Hyndburn's Community-Owned Environmental Charity
The Green Spaces Team have created a family-friendly Easter Egg Trail that is now up in Woodnook Vale for the Easter Holidays!
Follow the map below to find all 9 hidden letters, and unscramble them to unlock a spring-themed word! Follow THIS LINK to submit your word and be entered into a PRIZE DRAW!
The Rewilding Project continues into the Spring/Summer season with lots of hardwork and preperation going into the Commmunity Garden sites.
The Rewilding Volunteers have been busy on GrOwING Wild Community Garden, Baxenden cutting back bramble from the pathways and stairs to aid access on the site.
Woodnook Community Garden has seen extensive brash clearing with Bramble and Snowberry being cut back to make space for more diverse flora. Several varieties of fruit trees have been planted including; cherry, medlar, quince, greengage and fig. Numerous soft fruit bushes and rhubarb crowns have also been planted. Blueberry, Cranberry, lingonberry and pink currant have all be planted on the site.
The site owner Onward supported PROSPECTS with a flytipping clearning day with Onward staff supported by the Rewilding Volunteers removing flytipping from the site into a skip and for collection by Onward’s Environmental Services Team.
Miller Fold Allotment has undergone a winter make over, with the growing beds being hoed, weeded and dug over with organic matter from catch crop Green Manures being incorporated into the soil structure. Seed sowing has begun with onion sets being planted outside and peas, broadbeans, various greens and herbs being sown for the coming growing season.
PROSPECTS Green Team Trainees are assisting the project by applying for funding to replace the raised beds and improve access on site with a renovated pathway to assist wheelchair users and those with mobility issues.
Woodwork has been a regularly monthly workshop with volunteers constructing planters, habitat boxes (including bird boxes) and pyrography projects.
If you would like to get involved please contact Rewilding Project Officer Gareth Muir – gareth.muir@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
The Green Spaces Team are hosting four tree planting sessions across Hyndburn this March!
See below for dates, times and meeting points.
Contact Helen for more info helen.earnshaw@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
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
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!
Rhododendron was introduced to Great Britain in the 1800's by Victorian botanists who were enchanted by it's gorgeous flowers. A member of the Ericaceae family, along with our native Heather and Bilberry, It was intentionally planted in the wild to provide cover for game species like Grouse and Pheasant. It can easily be identified year round via it's evergreen foliage with leaves that grow in sets of 3, creating a 'star-shaped' pattern. Since it's tiny seeds can be distributed by the wind, it has spread across the UK and has grown uncontested, displacing native species and ruining local biodiversity.
Now that conservationists are aware of the devastating impact the species can have on biodiversity, Prospects is helping keep Peel Park and the Coppice LNR free of Rhododendron. Much work has been done in the past to remove the INNS by digging or 'grubbing' up the plant. Simply cutting the plant back is not enough as it can grow back.
On 23rd January 2023, 5 Rhododendron (seen below) were removed from the heathland with help from volunteers.
If you would to get involved in heathland management or have seen any Rhododendron on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then contact Robert at Robert.gabryszak@
The Rewilding project has been working with the pupils at St John’s Primary at their Nuttal site to engage the children in food growing, exploring nature and healthy eating.
Project Officer Gareth has delivered numerous activities including; apple juice pressing, making bird feeders, mushroom logs, Tree identification, wildflower bulb & seed planting, Himalayan Balsam removal and making festive baubles from wooden discs.
The project will continue working with the school to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for the children to enjoy and to teach them about healthy choice and environmentally sustainable choices.
If you would like your school to get involved with PROSPECTS please email info@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or phone the office on 01254 230 348
The Rewilding project is generously funded by the Lancashire County Council Food Grant Scheme, D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust and The Windfall Fund
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!
The Rewilding project continues into 2023 with Project Officer Gareth Muir delivering a weekly Tuesday session on several sites in Hyndburn.
A work plan of season tasks will be undertaken by volunteers to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs, alongside planting for pollinators.
Tasks over the coming months will include: composting, mulching, seed sowing, pruning, fruit tree planting, chitting potatoes and repairing raised beds.
The last Tuesday of the month is spent at the PROSPECTS workshop in Oakhill Park. Woodwork projects will be made from recycled wood and include; wooden planters, bird/bug/bee boxes along with making plant labels with pyrography.
The Rewilding project also works with several schools in the borough enabling children to explore the natural world, create habitat for nature and grow their own food.
St John’s – Great Harwood and Lee Royd Nursery – Woodnook are involved in growing vegetables on their grounds and exploring other green spaces in the area.
Support has also been given to All Saints Church, Clayton-Le-Moors in the form of a Winter work day.
If you would like to get involved as a volunteer or involve your school/community group, please get in contact with Gareth – gareth.muir@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
Thanks to The Windfall Fund, D’Olyly Carte Charitable Trust and The Lancashire County Council Food Grant Scheme for the funds to make the project possible!
Ash trees are currently suffering from a disease known as “Ash Dieback.” The disease, caused by an invasive fungal infection, causes an Ash to lose its leaves and branches, leaving gnarly diamond-shaped lesions on its bark. Eventually the tree loses too many leaves and cannot capture enough sunlight, leaving it to starve and die.
The dead tree now has a higher chance of falling down. This means that infected trees alongside public pathways become hazards.
Because of this, selected Ash trees on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR will be felled to prevent future safety risks.
The red area shown on the map below has a high concentration of Ash trees with the majority suffering from the disease. This area will have restricted public access while contractors fell trees from 11am-4pm on the following days:
Timber infected with dieback is often unusable in woodworking but will be left on site to rot down and become deadwood. This will benefit a wide variety of invertebrates, fungi and plants. Past and future tree planting will replace the felled Ash.
If you would to get involved in heathland management at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then contact Robert at Robert.gabryszak@
