Friends of Midhurst Common

Our annual general meeting was held on April 15 by Zoom. There were 20 attendees.

The meeting started with chairman Andrew Mitchell quoting an observation made by Prince Philip when reflecting on how long a meeting should be, ‘what the backside cannot endure, the brain cannot absorb’. The meeting lasted 70 minutes with most members still sitting comfortably!

Members of the committee reported on their activities during the year including:

■ A report from Murray Marr willow growing in the Bog Allotment in Bepton Road.

■ Helen Burden reporting increased use of social media by local people.

■ James Burden on the planning applications concerning the proposed excavation of soft sand locally and the proposal to erect 75 new dwellings on the Bepton Road WSCC depot site and old Brickworks site.

■ Murray also reported sightings of bullfinch, marsh tit, treecreeper, green woodpecker and nuthatch.

■ This prompted Wendy Pegler to recite a lovely poem about the nuthatch.

■ Jean Hicks reported on the work of The Heath Team in maintain the heathland area of the Common. This ongoing task has been severely curtailed over the last year as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.

For anyone interested in anything to do with Midhurst Common, please email: friendsofmidhurstcommon@yahoo.co.uk