News archive

april 2023

£10,000 gifted to Holton Pits fund by reptile relocator

A Reptile relocation scheme, being planned on neighbouring land, has donated £10,000 to Save Holton Pits. This is a generous contribution towards the £200,00 needed by the community. The affordable housing development company, Hastoe Homes, together with their contractor Rose Builders, have donated the funds to Holton Pits along with further funds for the field to the north. The payment to the field is part of a lizard and slow worm translocation requirement from their affordable housing scheme in Martlesham, with the field being a receptor site. As it happens, the location chosen is adjacent to the Pits, and it is hoped that once settled, the lizards and slow worms will cross the boundary to the Pits.

Ulrike Maccariello, Development Director at Hastoe Homes, said, “Our own work is designed to support local communities, with wildlife and sustainability being key components of our Hastoe New Build Standard, and so we are especially delighted to be supporting the project at Holton Pits, which aligns with many of our own values.”

24th april 2023

Listen to David Green, the organiser behind this evening’s Variety Show, talking to BBC Radio Suffolk‘s Jon Wright this morning!

Listen here:

The Variety Show

We did not realise when we set the date, how appropriate it would be. Not only was it the last major fundraiser for the Pits before we submitted our bid TODAY (Monday 24 April), but the show became the ultimate show of local support for Holton Pits community ownership. There was standing room only – “keep the change” people kept saying, “it’s going to a good cause“.

The evening will go down in the annals of Holton history! WIth all chairs used, it soon became clear that Colin had to find extra chairs from the dungeons of sheds, cleaning off years of dust. Jamie arrived with a van load of cakes, tea and coffee. The Raffle which contained a delicious cheese and wine basket, a men’s watch and a night in the woodland cabin, raised £200, and we ran out of tickets!

A star of the show was the MC, the jovial Bill Mahood, together with the stage curtain, which closed or opened at unexpected times. He introduced the local talent, starting with:

Halesworth Handbell Ringers played delicate tunes with their American handbells, held by black gloved-hands.

Jason Busby was at the organ throughout the show, playing solo, linking acts and providing contributions to poem and comedy performances.

The newly named OffCut Choir gave its inaugural performance of this “out of Cut” incarnation – and boy did they sing well!

Edith Summerhayes read the atmospheric poem, Shingle Street, by Blake Morrison, a spell-binding image of a Suffolk hamlet with a dark past.

“From Shingle Street/ To Orford Ness/ The waves maraud,/ The winds oppress,/ The earth can’t help/ But acquiesce/ For this is east/ And east means loss,/ A lessening shore, receding ground, /Three feet gone last year, four feet this/ Where land runs out and nothing’s sound./ Nothing lasts long on Shingle Street”

Chris Turner and the Halesworth Strummers played us out of both sets, with great harmonised tunes. 

Beth Keys-Holloway and Bryn Eden (guitarist)  gave an energy-filled performance of a Nina Simon song.

Clare Durrant and Jane Parker played a very moving violin and harp duet – the two musicians had evidently met at the Pits and had began practicing together.

Pete Sewell and Vicky Lambert, guitar, flute and whistle, were a delight to listen to with their Irish and Scottish foot-tapping tunes.

Gini Williams performed a hilarious and ironic monologue of an ‘antique dealer’; who was proudly savvy to the tricks of the trade, but ultimately gullible in taking £100 for a picture which turned out to be worth  millions.

What other community could produce a programme of such variety and virtuosity. Ultimately the evening was a great success, raising over £1,000 for the cause. Pity about the raffle tickets running out!

18th april 2023

Click below to listen to BBC Radio at Holton Pits yesterday morning talking to locals and bumping into our very own Marion, one of our Directors. Presenter Luke Deal also interviewed Rachel about our final fundraising push in advance of the looming deadline.

Click to listen

Rebecca to Holton Primary School

Rebecca and Rachel visited Holton Primary School to talk to the children about the Pits: its history, archaeology, and its importance as an open space.

Rebecca had prepared a thorough Powerpoint presentation and Rachel bought along some of the finds from the field: finds of metal objects which people walking through the land had lost between 1300 AD and World War 2.

10th april 2023

Blyth Otter Group support letter received

7th april 2023

With the campaign to ‘Save Holton Pits’ in full swing, Geoff Wakeling (Suffolk District Council) has been busy exploring the site and has made a short film to support the campaign and show just how important it is to wildlife and the people who use it every day.

Many thanks, Geoff – marvellous stuff!

Click the image below to watch Geoff's video:

6th april 2023

• Link to article: https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23440689.holton-pits-bid-buy-fishing-lake-dog-walking-spot/

Our Member of Parliament, Dr Therese Coffey, has written to us confirming her support for our campaign and is urging Michael Gove to support our application to the government’s Community Ownership Fund.

We’ve just heard that Hammonds of Halesworth have donated £10,000 to our appeal! This is an amazing gift and greatly boosts our fundraising effort. Thank you Hammonds.

24th March 2023

Suffolk Wildlife Trust letter of support. Read here:

click to read

24th march 2023

From an Instagram post by ‘The Suffolk Project‘:

“The Suffolk Project is a new photographic study of the East Anglian county, with a particular interest in the rural landscape, agriculture and conservation. I’m just getting started but, inspired by the work of Suffolk writers such as Adrian Bell, George Ewart Evans and Ronald Blythe, my ultimate aim is to create an archive of authentic Suffolk imagery and stories, and seek out and record the unique character of the county and its people and industries.“

• Link to the post and images: https://www.instagram.com/p/CqKZsumIR6i/

MArch 2023

fundraising update:

Thank you to all who have so generously contributed so far.

Here’s the breakdown : –

CEMEX have indicated we need to bid £180,000 for the site.
We need £20,000 to cover our costs. So our target is £200,000 in total.

We have a potential backer for £100,000

We have raised £30,000 through your generous donations
We have corporate pledges for a further £30,000
Total potential: £60,000

Therefore we are looking to secure £20,000 to reach the bid of £180,000
On top of that we need another £20,000 to cover our costs.

March 2023

Marion on her bike!

Marion Gaze is going for a bike ride to raise money for Holton Pits. Here’s a link to her ‘Just Giving‘ page:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/saveholtonpits

21st march 2023

GEN-X Radio

Rebecca’s radio interview

She’s done it again – spreading the news on local radio!

Listen below to Rebecca being interviewed by GenX Radio’s James Hazell on Tuesday (21 March 2023). Rebecca Horton talking to GenX Radio’s James Hazell about the community’s campaign to save Holton Pits

Listen here

march 2023

Leaflets go out to raise more awareness:

March 2023

Further press coverage…

East Anglia Daily Times

Read the EADT article here

march 2023

Lackford lakes visit

Two of Holton Pits CIC’s directors, Kevin and Caron, visited Lackford Lakes near Bury St. Edmunds recently to collect some ideas. A former gravel workings, Lackford Lakes was ‘gifted’ to Suffolk Wildlife Trust by Cemex. It is both an ‘open’ and ‘closed’ site with prescribed walking paths, but with nature prioritised over human intervention and dog walking.

16th march 2023

bbc Radio suffolk

LISTEN BELOW! …and hear Rebecca Horton speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk’s Guy Campbell about Holton Pits and the ‘Go Fund Me‘ page she has organised in support of our wider fundraising efforts – top stuff!!

Listen here

26th February 2023

Over 80 came to our general community meeting in Holton, on a cold Sunday night (26 February) to hear our update: that, now constituted, we can start to raise funds – but can we make £60k by mid-April?

A highlight of the evening was a display of finds from metal detectorist, Nick Welsh – evidence of who has walked through this land over time.

22nd february 2023

ITV Anglia News

The Suffolk villagers facing a race against time to stop the sale of their local beauty spot

See in full here:

19th february 2023

East Anglian Daily Times Article

Suffolk: Plea for £60,000 to save Holton Pits for public

Read in full here:

january 2023

Rich history found by detectorists:

Thanks to Cheryl and the detectorists, here is a catalogue of what people found on a single day’s dig across the land directly north of Holton Pits. So much evidence of Roman through to Tudor finds. Unsurprisingly, a few World War 2 dog-tags were found: identified immediately, and where possible returned to their American family. There were plenty of hammered and buttons but the most stunning was the gold coin.

JANUARY 2023

The Government’s “blueprint” Environmental Improvement Plan, released in January 2023, includes:

“Creating and restoring at least 2,000 square miles of new wildlife habitats. Ensuring everyone in England lives within a 15-minute walk of woodlands, wetlands, parks and rivers”

It covers how the government will:

“Create and restore at least 500,000 hectares of new wildlife habitats, starting with 70 new wildlife projects including 25 new or expanded National Nature Reserves and 19 further Nature Recovery Projects.“

. . . all of which fits Holton Pits ‘like a glove’!!

Environment Secretary, Thérèse Coffey, said:

“Our Environmental Improvement Plan sets out how we will continue to improve our environment here in the UK and around the world. Nature is vital for our survival, crucial to our food security, clean air, and clean water as well as health and well-being benefits.    “We have already started the journey and we have seen improvements. We are transforming financial support for farmers and landowners to prioritise improving the environment, we are stepping up on tree planting, we have cleaner air, we have put a spotlight on water quality and rivers and are forcing industry to clean up its act.    “Whether you live in a city or town, in the countryside or on the coast, join us in our national endeavour to improve the environment.”

September 2022

First gathering at the pits

4 September 2022 – Gaina and Rachel invited anyone who could to meet us at the Pits to clarify what was being sold, and to discuss what could or should be done. We agreed to investigate nominating the site as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), to research the process involved, and return to members for their confirmation.

Meeting Public – ACV

We were over a 100 members by this stage, many coming to the village hall to offer their support. The pros and cons of becoming an Asset of Community Value (ACV), and what protection it offered, were presented. A vote was taken, with no one voting against. Thereby a nomination for ACV status was submitted on 14 September 2022.
A vote was also taken about whether we should put a vote in ourselves. While most in favour, and non against, there was a handful of reservations and abstentions.