Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves February 2026 Newsletter
2024-25 Annual Report
Our 2024-2025 Annual Report is hot off the press! With 36 pages packed full of information and photos from our activities over the last 12 months, you can download a copy here or pop into our offices on Broadway to collect a printed version.
Coach Road Solar Meadow share offer – coming soon
In early autumn 2025, PROSPECTS Community Energy will be launching the community share offer for Coach Road Solar Meadow in Oswaldtwistle. If you’re interested in finding out more, please email info@prospectsfoundation.org.uk with ‘Coach Road share offer mailing list’ as the subject line and we’ll let you know when the share offer goes live. You can also visit the Coach Road Solar Meadow stall at Accrington EcoFest 2025 on Saturday 14th June, 10am – 3pm to find out more, or visit the Coach Road Solar Meadow page on our website for further details.
Free Wildflower Seeds for EcoFest 2025!
To get ready for EcoFest 2025 in Accrington Town Centre on Saturday 14th June 2025, PROSPECTS will be handing out free wildflower seeds.
We will be handing them out at events and in our shop at 54 Broadway, BB5 1EW.
Be sure to keep updated on our events by checking our calendar or signing up to our e-newsletter.
The seeds are a mixture of 26 annual and perennial wildflowers. The annual flowers ensure you get some colour the first year and act as ‘nursery’ plants, shielding the perennial plants whilst they establish their roots and get ready to bloom the following year. Perennial plants can live for many years and will continue to flower yearly. Annual plants will die after one year and will only appear next year if they can get their seeds on to bare ground, so you may not see them again after the first year.
To sow them, you can sprinkle them on to any patch of bareground, e.g., in a pot/planter or on your lawn. Lightly tread the seeds in so that they are covered by soil. The seeds can cover an area of 0.5m2 but you can spread them as far as you like. To give your mini wildflower meadow the best chance, choose an area of low nutrient soil. Then once the growing season is over, cut the vegetation and remove it from the area. We do this on a bigger scale at Pleck Meadow.
This is also the case for our wildflower bombs that we make at crafting sessions.
The wildflower seed mixture is Boston Seeds’ Bees and Butterfly Seed Mix. See below for the full contents:
- Common Agrimony (Perennial)
- Borage (Perennial)
- Wild Clary (Perennial)
- Red Clover (Perennial)
- White Clover (Perennial)
- Corn Cockle (Annual)
- Cornflower (Annual)
- Ox-eye Daisy (Perennial)
- Wild Foxglove (Biennial)
- Common Knapweed (Perennial)
- Greater Knapweed (Perennial)
- Purple Loosestrife (Perennial)
- Wild Marjoram (Perennial)
- Meadow Cranesbil (Perennial)
- Musk Mallow (Perennial)
- Common Poppy (Annual)
- Ragged Robin (Perennial)
- Sainfoin (Perennial)
- Field Scabious (Perennial)
- Small Scabious (Perennial)
- Teasel (Biennial)
- Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Perennial)
- Kidney Vetch (Perennial)
- Viper’s Bugloss (Biennial)
- Yarrow (Perennial)
- Yellow Rattle (Annual)
Happy Holidays from PROSPECTS! 2024
Bee and Butterfly Surveys at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR!
It’s that time of year again when we start our Bee and Butterfly surveys at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR!
The walks will start on Tuesday 5th March 2024, and will take place every Tuesday @1pm (weather permitting) until September 2024. The transects start in Pleck Meadow and go around the whole site, where participants will count and ID every butterfly or bee they see. This data will then be submitted to UKBMS and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust respectively.
The surveys are open to all members of the public, whether you are a butterfly novice or an invertebrate expert. The walk around the site will help you stay fit and get in touch with nature!
Meeting point & Accessibility: Robert will be in the Peel Park Car Park next to the bowling green at the end of Peel Park Avenue, BB5 6UQ at 1pm. Look for Robert in his orange hi-vis! By 1:15pm, the group should arrive at the starting point for the transect, where attendees on foot are welcome to meet. This map details the meeting points as well shows the route taken. Some areas of the walk are not accessible for everyone, but there are alternate routes which individuals may take to avoid these.
Date & Time: Every Tuesday @1pm. The survey is subject to weather conditions. Assume that if is below 10°C, there are wind gusts above 20mph, and/or it is raining, that the survey will not go ahead and will be done at another point in the week if feasible.
If you are interested in attending surveys throughout the year, would like more information, or would like to notified if/when a survey is not going ahead, get in touch with Robert:
- Email: robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
- Call: 01254 230348 (Ext. 208)
Amphibians spotted at Pleck Meadow’s ponds!
After the wetlands on Pleck Meadow were constructed last year, we all waited with baited breath to see whether any frogs, toads or newts would find them suitable enough to call home.
This week our anticipation was quenched when, with the help of some plucky, young, litter-picking volunteers, we spotted some eggs in two of the ponds!
During this time we especially ask that people do not let their dogs in any ponds as they can trample the spawn/tadpoles and also leech pesticides into the water from flea treatments.
If you’d like more information, Froglife runs a #pawsagainstponds campaign and has an extensive article on the subject.
Thank you for keeping dogs out of wildlife ponds.
Share your views on the West Pennine Moors
The PROSPECTS Foundation is holding 2 community events for people to share their views on the West Pennine Moors. The events are being held on behalf of Natural England, and the results will help to inform future priorities for the area.
The West Pennine Moors is a unique landscape connecting towns across Lancashire and Greater Manchester. Bordering the south side of Hyndburn along Oswaldtwistle Moor, and stretching across to Bolton, Chorley and Ramsbottom, this wild, open space has been enjoyed by locals and visitors for generations. Containing three protected Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the area supports a mosaic of distinctive habitats including moorland, fringe grassland, meadows and ancient woodland. Threaded throughout this remarkable natural landscape is a rich industrial heritage, historic parks and iconic gardens.
The PROSPECTS Foundation wants to capture the wide range of views, needs and opinions about the West Pennine Moors, and find out what this special place means to different people.
The community events will be held on:
- Tuesday 5th March 2024 at Accrington Eco Train Station, from 7pm to 9pm
- Tuesday 12th March 2024 at the Dog Inn, Belthorn, from 7pm to 9pm
To book a place email info@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
Lancashire Wildlife Trust will be running similar events outside of Hyndburn.
There’s also an online survey for those who can’t make the events.
Watch Natural England’s video below to find out more about people’s relationships with the West Pennine Moors.
Free Wildflower Seeds & Bombs for EcoFest 2024!
To get ready for EcoFest 2024, PROSPECTS will be handing out free wildflower seeds.
We will be handing them out at events and in our shop at 54 Broadway, BB5 1EW.
Be sure to keep updated on our events by checking our calendar or signing up to our e-newsletter.
The seeds are a mixture of 26 annual and perennial wildflowers. The annual flowers ensure you get some colour the first year and act as ‘nursery’ plants, shielding the perennial plants whilst they establish their roots and get ready to bloom the following year. Perennial plants can live for many years and will continue to flower yearly. Annual plants will die after one year and will only appear next year if they can get their seeds on to bare ground, so you may not see them again after the first year.
To sow them, you can sprinkle them on to any patch of bareground, e.g., in a pot/planter or on your lawn. Lightly tread the seeds in so that they are covered by soil. If the seeds are in Wildflower Bombs (which we will be making at EcoFest 2024!) then you don’t need to cover them in soil as they will already be protected from birds and rodents by a layer of clay. The seeds can cover an area of 0.5m2 but you can spread them as far as you like. To give your mini wildflower meadow the best chance, choose an area of low nutrient soil. Then once the growing season is over, cut the vegetation and remove it from the area. We do this on a bigger scale at Pleck Meadow.
The wildflower seed mixture is Boston Seeds’ Bees and Butterfly Seed Mix. See below for the full contents:
- Common Agrimony (Perennial)
- Borage (Perennial)
- Wild Clary (Perennial)
- Red Clover (Perennial)
- White Clover (Perennial)
- Corn Cockle (Annual)
- Cornflower (Annual)
- Ox-eye Daisy (Perennial)
- Wild Foxglove (Biennial)
- Common Knapweed (Perennial)
- Greater Knapweed (Perennial)
- Purple Loosestrife (Perennial)
- Wild Marjoram (Perennial)
- Meadow Cranesbil (Perennial)
- Musk Mallow (Perennial)
- Common Poppy (Annual)
- Ragged Robin (Perennial)
- Sainfoin (Perennial)
- Field Scabious (Perennial)
- Small Scabious (Perennial)
- Teasel (Biennial)
- Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Perennial)
- Kidney Vetch (Perennial)
- Viper’s Bugloss (Biennial)
- Yarrow (Perennial)
- Yellow Rattle (Annual)
Happy Holidays from PROSPECTS!
We hope everyone has a wonderful festive season and a happy new year.
Here are some of our highlights from 2023, see you in 2024!
Funding Success!
Great news!
Announced today – Monday 23rd November 2020 – we’re one of 300+ community organisations to secure a CCLORS grant. It’ll help us provide vital support to our local community, particularly those most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
We’re planning to use the grant to develop our Growing Together initiative that we ran during the first lockdown. We are aiming to put together many, many more salad and veg grow packs to give out to communities, schools and organisations to help get people growing together! We are also going to translate the growing instructions into a number of other languages, such as Urdu, Gujarati, Arabic and Polish to help reduce the barriers to participation in this initiative. We will also be developing other related activities including recipe ideas, photo competitions, improving gardening skills, advice on how to build raised beds and how to re-use everyday items as growing containers.
We are currently recruiting for another member of staff to carry out this project so watch this space and get in touch if you are interested in taking part.
CCLORS is the Covid-19 Community-Led Organisations Recovery Scheme. It is being delivered by Power to Change, Locality, Social Investment Business and the Ubele Initiative in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund
Latest Windfall Annual Report
Do you want to see what the Windfall Fund has been up to over the last 12 months? Well, the new 2018/2019 Windfall Annual Report is now available hot off the press! There is information on groups funded and projects undertaken and lots of photos showing activity that has taken place. If you need a good read during Covid-19 and whilst you are still at home then look no further! Hard copies will be available from our office in Accrington when we are back open for business.
Great Christmas Present Idea!
How about giving one of our re-usable coffee mugs as a Christmas present?
Show your friends and family that you care about the environment and give them a ‘green’ re-usable cup!! An absolute bargain at only £3 each and the money will help PROSPECTS deliver more of the projects that help care for the environment in Hyndburn.
Pop into our Environment Centre on Broadway in Accrington to purchase your mug and pick up information at the same time on how you can get involved in our events and activities.
Our 21st anniversary event was a huge success!!
