On Monday 9th, September 2024, Pleck Meadow at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR had its 3rd annual cut! Annual cut & collects are an important part of wildflower meadow management as it reduces nutrients in the soil which overtime will ensure that vigourous grasses and invasive species do not become dominant. A wider variety […]
Pleck Meadow Grassland Condition Assessment 2024
Pleck Meadow received its third annual Grassland Condition Assessment on the 8th July, 2024. The results show that the “cut and collect” management is working as the grass sward and presence of negative indicator species has decreased significantly. Seed sowing and plug planting have also increased the number of species present on the meadow. Read […]
National Highways visit Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
On Thursday 16th May we got lucky with some sunny weather as National Highways paid a visit to Peel Park & the Coppice LNR. National Highway have been funding the Network 4 Nature project across the UK, creating biodiverse habitats along our roads and highways in collaboration with The Wildlife Trust. This includes the Accrington […]
A warm welcome to our new team member, Stephen!
Stephen Hutchinson has joined PROSPECTS as our new Low Carbon Community Buildings Officer. Stephen will work with local community organisations to help them reduce their building’s carbon emissions and take action against climate change. Community groups will be supported to obtain an energy audit of their buildings, as well as apply for funding for energy […]
A warm welcome to our new team member, Alice!
We’re pleased to announce that Alice Pooley has joined the PROSPECTS team as our new Brookside Development Officer! Following the purchase of the 87-acre Brookside site in Stanhill Village, Oswaldtwistle (also known as Bury Meadows), Hyndburn Borough Council has partnered with the PROSPECTS Foundation, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Stanhill Village Community Association, the Ribble Rivers Trust […]
March 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
Spring has brought with it the usual perks, bees, flowers, and milder – albeit still very wet – weather! March is the final month before nesting season when we can remove scrub on the heathland, so we spent a lot of time bringing down colonising Silver Birch for the benefit of Heather, Bilberry, Crowberry, and […]
February 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
We have have been a lot busier on the Coppice this month thanks to the milder weather. During February half term, our very own TreeACTION project hosted a session on the site to plant a new Alder Buckthorn hedgerow to attract the Brimstone Butterfly. We also had help from the North Lancs Training Group hospitality […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
January 2024 Overview at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
The Coppice was not as busy as usual this month with bank holidays and frozen weather slowing down work. Particularly the week of the 15th was very snowy and icy which lead to some sessions being cancelled due to safety concerns. We made up for it other sessions where we continued to clear scrub in […]
Soft fruit pruning at Miller Fold
This week at Miller Fold we gave our red currant and black currant bushes their winter prune! We started by taking off any dead or low hanging branches, then picked around 10 stems on each bush with the most fresh growth to keep. All of the other stems were pruned to two shoots to allow […]
Habitat Boxes at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
Lots of cosy new homes for birds & bats as well as comfy seats at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR! In autumn 2023, WOODY C.I.C. created and installed 30 bird boxes and 10 bat boxes across the site. A variety of different openings for the bird boxes were made so that they will benefit […]
Wind turbines at St Nicholas’
In the last week before Christmas Sonja visited St Nicholas’ CE Primary School in Church to run a session on sustainable energy with the Year 5 class, which fits into their natural resources project. The students worked in small groups to make model wind turbines and went outside to try them out in the wind. […]
Sustainable Christmas craft sessions
For the past month Prospects have been running free weekly Christmas craft sessions to encourage the local community to have a more sustainable Christmas. These were organised by the Outdoor Learning officer, Sonja, with support from different Prospects project officers. All the sessions were fully booked and hugely popular. In the first session Robert joined […]
St Wulstan’s stand against soft plastics
St. Wulstan’s year 5/6 class have been collecting clean soft plastics to take back to supermarkets. They pack the single use plastic packaging in bread bags to compress the plastic as much as possible which saves space when the plastic is transported to the recycling plant. Outdoor learning officer, Sonja Bottomer, has been working alongside […]
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!
Over 700 Trees Planted by the Community
This year’s National Tree Week (NTW) was celebrated by dedicated volunteers from across Hyndburn by helping to plant 720 trees at designated sites in Accrington and Oswaldtwistle. A series of four community tree planting sessions were held from Sunday 26th to Wednesday 29th November, facilitated by the PROSPECTS Foundation. In honour of the 50th anniversary […]
Peel Park Pollinator Survey Results 2023
Throughout the year, PROSPECTS has been carrying out pollinator surveys on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR. Measuring the abundance and distribution of species is vitally important for monitoring species health, climate change, and the effectiveness of conservation actions. Nationally, surveys provide data which allows climate scientists, conservationists, and insect experts to get a greater […]