News

Everyone is welcome in the church at 5pm on 7 December for mulled wine, hot chocolate etc and to celebrate the lighting of the village Christmas tree. The outdoor lighting ceremony will not take place this year due to the strong winds and rain forecast. Do come to the church at 5pm where you will find Santa in his grotto!

After many years living in Maresfield, Rob and Peta Penfold are moving to Kent to be closer to family members. They have been strong contributors to village life with Rob serving on the MCG committee for the past nine years. Peta was the minute secretary for the MCG for several years. Rob has worked tirelessly on numerous matters including guiding MCG’s responses to development proposals, working with the Footpaths Group, project managing the new Village Map (shown on photo) and arranging the annual village Christmas tree. Rob was presented with a well-deserved gift from his fellow committee members at his last meeting on 18th November. He and Peta will both be greatly missed in Maresfield.

The 2025 Maresfield Calendar is now on sale at the village shop. They are A4 sized wall calendars, folding out to A3 when hung up with a beautiful photograph for each month of 2025. They would make brilliant Christmas presents! £8.50 each with all profits going to charity.

A big thank you to the 16 litter pickers who turned out on Saturday and collected 14 bags of rubbish between them. This is less than the amount collected in April, which is good news!

AUTUMN LITTER PICKING: "Clean Up Our Village" Saturday 26th October 10am to 2pm. Meet in the Maresfield Church car park. We will supply rubbish sacks, litter pickers and hi-viz jackets. Please bring your own gloves.

If you would like to help but cannot join us on the day, please contact Jo Lawrance, MCG Chair via email on jo.lawrance63@gmail.com

Thanks to a generous bequest left to the village by Joan Bailey, the MGC worked alongside her nephew David which culminated in the erection of a beautiful display board and footpath map in the centre of the village. The board and map are in memory of Andrew and Joan Bailey of Maresfield Park. The illustrated map depicts footpaths in and around the village for use by local walkers and visitors to our village.

Weald to Waves are hosting two training sessions on riverfly training where you’ll learn how to survey river invertebrates as an indicator for water quality, and become a certified riverfly monitor carrying out regular survey at locations within the Adur catchment. The sessions are taking place on the 13th June and the 6th July (9.30am – 4pm) at the Sussex Wildlife Trust headquarters: Woods Mill, Shoreham Road, Henfield, BN5 9SDU. Places are limited so if you’d like to reserve a place on one of the courses, please email: adurrecovery@knepp.co.uk

Tickets are now available for the MCG Cheese and Wine evening in the garden of Newnham Cottage (next to the village hall) on Saturday 27th July. Tickets are £7 each from Ian Shaw, Telephone 01825 765985 or email ian@andrewmilton.co.uk Should the weather be unfavourable the event will take place in the village hall.

After twelve years on the MCG committee, Stan Sadowski has decided it’s time to step down. He has been a strong contributor to the Group, including serving as Membership Secretary which has helped boost the number of members to the current level. Stan has also been in charge of the group’s website. Stan was presented with a well-deserved gift from his fellow committee members at the AGM in the Village Hall on 14 May.

Local group SABRE is raising awareness of the proposed 77 acre expansion of the Ashdown Business Park and also the proposal to build 2,000 houses at Owlsbury Farm, which would extend from the Bell Lane Industrial Estate along the Uckfield By-pass almost as far as Little Horsted. See our Planning page on how to respond to the consultation. Please note the response deadline of 10th May 2024 has now been passed.

The Conservation Group organised the Spring village clean-up on Saturday 6th April. It was a fine morning with 21 volunteers turning out to collect 30 large bags of rubbish which the District Council will dispose of.

Jo Lawrance, MCG Chairman, described the strong turnout and record-breaking collection as “a great effort by everyone”.

MCG has launched a photographic competition on the theme ‘Maresfield through the Year’. The 12 best entries, selected by an independent judge, will be used to produce a calendar for 2025 with profits donated to our nominated charity.

We are looking for photographs of landscapes, wildlife or village scenes taken somewhere within Maresfield Parish through the seasons. Images you’ve taken in past years are also welcome too.

All photos on the calendar will be credited with the photographer’s name and a prize will be awarded to the image chosen for the cover.

Navigate to the Photo Competition page for more details and how to enter.