“It gives me a feeling of solidity – and a solid ground to stand on and a sense of spiritual connection… and it gives me a sense of home”

Pearl is an artist, illustrator, and writer. She has worked as a Dresser at Glyndebourne for over ten years, an opera house located closeby to where she lives in Lewes, East Sussex.

Pearl would often walk across the grassy chalk hills of the South Downs National Park, sometimes barefoot, on her commute to work. Often in summer the hills would come to life. People from all walks of life dressed in glamorous and traditional outfits would mill around, talk and enjoy the countryside views following the end of shows.

“On my birthday, I decided to walk (from Brighton to Eastbourne) - 26 miles to be exact, to raise money for refugee children in Ukraine because I was once a child refugee…”

Hong is an artist and film editor who lives in Brighton, not far from South Downs National Park. She came to the UK as a child from Vietnam seeking refuge with her family.

Last year, Hong walked over 26 miles from Brighton to Eastbourne through the South Downs National Park in order to raise money for UNICEF for refugee children in the Ukraine.

“I hope for little signposts along the way to tell me I’m travelling in the right direction, but the journey is mostly its own reward”

Liz is a singer with the folk band Chalkhorse Music (inspired by the White Horse of Litlington.) The band perform traditional folk songs from Sussex and the South Downs - they also write their own songs. Thier recordings contain electronic elements but they’re known for playing acoustically live, from unaccompanied folk song to five piece band.

Liz grew up in Sussex and has long been inspired by the hidden gems and stories found across the South Downs. She’s most interested in local legend, folklore, and the endless mystery that the landscape holds. Liz is a natural story collector. She enjoys meeting and talking to people across Sussex. She records her findings in a community radio show.

“I really love testing my boundaries just because I’m curious to see how far I can go at once. The longest distance I covered in a day was around 36 kilometres, and I was wondering over three days, can I walk between 37 and 39 kilometres a day? Can I make it?”

Last year, Ingrina embarked on a solo journey that took her on 15 Slow Ways walking routes over three days from London to its closest national park, the South Downs National Park.

Her journey (supported by Slow Ways and All the Elements) was inspired by her desire in part to better understand and illustrate some of the barriers people face in accessing the outdoors, in particular barriers surrounding access to public transport.

“…and if somebody loves that painting and decides to put it on their wall, they don't just have a representation of the cliff, they have the cliff”

David is an innovative artist who makes many of his own paints by hand from soils and other natural pigments that he sources locally himself in and around Seaford and the South Downs. Wherever he goes he prospects for interesting soils and he knows exactly where all his colours come from. Often his paintings incorporate pigments directly sourced from within yards of where he is making the artworks, creating a deeper connection between the artwork and the natural environment.

Following three decades working in and around the Asia Pacific region on sustainability issues, he uses his art to raise awareness of the fragility as well as resilience of the natural environment in particular local and global soils.

“I had two poems published, Landscape of My Mother and the Matriarch Landscape. To me, it's kind of very feminine (the landscape). It’s about women, that’s my perception”

Jenny is a writer based in Brighton of mixed heritage. She grew up in Brighton and in the countries of Uganda and Tanzania. She writes poetry that captures and reflects her family’s stories and experiences in East Africa and England.

Jenny is often inspired by the Sussex coastal landscape which has long been a favourite area for her. She explores her female ancestral connections to Sussex through her writing and uses features from the land; chalk scars and hawthorn trees, as metaphors for the tangled, textured lives of women.

“It never ceases to amaze me how majestive horses are!”

Sofia has explored the South Downs in all seasons – tracing silhouette of horses by Birling Gap on foggy winter days and on fresh spring mornings… On a recent trip to the Seven Sisters Country Park, she was happy to return to a familiar field filled with beautiful horses.

Sofia is an artist, illustrator and lecturer at Birmingham university. She loves horses and learnt to ride in the Middle East, while she was on a year abroad as part of her Arabic and Development degree programme at SOAS. She has volunteered in city farms in London in order to spend time with horses. Her work is inspired in part by nature. In the past, she has created dreamy technicolour batik paintings of stallians against surrealist backdrops. She has an allotment close to where she lives in the West Midlands.

“There's so much that I haven't yet experienced but kind of intuitively know already. So I think my ancestors being farmers and working the land and living on the land… it’s really kind of like ingrained in me.”

Shireen is a London based film-maker, creative and writer who loves nature. She reflects on the longstanding impacts of colonialism on farming communities in the Punjab, the juxtaposition of growing up in London, disconnected from natural landscapes with migrant parents, both of whom are from agricultural backgrounds and have a strong connection to land.

As much as Shireen loves seeking out nature at her doorstep in the city, she appreciates the countryside and what it can do for you creativity, and allow you to question all that you don’t know or think about.

“I love seeing the awe and wonderment on their faces as we go down onto the beach at Hope Gap”

Noreen is a community worker, she has a wealth of experience leading walks in different parts of the South Downs National Park for a variety of youth, women and community groups. She volunteered as a Mosaic Community Champion with the South Downs National Park Authority many years ago, where she received support and training in facilitating group visits.

Noreen is also co-founder of a community organisation called Muslim Women Connect. She would often lead hikes in the South Downs for young muslim women living in urban areas. She has long enjoyed the space and solitude the South Downs offer – as well as sharing her love of the outdoors with women who face barriers in accessing these spaces. She enjoys walking with friends, as hiking gives her the space to truly connect and to be present.

“The coastline also reminds us in a very visceral way how important it is to care for what is left of it, in this radically changing climate”

Alinah Azadeh is a writer, artist, cultural activist and inaugural Writer-in-Residence at Seven Sisters Country Park and the Sussex Heritage Coast until October 2023.

She is also creative lead on We See You Now (2019-22) a landscape and literature project & programme dedicated to evoking trans-global perspectives on the heritage and connections of this iconic coastal area, through new stories and poetry by Alinah and a cohort of writers, poets and performers of colour.

“I was born in Kashmir, which is a mountainous area. (It’s filled with) nature; trees, mountains, lakes, rivers, flowers… everything was natural, I mean, everything in a sense was organic. So I've always loved landscape. I’ve always loved (inhabiting) a space where you can just be yourself”

A writer and mum, Parveen was born in Kashmir and has always felt an affinity to landscape. She’s returned to the South Downs often and has recently been reflecting about how landscapes have always been part of her. She feels gratitude and reflects on the little bits of the Downs that remind her of Kashmir.

“It’s beautiful and relaxing. When you need to find yourself, this is the place to come…”

“I didn’t know my Freedom Pass could take me so far….”

Asghar is a pensioner and life-long adventurer and explorer of places. He grew on a farm in Punjab, where his father and brothers all worked the land. He has long felt a connection to the outdoors, and seeks to spend most of his time under open skies when can.

He discovered the South Downs National Park when he spontaneously took a bus to Devils Dyke from Brighton one afternoon. He has since gone back many times and has further explored other parts of the South Downs including Birling Gap, Ditchling Beacon, Arundel and Beachy Head. He is unable to walk long distances due to arthritis in the knees but still enjoys the fresh air and beautiful countryside views where he can.

“My chattri piece, the soundscape, I’m calling it chalayn ge, it’s really an opportunity to bring some kind of healing and restoration to all those stories…”

Razia is a creative practitioner, writer, composer and singer based in Lewes. She has a longstanding and deep relationship with the landscapes that make up South Downs National Park.

Last year she was involved in the creation of The Witness Stand as part of the Brighton Festival. The Witness Stand is an immersive soundscape and live performance. As part of the project she sang at the Chattri War memorial in the South Downs National Park, a memorial dedicated to Hindu soldiers that died during the First World War. She often hikes in the South Downs with her partner and her son, and has done so for many years.

“but they'll come back, (it might take a) little time, but they'll come back and they'll give back to the community in the same way…”

Smith is an engineer, swimmer, runner, walk leader and founder the Black Tri Tribe, hosting Black Tri Tribe Triathlons in London and Brighton for people of colour.

Smith’s connection to the downs runs very deep. She moved to Moulsecoomb in 2014, opposite Wild Park which is in the South Downs National Park. Shortly after, she moved to Coldean village, which backed onto Hollingbury. From here she could get onto Ditchling Beacon very quickly - and onto the South Downs Way trail.

"Those hills have been a permanent fixture in my life in one way or another ever since. The landscape is peppered with memories, of good things and bad…”

Finn is a Brighton-based photographer, who owns a little gallery by the seafront “Brighton Photography Gallery”. Finn's work has been exhibited around the city since 2011, and has been featured in magazines, advertising and websites around the world. In 2014 he opened the Brighton Photography Gallery and between 2015 and 2019 he took on the job of curating the world famous Brighton & Hove calendar. His first book ’Fieldwork’ was published in late 2022.

Samin is a French-Iranian fashion photographer and writer. She moved to Brighton after spending a decade in London, seeking a peaceful new life by the sea.

Growing up in Paris, Samin has always loved exploring, and travelling. In London, she became increasingly interested in community gardens and learning about different plants. She loves nature, living closeby to the open countryside and the green hills of the South Downs National Park. On a recent trip to Hope Gap, she enjoyed the quietude and seeking out wildlife.

Tim worked as a photographer for more than forty years. He lives in Seaford and enjoys going on daily walks across the nearby green hills with his dog.

Jayshree is a mum, and postwoman. She walks and leads walks in Purfleet in Essex in her free time sharing the places and people that make her area so unique. Walking by the estuary of the river Thames connects her to the Ganges in her birth country India.

On her first trip to the South Downs – Jay appreciated seeing the Chattri; a war memorial located in the South Downs National Park just outside Patcham. The memorial is dedicated to Hindu soldiers who lost thier lives during the First World War.

Robbie is a radio documentary producer, writer and traveller. He loves exploring the South Downs Way by bike and on foot. A South Londoner originally from Peckham, Robbie often returns to the Downs appreciating its big skies and expansive chalk hills.

He’s lived in Brighton for a time - during a visit last year, he cycled through the Downs at night to see the iconic bonfire in Lewes with friends.

Richard originally from Penge in South London, moved up to Seaford after he retired. He loves walking up the hills and sitting on his favourite bench overlooking the Downs near Cuckmere Haven. He appreciates the quiet and the fresh air that surrounds.

Equally, he loves conversing with passersby and making local connections.