Acorn Picking with Woodnook Primary School
UKBMS Butterfly Surveys
Wildfire 2023 – Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
Dead Hedges and Brash Piles – Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
Dead hedges and brash piles are constructed using twigs, branches and other cut vegetation. They form an invaluable habitat for a plethora of species.
Invertebrates like insects, woodlouse and arachnids will use the piles to live in and nest. Some important pollinators like solitary bees will use hollow twigs to create their nests. Small mammals like hedgehogs can use them to hide from predators and to hibernate in over winter. Small birds can also use the hedges for cover and to collect twigs for nests.
The dead hedges can also work as an environmentally friendly alternative to fencing.
If you would like to take part in the construction of dead hedges & brash piles on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then please contact Robert at robert.gabryszak@
Invasive Non-Native Species – Japanese Knotweed – Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
Like many Invasive Non-native Species in the UK, Japanese Knotweed was introduced by Victorian botanists as an ornamental garden plant. Sometimes called "Japanese Bam
boo," due to the visual similarites of its stems, but it's shield-shaped leaves and purple speckled stems give it a striking appearance. The small white flowers that it produces in summer are mostly unable to set seed in the UK, but the plant is able to spread via other means. The root of the plant can spread underground forming new stems and even small fragments of the plant can create new roots.
It dies back every winter but a well-established plant can easily regrow to 7ft every summer. This can easily suffocate our native wildflowers which in turn greatly affects our native pollinators.
Japanese Knotweed is an incredibly difficult plant to eradicate as cutting the plant back, digging it up or using external herbicides is not enough to kill it. It requires several consecutive years of treatment with stem injections to remove it entirely.
Unfortunately, there are a few patches of the plant around Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, including the car park, at the top of Plantation Road, and near the Hodder St entrance. Please take care whilst walking in these areas and follow signage. It is also best practice to wash your shoes and your dogs feet before visiting another site to prevent its spread.
If you have spotted any Japanese Knotweed on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then please contact Robert at robert.gabryszak@
Hyndburn’s Woodlands NOW LIVE!
The PROSPECTS Foundation is pleased to announce that the ‘Hyndburn’s Woodlands’ website is now live!
The website can be found here: https://hyndburnwoodlands.org.uk/
The website aims to be a resource to map, assess and manage the woodland cover in Hyndburn, with information including; condition assessments, timber volume surveys and Ash Dieback monitoring.
The website will also host artwork, music, poetry, photographs, videos and much more! If you would like to contribute to the website please contact us at info@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or ring the office on 01254 230 348
Cubs Community Project
Pleck Meadow Path Opening with Mayor of Hyndburn, Cllr Abdul Khan!
On 17th March 2023, a year of planning and development finally came to fruition as the new path and bridge to Pleck Meadow were finally completed!
Local schools and members of the public came for an opening walk and witnessed the Mayor of Hyndburn, Cllr Abdul Khan, perform a ribbon cutting on the new bridge over Pleck Brook.
After this, everyone took part in sowing some native wildflower seeds on Pleck Meadow! This will benefit pollinators like bees and butterflies on the site.
Thank you to everyone who was involved! If you'd like to find out more, visit the Pleck Meadow page.
If you would to get involved in future grassland management on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then contact Robert at Robert.gabryszak@
Family friendly self-led Easter Egg Trail in Woodnook Vale!
Self-led Woodland Easter Egg Trail
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!
Contact Chloe for more info chloe.jameson@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
Rewilding Update March 2023
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
Tree Planting Sessions in March with the Green Spaces Team
Tree Planting Sessions
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
Habitat Piles and Maintenance – Woodnook Vale
Winter Tree Identification Walk – Whinney Hill
Spoon Carving, Huncoat East Woodland, Wednesday 15th February 2023
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
Half Term Crafting Club Monday 13th February 2023, The Woodnook Centre, Accrington.
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!
Walk Leader Training
Barbed Wire Removal – Hollins Woods
Maps and Compass Training
Tree Guard Removal – Spout House Woodland
Invasive Non-Native Species – Rhododendron – Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
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@
