US Air Attaché and Civic Leaders Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Reigate Hill Crash

Yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the tragic crash of a B-17 Flying Fortress on Reigate Hill during World War Two. To commemorate this occasion, a series of memorial events took place on the date of the crash, in collaboration with the National Trust who now own the site.

The day began with a reception at The Royal Alexandra and Albert School, where we were joined by guests including HM Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux. Attendees were given the opportunity to learn more about the history of the crash from military historian Tim Richardson, who spoke about the loss of the nine young Americans on board. The group was also able to view artefacts recovered from the crash site, deepening the connection to this significant moment in history.

The commemoration continued with a public memorial event on Reigate Hill, at the site where the B-17 came down in 1945. A service was held, featuring a wreath-laying ceremony, including a wreath presented by US Air Attaché Lieutenant Colonel Dan Benson, and the Head Boy and Head Girl of The Royal Alexandra and Albert school. This occasion took place next to the Inspiring Views Wing Tips monument, which was unveiled during the 70th anniversary commemorations and now stands as a lasting tribute to those who perished.

HM Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux, shared these words:

“We were privileged to be in the presence of US Air Attaché, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Benson, which was a powerful testament to our shared history as we remembered the nine young US crew that were tragically lost. The presence of our cadets and scouts at the ceremony brought a sense of reverence and the passing on of history from one generation to the next.”

The story of the crash is well-known in the local community. On the evening of 19 March 1945, at around 5:40pm, a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 384th Bombardment Group, 8th USAAF, was returning to its base at Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, after a mission near the German Czech border. Low clouds covered the southeast of England that evening and as the aircraft flew low over Reigate, eyewitnesses recall seeing it flying over the town. Out of formation, and flying alone, the aircraft carrying tail number 43-39035 struck the side of Reigate Hill with the loss of all nine crew.

B-17 in flight

The Wing Tips memorial is set just west of Reigate Fort along the North Downs Way and is passed by many walkers each day, serving as both a reminder of the past and a symbol of remembrance. Created by sculptor Roger Day, the Wing Tips are made from ancient Surrey oak and replicate the dimensions of the wingspan of a Flying Fortress. Look closely and you’ll see rivets and panels carved into the wood.

Councillor Eddy Humphreys, Mayor of the Borough of Reigate & Banstead said.

“For the people of Reigate, the Wing Tips memorial on the North Downs Way has become a much-loved feature by which to honour those brave young men and to reflect on the importance of preserving our local history. As we approach Surrey Day in May, with its World War II theme, we are reminded of the resilience and sacrifices made by those who came before us.”

This year’s commemoration marks a milestone of 80 years, but the impact of this event and the memories of these young men continue to resonate in the community. With thanks to the Surrey Hills Trust Fund and Community Foundation for Surrey who provided funding for this event.

The Thousand Year Tree is a stunning new picture book, created by the children of Weyfield Primary Academy Guildford to celebrate the ancient yew trees at Newlands Corner, Surrey!

An incredible journey through time, from seed to fragile giant – step inside the fascinating world of ancient trees to discover the wonders these age-old giants have witnessed, and how we can protect them for millennia to come.

This book is now on sale at Waterstones.  Click here to go straight through to their website to purchase your copy.

The Thousand Year Tree has been created through an exciting collaboration led by the Surrey Hills Society, together with the Guildford Book Festival; Weyfield Primary Academy; author, Lucy Reynolds; illustrator, Katie Hickey; Old Dungate Press; Surrey County Council; Surrey Libraries; and Surrey National Landscapes. The project has been funded by the DEFRA Access For All Fund, administered by the Surrey National Landscapes Board.

Surrey is home to some of our nation’s oldest trees – many are over one thousand years old! To celebrate these trees, we are creating a special Children’s Book with children’s author Lucy Reynolds, children’s illustrator Katie Hickey, and a group of budding book creators from a local primary school.

You also have the chance to be part of this exciting project! We are asking children all across Surrey to help us design the endpapers that will go inside the cover of the book. Read on to find out more about how to be involved…

What is this competition?

We are running a children’s design competition to help create the endpapers for The Thousand Year Tree children’s book, which is being created to celebrate Surrey’s ancient trees.

This book will be distributed to schools and libraries in Surrey and is being developed as a creative collaboration between Lucy Reynolds, author; Katie Hickey, illustrator; the Surrey Hills Society; the Guildford Book Festival; Surrey County Council; and Weyfield Primary Academy, Guildford.

What are endpapers?

Endpapers are the pages that are glued inside the front and back covers of a book. These are often beautifully designed and are a very important part of the overall look and feel of a book.

Here are some examples:

Who can take part in the competition?

Any child living in Surrey aged between 4 and 11.

Are there any age categories?

There are two age categories for the competition:
● Key Stage 1 (age 4 to 6)
● Key Stage 2 (age 7 to 11)

What is the competition brief?

We would like you to design the endpapers for The Thousand Year Tree children’s book.

You can use any medium you wish – paint, pencils, chalk, oils, pastels

You can include textures from nature if you wish, such as rubbings or collage.

We will be looking for designs that are:

● Botanical
● Beautiful
● Informative
● Themed around trees
● Themed around nature
● Themed around the passing of time or seasons

When is the deadline?

Wednesday 4th September 2024

How do I apply?

● Collect an application form from your local library or download here

● Create your design using the template, keeping within the border
● Add your name, age and contact details to the form
● Return your completed application to your local library in Surrey.

What is the prize?

We will have a first, second and third prize for each age group. Prizes include book bundles and bookshop tokens.

The overall winner of the competition will have their design printed within the endpapers of The Thousand Year Tree book.

How will I know if I have won?

Please ensure that you have provided a grown ups’ email for each application. Winners and runners up will be notified by email by the middle of October. If you haven’t heard from us by then, please do assume that you have not been lucky this time, but thank you very much for taking part!

Will I get my design back?

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to return competition entries. If your design is very precious to you, please do photocopy it before you submit it.

Who do I contact for help?

For any questions, please contact info@surreyhillssociety.org  For full competition terms and conditions, please click here

Last weekend 6th Woking Rangers, Guides and Brownies along with parents joined forces with Surrey Hills Society to plant 1800 plants in a new mixed native hedgerow for farmer Jim, in the Surrey Hills.

‘What an incredible experience, a great Sunday morning out in the fresh air, amazing to be part of something that will be there for years to come’.

‘Lots of happy faces, with a very well organised event, we achieved more that we thought’.

The feedback from the girls and parents who felt such pride and a phenomenal sense of success , with the girls buzzing from the experience.

Hedgerows are such an important part of our ecosystems and to be able to volunteer a Sunday morning to such an important activity: increasing connectivity for wildlife; providing a future home and assisting with carbon capture are all so vital.

GirlGuiding World Thinking Day for Girl Guides and Scouts around the world is the 22nd February, our founders birthday. It is a time to think about each other as a world movement and the important issues we all face. The theme this year is ‘Our World, Our Thriving Future.’

At 6th Woking we had a extremely incredible experience learning what we can do to build a better future along with understanding what we can do in support and be part of a better environmentally sustainable world by taking small steps but very important ones for our planet.

We are enormously indebted to Surrey Hills for giving us this opportunity and we would highly recommend whatever age you are to support local communities and farmers to take these small steps for a better future for us all.

‘A Guide respects all living things and takes care of the world around her’.

Article written by 6th Woking Leader – Julie Laidlaw.

Surrey Hills Society lead – Christa Emmett, Project and Volunteer Coordinator

On the hottest day of the year, Saturday 13 August, we enjoyed a very interesting visit to the Holmesdale Museum which is not generally open to the public and a big thank you goes to Andy and Carol Sandford who were very helpful giving up their own time as volunteers to welcome us.

The Holmesdale Natural History Club Museum promotes the study of natural history, local history, archaeology and geology in the area of Reigate.

There is large collection of stuffed birds, local history and archaeological collections.

After visiting the museum, we stopped at The Rose Room to not only enjoy a choice of drink and delicious cake or scone but benefit from their most welcomed air conditioning.

Then we walked to the caves which are as amazing as they are extensive. They have been used for a variety of purposes over many years and certainly for mining of the sand at one point. They are all sandstone and the Wealden Mining and Caving Society are still digging and extending the system in the western cave.

The eastern cave has an exhibition of second World War memorabilia as it was used as a shelter, and also of provision for a nuclear attack, see the picture of two attendees in the Anderson shelter below.

The Baron’s Cave is very old as it was under the castle which was built shortly after 1066 – little is known apart from conjecture and legend but it is all very interesting.

Our guides were excellent and in particular Lesley Eggleston who was not only very knowledgeable but also the organiser of the tours.

Many thanks to all those at the museum, the café and the caves who made our day possible.

Stella and Martin Cantor

In 2021, Natural England finally agreed to take on a review of the boundaries of the Surrey Hills AONB. For many years there had been talk of the need for a review – indeed the discussion was already ongoing when the Surrey Hills Society was established back in 2008! Our Surrey Hills AONB was only the second to be created and the boundaries which were agreed then were subject to significant debate amongst local councils and other influential bodies. Some excluded areas were subsequently given a degree of protection as Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) but should probably have been included in the original designation.

This current review aims to redefine the boundaries by including areas which adjoined the 1958 boundaries but which can be shown to have equivalent (or indeed greater) landscape value that the already included parts. The map on the Surrey Hills AONB Boundary Review website highlights where these ‘Evaluation Areas’ are located.

It has been stated that this is a “once in a generation opportunity” for the boundaries to be reviewed and relocated. It is, therefore, very important that those who know the area best – residents such as yourselves with an interest in the Surrey Hills plus local councils, countryside organisations and charities or others with local knowledge – all play their part in providing the information required to make this review robust.

The review is ‘data driven’. Natural England has appointed consultants to undertake the data gathering and the emphasis is on ‘facts not emotions’. It is important that all the decisions taken can be justified on the basis of what makes the particular area a ‘special landscape’. The fact of it being ‘nice’ or ‘well used’ is not sufficient. The clue is in the title – Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – although there is an acknowledgement that all our landscapes are the result of human intervention over many centuries.

So, if you are able to use your local knowledge to highlight features, history, wildlife, biodiversity and all those other elements which add up to the term “outstanding”, then you should be contributing to the review by completing the “Call for Evidence” form on the review website. This stage of the process appears to be placing significant emphasis on the provision of photographs to support the written evidence so it is worth digging out pictures which you may have taken in recent times (few places look at their best on a grey winters day!).

Make sure that your local parish council or conservation charity is also getting involved and playing its part. Many already are but with the deadline for responses being at the end of January, it is worth checking that the Christmas or Covid disruptions haven’t caused them to miss the tight timelines for discussing and responding to the review.

The outcomes of this review will impact the Surrey Hills for many decades and will influence the degree of protection or development across the entire area. Remember that once land is defined as outside a ‘protected’ designation, it is far more vulnerable and once it has gone, it has gone forever. So don’t just think ‘it’s someone else’s problem’. Get involved and help to conserve the Surrey Hills and surrounding areas for future generations.

Surrey Heartlands Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is a GP-led organisation, responsible for planning and buying health services for the local population out of a budget of around £1.5 billion. Working with Surrey County Council, Surrey Heartlands CCG is one of seven national “test and learn” sites for Green Social Prescribing, which aims to connect people to the health benefits of nature and green spaces to improve mental health outcomes. More information is on the Healthy Surrey website.

The two-year project will review green interventions and work together with residents on new initiatives to assess effectiveness for a variety of health and wellbeing issues, including those surrounding people who experience health inequality.

Activities can include walking, cycling, community gardening and food-growing projects, and practical conservation tasks such as tree planting. For people who need help to get involved this could include supported visits to local green spaces, or waterways and other outdoor activities.

Part of the project includes working with a series of partners to identify the green opportunities already available in Surrey – the Society is involved in the consultation which includes health, district and borough councils, as well as voluntary community and faith sector organisations. The aim is to ensure that nature-based activities are easy to find and to develop new initiatives that are culturally relevant whilst helping the green sector become a more accessible place for our diverse population. Surrey Heartlands are also developing a quality standard which recognises good practice for Green Social Prescribing in Surrey.

The Society is naturally extremely supportive of this initiative and as the project develops over the next two years we hope to build on the initial research that we facilitated through the Into the Wild project. We are already working with a number of landowners and youth groups to encourage hedge planting through the Surrey Hills and we also see opportunities for Society volunteers to assist with green social prescribing opportunities such as guided walks and conservation activities.

Editors Note: The article “Social Prescribing – at local level” looks at how one medical centre in the area is putting these principles into practice.

In our newsletters, we always like to include articles by guest writers. To find out how Social Prescribing is being applied in practice, we sent one of our newsletter team along to her local surgery to find out more. The article below was put together by the team at Binscombe Medical Centre to describe their approach.

Patients contact our GP surgery for a huge variety of reasons.

There is not always a medication that we can prescribe to patients; some may already be on the maximum dose of their medication and some may have a clinical reason why they cannot be prescribed the most effective treatment, and there are some things that medication is just not appropriate for. In its place, there are lots of therapies that can be hugely beneficial, in a way that medication can never do.

At Binscombe Medical Centre, we recognise the connection between our physical, mental and social wellness and we are passionate about this holistic approach to health and wellbeing. We believe there is great value in taking regular exercise to help our patients stay well so, in 2017, we set up our weekly Walking For Health Group that takes place every Tuesday. The walks help improve mobility and are beneficial for patients struggling with respiratory conditions such as COPD and cardiac conditions. There are also great benefits to patients’ mental health and wellbeing due to the social connection of the walks. The human connection part of this is immeasurable and we have had many patients who came along because they had been feeling isolated or needed some social interaction. We have two distances of walk to cater for all abilities with more information on our website.

On a different venture, we are also in the process of setting up Farncombe Community Garden. This is a project which aims to benefit both patients and the local community. Gardening has a range of proven health benefits for everyone involved; for example, physical activity levels are increased, a sense of community is created and mental health can be improved.

All our health care professionals advocate outdoor exercise both for themselves and our patients, especially as we are located in one of the most beautiful parts of Surrey. It is often more applicable and more powerful than anything we can prescribe even when the issue feels insurmountable.

As well as these outdoor activities we also offer other non-medical therapies such as our GP Chaplain and we are looking into setting up a support group for parents who had a Lockdown Birth. More information on these and other initiatives can be found on our Binscombe Medical Centre website.