Ditchling bed and breakfast, South Downs Way, England

Carbon reduction

Your holiday will help support local people and conservation. We must also reduce CO₂. Learn about the CO₂ emissions of this holiday and how to reduce them.

Environment

I have a small garden which attracts a bit of wildlife, particularly hedgehogs, foxes, toads and slugs. It’s quite a wet area so the slugs thrive and toads have a good time. My next door neighbour has a pond, but they often hop over into my garden. I make sure to have a responsible attitude towards the wildlife in my garden. I don’t use pesticides or slug pellets as I don’t want any of the wildlife to be harmed and any products I do use in the garden are all natural.

I have an apple and a pear tree in my garden and I also grow my own vegetables in the summer. I grow the general summer vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, courgettes and of course tomatoes; presuming the slugs don’t get them. I also like to use my apples and pears for making chutneys and putting in my breakfasts. The other ingredients in your breakfast with be sourced locally as well. I use the organic egg farm in Ditchling and the butcher down the road in Hassocks.

I other bits and pieces that I’m sure most people do to help the environment such as recycling and composting everything I can, not doing the washing too much, hanging things up to dry, turning down the thermostat and generally just try and save on energy and water.

Community

Ditchling has a great community and there are over 30 societies in the village. 30 years ago I helped to set up the Ditching Film Society; it’s still running today and I’m still very much involved. About once a month we show old Art House films. Occasionally we do this twice a month and sometimes we have small film festivals as well. As a village we throw a newcomers party once a year which is designed to get everyone together and to integrate and include anybody new who has moved to the village in that past year. We all meet in the village hall for food and drink and get to know each other.

I like to support the community and any fundraising or charity events that are going on. I often get asked to donate a prize and since I run a pottery workshop in Streat I donate vouchers. I did the cancer walk in Brighton last year and I’m also a big supporter of the Samantha Dixon Brain Tumour Trust.

Ditchling has some nice places to eat, I particularly like The General for a really good evening meal and the Larder is the only food shop in the village; it has local produce to buy and a delicious deli. The two local pubs are both really nice and welcoming The Bull and The White Horse. There is a very nice little gift shop and a lovely flower shop. The Ditchling Museum will be opening soon as well. It’s going to be a state of the art gallery dedicated to artists from Ditchling though out the years which will be a great place to find out the history of Ditchling and about the artists and their art.

May is a great time of year to visit Ditchling as there are lots of open houses and gardens displaying local people’s artwork as part of the Brighton Festival. I am part of The White Horse Art Group and we display our work in the pub. I’m also part of the Skelton Workshops in nearby Streat where there are a variety of art courses and workshops that you can take part in. There is also the Ditchling fair that is held most years in June which is great fun. I’ve been on the fair committee at various times and I take my pottery wheel down for people to have a go on.

In the area there is lots for people to do with Lewes town not far, where there are plenty more pubs, shops and tearooms. You can also visit Lewes Castle and Anne of Cleaves House. Glyndebourne is also close and is famous for its operas. The coast isn’t far with The Seven Sisters Country Park where you can walk along the chalk cliffs, or head to the city of Brighton and sit beside the sea. Charleston Farmhouse is a really interesting property to visit to learn all about the Bloomsbury group.