Throughout September the Hyndburn’s Woodlands project has been carrying out extensive work on the wildflower meadows managed through the project. Meadows managed include the two meadows located in Whinney Hill woodland (the butterfly glade at the tops, and the meadow adjacent to the pond), and jubilee meadow. For Jubilee, we rehired our expert tractor driver […]
24 Hour Bioblitz at Peel Park!
At the end of April, PROSPECTS participated in the worldwide City Nature Challenge weekend by running a 24-Hour Bioblitz at Peel Park and the Coppice! Run over 2 days, the event aimed to record as many species on iNaturalist as possible, with a series of walks and sessions open to the public throughout the event. […]
Tuesday 3rd April – 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 […]
Tuesday 1st April 2025 – Jubilee Meadow
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 […]
Saturday 15th March – Woodnook Vale LNR
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 […]
Tuesday 11th March 2025 – Woodnook Vale
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 […]
Tuesday 25th February 2025 – Bat Box Making
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 […]
Tuesday 11th February 2025 – 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 […]
Tuesday 22nd October 2024 – Butterfly Glade Maintenance
On Tuesday 22nd October the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were back at Whinney Hill woodland carrying out some maintenance work on the butterfly glade located at the top part of the woodland. The glade has a good number of pollinator-benefitting wildflower species, such as cowslip, Marsh mallow, and eyebright. Maintenance involves using scythes to cut the […]
Seed Bomb Making at Bullough Park
On the 19th of November the Green Spaces Team were at Bullough park hosting a seed bomb making event. We had our Prospects marquee set up with tables containing mixing bowls of seeds and air-drying clay. The seeds we used were all native wildflower seeds which were; Corncockle, Cornflower, Corn Chamomile, Corn Marigold, and Common […]
Cutting, Raking and Seed Sowing – Pocket Park
On the 14th October the Green Spaces Team collaborated with the SuperSlowWay project to assist in the creation of a wildflower meadow at the Pocket Park in Accrington. The Green Team used both traditional scything methods and strimmers to clear the area of vegetation, cuttings were then raked off the land to remove as many […]
Winter Bird Walk
Outdoor Learning Officer Danielle led a Winter Bird Walk around Peel Park and The Coppice. We saw jays, robins, blackbirds, great tits, magpies, blue tits, long-tailed tits and greenfinches. During the walk we discussed climate change and how changing weather patterns are affecting trees and migrating birds.
AQA in Biodiversity, Air Quality and Horticulture
On 17th November, Outdoor Learning Officer Danielle delivered an AQA in Biodiversity, Air Quality and Horticulture. The session took place at The Prospects Foundation’s Environment Centre on Broadway, Accrington. Everyone who attended got a free spider plant and aloe vera to take home with them. If you’d like to see what future AQAs we are […]
The Big Butterfly Count is back
Following the fine spring weather we’ve seen the earliest average emergence of butterflies for the last 20 years. It’s vital that we understand how these weather patterns affect butterflies to help protect them for the future. By spending just 15 minutes taking part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, you will help Butterfly Conservation understand how […]
Taking Action for Insects
Action for Insects is a campaign led by the Wildlife Trusts, supported by a range of partners who are all determined to reverse the alarming declines in insects and help nature recover across the UK. The Wildlife Trusts hope to inspire and help people take action for insects where they live, learn, work and farm. Just how important are insects to our everyday […]
Biodiversity – Plants that Harm
Do you know about INNS – no not places to eat and drink – Invasive Non-Native Species? The plants we are most likely to encounter in Hyndburn are: – Himalayan Balsam – Well established and extremely invasive. Found at moist and semi-shaded places, waste ground, and thin woodlands; but particularly on soft banks by slow-moving water along canal sides, streams […]