Sussex Greenways raised over £300 on their sponsored walk on the last Sunday in July, with 18 people completing the nearly 10-mile circuit from Gibbets Marsh car park to Winchelsea and back again via the Royal Military Canal and Camber Castle. Refreshments and cake provided a much-needed reward at the end of the walk, which was ably guided by Jane Bates and Martin Summers.
“We’ve now raised over £600 this month, which is fantastic,” said Nick Hanna,
Sussex Greenways chair. “Adding to just over £1,000 which we raised last month with our very successful posh jumble sale. It shows real commitment from our supporters and volunteers to creating safe, traffic-free, accessible walking and cycling routes around Rye.”
Amongst other projects, Sussex Greenway is developing a 2.7 kilometre route linking Winchelsea with Pett Level alongside the Royal Military Canal. “The canal is such an incredible asset and stunning natural environment which more people should have access to, just like they do near Hythe at the other end,” said Nick Hanna. “It would also avoid cycling on a dangerous road. We’ve made good progress, raising over £6,000 thanks to donations from Lankelma, Jempsons, Nick Neil of Gill Shaw Farm, and individual supporters. We’ve completed the first stage of ecology studies and just got the results showing no great crested newts in water bodies nearby, which will make the proposals less costly.”
Sussex Greenways is currently looking for landowners within the High Weald National Landscape interested in creating permissive, multi-user routes on their land. “Government grants are available to meet construction costs but the deadline is challenging, so please do get in touch soon if you’re interested,” says Nick. “It could be a walking or cycling route on a field edge that connects a village to a farm shop, or a glamping site to a pub – there are lots of economic benefits to increased rural connectivity.”
If you’d like to support the work we’re doing please sign up at www.sussexgreenways.org or contribute to our Crowdfunder.
Contact: info@sussexgreenways.org
Image Credits: Nick Hanna .
Nick and the Greenways Cttee are doing a brilliant job of developing cycle routes in partnership with landowners and locals alike. The walk was a very sociable and fun way of finding out about how the route could benefit us and link Rye and Winchelsea even more. Well done all!