James Adler was the former Chief Executive of Ashdown Forest. James died suddenly in May 2023 at the age of 42. In the relatively short time that he was in role, James was instrumental in developing the vision for Ashdown Forest’s future, focusing on the protection and enhancement of its unique landscape.

James was passionate about the Forest and had been working on a strategy to safeguard Ashdown Forest and its biodiversity for future generations. He was also deeply involved in establishing and growing the Weald to Waves project, a nature recovery corridor across Sussex that is vital to forging connections for our fragmented wildlife and boosting biodiversity alongside food production and thriving communities.

In memory of James, a small group of his family, friends and colleagues will walk 111 km along the Weald to Waves corridor, starting at Climping beach on the south coast on Thursday 25th April and ending with a memorial gathering on Ashdown Forest in the High Weald on Sunday 28th April.

The walk will shine a light on the Weald to Waves project and will also raise funds for The Ashdown Forest Foundation (registered charity no. 1183829) to support projects on the Forest that were particularly close to James' heart.

All who wish to remember and celebrate James’ life are warmly invited to join the last leg of the walk from Millbrook East car park on the A22 for the last 2.25 km of the walk. The group will set off at 1pm on Sunday 28th April, in time for a celebration gathering at Friends clump on Ashdown Forest at 2pm. James' favourite yellow and blue bobble hat will be leading the way on the walk – please join the walking team in wearing your favourite bobble hat too!

Parking for the final part of the walk is available at Millbrook East and West car parks on the A22 (TN22 3HW), with additional parking at the nearby Vachery car park a little further north up the A22. If there is no parking available, please proceed to the parking areas for the celebration gathering at Friends Clump.

Parking for the celebration gathering at Friends Clump is available at Friends car park on the Crowborough Road (TN22 3HU). Other car parks close by include Box, Hollies and Ellisons Pond. Please leave enough time to walk from these car parks to Friends.

Parking charges will NOT apply in the car parks listed here for the duration of the last 2km walk, celebration gathering, and the return walk to the car parks.

Stay in touch with updates at www.facebook.com/JamesWalkApril2024 and via the Ashdown Forest website at www.ashdownforest.org/news/ or email hello@ashdownforestfdn.org. For more about the Weald to Waves project, please visit www.wealdtowaves.co.uk.