Update on orchard progress

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Over the last fortnight, the Ranger Service, working with Parks and Countryside Volunteer Rangers, student placements from Pontville School and West Lancs college and Team Tawd (the Friday group) to progress the community orchard.  Between them they have constructed 250m of path which links from the riverside to Manfield and passes through the new orchard. They have also built a bridge, which crosses to the next field.

On Saturday 3rd November the Friends of the Tawd and other volunteers scattered poppy and wildflower seeds and prepared the ground for when the fruit trees arrive. The poppy seeds are scattered as an end-of-WW1 commemoration.

The orchard is going to become a WW1 commemoration orchard and any suggestions for a name are welcome!

 

Water Environment Grant bid unsuccessful

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We recently applied for a Water Environment Grant (WEG) to fund the installation of wetland areas in Tawd Valley – to clean up the water before it enters the river.  Unfortunately we were recently informed that our bid has been unsuccessful.    In all 316 applications were received by WEG which meant that they had bids for over three times the funding they had available, so obviously we had a lot of competition.

The WEG scheme provides funding to improve the water environment in Rural England, and although the installation of wetland areas in Tawd Valley would have helped the rural areas downstream, including the Douglas Valley, it was felt that our bid was not as strong as some others they received.

However, we have not given up on the project to install  new wetland areas in Tawd Valley Park and we have already opened discussions with other potential funders. We will keep you updated on how we progress.