Autumnal Combe Haven Valley Photo by Derrick Coffee

Artists and local residents draw together to stop link road

Campaigners against the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) are organising a combined walk, lunch and art event (“The Vision of the Valley”) on Saturday 24 November, encouraging artists and local people to visit Combe Haven Valley, see how preparations for the Road are already affecting it and create their own paintings and drawings in response.

Works produced during the event, organised by the Combe Haven Defenders, will be among those exhibited at a month-long exhibition at One Cafe in London Road, St Leonards, starting on Monday 3 December.

Reflection, Combe Haven Valley Photo by Derrick Coffee

The event – which will involve a circular, interactive and probably muddy  4 km walk – will begin at 11am, next to the ancient yew tree at St George’s Church in Crowhurst. After a welcome from the “Tranquillity Guides”, participants will be free to either join the guided walk or make their own way using a specially-produced map showing interesting stops.

Having soaked up inspiration from being in the Valley, participants will head back to Crowhurst Village Hall (Forewood Lane, TN33 9AJ) at 1pm for a delicious homemade lunch, followed by an afternoon of drawing and painting.  A workshop for those wanting to learn drawing skills will take place at 2.30pm.

A family-friendly Ceilidh in support of the anti-Link Road campaign –  with local beer from a Brewery in Crowhurst and delicious homemade cakes – will also be taking place at Crowhurst Village Hall on Saturday 8th December.

Walk Eat Draw poster by Emily Johns

Local artist Emily Johns – who has produced a poster to publicise the event – said: “East Sussex County Council (ESCC) have identified the Combe Haven Valley – the area between Bexhill, Crowhurst and St Leonards – as a site of exceptional tranquillity, far away from road noise and the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. Preparations for the Road, such as the  digging of archaeological trenches and the blocking of badger sets, are already having an impact on the Valley, which will be irreparably damaged if work on the £100m Link Road goes ahead as planned next January. As local people, we need to recognise – and take action to peacefully defend – this local treasure, with its abundance of rare wildlife and Site of Special Scientific Interest, before it’s too late.”

The Combe Haven Defenders (CHD), are calling on 1,066 people from across the country to “pledge to take part in peaceful resistance to the construction of the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road” [see link below].

Contact 07926 423 033

NOTES
[1] www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2] http://tinyurl.com/signthechdpledge

Also in: Campaigns