On Saturday morning volunteers from the Village Trust planted up over 50 tubs with tulips, daffodils, crocus and grape hyacinth bulbs together with polyanthus plants.
Thank you to our local councillors and the Project Genesis Trust for providing the funding.
The photos show just a few of the volunteers getting wet!
For the fifth year running, the Trust is taking part in the Heritage Open Days Festival, over the next two weekends.
Volunteers from the Trust’s Heritage Group will be showing visitors around some of the buildings and sites in the village where new ‘QR’ Plaques are being installed and explaining the history of each.
Half a dozen Trust members spent a couple of hours this morning collecting debris, moss and leaves from the Triangle in the centre of the village. The block paving around the history board has been cleared of moss and weeds. Eighteen bags of compostable materials were removed, for the council to collect.
Thank you to the volunteers and to Isabella’s who provided complimentary coffees on completion.
The council intend cleaning the moss from the tarmac areas and repainting the fencing and furniture. Two new seats are also to be provided with the last of the S106 money from the Storey Homes development on the former hospital site.
The annual Spring litter pick by the Village Trust was carried out this morning. Thank you to the nine members who volunteered their time. The village is looking much tidier. Lets try and keep it that way. Only 10 bags collected this year compared to 20 in April 2018.
The Purple4Polio croci are flowering a month earlier this year, because of the mild weather. These are the 5000 bulbs planted in 2017 by the Village Trust provided by Consett Rotary Club. Another 5000 more bulbs were planted last November but these are only just starting to peep through.
The purple crocus is a symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate polio, with its colour representing the purple dye used to mark the finger of a child to indicate they have received their life saving oral polio vaccine.
More information can be found on the Rotary website
Consett Rotary Club has given the Trust another 5000 crocus bulbs, to plant in the village.
They have been planted further along the grass verge in front of Riverside, around the Pant and in the verge at Snows Green.
Ten members of the Trust and members of Consett Rotary, who provided the bulbs, volunteered for a couple of hours.
The purple crocus is a symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate polio, with its colour representing the purple dye used to mark the finger of a child to indicate they have received their life saving oral polio vaccine.
More information can be found on the Rotary website.
Again, the Trust is taking part this year in the Heritage Open Days Festival this September. The same walks as last year are being offered, but over 2 weekends. Volunteers from the Heritage Group will be guiding visitors around the heritage of the village.
Thank you to the 8 Trust members who came to the working party on Friday morning to weed the tubs, beds, triangle and paths in the village centre. The place is looking much more cared for now.
This morning the Trust’s volunteers planted the summer bedding in tubs and planters, within the conservation area. Thank you to those that helped and Beveridge’s for supplying and delivering the plants.
We are trying out a more experimental mixture of plants this summer, in the hope of adding more variety. We hope you like the difference.
On Friday, volunteers from the Village Trust were maintaining the sustainable beds in the village centre that the Trust has adopted. The spring bedding in some of our tubs was in full bloom, too.
Thank you to the 15 Trust members who collected 20 bags of litter this morning, during our annual Spring litter pick in the village.
Last October volunteers from the Trust planted 5000 purple crocus bulbs on the verge opposite Rumi’s. They had been provided by Consett Rotary Club to raise awareness of its ‘Purple for Polio’ national campaign.
A couple of weeks ago just a handful of crocus were visible, but the warmer weather following the ‘Beast from the East’ has led to the start of blooming. A bit more sunshine over the next few days should ensure a wonderful Easter display, provided children and dogs don’t trample the flowers.
Last Friday morning a group of 5 volunteers cleared overhanging branches, debris and mud from the well used tarmac path between Briary Gardens and Peile Park. It is also known as the ‘Chicken Run’, as there used to be a chicken coup in the field beside the path. The stream was also cleared of debris.
The Trust has been given 5000 crocus bulbs by Consett Rotary Club, to plant in the village.
It was decided to plant them along the grass verge opposite Rumi’s, in front of the daffodil bulbs which the Trust planted a few years ago.
Over half were planted yesterday by seven volunteers from the Trust and another working party has been arranged for next Friday to finish the job.
The Rotary’s Purple4Polio initiative in 2016 was a huge success with nearly 7 million purple corms being planted across Great Britain and Ireland resulting in a carpet of purple in communities during spring 2017. This year, Rotary is aiming to go even further and plant 10 million purple crocus corms!
The purple crocus is a symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate polio, with its colour representing the purple dye used to mark the finger of a child to indicate they have received their life saving oral polio vaccine.
More information can be found on the Rotary website.
Thank you to the 10 Trust members who helped remove litter, moss & weeds from the pavements and ‘triangle’ in the village centre yesterday morning. Everywhere looks much tidier now, after only a couple of hours work.
Working parties are being held on the first Friday morning of the month. Next month we are bulb planting, daffodils & croci along the main road.
Despite the weather, two dozen people enjoyed the HOD walks in Shotley Bridge this weekend.
Thank you to the members of the Village Trust Heritage Group who led the guided walks.
Copies of the Trust’s History booklet can be purchased from Harrington Brown Estate Agents, in Shotley Bridge, or on-line from eBay.
For the third year the Trust is giving guided walks during the “Heritage Open Days” festival, on 9th & 10th September.
The walks are based on the Trust’s Shotley Bridge History booklet that was published last year.
There will be a choice of 4 walks, guided by the Trust members who researched and wrote the publication.
The 32 page booklet will be on sale for £3 at the end of each tour. Shotley Bridge pin badges will also be available for £2.
Self guided walks will also be available, based on the Trust’s publication ‘Shotley Bridge Heritage Trail’.
Have a look at the other places to visit during the 4 day Heritage Open Days festival
On Saturday morning 15 members of the Trust, together with our local county councillors, picked up litter from the village centre and along the main roads radiating outwards. Thank you to all those who volunteered. The village looks a lot tidier now.
The next meeting of the Shotley Bridge Village Trust is on 21st March. Please invite your relatives, friends & neighbours to come along.
Kath Marshall-Ivens, Community Engagement Officer, from Groundwork will be giving a presentation about the ‘Land of Oak & Iron’ Landscape Partnership. This 4 year project, hosted by Groundwork NE & Cumbria, is supported by a £2.2 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Working with local communities and partners it aims to conserve, enhance and celebrate the natural, industrial and cultural heritage of the Derwent Valley. There are now 14 projects being delivered until 2020, with many opportunities for local people, groups and organisations to get involved through a range of different activities.
For more information about the Partnership and opportunities to get involved go to their website.
