ISSUE 10 SUMMER 2011

Communities NEW! The Willow Works

Refurbishment update

From l-r Michael Copleston (RSPB Site Manager), Chris

du Feu (The community group of 'The Old Willow Works,

Beckingham'), Darren Pollard (Project Manager –

Groundwork, Creswell, Ashfield, Mansfield), Virginia

Green (Trent Vale Project Manager), Paul Bennett (RSPB

Warden)

The refurbishment of The Willow Works is now really

coming along as the later stages of the works are done.

While little looks to have changed from the outside,

inside the walls and ceilings are in place, along with

electrics, phone lines and plastering. The lift will soon

be going in and then the kitchen units, furniture and

fittings. It is expected that the TVLP staff will move into

the offices at the end of June.

A team met during May to decide on what types of

display materials could be used inside the building. The

Local History Group, RSPB, TVLP and Groundwork all

gathered around the ‘mood boards’ drawn up to suggest

some colour schemes for the interior. All the partners

will be displaying interpretative materials relevant to the

building and the wider area. The colour scheme will be a

mix of natural browns, greens and oranges, giving the

interior and modern and fresh feel.

Bookings for the building are also gathering pace. The

function room will be an excellent venue for a range of

events and already several parties, exhibitions and

meetings have been booked in!

The Willow Works refurbishment is expected to be

completed by the summer school holidays and open days

and events will be held for anyone interested to come

and have a look at the building. To keep up-to-date

with news on The Willow Works, subscribe to

Groundwork’s Twitter feed: @Gwkcres.

NEW! BESTHORPE VILLAGE

FETE AND NATURE RESERVE

OPEN DAY

A fun-filled day organised by Besthorpe Parish and

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust took place on Saturday 11

June to mark the re-opening of Besthorpe Nature

Reserve. It follows enhancement works to make the

reserve more attractive to wildlife and visitors. Staff and

volunteers ran guided walks around the reserve and held

pond dipping activities throughout the day.

To mark the opening of the Nature Reserve, local artist

Michael Warren has produced stunning artwork of Trent

Vale wildlife through the seasons that has been

reproduced in a celebratory booklet.

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Habitats Community Grants

Community groups awarded grants this quarter include:

Winthorpe Village Allotments - £1,300

Newark Castle - £2,000

If you have a project in mind that aims to improve or

create either habitats and/or heritage features in the

Trent Vale area, or would like further information

about the grants please contact Helen Keating

on 01636 675763.

Farmer/Landowner

Grant Scheme

Funding is still available through the Habitats

and Heritage Farmer grants. This is open to farmers

and other rural landowners to fund a wide range of

biodiversity and heritage projects within the Trent Vale

area, including pond creation, hedge and tree planting,

reversion of arable land to wet grassland, guided walks,

and preservation of heritage features. For further

information contact Jenni Hignett on 0115 958 8242 or

email her at jhignett@nottswt.co.uk

Farmer Grants awarded this quarter:

John Lillie – Creation of 4 wetland scrapes

Roger Brownlow – Pond reprofiling

Chris Molson – Restoration of pond

Learning in Trent Vale

Short courses

Along with the formal courses, a variety of

short courses and activities have been developed

including tree identification, introduction to surveying,

grass identification, fungi identification, introduction to

woodland management, willow coppicing, making living

willow structures and wreath making. For further

information and to book on any of these courses please

contact Sue Coy on 0115 931 3316 or email her at

s.coy@btcv.org.uk

Saturday 6 August - A Moth Identification

evening with Sheila Wright - Nottingham

County Moth Recorder. Venue is Farndon Willow

Holt and adjacent farmland. For further information

please contact Jenni Hignett, Habitats Officer on 0115

958 8242 or email jhighnett@nottswt.co.uk

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Heritage

Besthorpe Community Dig and Archaeology

Open Days

The Nottinghamshire Community Archaeologists are

returning to Besthorpe Quarry near Collingham for

another season of excavation between 8th and 19th

August. There is availability for 20 people per day to join

the community archaeologists, professionals from

University of Salford and volunteers from community

groups in Manchester.

Archaeological Open Day

There will be an open day before the excavation at

Besthorpe on Sunday 24 July which will also be part of

the Festival of British Archaeology. There will be site

tours and a finds display. If you want more information

get in touch with Community Archaeologist Emily Gillott

at Nottinghamshire County Council on 0115 977 2160 or

email Emily.gillott@nottscc.gov.uk

Time Travel Trent Vale 30 July 2011 at

Newark Castle

Following the success of last year's event,

Nottinghamshire County Council's Community

Archaeology Team are once again holding a free public

event entitled "Time Travel Trent Vale" at Newark Castle

from 10 am - 4pm on Saturday 30th July 2011. The event

is being held as part of the Trent Vale project, and to

celebrate the Festival of British Archaeology. Last year,

3000 people visited the event and feedback received was

excellent.

This year, activities will include re-enactors through the

ages, children's activities, a musician and displays. The

Castle will be open for the public to visit rooms not

normally open, including the dungeons, which was

extremely popular last year. Beware the executioner!

Archiving Training

There are several history and heritage groups in Trent

Vale actively researching fascinating information, stories

and images about their local area.

In order to promote best practice and to provide advice

and support, Trent Vale organised a day’s training at the

Nottinghamshire Archives on 19 March. Seventeen people

came along and enjoyed the day (and the lunch!).

The course included preservation, handling and storage

of documents, materials that can be sourced for

research, a tour and a session on digital archives. The

day was particularly useful for networking, and groups

expressed the need to set up a networking group where

they can communicate with each other on email.

Our next step is to create the Trent Vale Heritage

Network email group, so if you are interested in being

added to the list please let us know!

We are hoping to run further similar days at the

Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Archives for all those

who could not attend.

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Get involved

Walks

Healthy Walks in and around

Gainsborough If you are interested in joining any of the walks please

contact Jackie Brown on 01427 675138 or email her

at Jackie.brown@west-lindsey.gov.uk

Knaith Park – Friday 8 July 1.30pm

Blyton – Monday 11 July 1.30pm

Misterton – Wednesday 20 July 1.30pm

Beckingham Woodyard – Friday 29 July 1.30pm

Walkerith – Wednesday 3 August 1.30 pm

Laughterton to Fenton – Wednesday 10 August 1.30pm

West Stockwith – Friday 19 August 1.30pm

Marton – Monday 22 August 1.30pm

Malcolm Saville is co-ordinating walks in the Sutton on

Trent area. For further information on the walks below

contact Malcolm Saville at malcsaville@btinternet.com

(emailed Malcolm 17 may)

Buggy Walks

Sconce and Devon Park, Newark every Wednesday

meeting at 10am.

For further information contact Stuart Green the Healthy

Lifestyles Officer at Newark and Sherwood District

Council on 01636 655707 or email

stuart.green@nsdc.info.

Sustrans Cycle Rides

Sunday 10 July 10.00am – meet at Retford Market Square

in front of Town Hall for approximately 5.5 hour ride

Sunday 21 August 11.15am – meet at The Green,

Collingham for a moderate ride to Whisby Nature

Reserve. Approximately 5 hours.

Meet at The Grove Sports Centre car park, Newark NG24

3AL for routes below.

Fledborough Viaduct

10.00 am Saturday 3 September

The Grantham Triangle

10am Sunday 18 September

Volunteering opportunity: Social

Media Coordinator

We currently seeking a volunteer active in social media to

help manage and coordinate our social media campaigns

to promote Trent Vale events, training and activities

using popular media channels such as Twitter and Flickr

for one to two hours per fortnight.

If you are interested, please contact Christine Jordan at

Christine.Jordan@britishwaterways.co.uk or call 01636

675770.

Volunteer will ideally have computer and internet access

at home and there may be initial meetings at the Trent

Vale office (either at Newark on Trent or the Old Willow

Work, Beckingham (Nottinghamshire). Travel expenses

will be reimbursed. There may be the possibility of desk

space at the Old Willow Works if preferable.

To find out more about any of the information listed

above, and to see what else is happening in Trent Vale,

please visit our blog:

www.trentvale.wordpress.com

TRENT VALE LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP

The key partners involved are; Bassetlaw District Council, British

Waterways, BTCV, Environment Agency, Groundwork Lincolnshire,

Groundwork Creswell, Ashfield and Mansfield, Lincolnshire County

Council, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Newark and

Sherwood District Council, Nottinghamshire County Council,

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, On Trent Initiative, The RSPB, West

Lindsey District Council.