TRAIL BLAZING
Created by local people as part of a district wide initiative, funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Horsham District Council, with help from Community Partnerships Forum and Horsham Museum, 20 new heritage trails have been created to explore places we all think we know.
Horsham Herittage Trails
Horsham Herittage Trails
Horsham Herittage Trails
Horsham Herittage Trails
Discover hidden a ects asp t of lat l te Victorian and Edwar a dian Horrsham arround d the e Park
An Iron n trail thr hrough h K Knepp
Shelle h y Bi cle Bicy le Trail il
Wimble ehurst Trail il
Exp ploring Horsham Distriict’s Heritage
A
Exp ploring Horsham Distriict’s Heritage
scorching red hot furnace blazes out on one of the twenty new trails that has forged together the passion of local community for their heritage, the initiative of the Horsham District Community Partnerships Forum and funding from the Heritage lottery fund. Together with the support of Horsham District Council, some 40 volunteers and Treetop Design a stunning, engaging and informative range of trails have been created to entice residents and visitors alike to explore Horsham districts amazing heritage. With stories ranging from a memorial to a submarine crew, to medieval iron working, to gardeners to making salt, these 20 trails (four examples above) reveal just how rich, but also hidden the past is. The project, initiated by the Horsham District Community Partnerships Forum back in 2018, was intended as a way of using heritage to promote tourism, to help the local economy. Now thanks to Covid its importance has been transformed as
46
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021
Exp ploring Horsham Distriict’s Heritage
Exp ploring Horsham Distriict’s Heritage
people search out local walks that connect them to their place and so contribute to a sense of wellbeing, as the Heritage Lottery Fund were keen to promote. Though the trails were the final outcome, what was as important was the training of volunteers in writing and producing trails. So a guide for groups to create their own has also been written, pointing out, as the trails do, interesting features and the path to follow to create an engaging well thought out route to the destination. Drawing inspiration from the Millennium Heritage trail, some 32 plaques scattered across the district the Heritage lottery funded project enabled community groups to explore further their local heritage and explain to others why they should seek it out. It captures people’s passions for their area, stories that grabbed their imagination, be it a gate post from a long lost garden on the outskirts of Horsham to a Burmese door in Storrington. Most of the trails are designed for walking, though two that
HORSHAM PAGES South To advertise call 01403 588618 or visit www.horshampublications.com
