'Special Spaces in Chiddingly', 28 February 2026

It takes a whole village to map such a special space as Chiddingly. What an incredible response there was from every corner of the parish at the Special Spaces event at the end of February. Well over 100 people came along to help to map the past, present and future of the rural spaces, green resources and native species that make Chiddingly such a unique landscape.
 
With three gigantic maps of Chiddingly laid out in the village hall, lots of postcards to fill in and coloured dots to be added to the maps, I and the whole Greening Chiddingly team wondered if the maps would fill up.  But people came and stayed and mapped and wrote and chatted and reminisced. Then, after coffee and cake, many stayed even longer in the Creative Corner (ably supported by Eleni and Amber) to paint, digitally draw and sculpt birds, butterflies and bridges. All day long, people joined in from the village and beyond.  Some returned to Chiddingly especially for the event to map memories, and wow, what memories people shared. I particularly treasured hearing about: 

• The fairies who live in an old oak tree in Bolt Wood and reply to messages from children of the village.    
• The tug-of-war competitions that happened near Chiddingly Parish Church every year using locally produced rope. 
• The banks and verges once blanketed by primroses.
• The glow worms that lit up Thunder’s Hill before solar lights were even invented.

 
Mapping logistics were led by our resident Geography Professor Dave. The complicated on-the-day logistics and village hall traffic management flow between the three mapping zones was thankfully well planned and executed by our highways and transport logistics expert Mark. The Greening Chiddingly Team baked cakes and Tina and Peter kept the refreshments flowing with warm conversation all day. Ryan, Bob, Sheryl, Lucy and others helped steer people through the mapping zones and to the Elder’s Corner to listen to recently recorded interviews with some of the long term residents of the Parish (part of The Elders Project).
 
In Speaker's Corner, Sally Ashby, our Greening Chiddingly ecologist, gave an insightful talk about eDNA testing and the resulting multitude of vertebrate and invertebrate species living in our rivers and streams, including the critically endangered European eel. Charlie Peverett, an ornithologist working for the Sussex Wildlife Trust, spoke about the vital bird survey work he continues to carry out in Chiddingly. Dave also talked about research undertaken by University of Brighton student Ben Williamson to map landscape change in the parish from old Ordnance Survey maps.
 
“Why map now?” people asked.  With development encroaching on the parish from all sides, the aim of the day was to invite the community to celebrate, record, map and protect the places that they love in Chiddingly. By making the invisible visible, we can plan and advocate for the resources needed to maintain and balance our fragile natural rural landscape.
 
“What will happen next?” people also asked. Using the template provided by greenmap.org, which has enabled communities all over the world to map their own rural and urban landscapes, the Greening Chiddingly team will produce a digital map and printed walking route maps from the results.
 
By the end of a busy day, it was exciting to see the maps lit up with a whole rainbow of coloured dots. Thanks to the kind support of Souper Saturday and the Saturday Market teams, Dave, Mark and I were able to roll out the giant maps on two further occasions and enable others to add their Special Spaces dots.
 
Support for the event and mapping has been provided by the Lund Trust through the High Weald Nature and Community Fund. Thanks to everyone who came along to make it such a memorable day.
 
Gail Giles