Friends of Shoreham Beach

About FOSB

In June 2006 Shoreham Beach was declared a Local Nature Reserve. The reason for this was the unusual vegetated shingle habitat.
There are a few other vegetated shingle beaches in the South East of England, and even fewer in New Zealand and Japan, so it is a rare habitat worldwide.

When the Sea Kale and Red Valerian come into bloom in late May or early June it looks spectacular. In quick succession the Yellow Horned Poppy and virbant blue Viper’s Bugloss and the golden daisy-like flowers on the Silver Ragwort appear. People who walk along the beach are rewarded by the sight of carpets of low-growing flowers, pink Ivy- leaved Toadflax, Thrift, white Sea Campions and the bright yellow downy flowers of Kidney Vetch. Also we have some colonies of Starry Clover which is very rare in the UK.
These are just a few of approximately 90 species of plants which have been recorded on the L.N.R.
Being situated on the edge of an urban environment is a mixed blessing. On the one hand it can be enjoyed by many local people, but on the other it can suffer from human carelessness. Although the plants can survive the salt winds, scarcity of fresh water and poor nutrients in the shingle, they are easily damaged by trmpling. Also enrichment of the nutrients through Bonfire and BBQ ash or garden rubbish causes common weeds to flourish and push out the native plants. Friends of Shoreham Beach work to support the L.N.R. through raising public interest in the plants and animals which live here and also awareness of their fragility in the face of inappropriate human activities.

We organise Beach Cleans, monitor rare species and remove invasive ones. In this way we hope to preserve the habitat for for present and future generations.

You may like to join our group or come to some of our Summer Events.

                                                                     Litter collecting


For further information on joining Friends of Shoreham Beach
you can find our application form by clicking here: Application Form.

or e mail joy.fosbeach@btinternet.com or phone 01273 462584 or 453540

      Our Summer Events

Annual Flower walk on June 3rd from the Old Fort followed by tea.

Rockpooling August 10th at the Old Fort.

See events page for details.

Bees on the Beach and Bumble Bee Hotel Worshop was much enjoyed on 3rd April.  We are monitoring some Bumble bees on the Beach and in gardens on the Beach Ring Joy for more information especially if you want to join the monitoring

For Bee Homes instructions click on the 81 in the latest news column which also gives more advice on helping bees.

We had a splendid Event on December 27th

Beach Clean and Opening of the disabled access path.

After the well attended Beach Clean a large crowd gathered at the Ferry Road entrance to the boardwalks and after speeches by Councillor Simmonds,Joy Daintree and Alison Lapper, Alison opened the bow tying the red ribbon accross the opening with Fred Waldron by her side.

The crowd gathers. Litter in the blue bags.

Wheel chairs gather

Wheel chairs on the boardwalks and these include Father Christmas who paid a special visit with Captain Jack Sparrow because Adur Bath Tubs arranged the visit!   Also thanks to Thunkshop Craft Shop at Ropetackle for the reindeer antlers.

Festivities continue with mulled wine, a gift from Into the Blue, and mince pies supplied by Marks and Spencer

PREVIOUS EVENTS

IN 2011

Library display

Beach Clean in lovely sun and well attended on 22nd Oct

Rock Pooling Event 23/08/2011 Sponsored by Southern Water so it was free to everybody and we had a most interesting time

Briefing before we went hunting for creatures

Marine Biologist Steve Savage with interested participants and our coastal ranger

Coastal Ranger John Knight showing a worm… was it…

a red Ragworm?

or a masonry worm?

or a lugworm?

We saw a lovely large common Blenny (Shanny)and prawns

and Beadlet and Snakelock anenomes

Then we had a Beach Art Competition judged by a representative from Southern Water

One of the 4 winning entries

We looked after our creatures and made sure they had plenty of water and put them back in the sea. Before we put them back we found an anenome hiding in a mussel shell

Flower Walk 5.6.11

Looking at Sea Kale

Photography lesson from Aaron Broadhouse on photographing a Yellow Horned Poppy

Stand at World Ocean’s day June 11th

Local Nature Reserve Exhibition

Local Nature Reserve Exhibition in May held at th Marlipins Museum

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION FOR LOCAL NATURE RESERVE Held May 24th at the FoSB Exhibition

FoSB marked the fifth anniversary of Shoreham’s Local Nature Reserve (LNR) with a reception at the Marlipins Museum where the organisation has been staging a month-long exhibition.

The event was attended by around 30 people, including FoSB stalwarts, conservation experts and Sussex beach wardens.

FoSB chairwoman Joy Daintree paid tribute to the work done by all involved in supporting the LNR.

“Shoreham Beach was declared a Local Nature Reserve because of its unusual and rare vegetated shingle habitat, one of only a handful in the world,” she said. “It’s vitally important that we protect the beach, not only for the sake of the plants and creatures who live there but also for the benefit of future generations.”