THE South Downs were in danger of being developed until a century ago when far-seeing folk took steps to preserve them.

Councils such as Brighton and Eastbourne bought large tracts and the Society of Sussex Downsmen (now the Friends of the South Downs) was formed.

These hills are now one of the newest national parks and if plans for another Peacehaven were produced today there would be a national outcry.

From the scarp on a clear day you can see the North Downs, loved by locals with an almost equal intensity.

Inbetween them lies the Weald and it would be easy to diminish its charm in comparison with those majestic hills.

But the Weald in its quiet way is equally outstanding. It contains some of the great gardens of England such as Nymans and Wakehurst.

It has woods and forests of rare beauty and there are many individual trees which are among the finest of their species.

Yet this land is threatened with development which would ruin its many charms.

Crawley, a new town built after the Second World War, is creeping southward having already touched Horsham. Burgess Hill and Hayward’s Heath are forming a sizeable slice of suburbia.

There are plans for another new town on land near Albourne which have been cleverly designed to appear innocuous but which would be a disaster if built.

Because so much of the land in Sussex is protected, pressure to build is heavy on those parts of the Weald which are not.

Countryside campaigner Dave Bangs has previously written a book on the Downs near Brighton. Now he has turned his attention to the Weald.

His latest book, The Land of the Brighton Line, is a labour of love which took him nearly a decade to complete.

He has concentrated on a fairly small slab of the Weald between the Adur and the Ouse.

It avoids the coastal towns and the South Downs while stopping short of the North Downs.

Bangs examines this area with great enthusiasm and in detail. Aided by a host of maps, photographs and diagrams, he looks at stream, glades and ponds many people do not even know exist.

He has produced a field study and history of the land which is remarkably meticulous.

Bangs mentions the Brighton to London railway line which crosses the chosen strip of land.

There is also the Bluebell Railway, first of the preserved lines to be reopened, and the Downslink, an old railway transformed into a bridleway.

The floods last month showed how even some quiet streams can burst their banks during heavy rain. But droughts are also a problem..

Much land is taken up with large reservoirs like Weir Wood and Bangs demonises with feeling what was lost when Ardingly reservoir was built.

There are also many ponds, some of them quite large, dotted around the Weald.

The Weald is under the shadow of Gatwick, one of Britain’s biggest airports, which may eventually gain a second runway at great cost to the landscape.,

There is the M23 which brings noise and pollution to parts of North Sussex and the A23 which is now a busy dual carriageway.

Traffic chokes many other roads which have not been widened such as the A 272.

Bangs cares for the Weald with a passionate intensity which shines through every page.

He believes much damage has already been done and blames capitalism for it.

Development tends to flow south from mega rich London in uneven but deadly waves. Already many secluded spots have been ruined.

Nearly all the elms died half a century ago from Dutch elm disease while ash trees are now being affected by dieback.

Solar panels installed in many fields are ugly and wind turbines can be seen for many miles.

Traditional farms are declining. Some now concentrate on intensive growing of alien plants while others forfeit land for leisure parks, playgrounds and golf courses.

New homes and newly paved garden drives tend to increase run off into streams and rivers such as the Adur and the Ouse which now flood more frequently than in the past.

There have been occasional victories for conservationists such as the attempt to establish fracking near Balcombe but defeated developers often return.

Bangs believes that a combined concerted effort by all those concerned with the Weald’s future is the best way of preventing its destruction.

But he says campaigners should beware of accepting favours from landowners and business leaders who may not normally be on their side.

This Weald campaign would be rather like those moves made by lovers of the South Downs in the 1920s to reduce development and no less important.

The book can be ordered through local bookshops at a discounted price of £15 or directly from the author @ @landofthebrightonline.co.uk>