Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve

Groundwork South works in partnership with Hastings Borough Council to manage Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve and the Bale House Visitor Centre. The Nature Reserve covers 345 hectares of maritime cliff, ancient gill woodland, cliff top grassland, heathland, old sandstone quarries and farmland and is a popular destination for locals and visitors to the area.

The Bale House Visitor Centre is the first public straw building in the South East. The walls are constructed from 500 bales of stray and sustainable recycled materials. We have a café here and a small retail outlet as well as information about the wonderful wildlife and history of the area.

We have been instrumental in taking the Country Park forwards, from creating the interpretation and signage throughout the park, working closely with the Friends group to access funding to support our projects and have made a big difference to local people in providing access to greenspace activities.

Groundwork South have an active group of conservation volunteers who meet weekly to help manage the important habitats in the reserve and we have delivered numerous projects which have been based at the Bale House, working with local disadvantaged communities to provide activities such as lino printing, nature walks and talks, moth nights, bat walks and other creative and educational sessions for people who wouldn’t access the park usually.

We work with schools and local groups, and as well as the funded projects, we have Create @ the Bale which is a creative session for children at the weekends and will be having more events and activities over the coming year.