Local Festival Celebrates the Famous Chalk of the Chiltern Hills

Chiltern Chalk Festival map 2024

From January to April 2024 the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs (CCC) scheme is celebrating the special chalk bedrock of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural beauty (AONB) with a festival of events: Chilterns Chalk. There are all kinds of things planned, from wildlife talks to practical habitat management, river-dipping to geology walks, all ending with a big celebration of everything chalky at the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Heritage Railway.

Chilterns Chalk kicks off on Thursday 25 January 2024 in Princes Risborough, where the CCC Landscape Connections project team will share their experiences of working with a passionate group of farmers to restore chalk grassland in the Central Chilterns. All served with some delicious local nibbles! Visit the CCC website at www.chilternsaonb.org/chalkcherrieschairs for event details and booking.

The characteristic chalk and flint of the Chilterns formed around 100 million years ago under a warm, tropical sea as the remains of millions of microscopic algae fell to the seabed. The same movements of the Earth’s crust that formed the Alps caused this thick bed of chalk to buckle and emerge from the retreating sea, exposing it to the elements and eventually creating the landscape we see today – one rich in wildlife and history.

For many millennia, people have used and celebrated the chalk here. From Stone Age flint tools to modern cement, grassy slopes to clear streams, the chalk bedrock has provided the means for shelter, food, agriculture, industry, and art. Chilterns Chalk celebrates this connection to our landscape, both ancient and modern.

Why not pop along to an event near you and find out more about this special rock? Here’s a taster of what else is coming up:

  • A wild walk on the chalk! 9 February 2024
    A guided walk around a special chalk grassland site that is being restored at Butlers Cross, with chance for a light lunch afterwards.
  • Lend a hand to chalk grassland! 24 February 2024
    A chance to get practical and help the chalk grassland restoration at Whiteleaf Cross with The Chiltern Society.
  • Guided walk around College Lake 24 March 2024
    A guided walk around College Lake, Tring, to explore the wildlife and geology of this former chalk quarry now managed as a nature reserve by BBOWT.
  • Get dipping! 3 April 2024
    A chance for the whole family to look for minibeasts in the clear chalk waters of the River Misbourne at Old Amersham – wellies are a must!
  • Chalk day at the Railway! 11 April 2024
    Stalls, activities and talks at Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway. Take a leisurely train ride and find out more about the heritage and geology of the Chilterns.

Keep an eye on the CCC website www.chilternsaonb.org/chalkcherrieschairs for more details.