Illustrated London News. He had

bookshelves to the ceiling… In my

father's library the big bookcases

also went up to the ceiling.

For many years Charles and Marie

Corbett made public speeches on

the subject of women's rights in

East Grinstead High Street. East

Grinstead was a safe Conservative

seat and the crowds were usually

very hostile. A survey carried out in

1911 suggested that less than 20%

of the women in East Grinstead

supported women having the vote

in parliamentary elections.

At the age of eighteen, Margery,

her younger sister Cicely and a

group of friends formed a society

called the Younger Suffragists. In

1901 Margery won a place at

Newnham College, Cambridge to

read Classics. At university she

joined the Cambridge branch of the

National Union of Women Suffrage

Societies (NUWSS) and by the time

she was nineteen she had become

secretary of the Constitutional

Suffrage Movement.

Her friend, Mary Hamilton,

described their youth and time at

University:

"Margery's mother, Marie Corbett,

was an ardent Feminist, one small

external sign being the fact that she

regularly wore the breeches she had

taken to when bicycling came in, at

least a decade before war-time

made them permissible. She was a

woman of great drive, active in

local affairs and local government

and all good causes. The house was

apt to swarm with people. The

Corbett's hospitality was in the best

English tradition. Friends of

Margery, of her younger sister

Cicely - extravagantly pretty, and at

the time we were at Cambridge,

preparing to go Oxford and of her

elder brother Adrian, then at

Oxford, assembled for dances and

week-end parties…. At college

Margery was intensely keen on

civil liberties, free trade,

international good will,

democracy… She spends time

and energy without stint or

personal ambition… She has an

immense sense of duty, and must

have spent a very large part of

her entire life on committees and

at meetings. Not to like her is

and always has been impossible;

she has charm and complete

sincerity, and has made a success

of life, in its essential

relationships. She was a good

daughter: she is a good wife and

mother. The one boy, born during

the 1914 war, when his father

was in France with the B.E.F.,

was, as a baby, so delicate that it

did not seem possible he should

live; Margery insisted that he

should; he has grown up a superb

physical specimen.

Although Margery Corbett

passed her examinations,

because she was a woman,

Cambridge University refused to

grant her a degree (Cambridge

University granted the first

degrees to women in 1947). In

1904 Margery obtained a place

at the Cambridge Teachers

Training College but after

completing the course she

decided that teaching was not

for her.

The Volunteer - Page 4

In 1907 Margery Corbett was

appointed Secretary of the National

Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies

(NUWSS) and was given the

responsibility of editing their journal.

Disappointed with the poor record of

the Liberal Party with respect to

women's suffrage, Margery left the

Women's Liberal Federation and,

with her mother and sister, helped

form the Liberal Suffrage Group.

Margery also played an active role in

the by-election where Bertrand

Russell unsuccessfully stood as the

women's suffrage candidate. The

following year Margery became a

member of the National Committee

of the NUWSS. In 1909 Margery

became involved in the International

Woman Suffrage Alliance and was a

speaker at their conferences in Berlin

and Stockholm.

On a more personal note Margery

married the barrister, Brian Ashby in

1910. He was a great supporter of

her work and did not object to

Margery retaining her own identity

maintaining her maiden name.

In November 1914, Margery gave

birth to her only child, Michael

George. His arrival restricted her

political activities during the next few

years but she was to do war work in

hospitals and on the land. She also

ran a canteen at an outbuilding in an

attempt to provide good food for

local schoolchildren.

Health Walks are short led events, lasting no longer than an hour. The walks are for everyone, but

are specifically designed to encourage those that would benefit from more exercise. The routes are easy

and provide a pleasant way to achieve fitness for people who struggle with their health. The majority of

walkers join because of the social aspect. To encourage as many people as possible to take up regular

walking, the walks take place every two weeks and are provided for free. For more information see the

flyer/information sheet included with this newsletter.

After the passing of the

Qualification of Women Act in

1918, which gave women over the

age of 30 the right to vote, Margery

became one of the seventeen

women candidates that stood in the

first post-war election. Margery

stood at every election between

1919 and 1935 and again at the

bye-elections of 1934 and 1937. She

was unsuccessful in all of them but

her real aim was to encourage

other women to come forward as

candidates rather than to become

an MP herself. At the 1918 election

she stood as the Liberal candidate

for Ladywood, Birmingham where

she advocated feminist policies that

would have given women full

political equality with men. It was at

the election of 1919 that Nancy

Astor became the first woman

voted into Parliament.

Margery had wider political

interests - at a public meeting in the

Queens Hall in July 1922, the

Countess De La Warr was elected

President of the NUWSS with

Margery and her sister Cecily

elected to the Committee and by

1923 she herself was elected

president a post she held until her

retirement in 1946.

On the international scene she

attended the Versailles Peace

Conference of the International

Alliance of Women and was the

British delegate to the Geneva

Disarmament Conference. Margery

resigned from this position in 1935

in protest at the British

government's refusal to support

any practical scheme for mutual

security and defence. In 1937 she

was one of the signatories of a

declaration in the press asserting

that war could be avoided if the

League of Nations took positive

action.

However, she realized that war was

inevitable and worked quietly

throughout the duration in many

voluntary roles. Margery continued

to be active in politics after the

Second World War. She became

president of the National Union for

Equal Citizenship and in 1952, at

the age of seventy, she became

editor of International Women's

News.

She was awarded the DBE by the

Queen in 1967 in recognition of her

services to women.

Margery was probably the only

woman in Britain to be involved in

suffrage campaign before the First

World War and the Women's

Liberation Movement in the 1970s.

Her last political demonstration

was at the age of ninety-eight when

she took part in the Women's Day

of Action in London in 1980.

Margery Corbett Ashby died at

Danehill on 22nd May 1981 one

month after her 99th

birthday.

Throughout her life she was a

rousing and passionate speaker

who, through her personal

charisma, drew others to her many

causes. Her strong religious beliefs

and her supportive family

background helped her to become

one of the most well-known

women of her generation.

The Volunteer - Page 5

“If only my master was

as smart and as

handsome as me!”

Twitter… This rather stunning shot of the Forest was taken by a fellow Tweeter by

the name of ‘Tweek’! She took the shot from the window of a flight

(Gatwick to the Isle of Man) and posted it on Twitter for all to see. After

a short ‘on-line’ conversation Tweek – who I now know as Catherine sent

us a copy of the image. The size really doesn’t do it justice – and after

some digital manipulation by Chris Marrable it really is an impressive

photograph! Catherine has said we can use the image in our

publications / publicity as long as she gets a credit – which is fair enough!

The Wag Log – a new recruit… Hi everyone.

I hope you had fun at the summer barbecue, I certainly did. I’m delighted to announce

a new member of staff – my new buddy, Ted. Ted’s coming up to 2½ years old (just

over 4 man-months); he’s a Border collie from a very good sheepdog family. His

humans are Joe and Toni (part of the shepherding team) who he’s currently training up

to help him round up the sheep. He tells me that they are showing real promise. I

wonder if they’ll ever make it onto “One dog and his man”. This summer’s weather

hasn’t been great although doing butterfly transects and

bracken mowing maps has got us out and about on my Chase.

We’re just embarking (pun intended) on our annual tree

survey which is good because we get to walk all the footpaths.

I’m also still plugging away at my boundary walking which

takes us to all corners of my Chase.

By the time you read this I’ll probably be in (hopefully sunny) Cornwall. Me and ‘im

indoors are planning a beach holiday based in Constantine Bay near Padstow. He’ll no

doubt make a fool of himself trying to ‘surf’. Last time we went I was body-surfing the

waves which was radical – I was totally stoked, dude. I also love wrestling with balls on

ropes (or buoys as he calls them).

See you when I get back!

Love, Scallywag X X X

Conservation Group … It’s time to resurrect our monthly work schedule. For an easy re-introduction, I would like to attempt a marsh gentian

survey on Sunday 30th

September. There are two sites where they grow in reasonable numbers but spread over a wide

area; several people working together should make it easier to get a more accurate count. Meet at the Forest Centre at

9.30 or Millbrook East carpark a few minutes later – decent walking boots, walking stick, notebook, gps could all be useful!

If the weather is rubbish we will have to cancel because the flowers only open in sunshine and they are difficult to find if

the flowers are closed up. If you know of anyone else who might be interested, please bring them along.

Hope you managed to have a good summer Chris Marrable

From the Director’s Chair… Much of my time in the last couple of months has been taken up working with the Forest Centre Development Committee

in considering the various options for the Forest Centre - having spoken to many of you, particularly the Information

volunteers, I appreciate that this is a period of uncertainty over the future – I will update you on progress at the coffee

morning on the 10th October. We have 2 new Volunteer ‘projects’ in the development stage. As you will know we are

trying to secure funding to take forward the ‘Every Dog Matters’ programme to include recruiting ‘dog-walker’ volunteers,

training on the Forest for dog walkers and horse riders, and developing a clear and consistent Code of Conduct – we will

know the outcome of funding applications, hopefully by the end of the month. Our other project is to recruit volunteers

to lead Health Walks on the Forest with training to be provided by The Trust for Conservation Volunteers (formerly BTCV)

– if you haven’t already had the details then do please speak to Tracy.

Pat Buesnel

The Volunteer - Page 6

!

Mike Payne, West Chase - Contractor work will take place either side of the Airstrip covering around eighty hectares and

beside Hindleap car park. All of this work is scrub removal with nothing really big being removed except one or two

trees at Hindleap. The in-house team will be working between the rides and A275 and on the west side of A275. We are

hoping to have a volunteer group clear the plant growth from along the gorge, running down to the Vachery, so that the

amazing engineering of the water falls and ponds can continue to be seen by visitors. In September a contractor will be

de-silting the three top ponds of the gorge using a digger.

Mike Yates, North Chase – Wessex Forestry will be undertaking clearance work on Broadstone Heath. This was first

carried out five years ago; this is a very good indicator of how quickly heathland becomes invaded by birch. The work

will start below the Forest Centre and will finish at the woodland boundary near Townsends car park. It should also

make a considerable difference to the area between Broadstone car park and the quarry which is getting heavily

scrubbed over. There will also be woodland management carried out by local commoners taking their estovers. We issue

an average of thirty wood permits a year on the North Chase.

Rich Allum, South Chase – two replacement bridges, one at Londonderry Farm & the other at Primrose Patch. The last

bit of ride work – below Misbourne Farm/ School Lane. AFRA and I are collaborating in an attempt to sort out the access

at Boringwheel Mill with a specialist contractor. Scrub clearance in the bog between Stonehill /Misbourne Farm, more

scrub clearance in and around Breakneck Ghyll (below Hollies car park), a bit near Londonderry Farm and just north of

Fairwarp Church. Annual tree survey of roadsides, car parks and Rights of Way along with boundary walking, boundary

books & resulting byelaw issues.

Chris Sutton, East Chase – This summer work has been difficult and, where it has taken place, much reduced to avoid

damaging the Forest. We need an Indian summer to help us catch up. So, the bridges mentioned in the last newsletter

are still outstanding and might be completed by the end of September. This winter, two areas will be cleared of

encroaching silver birch and pine (under HLS). This will take place from the boundary of King Standing Farm around to

the dew pond and out to the road and will be done by contractors. In-house, we will be clearing from Church Hill car

park towards the stream at the bottom. This work is long overdue and will open up some excellent heath and views. It

will also help to reduce the bracken monoculture. Where we cut bracken over the last 10-15 years we have seen the re-

establishment of heather stands and we hope to continue this. Through the dark winter I will be reviewing the health &

safety policies. If there are any volunteers who wish to help…. Feel free to offer your services! When roads are closed

for highway work the opportunity arises to clear roadsides of overhanging branches and leaning trees in safety. This

work prevents vehicles hitting branches, gives better sightlines for motorists to see animals and allows tractors to hedge

cut the vegetation with ease. We did some of the Stonehill road this summer – did you notice?!

Chris Marrable – The wettest summer for 100 years had an impact on the Forest, not only on its wildlife but also on our

ability to carry out summer management. As far as wildlife is concerned, it’s still a bit early to take full account.

However, we know that early butterfly numbers were very low and they never really recovered. Silver-studded blues

appeared later than usual, exploiting a brief gap in the rain, but they never achieved previous years’ numbers. The

numbers of Browns, mainstay of our grassy rides, were low and Skippers were very hard to find. One bright spot was the

number of Small Coppers which appeared late and in good numbers. Curiously and perhaps counter-intuitively,

dragonflies don’t seem to have enjoyed the wet weather and their numbers were below average.

We don’t know yet what happened to bird breeding success but everybody else has reported a poor year – low numbers

of surviving young as a consequence of wet nests and paucity of invertebrate food. The weather would certainly have

hindered any recovery in our Dartford warbler numbers though adult Nightjars seemed to be as plentiful as usual. We

will know more once all the records from the Bird Group are collected. It is too early to assess the impact of the

weather on Dormice, as we tend to get the best data from our boxes in the September / October checks but so far,

numbers are down. Dormice do not do well in wet weather, especially if it is also cold!

As far as management is concerned, we had to start bracken mowing later than usual because the ground was too wet

for tractors but we did manage to spray the last of our Asulox, the only available bracken-specific herbicide. Asulox is

now banned because the manufacturer could not afford to take the chemical through the arduous European licensing

process. We struggled with our other spraying programmes – Japanese knotweed and Rhododendron regrowth – but

have now largely caught up. Ragwort and Himalayan balsam seem to have thrived in the wet weather and we have

spent many man-days pulling up both these invasive species. On the plus side, some of our rare plants seem to have

done rather well. We had near record numbers of fragrant orchid and marsh orchids were in good numbers. Again, it is a

bit early for counting marsh gentians, but where we have checked, there are good numbers.

Conservation and Management News…

The Volunteer - Page 7

EXHIBITION NEWS…

Oliver Pyle – “Ashdown Forest: A Portrait in Watercolour” … Oliver is a self-taught landscape photographer and watercolourist and he will be exhibiting

his paintings http://www.ashdownfineart.co.uk/

Ashdown Forest Wood turners…

Are back again for their annual pre-Christmas exhibition the ever popular wood turners will

be at

Events review… We held a series of events throughout the summer all were very well attended and the feedback has been

really excellent:

18th

June – Clive Poole led 12 enthusiastic mixed ability birders went on a very enjoyable dawn chorus walk,

ably assisted by Jane Withey (as tail end Charlie!)

21st

June – Clive led a very popular nightjar walk and a small group of eight enjoyed the evening stroll around

Chelwood Gate and actually saw/heard nightjars. Jane Withey and Andy Butler were Clive’s able assistants. The

2nd

walk in July was rained off!

11th

July – Dave Brooker held a very successful one day digital photography course which was attended by 17

keen local photographers.

12th

July – the Centre hosted a resident(s) / public meeting and 40+ persons attended on a very wild and wet

evening. Clive Poole and Jane Withey both gave excellent talks on the role of the volunteer. Questions covered

the usual topics – dogs and sheep worrying, trees and deer.

3rd

August – saw the opening of Mervyn Hathaway’s lovely exhibition. This was attended by over 100 visitors

and sales were brisk. There are photographs on our Facebook page!

16th

August - ESCC Children’s Library Day was attended by 50 children who enjoyed stories and magic! The

weather was kind and crafts and colouring were able to take place out of doors.

18th

-19th

August – the Centre hosted a ‘Pop-Up’ exhibition by Juliet Murray – who was busy working away on a

pastel painting in the Information Barn. Over 100 people came to see Juliet’s work and to chat to her about

pastel technique.

22nd

August – Lisa (our teacher from SWT) lead a happy bands of children (and parents) out onto the heath for

a mini-beast hunt and some fun and games – the parents were very enthusiastic and enjoyed themselves as

much as the children! We made a small charge for this to cover Lisa’s costs and it would be good to boost

numbers and frequency such events. We had a second event planned but this was cancelled as there were no

bookings.

23rd

August – saw Mike Yates and Bernie Randall wrangling 30 children and parents in Broadstone Quarry

during camp building day. The feedback for this event was fantastic – was that something to do with the fact it

was free? There were shelters of all shapes and sizes and picnics going on all over the quarry. Everyone then

enjoyed themselves getting lost in Mike’s fabulous bracken maze!

24th

August – Hunt a Bug / Build a Bug was led by artist Lyn Merrick – 8 children and parents attended –

enjoyed a bug hunt and then made clay models of their own bugs – numbers were low but the feedback was

fantastic!

23rd

September – Besom Brooms with Stan Card – just confirmed at the time of going to press – there will be a

review in next issue!

the Centre selling their hand-made gifts, novelties and table wares. Also some great stocking fillers and gift ideas -

from 3rd

November to 23rd

December.

Fungi Day… Is planned for 1

st November. Why so late? To tie in with the half-term holidays! So, finding fungi is going to be a real

challenge for us all.

Other events and exhibitions… Competition winners from East Grinstead Camera Club; Sculpture and drawings by Helen Hockin; Paintings, drawings

and crafts by Wealden Hidden Talents; Paintings by Helen Bardsley and Friends and Nutley Historical Society (topic to

be confirmed). All dates and titles will be confirmed!

The Volunteer - Page 8

The Conservators of

Ashdown Forest

The Ashdown Forest Centre

Wych Cross

Forest Row

East Sussex

RH18 5JP

PHONE:

01342 823583

01342 822846

FAX:

01342 824177

E-MAIL: tracy@ashdownforest.org

ros@ashdownforest.org

conservators@ashdownforest.org

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.ashdownforest.org

and on social networking at

Twitter (1,279 followers)

Facebook (175)

Coffee Morning… The next Coffee Morning is planned for Wednesday 10

th October at

11.00 am. A chance for you to meet each other, staff, members of the

Board and to air your views, share your ideas and find out what is

going on. It’s open to all volunteers, so please come along

Christmas Party… The date for the Christmas Party is Thursday 13

th December 19.00 for

19.30 Please, please PLEASE RSVP as space is very limited for this

popular event.

Christmas Tree Sales… We are hoping to have trees cut and week-commencing 26

th

November ready for sale on the week-ends of 1st

-2nd

; 8th

-9th

; 15th

-

16th

and 22nd

-23rd

December (and from the office during the week).

Christmas tree sales are good fun and it would be helpful if we could

have a volunteer ranger to help with the choosing, trimming and

dragging around of the trees – please let Rich know if you are able to

help out on these dates.

Information Barn Winter Opening… The last week-day afternoon will be Friday 28

th September. However,

we do plan to open for autumn half-term week which runs from

Monday 29th

October to Friday 2nd

November and hope to have some

small events to run alongside fungi day (1st

November).

Christmas Opening… Sat 22

nd, Sun 23

rd December – open as usual

Mon 24th

, Tues 25th

, Wed 26th

, Thurs 27th

, Fri 28th

December – closed

Sat 29th and Sun 30th

December – open as usual

Mon 31st

December – closed

Tuesday 1st

January – open if a volunteer is available

Uniform Information Barn Volunteers… Mounted rangers and Volunteer Rangers have uniform / clothing

provided. If Information Barn Volunteers would like a sweatshirt and /

or a short sleeved polo shirt to wear during your barn duties please

let us have your sizes as soon as possible so we can place an order

with our supplier and embroiderer. They will be available to collect at

our next coffee morning in March.

Mileage Expenses… Enclosed with this newsletter is an expenses claim form for mileage

to and from the Centre for arranged volunteer duties (i.e. Information

Barn Volunteers, Volunteer Rangers and Conservation Group). If you

would like to make a claim please let us have your completed forms

(on a quarterly basis) and your bank account details so we can pay

you directly into your accounts.

When did you start Volunteering? Please let me know the year in which you began your volunteering on

the Forest. We would like to recognize long service – but need to

have some dates to work with – thank you! First presentations will

follow in due course.