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17-07-2015 

Boars Well Reserve

The visit was limited to Susan Stead and Valerie Shepherd.

Perhaps this was as well as the path through the reserve was very overgrown and was blocked at one point by a fallen tree. 

Susan and Val trimmed back some of the overgrowth and

cleared the growth around the wells. 

The stones relating to Spinkwell Lock were invisible, either because they had been taken away or were hidden in the undergrowth.

23-6-2015

Cullingworth Bee Orchid Site

The Bee Orchid site has been translocated during the autumn/ winter of 2014, and is flourishing on its new site.

When we visited on June 23, we were delighted to see that several Common Spotted Orchids were beginning to bloom. We did not see any Bee Orchids, but it was early in the year and once again the weather has made prediction of flowering times difficult.

Common Blue butterflies were on the wing at the new site. This suggests their larvae had been successfully brought over with the orchids as planned.

We would like to give much credit to Mark Woods, the ecologist who organised the translocation.

06-05-2015

Bluebell walk – Prince of Wales Park

11 people, and several dogs, turned out for this evening stroll - and we did see bluebells - but for me they were not the star of the show.  

That place was taken by the Park.

Lodge, Prince of Wales Park

A few years ago the Park was sinking. It appeared unloved and uncared for. Pathways were obscured, or were muddy tracks. The bottom of the Park, the formal planting area, was overgrown and appeared unplanned. The top “wild” area was choked by bracken, and was becoming overgrown by scrub. The quarry area at the centre was full of litter and broken glass.

Now, with 150 year celebrations approaching, the Park is changing, re-emerging under the care of the” friends” group. Those “friends” on our walk explained the plan and shared with us the pleasure of bringing back the formal planting, getting rid of litter, restoring the wild area, and resurfacing and opening up paths.

Formal replanting has an edible theme - a mulberry sapling evidencing this

We were shown the planter moved from the Westfield re-development, now in a place of honour. 

We saw carved stone seats, re-discovered in the undergrowth. 

We listened to an account of sparrow-hawks nest building in the Park and saw the nest.

stone seat - 1863

A “stump garden” is yet to be created, and the outdoor classroom was damaged, so now needs restoring.

Resource for this work came in the form of grants, as well as the effort of volunteers - and there is still plenty to be done, but now the Park is being looked after it should remain a major asset for all of Bradford.

bluebells - prince of wales park

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