Newsletter
Autumn/Winter 2007/2008
As the
end of the financial year appears over the horizon I
find myself sat in front of the computer finalising next
year’s workplan and budget. Again there seems to be
more work needing doing than there is time and money
for. With the restoration project out of the way at
least we can start to catch up on many repair jobs that
have been outstanding for a while.
The Park
was opened to the public in 1980 and a fair amount of
the timberwork dates back to this time. Needless to say
it has seen better days but I cannot complain having got
over 25 years out of it. In the last few months we have
already managed to knock a few long outstanding jobs off
the list and I feel we are making good progress.
The
Park seems to be ever more popular with Town Brow and
Wigan Road car parks full to capacity at the weekends in
January. Whilst it is great to see the park becoming
more popular I am concerned with the extra wear and tear
in places. With the wet ground some of the grass areas
are turning into puddled mud with all traces of
vegetation disappearing. It will be interesting to see
how these areas recover come the spring.
Practical Work
Repairs
to footpaths have continued with replacement of the
steps in Greenwood leading up to Cam Lane. The
footbridge at the bottom of the wood and the other set
of steps should have been replaced by the time you read
this.
Work has
also taken place on steps leading onto the dam at the
reservoir to provide a non-slip surface to the steps.
This was undertaken as part of a series of works around
the reservoir. As a reservoir covered under the
Reservoirs Act it has to be inspected twice a year by a
supervising engineer and a major inspection by an
inspecting engineer every 10 years. Our inspecting
engineer is due to visit in February and hence the
works. The path along the crest of the dam had eroded
and this had to be rebuilt to the original level. There
were also concerns with wear on the southern end of the
dam and so a new fence has been erected to discourage
people and dogs running up and down the dam.
Work has
also taken place at Town Brow car park with thinning of
trees to open up the car park. New fencing has been
erected to replace the previous rotten fence. The only
problem has been the kissing gate and path around it.
This was to be replaced by the county council as part of
the works upgrading the cycleway. Unfortunately the
kissing gate was not put in straight and the Trust
refused to accept it. We are still awaiting Lancashire
County Engineering Services to return to fix it.
The next
car park on the list is Stag Lodge which is starting to
look in a very sorry state. It has got very overgrown
with both the woodwork and car park edging also
requiring attention.
Tree
work has taken place behind Glenmore where the trees
were causing problems for some of our neighbours. A lot
of the planting was dogwood, which is a pretty
ornamental plant, requiring a large amount of
maintenance to stop it going rampant. Unfortunately we
do not have the resources to prune it on an annual basis
and it doesn’t really fit in with the style of the park
with the variety planted being an amenity plant rather
than native. The clearance has taken place and we just
now require better ground conditions in the spring to
rotovate the ground and plant with grass seed hopefully
sometime in March.
Cutting
back has also taken place along the main track by Cock
Cabin Wood. This is an area that was planted in 1992
and has now got so large that it is growing in on the
path and gives the feeling of walking down a tunnel. A
section was cut back a couple of years ago and is
growing back well. The last two sections will be cut
back in another 2 and 4 years before it is back to the
beginning in 6 years time. This gives the woodland edge
a varied age structure encouraging different plants and
animals in different areas and avoiding devastation over
a larger area once every 8 – 10 years.
We are
also hoping to get up to the woodland area behind
Juniper Croft before the spring arrives and the birds
start nesting. The area is however very wet and if we
start work at the moment I have a horrible feeling the
area will turn into a mud bath. Like everyone we are
hoping for a decent dry spell before birds start nesting
and tree thinning is curtailed.
Another
job awaiting better weather is work to protect the river
banks at various places between the new bridge and the
picnic area. Why do this in the middle of winter rather
than in the summer I hear you ask. Rather than using
large boulders we are using an alternative method using
willow. Willow stakes are driven into the ground with
further material woven horizontally between them with
the area behind then filled with soil. In the spring
the willow will grow putting roots into the banking and
holding it together. That’s the idea at least but
unfortunately for the willow to grow from stakes it must
be felled and planted in the winter.
A survey
has recently taken place of Park for trees that may
become dangerous. As well as looking at the probability
of failure of the tree or part of the tree it also looks
at the probability of causing damage if it did fail.
From this a work programme has been drawn up to prune or
fell trees that may cause problems in the future. The
methodology means that a dead branch over a road will be
removed but a dead tree in the middle of a field can be
allowed to fall apart over time. Standing deadwood is a
very important habitat for certain insects, birds and
bats. Work has already started on pruning and should be
completed by late February.
Responding to comments from park users, two extra bins
for dog waste have been purchased and installed near
Cock Cabin Wood and near Town Brow car park. Work has
also taken place to improve some of the other bins.
We have
also received help recently from the Probation Service
who have provided work parties in the Park. There are
quite a few jobs that will keep a small group busy for a
day, that the Park staff realistically do not have time
to undertake. They have done an excellent job of
painting all the new estate fencing around the Park.
Without them I’m not sure quite how this job would have
got done although a bit of touching up will be required
when the weather improves. They have also been removing
redundant fencing in a few locations within the Park and
litter clearing within some of the woods.
As you
can see we have had a very busy autumn and winter but
there is always plenty more to be done to maintain and
improve the Park. If you are physically fit and able to
help please get in touch with the Park office.
Visitor information
Visitors
may have noticed some more of the new display boards
have now appeared. Sign boards over the car parks have
also been erected to try to help with confusion suffered
by some of our visitors who were not aware of the
location of our car parks or not sure which one they
were parked in. Presently these signs are a bit bright
but will soon weather down. Funding for these has come
from local Councillors who received money from
Lancashire County Council for local projects.
We have
also published a series of three trail leaflets to help
new visitors to explore the park or provide further
information to current visitors. The trails are based
around the historic Victorian estate, the wildlife on
the park and the restored gardens. The leaflets are free
and available from the Barn although a donation towards
the printing cost is appreciated.
Staffing
Malcolm
Armstrong one of the Rangers has moved on to pastures
new working for the Forestry Authority in the Lake
District. Darren Williams has been promoted to take his
place with Louise Cluett arriving from Hampshire to fill
the resulting Estate Worker vacancy. Pauline Taylor the
Education Officer has just returned from 3 months in the
states so the team is now back up to full strength and
the office seems very crowded again.
Cuerden Valley Fair
Following on from the successful Lancashire Fair in 2007
we are holding a similar event on 14 June 2008. The
event this year is to be called the Cuerden Valley Fair
and will be run from 10am to 4.30am.
There
will be more and different attractions as well as the
usual craft exhibitions, art and craft stalls, music and
other entertainment.
We are
currently looking for volunteers to help us preparing
for the event, running the event and clearing up
afterwards.
Jim
Longbottom
Park
Manager
Education Programme
I have now returned from the USA and
permanently in the Education Officer position, working
Mondays and Thursdays.
The Environmental Education Programme
(rivers, minibeasts, pond dipping etc.) continues to run
every Monday and Thursday throughout the year and the
Victorian Programme runs for two weeks in the summer and
autumn school terms. Thank you to all volunteers who
have made both programmes so successful during 2007. Our
bookings increase each year, usually from schools that
have visited us before and have had such a great
educational trip, they keep returning each year.
This month all primary and secondary
schools in Lancashire, have received the leaflets
promoting the education programme.
I am always looking for new recruits
to help with the programmes, if you have some spare time
and would like to volunteer to work with children,
please give me a call. (Subject to CRB checks
etc.)
Pauline Taylor
Education Officer
WATCH Group
We continue to meet regularly about
once a month. Recent activities have included a bat
night preceded by a barbecue; Learning about seed
dispersal; searching for mini-beasts; and being involved
in the RSPB Big Garden Bird watch.
We also recently had our check up
from the RSPB. Some of the words used in the report
were: superb, well prepared, fun, good variety and safe.
If you have children aged from 8 to
12, please check the programme on the CVP website and
bring them along. We hope in the near future to have a
short Power-point programme on the website so you can
see some of the activities we do.
Friends of Cuerden Valley Park
There have been several changes over
recent months in our committee. Our chairman Mary Roe
has left the area and moved to Wales. She had been the
driving force in the formation and ongoing activities of
the “Friends” and will be missed. On a sadder note,
John Blundell who was our vice chairman passed away at
the end of last year. He had been a trustee and a valued
member of the Friends. He too will be greatly missed.
Our condolences go to his widow and family.
David Beattie was elected to the post
of chairman for the rest of the year, and will also be
standing for election for a full year when we hold our
Annual General Meeting in March. Please remember the
Friends do a lot of work to support the Park and we are
also the body which allows Park users to voice their
views to the Trustees and staff. We have planned a
varied events programme for this year so keep checking
both the website and the posters in our new information
boards dotted around the Park.
Wildlife
The wildlife on the park is being
appreciated by more and more of the Park users as we
become more aware of the variety of flora and fauna that
we have. There have been increases in the sightings of
raven, buzzard, kingfisher and roe deer. 2007 also saw
several goosanders visit us as well as little grebe
establishing a breeding presence.
One lucky man saw and photographed a
Black Stork flying over the Park. I promise it was not
the First of April. Two other welcome arrivals were Bee
Orchid and Broad-Leaved Hellborine, both species in the
southern section of the Park. If there is anything you
see, whether, bird, animal or flower, we would value
your letting us know. Members of the Friends receive a
detailed report on all the wildlife reported to us.
David Beattie
Chairman FCVP
Trustees
Since the last newsletter there have
been some changes to the board of Trustees with some
long standing members resigning and new ones coming on
board.
Councillor Mick Muncaster is the
Chorley Council nominee, replacing Tom Bedford who
resigned in January 2007. Peter Wagstaff, a volunteer on
the Park, and local doctor Ann Service joined the board
in June.
August saw the resignation of long
standing Trustee David Demack because of work
commitments and Mary Roe who moved away. Sheila Jones
also left us last year to pursue other interests.
Park Volunteers, mother and daughter,
Mary Heyes and Sharon Taylor were duly appointed to the
board in October. Finally Mike Greer, finance manager of
another local charity, came on board at the end of the
year.
We now have eleven Trustees who are
giving of their time to ensure that the Park is run
well.
Lesley Russell
Company Secretary Feb 2008
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