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@
Spring Hill Primary School – Eco Warriors and Garden Gang Session
Rewilding at St John’s Primary Nuttal site, Great Harwood
The Rewilding project has been working with the pupils at St John’s Primary at their Nuttal site to engage the children in food growing, exploring nature and healthy eating.
Project Officer Gareth has delivered numerous activities including; apple juice pressing, making bird feeders, mushroom logs, Tree identification, wildflower bulb & seed planting, Himalayan Balsam removal and making festive baubles from wooden discs.
The project will continue working with the school to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for the children to enjoy and to teach them about healthy choice and environmentally sustainable choices.
If you would like your school to get involved with PROSPECTS please email info@prospectsfoundation.org.uk or phone the office on 01254 230 348
The Rewilding project is generously funded by the Lancashire County Council Food Grant Scheme, D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust and The Windfall Fund
Festive Wreath Making Sessions
Christmas Gift Making Sessions
Habitats & Heritage – Hyndburn’s Woodlands Update
The Hyndburn Woodlands project continues into 2023 at the peak of the woodland management season; Winter.
Preventative felling of Ash trees affected by Ash Dieback has taken place on several of the 8 Lancashire County Council site.
Whinney Hill saw several Ash felled to ensure they were not a danger to the public along the pathways on site. Dogwood has also been cooked back from the pathways to improve access on site. 16 bags of litter were collected from site over the course of a day in November.
Coppicing a traditional form of Woodland management has been taking place on Martholme Greenway and Huncoat East & West. Cut hazel has been used in a variety of PROSPECTS workshops and projects including; spoon carving, An Introduction to Green Woodworking, making wooden Reindeer and whittling.
Rushton House Farm has had some Holly thinned from the site in the southern part of the site to allow other natural regeneration of broadleaf native species.
Abbott Clough has had a significant amount of self seeded Hawthorn thinned to enable other species to germinate with the resultant brash being used to close gaps on the roadside hedgerow.
Warcocks Green has had several litter picks and work has been undertaken to mediate the damage caused on site by the use of mountain/scrambler bikes and ATV (Quads).
Woodland Volunteer sessions continue to be delivered every Thursday across all 8 sites, check the Events Calendar HERE
To get involved contact Project Officer Gareth Muir – gareth.muir@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
Thanks go out to The Heritage Lottery Fund for making this project possible!
Rewilding 2023
The Rewilding project continues into 2023 with Project Officer Gareth Muir delivering a weekly Tuesday session on several sites in Hyndburn.
A work plan of season tasks will be undertaken by volunteers to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs, alongside planting for pollinators.
Tasks over the coming months will include: composting, mulching, seed sowing, pruning, fruit tree planting, chitting potatoes and repairing raised beds.
The last Tuesday of the month is spent at the PROSPECTS workshop in Oakhill Park. Woodwork projects will be made from recycled wood and include; wooden planters, bird/bug/bee boxes along with making plant labels with pyrography.
The Rewilding project also works with several schools in the borough enabling children to explore the natural world, create habitat for nature and grow their own food.
St John’s – Great Harwood and Lee Royd Nursery – Woodnook are involved in growing vegetables on their grounds and exploring other green spaces in the area.
Support has also been given to All Saints Church, Clayton-Le-Moors in the form of a Winter work day.
If you would like to get involved as a volunteer or involve your school/community group, please get in contact with Gareth – gareth.muir@prospectsfoundation.org.uk
Thanks to The Windfall Fund, D’Olyly Carte Charitable Trust and The Lancashire County Council Food Grant Scheme for the funds to make the project possible!
Ash tree thinning on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
Ash trees are currently suffering from a disease known as “Ash Dieback.” The disease, caused by an invasive fungal infection, causes an Ash to lose its leaves and branches, leaving gnarly diamond-shaped lesions on its bark. Eventually the tree loses too many leaves and cannot capture enough sunlight, leaving it to starve and die.
The dead tree now has a higher chance of falling down. This means that infected trees alongside public pathways become hazards.
Because of this, selected Ash trees on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR will be felled to prevent future safety risks.
The red area shown on the map below has a high concentration of Ash trees with the majority suffering from the disease. This area will have restricted public access while contractors fell trees from 11am-4pm on the following days:
- 6th January 2023
- 13th January 2023
- 20th January 2023
- 27th January 2023
Timber infected with dieback is often unusable in woodworking but will be left on site to rot down and become deadwood. This will benefit a wide variety of invertebrates, fungi and plants. Past and future tree planting will replace the felled Ash.
If you would to get involved in heathland management at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then contact Robert at Robert.gabryszak@
Merry Christmas 2022 from Prospects Foundation!
A big thank you to everyone and our volunteers from the team here at Prospects Foundation for an amazing year!
You’ve helped us spread environmental awareness and carry out conservation work throughout #Hyndburn!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, you’ve earned it!
See you in 2023!
St Christophers Eco Club Bird Feeders
Prospects Green Influencers @ St Christophers Eco Club
Prospects Green Influencers @ St Christophers Eco Club have been making Bird boxes and Bird Feeders and there was some real creative flare on display.
Some of the students decieded to make them as gifts for loved ones.
After the Christmass break the students will be making more to sell to raise funds for a trip to Cornwall next year.
Hopefully they will be on sale in our shop window soon.
Baxenden St Johns woodland walk
On the 8th of November Year 5’s from Baxenden St Johns primary school put their wellies on and joined our Green Mentor, Joel, for a woodland walk through the Woodnook Vale LNR 
They discovered some of the local history about the old railway lines and Shoe Mill (including when they used to use sheep’s poo amongest other things to dye the cotton – yuck!). We also put our detective hats on and looked at ways of identifying trees without their leaves on!
Thank you to the staff and students from Baxenden St John’s C of E Primary School, you were great! 
Heathland Management – Tree Thinning – Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
Many people will wonder why we’re cutting down trees when there’s a huge drive to plant more trees. This is a valid thought and people are right to be concerned!
However, it’s important to recognise that not all habitats need trees and that, sometimes, too many trees can be a problem.
When it comes to the heathland at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, it’s a matter of protecting a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.If left to its own devices then the heath would slowly be overtaken by trees and become a woodland, losing the valuable heathland habitat and the species it supports.
Again you might wonder, if this is the natural process, then why is Prospects intervening? Well “natural” is a loaded word nowadays; what is natural today and what was natural thousands of years ago are two different things. Heathland species evolved alongside large animals and herbivores that kept tree growth in check. The UK now lacks these vital species that managed the UK landscape and maintained habitat health.
It is now necessary for us to do the work of those ancient landscapers to help preserve a habitat that is historically, ecologically and culturally important to the UK. That is why we are thinning some of the self-seeded trees on the heathland at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR.
If you would to get involved in heathland management at Peel Park and the Coppice LNR, then contact Robert at Robert.gabryszak@
Seed Bomb Making at Bullough Park
Dry stone Walling – Hollins woods
Introduction to Green Woodwork October half term 2022
PROSPECTS delivered an Introduction to Green Woodworking at Huncoat East woodland.
The course involved learning about green woodworking tools, using these tools to make a mallet and spatulas from Norwegian Maple and Hazel wood which was felled as part of PROSPECTS woodland management work programme.
Woody CIC Volunteer Mark was on hand to demonstrate pole lathing with participants having a go!
Thanks to The Heritage Lottery Fund for making this workshop possible through their generous funding of the Habitats & Heritage – Hyndburn’s Woodlands project.
Below is some feedback from the participants:
This has been a fantastic opportunity to learn about Green woodworking. It was so much fun. The staff were so welcoming and helpful. I would definately attend another woodworking event.
be good to see further projects added like small stools, maybe spoons and shrink pots ?
Love to do more construction projects using green woodworking techniques.
Crafting Club October Half Term 2022
PROSPECTS delivered an Autumn Themed Crafting Club at GrOwING WILD Community Alloment, Baxenden during the October half term.
Participants looked at Autumn tree and plant identification signs, made an autumnal bean stew and whittled some mushrooms from hazel and birch wood!
One participant gave the following feedback:
“It was a fantastic day. Everyone seemed to enjoy. My granddaughter and I certainly did. It was educational and good fun.”
Thinning of Larch (Larix) on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR
Larch trees were planted in the new woodlands on Peel Park and the Coppice LNR by Lancashire County Council and Hyndburn Borough Council during the 1970s-90s. The tree is not a native British species as it was introduced 400 years ago for it’s fast-growing timber. The trees themselves are hybrids of two different species from mainland Europe and Asia, the European Larch (Larix decidua) and Japanese Larch (Larix kaempferi).
Although they aren’t native, they are still an ecologically useful tree species. heir primary functions on the site were to reduce soil erosion on the slopes and to act as ‘nurse’ species for the oak trees that were also planted in the red and yellow areas shown on the map. The larches grow faster and so act as barriers which served to shelter the young, small, oak saplings. Now that the oak trees are big enough to support themselves, the larches surrounding them aren’t needed as much. The gaps left by the felled larches will leave room for the oak trees to grow larger and flourish. This is a positive management method known as ‘halo’ thinning.
To increase the presence of native, broad-leaved, tree species, there will be selective thinning of larches in two areas. This will start with the plantation of larches in the red area, before moving to the yellow area.
Both areas will be thinned over the course of 6 day-long sessions. Around 35 trees are expected to be removed from each area. This will cause little to no harm to wildlife as there will still be many larches left on-site and the subsequent growth of native oaks will improve the habitat value of the woodland.
Access to the rest of the site will still be available but visitors will not be allowed to use paths near the felling on working days. Signage and workers will be present to redirect visitors.
The thinning took place on the 21st and 28th October, and the 4th, 11th and 18th November 2022. There was a final session on the 25th November 2022.
The felled timber will go back into the site; the wood will be used for benches, leaky dams, and habitat boxes. Branches and smaller timber will be used to create brash bundles and habitat piles. Some tree-planting of smaller tree species like Holly and Hazel may take place to fill in any large gaps left by the felled larches.
If you would like to know more and/or get involved in conservation work this autumn and winter, then contact Robert at robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk.
Path and Bridge Construction – Civil Works on Pleck Meadow and Arden Hall
Following the positive results of a consultation in June 2022, plans for a path from Arden Hall up to Pleck Meadow are now being finalized.
The path, indicated by the yellow route on the map, will have two entrances. One at Arden Hall and the other on Pinewood Drive. The rest of the path will follow the purple route which includes a bridge over Pleck Brook and will end at Pleck Meadow.
The purple route, “Option 2,” was preferred over the orange route, “Option 1,” in the consultation so the orange route will not be constructed.
Civil works are planned to start on the 24th October 2022 and will last for a few months.
As a result, access to the site from Arden Hall will be more limited till the works are over. Signage will be in place to redirect visitors. Please keep your dog on a lead near the affected areas. The entrances at Avenue Parade and Peel Park Avenue will be unaffected.
The construction will cause little to no disturbance to local wildlife. The path will increase accessibility to Peel Park and the Coppice LNR and will also benefit future conservation activities such as scything courses, survey training and species transects.
If you’d like to find out more or get involved in future conservation activities, then contact robert.gabryszak@prospectsfoundation.org.uk