Brookside Hosts Half Term Crafts Bonanza
Tuesday 17th February 2026 – Whinney Hill
On Tuesday 17th February 2026 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands project was back at Whinney Hill woodland continuing with the Invasive Non-Native Species removal started last year.
This took the form of clearing a large encroachment of Henry’s Honeysuckle, this voracious species, at one point, was fully blocking the path, as well as strangling a young Oak tree. The species is a climber, and so was finding its way onto and up anything nearby.
We have spent a lot of time snipping all of the climbing material’s connections to the ground. This has worked wonders for the material up the Oak, all of which has now died off, freeing up the Oak for Spring growth.
The material on the ground has proven much more difficult, despite piling it up into large stacks, we have found that it is still managing to produce new growth with little to no light.
We filled 3 large builders-sacks with cut material (and 2 smaller sacks), this still only amounted to half of the material that was onsite. After one more session all of the material should be fully removed.
We then carried out a small supplementary tree planting activity to replace the Guelder Rose we unfortunately had to cut down previously (as this was covered in Henry’s Honeysuckle and had its roots intertwined.
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who helped 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
New Faces at the SVCA x Brookside Restoration Heritage Walk
Plenty of new faces!
Board 1: Hargreaves Memorial Garden
Looping around Moss Lane
Board 5: Knuzden POW Camp
Board 6: Calico Printing at Brookside
Tuesday 10th February 2026 – Whinney Hill
On Tuesday 10th February 2026 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Project was at Whinney Hill tackling some windblown trees.
A clump of Willow had sadly come down and taken part of a fence with us, so the Hyndburn’s Woodlands volunteers took to brashing it up. Volunteers used hand tools to clear the tree back to it’s stump.
The Willow didn’t go to waste though, we repurposed it into a new dead-hedge to mark off the boundary. This will provide habitat for wildlife and many fungi species, over time.
Then, we utilised a pole pruner to clear some overhanging branches from the boundary.
We then finished up by re-erected the fence, utilising Willow lengths as stakes.
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Tuesday 3rd February 2026 – Jubilee Woodland
On Tuesday 3rd February 2026 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Project was at Jubilee woodland for an extremely windy tree planting session!
We planted 225 Hawthorn saplings in a brand new hedgerow. This will provide habitat for wildlife and, in particular, food for overwintering birds
Thank you to our incredible volunteers who braved the very wild weather to help us improve Hyndburn’s biodiversity
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves February 2026 Newsletter
Tuesday 20th January 2026 – Huncoat East
On Tuesday 20th January 2026 the Hyndburn’s Woodlands Volunteers were at Huncoat East woodland for a dead-hedging session! Dead-hedging work has been taking place at this site for several years. Previous projects had installed an ‘outdoor learning area’ using dead-hedges as a border, which requires annual repairs and ‘top ups’. A site boundary fence is also being worked on, gradually making its way across the site.
Volunteers used previously coppiced hazel (hazel that was left over from other activities) to create stakes, they did so by using a hatchet to chop a point into the stake, these were then driven into the ground to create the foundations of the fence. Heavy material inlaid first, followed by thinner lengths of wood, and finally top layer foliage was woven in.
We did end up requiring some more material so volunteers wore their hard helmets and took part in some good old fashioned hazel coppicing. There is quite an abundance of hazel on this site that is out of rotation.
We think the new extension to the fence looks incredible, and we’re very keen to keep extending it. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who help create habitat and beautiful structures in Hyndburn’s Woodlands.
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Tuesday 13th January 2026 – Woodnook Vale LNR
On Tuesday 13th January 2026 the Hyndburn’s Woodland’s project were at Woodnook Vale LNR for another round of live Willow weaving. We started this last Winter, the structure had existed there for around 5 years prior but had fallen into disrepair. After quite a few hours of effort (and with the help of an expert) we managed to get the structure looking a lot better.
This year it proved a lot easier, only having to bind one years growth made the task a lot easier. Still, with the structure now gaining a bit of height and volume, binding some of the shoots into shape was quite a challenge. We did, however, manage to get all of the tallest shoots bound into the frame, adding some volume outwards. This will (hopefully) begin to grow more outwards now, eventually providing a sort of roof over the benches below.
Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who braved a very wet day to help us keep Hyndburn’s Woodland’s beautiful!
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Tuesday 6th January 2026 – Whinney Hill
On Tuesday 6th January 2026 the Hyndburn’s Woodland’s project (wanted) to kick the New Year off with a litter pick, the recent snowfall did make this a little challenging, but to our surprise the woodland had accumulated very little rubbish over the Christmas break!
We did, however, have a few trees that had come down, so we took to tackling those instead! The trees were quite manageable (being on the ground always helps!), so we managed to get them cleared with little difficulty. Volunteers wore their safety helmets and utilised hand tools like bow saws, pruning saws, and loppers to remove the bulk of the brash, with the main trunk following. It was a very cold day, but the activity certainly kept us warm through the cold!
Thank you to our amazing volunteers for helping us keep Hyndburn’s Woodlands safe and tidy!
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Prospects Launch Sunday Volunteer Session at Brookside
Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves January 2026 Newsletter
Happy Holidays 2025 from PROSPECTS & Annual Volunteer Celebration
PROSPECTS-themed Quiz!
Buffet for Volunteers
PROSPECTS team!
Brookside Project Volunteers
Filling out the quiz!
Wrapping Up Christmas Crafts at the Prospects Foundation
Prospects Community Tree Nursery 2025 Roundup
Prospects Community Tree Nursery 2025 Roundup
Here's a roundup of 2025 at the Prospects Community Tree Nursery, shown in photographs! 
This year we built three new tree-growing boxes, cleared loads of balsam, planted over 550 acorns, and stratified thousands of tree seeds. We also said goodbye to a rickety greenhouse and shed, welcomed a brilliant group of corporate volunteers, and raised an incredible £6,712 through our Crowdfunder campaign!
We’re hoping 2026 will bring major site access improvements and create even more opportunities for people to learn about growing trees. Watch this space…
Jan 2025 - Transplanting Oaks from the Coppice
March 2025 - making room for tree growing boxes
April 2025 - planting spare trees to grow on over summer
May 2025 - planting tree seeds that started to sprout
July 2025 - Our Crowdfunder celebration day with wood-fired sourdough pizza
Aug 2025 - greenhouse demolition
Sep 2025 - Fedcap Community Day clearing beds and making paths safer
Oct 2025 - Acorn planting in new rodent-proof boxes
Nov 2025 - Acorn planting in root trainer trays
Dec 2025 - weeding tree beds ready for mulching
Bullough Community Woodland planted in one week
Helen teaching volunteers how to plant trees
'Future Forest Time Capsule' with Mount Carmel Eco Club members with Mayor and Mayoress of Hyndburn
Young volunteer plants first tree
Bullough Community Woodland 'Forest Fun Day' Tree Planting 600 trees with Prospects Foundation
Free Hot Chocolates were served to volunteers all day
Green Spaces Team reunion!
Volunteers make Christmas star decorations
Fingerprinting crafts such as Christmas tree cards to take home
Locally coppiced hazel Reindeer workshops
Site improvements (March > December 2025)
Tuesday 16th December – Whinney Hill Litter Pick
On Tuesday 16th December the Hyndburn’s Woodland’s Project finished off the year with our usual litter pick (we do so to try and leave the woodland looking tidy over the Christmas holidays). Although we (thankfully) didn’t collect quite as much litter as we have done in previous years, we still managed to collect over 10 bags worth! We also managed to find quite a few oddities, including an abandoned pram, a quite old jerry can still containing some fuel, and an old fire extinguisher! The pram actually came in quite handy for moving everything around in!
Thank you to our lovely volunteers who braved a cold morning to help us keep Hyndburn’s Woodlands tidy
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Annual Overview of the Northern Gateway @Peel Park & the Coppice LNR
A busy year for this entrance.
The Northern Gateway is the main entrance to the Coppice which leads up to the site’s only car park.
PROSPECTS has been managing this small triangle of land to ensure the entrance is welcoming to visitors and wildlife.
You can learn more about the entrance HERE.
Abundant Ox-eye Daisy Blooms
Flowering Hedgerow
Huge Swathe of Yellow Rattle
Northern Gateway after cut
January 2025 Steps Renovation
January 2025 Steps Renovation
January 2025 Steps Renovation
Steps Before and After
Peel Park Primary Sowing Wildflower Seeds
April 2025 - Removing Dock
Showcasing Volunteer Efforts
April 2025 - Removing Weeds & Seed Sowing
First Cowslip at the NG!
Ox-eye Daisy
Common Bird's-foot-trefoil
Yellow Rattle (w/ Common Carder Bumblebee)
Black Knapweed (w/ Small White Butterfly)
Meadow Crane's-bill
Garlic Mustard
Common Vetch
Sneezewort
Wild Marjoram
Tufted Vetch (w/ Six-spot Burnet Moth)
Wild Turnip
Red Campion
Self-heal
Corn Marigold
Wild Chamomile
Wild Radish
Meadow Buttercup (w/ Tree Bumblebee)
Creeping Thistle (w/ Nettle Tap Moth)
Clearing Vegetation
Monitoring Disturbed Ground Next to Steps
Scraping Paths
Northern Gateway Brushcut
Cutting Back Vegetation
Dec 2025 - Removing Bramble
Dec 2025 - Keeping Steps Clear
Saturday 13th December – Bank Mill House
The Hyndburn’s Woodlands Project returned to Bank Mill House this year to host our annual ‘Christmas Reindeer’ making session. Warm refreshments were served with biscuits, and an attendee even brought in home baked goods for the session!
This year, participants created their deer from premade kits, this was to save time as we had booked the session the same day as a Christmas Fair in Great Harwood, so we wanted everyone to be able to get there quickly!
Participants assembled their deer from premade kits, chose their own antlers from a pile of varied twigs (Alder, Corkscrew Hazel, regular Hazel), once everything was in place participants could decorate their deer how they wish
Overall it was a great session and we are grateful to everyone who turned up!
As always, thank you to our funders at Lancashire County Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, and the Windfall Fund for making it all possible
Willow Coppicing & Festive Crafts @Hyndburn’s Nature Reserves
Annual Wreath-making Workshop @PROSPECTS Shop
Making Brash Piles with Unusable Willow Branches
Wreath Making w/ St Christopher's Eco Group
Abundant Evergreen Foliage to Choose From!
Wreath Making w/ Cambridge St Ladies Group
Natural Festive Wreathes!
Before and After Woodland Edge
Oak Moss Lichen
Before and After Willow Tree
Natural Festive Wreathes!