Garth Johnson, a committee member, is taking a monthly photograph of the River Derwent – the view from the bridge in the centre of the village.
The photos will be posted as a slide show in the River Derwent photo gallery [see pages]. Over time, they will give an insight into the effect of seasonal change on the riverside.
Here are the first 2 photos for September and October.
Final approval of a £2000 grant from the Derwent Valley Partnership has now been given and 50 tubs have been ordered. For this winter they are being provided this month, ready filled with peat free compost, daffodils and winter pansies. Next year and in the following years [until the tubs fall apart] the Trust will need to purchase plants for summer and winter bedding.
Junior School pupils are going to maintain the 6 tubs outside their gates. We only need a few more volunteers to sign up to plant and maintain 2 or 3 tubs each.
The red dots on the maps show the location of the tubs. [Click on each image to enlarge.]
On Monday, a judge from Northumbria in Bloom came to give advice and suggested that we should first concentrate on the Conservation Area in the centre of the village leading up to and including Snows Green. In future years we hope to expand the area covered by the initiative and enter the Britain in Bloom competition proper.
The ‘ Shotley Bridge Bloomers’ have now finalised plans to brighten up the conservation area with planters full of winter pansies and spring daffodils.
With a grant from the Derwent Valley Partnership, the Trust is looking to provide 45 tubs in the centre of the village and at Snows Green, by the end of September this year.
Volunteers will maintain the tubs and plant them up with summer bedding next year. Sponsors are being sought and fund raising events are to be organised for this.
The project is part of the Trust’s entry in the Britain in Bloom Neighbourhood Awards.
The Shotley Bridge conservation Area was originally designated in 1975 and the boundary has been amended three times since.
A Conservation Area Appraisal has been produced by Northumberland and Durham County Councils to assess the features and qualities of the Area that make it special, and consider how it can be effectively preserved and enhanced. The Village Trust was consulted on the draft version and the final version was adopted in December 2009.
The document explains the planning policy framework, history of development, buildings and materials of architectural interest. Nine character areas are described, issues and potential for improvement are discussed and management proposals outlined. There are some interesting maps and photographs as well as information on all the listed buildings and buildings of local interest.
Download a .pdf version of the document from the Conservation Area page.
A dozen volunteers turned up this morning to collect litter and rubbish from the country lanes in Northumberland. During the 2 hour operation a van and trailer load of litter, tyres, car crash parts, building materials, a dvd player, radio, computer disk drive and two plastic doll arms were collected.
Between Shotley Bridge and The Snods on the B6278, known locally as Burnmill Bank, we filled 12 bags with litter. Most of this being food and drink containers that had been discarded from vehicles over the last 12 months. That’s a bag of litter per month, on average, thrown away by people who just want to keep their vehicles clean but have no respect for the countryside.
Shotley Bridge Village Trust 