Surrey League Road Race - Sunday 14th July
Hello
I'm writing to inform you about a cycling event that will be taking place around Ewhurst, Ockley, Forest Green and Okewood Hill on July 14th 2024.
These cycle races are part of the Surrey League series, are for Licensed road cyclists and sanctioned by British Cycling, Surrey Council and the Surrey Police. The race will be accompanied by motorbike outriders, and roads / junctions will be temporarily closed by them or marshals for a couple of minutes to allow riders to pass safely.
I'm acting as the delegate organiser on behalf on the Surrey League and want to formally inform you of its running and offer to answer any questions you may have about the event so you are able to inform your parishioners, customers, any other local businesses and members of the public in the run-up to the event. We have place notices locally and these will be removed after the race has finished. This is a restricted race with experienced riders, so we do not expect any littering, but will check the course on completion.
The course runs anti clockwise heading West from Ockley on the B2126/ B 2127 through Forest Green and along the Ockley Road before turning left at Ewhurst down The Street and The Mount before leaving the B2127 by turning left onto The Green. It then continues down Horsham Road to the junction with Honeywood Lane where the riders will turn left and head back through Okewood Hill up to the A29, where they will turn left again and complete the circuit. On the final lap, the race will finish with a final leg up Leith Hill Lane to the Car Park at the top on Leith Hill Road.
There will be cyclists and race officials on course from 0930 to approximately 1230
Full details are included for your reference below.
David Stroud: Event Delegate Organiser
David.stroud@londondynamo.co.uk
Race Day: July 14th 2024
Start Time: 0930 Distance = 81km. Race duration 3 hrs
Permit to race is organised through British Cycling, Surrey Council and Surrey Police
HQ location: Ockley Village Hall
The race convoy:
Consisting of 2 lead commissaire cars, 3 motorcycle marshals and 2 car marshals at the rear. Max riders in each race is 60 with the majority riding in a single group marshalled by the cars and motorcycles. These will leave Ockley village hall at approx race start time to join the course.
Parish Council news
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Where is Ewhurst?
Ewhurst can be found at the foot of Pitch Hill, between the North and South Downs in the Surrey Weald.
The soil is a very heavy clay; when William Cobbett visited the village in 1823 and stated that Ewhurst was 'A very pretty village' in ' The real Weald where the clay is bottomless', he also greatly admired the scores of now vanished oak woods.
Until the advent of tar macadam, Ewhurst and other Surrey Wealden villages were isolated areas by the very nature of this soil, and in earlier times, were harbours to 'lawless vagabonds and sturdy knaves' - some things don't change!
The environment determined their industry; this included charcoal- burning, broom-making and smuggling. This latter occupation can explain the double or 'Smugglers Roof', that exists in some older properties in the village, and it is just a one-night stage from the coast.
Pitch, Hurtwood ('hurt' or 'whort' are the old words for bilberries), and Holmbury Hills are all part of the ridge of Greensand Hills, so named because of the green hue of the sandy soil lying beneath the peat-surfaced heath. This, combined with charcoal from the prolific oak woods, produced the necessary products for the foundation of the glass industry from Roman times until the 17th century.
The Wealden clay was used for the local manufacture of bricks and tiles over the last thousand years.
Numerous springs occur in these hills, which helped in these industries, and today you can still hear them bubbling on the hillside fields. One of the streams that run off these hills is Coneyhurst Gill, which eventually joins the Wey at Shalford on its journey through Guildford to the Thames at Weybridge.
Two habitats predominate in Ewhurst.
The mixed heath and scrubland on top of Pitch Hill with pine, birch, heather and gorse, and the oak and beech deciduous woodlands at the bottom of the hill. Dog's mercury, wood anemones, bluebells and foxgloves each take their turn in decorating the woodland floor.
While the banks of the lanes are covered in celandines, primroses, dog violets, and cow parsley. On some more secluded banks wild strawberry plants and bilberries can still be found.
The remnants of the oak woods reverberate to the drilling of woodpeckers in the Spring. Summer comes not just with the cuckoo, but the song of the chiffchaff in these woods, whilst warblers and sometimes nightjars can be heard on the hills.
Like a growing number of English villages in the last 30 years, Ewhurst has seen an increase in traffic.
H.M. Alderman, in his book published in 1929, 'The Charm of Old Surrey', remarked that it was 'Away from the din of the motor traffic', not so true today.
Every year the preservation of the quality of our environment becomes increasingly difficult, we must learn to cherish what remains.
This piece kindly written by Julia Burley
Where is Ellens Green?
Ellens Green is a small, picturesque hamlet just 4 miles from Cranleigh and 2 miles from Rudgwick.
The land borders the scenic Surrey/Sussex border path with amazing views to both the South Downs and the Surrey Hills. There is a vast network of public footpaths and bridleways on our doorstep.
Ellens Green is also on the route of the Surrey/Sussex cycle path which joins up with the Downs Link cycle path just one mile away. This gives access to a wonderful 25 mile off road scenic route for cyclists, riders and walkers.
Notable buildings:
Ellens Green Memorial Hall, Furzen Lane, was built in 1951 in memory of the dead of World War I and World War II. There is a commemorative plaque in the hall.
Ellens Green Mission Hall, Furzen Lane, was built in 1887 and converted into a dwelling in 1979, now called ‘The House on the Green’.
Ellens Green School House/The Old School House, a former Victorian school and School House was built in 1870 and closed in 1956, when it was converted into two dwellings.
Useful links listed below
The Woodland Trust
Council for the Protection of Rural England
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Surrey Wildlife Trust
Waverley Borough Council
Surrey County Council
The National Trust
Surrey Interactive map
