At fairly short notice, BT Openreach have notified three sets of roadworks, with traffic lights, all to run until Friday 10th August 2018

Between the top of Rectory Hill and the entrance to Long Reach.

The official description from BT is “BRIGHTLING V37 – PON 475400 – BRIGHTLING SPINE SUB DUCT AND CABLING. TO ROD ROPE AND TEST, AND INSTALL APPROX 165M OF SUB DUCT AND CABLE AND ANY ASSOCIATED BLOCKAGES IN EXISTING IN fw/cw/verge- SPINE ROUTE TO EXCHANGE”

Somewhere along Rectory Hill

BRIGHTLING V37 – PON 475400 – BRIGHTLING SPINE SUB DUCT AND CABLING. TO ROD ROPE AND TEST, AND INSTALL APPROX 1020M OF SUB DUCT AND CABLE AND ANY ASSOCIATED BLOCKAGES IN EXISTING IN fw/cw/verge- SPINE ROUTE TO EXCHANGE

Brightling Road east of Oxleys Green

BRIGHTLING V37 – PON 475400 – BRIGHTLING SPINE SUB DUCT AND CABLING. TO ROD ROPE AND TEST, AND INSTALL APPROX 2384M OF SUB DUCT AND CABLE AND ANY ASSOCIATED BLOCKAGES IN EXISTING IN fw/cw/verge- SPINE ROUTE TO EXCHANGE

I think “fw/cw/verge” means “footway/carriageway/verge” but I am not sure what PON is – possibly “Passive Optical Network”.

The 2384 metres mentioned in the Brightling Road notification is pretty much exactly the distance to Poplar Cottages, so quite possibly this is the end point for the fibre installation going in this direction.

It is interesting to note that these works were only notified on 26th July, to start on 30th July.  Normally these things are planned some months in advance.  Combine this with the fact that we have already personally observed “sub duct” being installed from the top of Rectory Hill towards Oxleys Green on 14th June 2018, the most likely conclusion is that this installation was not entirely successful, and that there is a blockage in the duct which will require the road (or verge) being dug up somewhere along its length.

I am pleased to say the the signpost at the top of Rectory Hill has had its makeover, and I was hoping to be able to report that all eight wooden signposts (technically known as fingerposts) in the village are now looking quite smart…

…except that the one at Darwell Hole was recently hit by a vehicle that completely knocked off the Penhurst arm.  It will be mended, but I have a feeling it may take a while, because we are trying to reclaim the cost of repair, either from the driver’s insurance or from East Sussex County Council.  Meanwhile, if you want to know the way to Penhurst, I can only suggest that you use a map or satnav.

The Weald, and Brightling in particular, is rich in ancient woodland. But it’s difficult to ‘read’ a wood — its history, resources and challenges — without the help of an expert. That help was provided by the tree warden for Dallington, Doug Edworthy, during a walk in Dallington Forest, on Saturday 7th July.

Forge Wood in Dallington Forest straddles Brightling and Dallington parishes, and – it turns out – is of national importance. A long history of heavy use, especially for the iron industry and commercial timber, have left their mark, including graffiti from a German prisoner of war!

Doug showed us ancient yew and beech trees threatened by competitive growth, such as from Western Hemlock, planted in Victorian times and now regenerating freely. He also described how removing fallen branches of veteran trees can rob the woods of important habitat for a whole range of fauna and flora.

How these woods are managed now can make a huge difference to their future health. The walk ended with an inspiring example of how that management might be done, through selective clearing of trees, opening up of avenues, and preservation of fallen and standing deadwood.

Brightling currently doesn’t have a tree warden. There’s an opportunity for Doug to fill that role, to provide the kind of joined-up approach that our woodlands need, and to involve parishioners along the way.

Many thanks to Doug, and to Jane and Geoffrey Beard for organising the walk.

Bill Vorley

Much more detail is to be found in this report: Dallington Forest Ancient and Veteran Tree Survey 2017

The pictures show fibre optic cable being installed into a pre-existing duct at the top of Rectory Hill, down towards Oxley’s Green, on 14th June 2018 (by a team of Lithuanians, incidentally).  Although it is the policy of East Sussex County Council’s broadband team, in collusion with BT Openreach, to give out only minimal information about future broadband upgrades, I think we can anticipate that FTTP (full-fibre broadband) is coming to Oxley’s Green and (I think) then down Brightling Road, which should bring improvement to some properties which are particularly badly served at the moment.  I expect that properties around Hollingrove will benefit too.  All this should happen this year, possibly as soon as September.

What you can see in the picture is actually the installation of a hollow tube, down which the actual fibre optic cable is eventually pushed (or blown).

We hope you like the look of this new Brightling web site.  It is not perfect yet (the menu doesn’t play well on mobile devices, for example) but I think it is considerably improved, with a useful calendar of events on the home page.  If you want to get access to add events to the calendar, or would like to contribute content to the website, do contact me (andrew@wedmore.com).  I hope to call a meeting, sometime in the autumn (2018) perhaps, to discuss how we can develop the website further and get more contributions.  Meanwhile, any feedback would be very welcome.

The Parish Council recently carried out a check on the eight wooden signposts within the parish of Brightling.

Seven of the eight were deemed to be in pretty good nick (and will shortly be receiving their annual wash and brush-up from the various volunteers).

The one at the top of Rectory Hill (which is the only one we didn’t refurbish in 2016/17) needs a bit more than this.  It is looking quite weather-beaten and does not meet our standard of general uprightness.  So we have arranged for it to go to the signpost hospital for a bit of remedial surgery and a facelift.  Hopefully this will happen before the end of 2018.  So if you notice that it is absent from its post (LOL) – don’t worry, it hasn’t gone AWOL.

Jenny Yeo writes:

We are having an annual church clear-up on 4th July at 6:30 pm and we would love as many able-bodied people as possible to join us!

There is a suitable job for everyone.  So, ladies, bring your chainsaws! Gentlemen, bring your feather dusters!

From previous experience I can say that it doesn’t go on for too long and is quite a sociable event.

You can look forward to refreshments but you just have to do a bit of work first.

We had an interesting meeting on Tuesday 12 June 2018, with (among others) representative of Rother District Council and East Sussex County Council, to discuss sorting out the correct names for roads within the parish.

Previously we had consulted on a set of road names.  We received some messages of agreement, and no messages of disagreement, and the Parish Council approved them at its meeting on 14th May 2018.

The Rother representative said that they were happy to accept our proposal, with a couple of exceptions.

Rother want the road from Darwell Hole up towards Woods Corner (the B2096) to be “Battle Road” (because other segments of it, outside Brightling, are already called Battle Road).  We wanted the road from Darwell Hole up as far as the top of Rectory Hill to be “Battle Road”.  But we can’t have two different roads in the parish both called Battle Road.  I don’t think we would win an argument with Rother over this, and in fact it is perfectly reasonable for the B2096 to be Battle Road.  So we have to have a different name for the road from Darwell Hole to the top of Rectory Hill.  The obvious solution is to call this road “Cackle Street”.  In fact Rother already call it Cackle Street, so if we accept this it is one fewer change.  Some would say that Cackle Street is a hamlet rather than a road, or that the term Cackle Street only applies to the lower part of the road, but we don’t have any other ideas, so I suggest the whole road should be Cackle Street.

The other change is that we tried to apply the name “Deer Park Road” to the whole of the road from the triangle at Avenue Lodge all the way to Woods Corner.  Rother’s view – which I think has to be accepted – is that this applies only to the road as far as Stacey’s corner.  From Stacey’s corner to Woods Corner is in the parish of Dallington, and here the road is called “Brightling Road”.  There is no duplication here because the names only have to be unique within the parish, so “Brightling Road, Dallington” and “Brightling Road, Brightling” can happily refer to distinct roads.  In any case, we are Brightling parish and we can’t start telling Dallington how to name roads in their parish.  Furthermore it is reasonable for a road to change its name at a T-junction, and I do know that properties on the Dallington part of this road do refer to themselves as being on “Brightling Road”.

We also discovered that Rother have a road that we hadn’t got: Coblye Lane.  I don’t think this is a road that the public can drive down (although it is a bridleway); it is the track from the Ox Lodge, past the cricket ground and down to Coblye Cottage at the ford.  So I have added that to the map.

If no-one objects to the above, then we are mostly in agreement with the names that Rother have already got, and we would only be asking Rother for 4 changes:

• what we call Coombe Hill Road is currently on Rother’s system as Perrymans Lane
• the real Perrymans Lane (the short section of road that goes past Perrymans Farm) is currently on Rother’s system as an extension to Fontridge Lane
• The road from Oxley’s Green to Twelve Oaks is currently on Rother’s system as Hollingrove Road; we want to split it into Hollingrove Hill (Oxley’s  Green to Hollingrove) and Hollingrove Lane (Hollingrove to Twelve Oaks)
• What we call Long Reach and “The Street” is currently on Rother’s system as “Brightling Village” (which Rother accept is a silly name for a road, and not in accordance with local usage)

This is all open to consultation.  The revised consultation map is below.  Please use the comments box below to say if you have any comments on any of this.  If you think this is all correct, then it would be helpful if you could leave a comment to say so, so that we can show that there is a consensus.  Once we do have a consensus, then, subject to the agreement of the parish council, we will officially request these changes from Rother District Council.

We were advised that if a road name changes, then there is a possibility that the Post Office will change the postcode.  However it seems to me that this is fairly unlikely, but you never know.  In any case, the Post Office are a law unto themselves when it comes to setting official postal addresses.

Rother Valley Railway wants to join its section at Robertsbridge with the existing Tenterden-Bodiam railway.

What not everyone is aware of – I only found out very recently – is that they are using compulsory purchase powers under the Transport and Works Act to force landowners in Salehurst to sell parts of their farms to the RVR so that the railway line can be constructed. These are known as TWAOs (Transport and Works Orders).  Not surprisingly, the landowners are up in arms about this.

Brightling Parish Council has not been involved in the resulting controversy, taking the view that the direct impact on Brightling is minimal. However, I have been contacted by individuals who feel that the compulsory purchase of land against the landowner’s wishes is not justified in the case of what many people would regard as a “hobby railway”.  (I have not been contacted by anyone who supports the extension or the compulsory purchase orders).

Anyone who wishes to oppose – or support – the TWAOs should be aware that the deadline for submitting comments is TODAY – 31st May 2018. Comments should be emailed to The Secretary of State for Transport’s department at transportandworksact@dft.gsi.gov.uk You must include your name and address, together with the grounds of your objection.

Full details of the objectors’ case are on the Great Robertsbridge Train Robbery website.  They include more details of how to comment on the orders.

The case “for” is on the Rother Valley Railway website.

Footpath “Brightling 17B” has now been thoroughly upgraded by the East Sussex County Council’s rights of way team, as a direct result of requests on behalf of Brightling Parish Council.

Matthew Harper, ESCC Principal Rights of Way Officer, wrote to us on 24th May 2018:

Our Maintenance Team attended to investigate the issues and discovered a large drainage pipe, which was not visible to us on our inspection.  The pipe sits below another pipe we had seen and is shown in the attached ‘Photo 1’ with new sandbags now protecting the outlet.  It had evidently become quite blocked, but the team has cleared it and it now looks to be flowing well.

As you can see from ‘Photo 2’  the Team also installed a catchment chamber to divert the flow we had concluded was probably a spring emerging alongside the pond.    They have also laid new stone over the whole area.

You can see in the second photo that there is still some water on the surface, but the Team reports that this looks to be trickling our from the field on the right further up the path.  So potentially a different source, but hopefully only one which is only delivering run-off from the downpours in the last 24 hours.

We’ll have to wait and see, but it looks like the situation should be improved.

This follows a meeting on 10th April, arranged by the Parish council.  The fact that there was a good turnout at the meeting probably helped to encourage the Rights of Way team to take action.