Sign up to our Newsletter

Prospects

Hyndburn's Community-Owned Environmental Charity

Hyndburns Woodlands

Tuesday 8th April 2025 – Woodnook Vale LNR

Posted on Posted in Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

On Tuesday 8th April 2025 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands were at Woodnook Vale LNR carrying out a litter pick and fly-tipping removal session!

In total, we removed 33 large bin bags of rubbish from the site, a record for the project! We also collected a large amount of fly-tipping in the form of a pram, chair, various bits of wood, and much more!

Thank you to everyone who attended our session and helped us keep Hyndburn’s Woodlands clean, your effort is very much appreciated!

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 3rd April – Whinney Hill

Posted on Posted in Biodiversity, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News, Whinney Hill

On Thursday 3rd April 2025 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers took part in the ‘Great British Spring Clean’ event, a nationwide event which promotes cleaning up Great Britain!

We had a very successful day at Whinney Hill, collecting around 15 bags of rubbish, a rubble-sack filled with miscellaneous bottles, and a van bumper!

This session, we joined by staff from CurrentCare Limited, a local business in Accrington!

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who give their time to help us keep Hyndburn’s Woodlands clean!

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible!

 

 

Tuesday 1st April 2025 – Jubilee Meadow

Posted on Posted in Biodiversity, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

The Hyndburn’s Woodlands were back at Jubilee Meadow on Tuesday 1st April! We were continuing with the meadow maintenance that has been ongoing for 3 years.

In previous years, we have hand scythed the meadow. This time round, we hired a contractor who used a tractor to give the meadow a really good mow! This will hopefully take the grass down to a level that helps promote wildflower seed growth!

We have sown seeds in previous years, last year we put down a lot of Yellow-Rattle seeds. This year, we have gone for a ‘Bee and Butterfly mix’ that will hopefully take and produce a sea of colour for passer-by’s and nature to enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who came along and helped enhance biodiversity in Hyndburn!

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible!

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 15th March – Woodnook Vale LNR

Posted on Posted in Biodiversity, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

On Saturday 15th March 2025 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Project teamed up with the Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves Project to deliver a ‘dawn chorus’ bird walk at Woodnook Vale LNR, with the session being led by Dave Bickerton of the Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Society!

The walk started at 7:00 (much later than a proper dawn chorus walk would normally be held) and took participants through Hollins Woods, Jubilee Woodland, and Woodnook Vale LNR.

Throughout the walk, Dave shared his bountiful knowledge with the group, identifying birds by sight and by call, teaching participants about each species habits, and, sometimes, giving us perfect imitations of their calls (when they wouldn’t play ball!)

The walk was immensely successful, with 35 species being recorded throughout! Some notable finds include Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Chiff Chaff, Nuthatch, and Greenfinch.

Thank you to everybody who attended our walk and made it such a wonderful event! Thank you also to Dave Bickerton for sharing his wonderful knowledge with us!

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 11th March 2025 – Woodnook Vale

Posted on Posted in Biodiversity, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

On Tuesday 11th March 2025 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were back at Woodnook Vale LNR carrying out some Invasive Non-Native Species management.

This time, it took the form of Small-leaved Cotoneaster removal. The coverage of this shrub was quite extensive as it had been allowed to grow for many a year.

The main issue with this plant is its density and coverage, which tends to prevent any foliage growing underneath it, reducing the overall species diversity and reducing the prevalence of native species. Some bird species also eat the berries, which retain through Winter and so offer an appealing snack, this is turn helps the plant spread far and wide through seed dispersal.

Initially, all of the branches must be cleared away until just a small stump remains, which makes mechanical removal via digging the roots out much easier.

We are happy to say we have cleared two large shrubs, with one more on the radar.

Thank you to our amazing volunteers who help us keep Hyndburn’s Woodlands native

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall fund for making it all possible

#

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 25th February 2025 – Bat Box Making

Posted on Posted in Biodiversity, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

On Tuesday 25th February 2025 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands volunteers had a change of pace from our usual activity session! Today, we created 9 bat boxes from scratch that will be installed around Whinney Hill woodland to create habitat space for bats!

We followed The Wildlife Trust methodology for our boxes, which is available to view HERE

Everyone had a great day making the boxes, it was very much an appreciated change being dry inside a building!

Thank you to our amazing volunteers who have helped us create habitats for UK wildlife!

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for supporting our work, and making it all possible

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 11th February 2025 – Whinney Hill

Posted on Posted in Biodiversity, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News, Whinney Hill

On Tuesday 11th February the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were back at Whinney Hill woodland carrying out some Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) removal. This took the form of removing 3 large Cherry Laurels from the site, along with a few much smaller Japanese Spotted Laurel (Variegated Laurel).

Volunteers first used loppers to clear away much of the foliage, leaving the main trunk exposed. Bow saws were then used to fell the remaining tree using a traditional ‘V notch’ technique.

We also carried out a litter pick in the opened up area as the density of the INNS had attracted quite a lot of litter.

The arisings from the INNS management were put to good use as a fence bordering the area of felling had fallen into disrepair and needed supporting back into place. The Woodland’s volunteers put their extensive dead-hedging experience to work and created stakes from suitably large limbs, which were driven next to the fence to sure it up, and others were driven a metre behind it. The remaining brash was then slotted between these stakes to create a dead-hedge.

This gives the fence structure, provided space for wildlife, and improves the aesthetic value of the area.

Thank you to our amazing volunteers who helped us maintain Hyndburn’s Woodlands and improve space for wildlife.

As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 28th January 2025 – Woodnook Vale LNR

Posted on Posted in Baxenden Local Panel, Hyndburn's Woodlands - Phase 2, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

On Tuesday 28th January The Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were at Woodnook Vale LNR for a different kind of session!

This week, we were joined by Imogen, from Imogen Storey Gardens, who kindly offered her expertise on live Willow structures! Imogen showed myself and volunteers how to correctly weave live Willow into a desired shape so that it grows into a frame.

The Willow structure in question has been on Woodnook Vale for many years but has fallen into disrepair. The aim of the project is to get the Willow Arch back into its ‘domed’ shape that will offer shelter for the two benches present. The arch is located along Woodnook Vale LNR, just below the entrance to Jubilee woodlands. W3W location is baker.removes.mended

Activity funded by Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund.

 

Climate Action & Me – A Community Workshop

Posted on Posted in Brookside, Community TreeACTION, Get Involved, Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, Hyndburns Woodlands, Memorial Park, Outdoor Learning

Concerned about climate change?

Join the PROSPECTS Foundation for a free, interactive workshop all about climate action. We will be busting common climate change myths, giving out top tips for having climate conversations, and discussing the very best ways that we can ALL take action.

Get your free tickets here: TICKETS

2024 Volunteer Christmas Celebration!

Posted on Posted in Brookside, Community TreeACTION, Hyndburn's Nature Reserves, Hyndburns Woodlands, Memorial Park, Outdoor Learning

Celebrating the festive season and our volunteers!

On Tuesday 17th December, PROSPECTS held a volunteer celebration at Accrington Cricket Club. Any volunteers who helped out in 2024 were welcome to attend.

We celebrated with sausage rolls, chocolate, and mince pies! (All with vegan options available)

Our Outdoor Learning Officer Sonja worked hard to construct a PROSPECTS quiz for everyone to take part in. Our Brookside Restoration Officer Alice was our quizmaster, she got everyone involved and working together to figure out the tricky questions such as locating where snowy photos of Hyndburn were taken and estimating volunteer sessions statistics like “how many trees were planted in 2024?” (it was 4487!)

Thank you again to all the hard work our volunteers put in to improve our local green spaces and promote sustainability across Hyndburn, you inspire us everyday.

Here’s to another year of environmental action!

Volunteers also got free brews at the bar.
Our Treasurer getting in the festive spirit!
Quiz!
Our Volunteers at the bar!
Digging into the buffet!

Hyndburn’s Woodlands NOW LIVE!

Posted on Posted in Hyndburns Woodlands, News

The PROSPECTS Foundation is pleased to announce that the ‘Hyndburn’s Woodlands’ website is now live!

The website can be found here: https://hyndburnwoodlands.org.uk/

The website aims to be a resource to map, assess and manage the woodland cover in Hyndburn, with information including; condition assessments, timber volume surveys and Ash Dieback monitoring.

The website will also host artwork, music, poetry, photographs, videos and much more! If you would like to contribute to the website please contact us at info@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or ring the office on 01254 230 348

Hyndburn's Woodland Website
Hyndburn’s Woodland Website

Winter Tree Identification Walk – Whinney Hill

Posted on Posted in Green Spaces 'Natural Connections', Hyndburns Woodlands, News, Whinney Hill

Winter Tree Identification Walk - Whinney Hill

On the 17th February the Green Team organised a winter tree ID walk with Prospects very own Woodland's Officer, Gareth Muir.

Attendees learnt how to identify tree species using different features such as twigs, buds, bark, growing habitat and surrounding habitat! This is quite a bit more tricky in winter due to the lack of leaves available. However, everyone got on well with the challenge and had a great time doing so! We would like to thank everyone who attended we hope you learnt a lot and are looking forward to the Spring ID walk on Friday 14th April!

This was also our first venture through Whinney Hill woodland since the improvement of the footpaths and steps have taken place, as funded by LCC and Lancashire Environment Fund. There it still some work left to go however, the site is now much more accessible!

We would also like to thank Green Recovery Challenge Fund and National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting the work we do!

 

 

Spoon Carving, Huncoat East Woodland, Wednesday 15th February 2023

Posted on Posted in Huncoat East Woodland, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

Participants took part in a spoon carving workshop at Huncoat East Woodlands.

Sycamore was the wood of the day with participants using a variety of tools including’ froes, sloyds and crook knives to carve spoons.

Many of the participants were total beginners and did well to make a useable spoon.

PROSPECTS delivers a variety of greenwood working and whittling workshops, keep in touch by subscribing to our newsletter, following us on social media and checking our website events page!

Made possible by generous funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Half Term Crafting Club Monday 13th February 2023, The Woodnook Centre, Accrington.

Posted on Posted in Hyndburns Woodlands, News

February Half term saw the Crafting Club at the Woodnook Centre.

Participants took part in natural craft activities including whittling!

A skulk of foxes, mushrooms and movable rabbits were the order of the day, using locally sourced hazel wood from Hyndburn’s Woodlands.

All made possible as part of Habitats and Heritage – Hyndburn’s Woodlands project, generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

More crafting club session are being planned for the future. Please subscribe to our newsletter, visit our events page and check our social media for more information!

Habitats & Heritage – Hyndburn’s Woodlands Update

Posted on Posted in Hyndburns Woodlands, News

The Hyndburn Woodlands project continues into 2023 at the peak of the woodland management season; Winter.

Preventative felling of Ash trees affected by Ash Dieback has taken place on several of the 8 Lancashire County Council site.

Whinney Hill saw several Ash felled to ensure they were not a danger to the public along the pathways on site. Dogwood has also been cooked back from the pathways to improve access on site. 16 bags of litter were collected from site over the course of a day in November.

Coppicing a traditional form of Woodland management has been taking place on Martholme Greenway and Huncoat East & West. Cut hazel has been used in a variety of PROSPECTS workshops and projects including; spoon carving, An Introduction to Green Woodworking, making wooden Reindeer and whittling.

Rushton House Farm has had some Holly thinned from the site in the southern part of the site to allow other natural regeneration of broadleaf native species.

Abbott Clough has had a significant amount of self seeded Hawthorn thinned to enable other species to germinate with the resultant brash being used to close gaps on the roadside hedgerow.

Warcocks Green has had several litter picks and work has been undertaken to mediate the damage caused on site by the use of mountain/scrambler bikes and ATV (Quads).

Woodland Volunteer sessions continue to be delivered every Thursday across all 8 sites, check the Events Calendar HERE

To get involved contact Project Officer Gareth Muir – gareth.muir@prospectsfoundation.org.uk

Thanks go out to The Heritage Lottery Fund for making this project possible!

Introduction to Green Woodwork October half term 2022

Posted on Posted in Huncoat East Woodland, Hyndburns Woodlands, News

PROSPECTS delivered an Introduction to Green Woodworking at Huncoat East woodland.

The course involved learning about green woodworking tools, using these tools to make a mallet and spatulas from Norwegian Maple and Hazel wood which was felled as part of PROSPECTS woodland management work programme.

Woody CIC Volunteer Mark was on hand to demonstrate pole lathing with participants having a go!

Thanks to The Heritage Lottery Fund for making this workshop possible through their generous funding of the Habitats & Heritage – Hyndburn’s Woodlands project.

Below is some feedback from the participants:

This has been a fantastic opportunity to learn about Green woodworking. It was so much fun. The staff were so welcoming and helpful. I would definately attend another woodworking event.

be good to see further projects added like small stools, maybe spoons and shrink pots ?

Love to do more construction projects using green woodworking techniques.

Ash Dieback Works this Winter

Posted on Posted in Hyndburns Woodlands, News

PROSPECTS and our friends at Woody Hyndburn CIC will be undertaking Ash tree felling works over the winter months.

Ash Dieback is a particular problem in the borough, many trees are affected and can become dangerous as the disease progresses and the trees become weaker.

As part of PROSPECTS management strategy across the Hyndburn’s Woodlands sites staff and Volunteers will be felling affected trees to ensure the safety of those who enjoy the woods. As always the top priority of Lancashire County Council is the safety of the public with preventative felling appearing to be the most effective means of addressing the issue.

Ash Dieback surveys have been undertaken to identify and mark the trees which will be felled. The resultant timber and brash will be processed on site to increase the percentage of dead wood on site, providing habitat for invertebrates, fungi and everything else! The Survey maps can be found on the individual woodland sites.

As part of PROSPECTS on going environmental education efforts, John Haddon from Lancashire Wildlife Trust delivered a day of training for PROSPECTS staff and volunteers outlining the Trust’s strategy for dealing with the issue.

Natural regeneration of native tree species will take priority over planting, with Ash being effective at self seeding with Ash Dieback resistant individuals hopefully regenerating those woodlands which will be affected.

More information about Ash Dieback can be found on the following websites:

    Woodland Trust:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/tree-pests-and-diseases/key-tree-pests-and-diseases/ash-dieback/

    Lancashire County Council

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/council/strategies-policies-plans/environmental/ash-die-back/

    Government Website:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/managing-ash-dieback-in-england

August Walks Festival led by the Green Spaces Team

Posted on Posted in Green Spaces 'Natural Connections', Hyndburns Woodlands

August Walks

Throughout the month of August the Green Spaces team organised and delivered a series of 14 differently themed walks to encourage people to explore the wonderful outdoor spaces around them and to keep healthy. 5 of which were weekly butterfly survey walks. The walks we organised included:

  • Geocaching Treasure Hunt, where participants followed treasure trails to find items hidden around Oak Hill Park which contained a clue item and an interesting fact
  • Big Butterfly Count Walk, here participants took a slow walk around Spout House Woodland to record butterfly data which directly helped the Big Butterfly Count survey
  • Canal Nature Walk, which was in partnership with the SuperSlowWay project and showcased the fantastic nature you can find walking along the canal
  • Tree ID Walk, led by Prospects’ Tree Officer Gareth Muir, was a walk around Whinney Hill woodland to learn about identifying different tree species to encourage people to explore and understand nature
  • Health Walk for Families where the Prospects staff took families up Peel Park and the Coppice to explore a beautiful local site which families can enjoy together
  • Women’s Walk was a walk dedicated to the mental and physical health of women and took place at Woodnook Vale LNR
  • Foraging Walk, led by medicinal herbalist Danielle Kay, taught participants about the amazing foods you can find in woodlands and even your own garden
  • Bat Walk, led by Roger Cunliffe, took participants through Woodnook Vale LNR using bat detectors to listen and learn about different bat species
  • Wind Farm Walk, later remade into the Jackhouse Nature Reserve Walk, where participants were taken on a tour of the wonderful Jackhouse.

 

The August Walks were a smashing success with overall, 140 people attending our walks. 18 of which reported having improved wellbeing and social interactions. The Bat Walk was the most popular walk with over 50 people attending the event! Our Big Butterfly Count Walk had the greatest impact on personal health with 6/17 people reporting improved wellbeing!

The Prospects team would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who came along to one of our walks and made it the incredible month it was! We would also like to thank our funders at Green Recovery Challenge Fund (delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund) for making it all possible.

Scroll to top