Brookside

The year, project officer Alice was invited back to St Nicholas CE Primary School in Church for their annual science week. Through the Brookside Restoration Initiative, Alice has attended Science Week for the last two years, explaining more about her work at Prospects  and delivering practical lessons for all year groups.

This year, year 5 focused on creating anti littering posters for use at Brookside and other prospects sites. Keep your eyes peeled while out and about in Hyndburn, as will be having a number of these brilliant posters printed as real life signs.

Other year groups enjoyed building wildflower gardens on the school grounds, constructing bird feeders,  and having their say about what they would like to see at Brookside. In addition, Brookside volunteers have donated much of the hazel that has been coppiced from site, for use in the St Nicholas forest school.

Last Wednesday, Brookside project officer Alice hosted a double bill of half term nature themes crafts. Across the two sessions at Oswaldtwistle Library and Stanhill Social Club, an impressive 37 young environmentalists made fantastic moving minibeasts to take home. Well done everyone!

On Saturday the 7th of February, Andy Barnes from the Stanhill Village Community Association joined Brookside Restoration Officer Alice in hosting a guided walk around the Stanhill Heritage Trail. The event proved popular despite the drizzle, with many new faces among the 10 attendees. The trail starts at the Hargreaves Memorial Garden, and loops around through Moss Lane and Brookside before heading back up the footpath by Kemp Delph.

For more information on the trail, visit the SVCA website: https://www.stanhillvillage.co.uk/heritagetrail/

Thank you Andy and the SVCA for your expertise about the incredible history of our local area!

In response to lots of requests for weekend opportunities, Prospects has launched a new volunteer session on the first Sunday of the month at Brookside.

Yesterday, Alice was delighted to see seven keen volunteers braving the cold to create brash piles around coppiced hazel stumps. These brash piles will protect the new hazel shoots from being nibbled by deer, whilst also providing habitat for many different species.

The next session will be on the 1st of February at 10am!

Last week, Alice and the Brookside volunteers were delighted to host a natural wrath-making fundraiser in collaboration with the Stanhill Social Club.

Thank you to all who donated - we raised a whopping £140!

This Wednesday, the Stanhill Village Community Association and the Brookside volunteers teamed up to install a secure bike container on site. This will support the work of the volunteers and provide a dry storage space for on-site events! Thank you to all who helped out.

Last Friday a fantastic 50 people came to our Bat Walk at Brookside, and we raised a whopping £73 for the project! Thank you all who attended, and to Roger 'Batman' Cunliffe for his expertise on the night.

This week the Thursday gang enjoyed a scything master class lead by expert Steve Tomlin. Scything is an ancient art that is still used today as a zero-carbon way to cut sensitive wildflower meadow areas. Under Steve's watchful eye, the gang learned how to set up their sycthe, sharpen the blade, and get cracking on the wildflower meadow. By cutting back the rough grasses, we encourage native wildflowers to grow!

On Monday this week, we hosted a Hapa Zome printing session at the Stanhill Methodist Church. This ancient Japanese art involves hammering flowers and leaves into woven fabric to create beautiful natural designs. Our session used materials gathered from around Hyndburn, and the results were wonderful!

On Tuesday this week, PROSPECTS hosted the first of their summer buttfly surveys, as part of the UK-wide Big Butterfly Count. Dispite the cloudy conditions, our intrepid citizen scientists were treated to a fabulous variety of finds, including green-veined whites, a peacock, red admirals, and speckled wood. Our data will be submitted to the Big Butterfly Count, so keep an eye out for the national results later in the year.

You can find out more about butterfly monitoring at: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/