Summer barbecue
We will be holding our annual summer barbecue in August instead of green drinks. Once again, we will be in the lovely setting of Swan Barn Farm. You will need to bring your own food and drink - we provide the fire. Friday (note NOT Thursday) 2 August from 6.30 to 9pm. Please join us. Families and their dogs welcome. For more information email info@transitionhaslemere.org.

Family eco event
 

St Stephen's Church is holding a family eco event, offering nature hunts and nature crafts. The free event will be suitable for children up to Year 6 (age 11 and under) and their parents. Light refreshments will be available. Friday 2 August 2-4pm at St Stephen's Church GU27 1NS. 

Hedging the SANG
In partnership with the Haslemere Rotary Club, Haslemere Town Council is hoping to hold a working party at the Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) at Sturt Farm in the late afternoon of September 4, finishing up with a drink at The Mill. The aim is to construct a deadhedge to fill in gaps in the hedge line to prevent inappropriate access paths from being established into the SANG, thereby protecting the nearby badger sett. Full arrangements are yet to be confirmed but if you are interested in joining this working party, learning a few simple skills and finding out more about the SANG and future plans, please email Claire Matthes at clairematthes.copse@gmail.com.

Farmers market and repair cafe
We will be at the farmers' market on Saturday 3 August from 10am to 2pm. The Repair Cafe will be at the Swan Inn from 10am to 1pm.

Book of the month: How to Read a Tree, by Tristan Gooley
As with his previous books on natural navigation, Tristan Gooley encourages you to look more closely and, equally, from further away at trees to reveal what they can tell you about themselves, how they fit in to their eco system and how they have responded to their immediate environment, including the weather. You will learn to read a tree in the context of its time and place in the landscape.

Tree of the month: New whitebeam?

“Walking on Marley Common recently, I came across a fallen tree that had stood on a boundary mound in a line of mostly beech trees. Examining its leaves, particularly the whitish downy undersides, and small bunch of green berries, it appeared to be a whitebeam. However, the leaf shape was not that of a common whitebeam (Aria edulis), which is fairly common around Haslemere. I took some leaves and cuttings but have not been able to clearly identify it from my reference books. As my botanist friend Hilary informed me, Sorbus, including rowan, whitebeam and service tree, is a genus known for interbreeding, sometimes in extremely complicated ways. I couldn't find another whitebeam nearby, although they are present on Marley Common, as are rowans (Sorbus aucaparia). There is, however, a bastard service tree (Sorbus thuringiaca), itself a hybrid of rowan and whitebeam, in the vicinity. So two possibilities are that the tree is a known sub-species or variant that I haven't been able to identify – in which case the question arises as to who planted it there and why? – or that it's a unique local hybrid.” Clive Davidson

Editor: Clive Davidson
Transition Haslemere