Countryside report – June 2022

A Friends of Wither Wood group has formed to support the Woodland Trust in managing the wood, as do groups at East Hill and Cliffe Woods, in support of Kirklees. For example, Cliffe Woods Conservation Group and East Hill have installed additional picnic benches and a bat box with the help of Duke of Edinburgh students. The Upper Dearne Woods group also hosted Cumberworth First School for their geography trip. 

All schools benefit from the Parish’s Eco-Schools support programme and many attended a recent ‘Aspiring Eco-Schools’ event, kindly hosted by St Aidan’s CofE Academy and linked to the Kirklees Climate Commission Youth Panel. School support is a major element of the parish’s Climate Emergency Working Group, who seek to engage businesses (e.g. through Plastic Free July) and hope to run a community conference to coincide with COP 27. 

Churchfield community allotment is continuing to thrive and is indeed expanding, to hopefully accommodate more volunteers. The project has helped those involved through difficult recent times, as has growing on individual’s plots and the wider work/events that have been undertaken by the Friends of Churchfield, e.g. installation of a new bench and a bat walk. Tree dressing in December also brightened up the winter months and on September the 4th it is hoped to run a community picnic with music and an opportunity to view the community allotment. 

Countryside report – June 2022

Denby Dale Parish Environment Trust are welcoming grant applications: http://ddpet.co.uk/projects/grants/ and Clayton West Millennium Green would welcome new volunteers/trustees, so if interested, contact Vicki on 01484 864293. Also around Clayton West, the ‘Rewilding the Dearne’ project continues apace in partnership with Friends of the Dearne, the River Stewardship Company, Don Catchment Rivers Trust and Yorkshire Water. Elsewhere the 10 Villages Conservation Group have helped maintain Skelmanthorpe Orchard, Rec, Park Gate and newt ponds. 

The Countryside Project has also resumed work with the Scissett Litter Pickers and made presentations to Kirkburton Probus, Denby Dale Rotary Club and planted a jubilee tree with their Inner Wheel. It also continues to the link into the wider Dearne Valley Green Heart Nature Improvement Area via the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. 

David Wilde
Countryside Officer
countryside@denbydale.com
07939 446581