2024

We are currently looking for new trustees (see poster) and for people willing to help lead work parties (see poster).
Contact us at thegreen@halesworth.net 

November News

Youngsters explore the Millennium Green

What did 90 Edgar Sewter pupils have a whale of a time doing over two chilly October days? They came down to the Green to pursue their study of ecosystems – to hunt for fruit in the Orchard, wild plants in the meadows, and every freshwater-living small creature under the sun from the dipping platform on the dyke near White Bridge. The Green’s volunteers who worked with them were impressed and delighted by their curiosity, cheerfulness and readiness to learn.

Hotly followed by lots of much smaller people at the half-term Scarecrow Festival Pond Dipping event. They netted everything from giant to mini insects: Great Diving Water beetles to Caddis Fly larvae who build themselves tiny houses from twigs to live in until they’re ready to surface and fly. One enthusiast caught a total of 15 tiny fish, another majored on finding snails. And no-one at all fell in.

October News

Rain? Bring it on – the rain storms have been exceptional in recent weeks but they don’t dismay the Green’s volunteers. This is the season of haymaking in the meadows on the Holton Road side of White Bridge and our volunteers have turned up to the work parties every one of these soaking wet weeks. Except the work party we cancelled, there are limits!

The more the merrier is a tired phrase, but true. Every time you turn from the haystack you can see that a good handful of other people have moved further down the meadow, and it’s all done sooner than you expected. If we don’t cut, and then if we don’t remove the cut material, the more fragile and rarer flowers get overwhelmed and slowly disappear. Then all that’s left is scrub, and although scrub is valuable too – see who hunts over Chestnut Meadow which is all scrub now except for the little inner circles we cut – wildflowers are in more danger and losing more habitats. And yes we have tried using tractors rather than volunteer labour to mow these meadows but we have found that they compact the ground, can’t cope all that well with the dense vegetation, and don’t give small mammals and reptiles time to escape. Mashed toad and wrecked harvest mouse nests don’t help the wildlife. Machinery just doesn’t do the wildlife-supporting job as well as people taking their time and being thorough. Just imagine the seriously damaging mess a tractor would have created in the recent weather, if it didn’t get stuck.

There’s still a very little bit more haymaking to finish and then we’ll be on to other jobs and the reduced pressure of autumn. We’re meeting at the moment at Arthur’s Wood, that’s down the little track next to the railway bridge on Quay Street, at 9.30am and everyone is enormously welcome.  Meanwhile, next time you go for a stroll along the well-cut paths and notice how flourishing the plant and wildlife alongside is, spare a cheering and thankful thought for the Green’s waterproof volunteers.

September News

Yes it’s actually started; the contractors who are replacing White Bridge are on site. They will be working from the Industrial Estate end of the Track. The first job is to gently move the water voles on so you’ll see them strimming the banks, which is done under licence and with ecologists on hand. Next the stone will be brought in for the riffle that will replace the sluice under White Bridge. The riffle makes it possible for eels and other water animals to pass upstream which they haven’t been able to do for many years because of the steep-sided sluice, and it will also make a pleasant amenity for people using the Green. After that the old bridge will be removed and the new one finally brought in.

You might have met some strange and wonderful bikes on the Green in the last month. They are adapted for accompanied disabled riding and are having some trial runs for a project which will be starting in the summer in 2025 with regular mornings on the Green.  You or someone you know – through personal contact, or whatever group you work or volunteer with – might love to be a BANS client or to volunteer to do some support riding. Contact Bike Active North Suffolk on  bansuffolk@gmail.com for more information. 

This is the month of haymaking in the meadows on the Holton Road side of the White Bridge. We meet at 9.30 at Arthur’s Wood – that’s down the little track next to the railway bridge on Quay Street – and everyone is enormously welcome. If we don’t do this old-fashioned and enjoyable job the smaller, rarer flowers and plants are overcome by scrub growth, so haymaking helps to maintain the wonderful variety of flowers and wildlife on the Millennium Green.

August News

We’re very happy to be able to pass on the news from Suffolk County Council that contractors are lining up and work is scheduled to start on the building phase of replacing the White Bridge on the Millennium Green in September.

The first job will be to build a stone “riffle”, a mound of stones within the channel of the New Reach. This will replace the sluice that sits under White Bridge and keeps the water level up above the bridge. The riffle will allow fish and eels to pass upstream, which the current sluice doesn’t. The final job will be doing the footings and bringing in the new bridge.

This will mean that between September and early December there will be a lot of materials stored on the Green in various places, a fair bit of machinery movement and a lot of activity at the bridge site. Materials may be coming in both from Quay Street and from the Blyth Road Industrial Estate and clearly there will be disturbance of the ground which could look a mess for a while. The contractors will take as much care as possible and nature has a great power of recovery, the great thing is that the new bridge is on its way.

The Green has an active and cheerful volunteer body helping with work-parties, planning events, keeping on top of the finance, running the special projects that crop up. Come and be part of it all. Have a browse on www.millenniumgreen.halesworth.net  and contact the Green at thegreen@halesworth.net

July News

The Millennium Green is immensely proud to introduce to the town to a brand new project which will soon be operating on the Green. As part of an initiative to provide safe cycling to less able adults, such as those with a disability or recovering from an illness, “Bike Active North Suffolk BANS” is a new group currently being established in Halesworth to provide similar facilities to sister group “Bike Active Norfolk”. Subject to adequate demand, funds and volunteers, from Spring 2025 the group expect to operate on the all-weather traffic-free Track. The Track is part of National Cycle Route 1 so there is no better place for this wonderful project to be.

And if you didn’t get down to the Green on Saturday 15^th June, during National cycling week, you missed a rare opportunity to see and try out these very special cycles. The BANS group, which is run purely by volunteers, held a demonstration on the Green of bicycles available for clients, ranging from standard solo to fully wheelchair designed bikes. The event drew considerable interest, and the group is keen to hear from prospective clients, donors or volunteers that are essential to making the group a sustainable success – email BANSuffolk@gmail.com to express an interest, or for more details. In addition, if you are interested to see how these groups operate, take a look at the sister group website at bikeactivenorfolk.org.

During the Green’s special 25^th anniversary year, our Explore in ’24 series of walks and activities continues to be hugely enjoyable, look out for the next Walk led by an expert in mid-August when we’ll be out hunting for dragonflies and other insects.  And if you’re interested in joining the invertebrate “bioblitz” that we have advertised previously for mid-July you’re not too late, contact Nicky on nicky.rowbottom@btinternet.com  to join in. The Green’s a big place, and very varied, we welcome all the help we can get. Buns and soft drinks provided.

June News

After a pouring day at the very end of May there was a lull in the drizzle and 15 well-waterproofed people turned up for a companionable Wildflower Walk. Starting at Arthur’s Wood, we passed dabs of late apple blossom and nettles with leaves the size of tea plates and into the meadow with ecologist and plant enthusiast Dorothy Casey. She helped to expand our plant identification and knowledge and helped us to get to know a bit more about our amazing Millennium Green. To name just a fraction of what we saw: Ragged robin, Yellow flag, Horsetail, Common mouse-ear, Hazel, Cow parsley, Tansy, Angelica, Almond, Bittersweet, Adders tongue (fern), the tiny dots of blue water forget-me-not and the white of Lady’s smock, stopping to look and enjoy the unmistakable scent of water mint as we swished through.

If you missed that Walk, or came on it and would like to see what’s around a month later, there’s another opportunity on Sunday 30^th June. This time the Wildflower Walk will be 10 to 11.30am, once again with Dorothy, to look for some of the Green’s mid-summer wildflowers and compare today’s list with what we know was here 20 years ago. We’ll meet at the entrance to Arthur’s Wood which is down the track by the railway bridge in Quay Street (What 3 words ///songbirds.basics.toward) 

Calling all beetle-, bug-, fly-, etc enthusiasts: on Saturday 20^th July 10 till 4ish we’ll be running an invertebrate “bioblitz”.  We’re asking anyone who’s keen and knowledgeable about invertebrates to come and see what they can find all over the Green. We have lots of data from former years but we’d love to add to it, and compare today’s total with what we know from the past. Please get in touch with Nicky on nicky.rowbottom@btinternet.com  to join in. It’s a big place, and very varied, we welcome all the help we can get. Buns and soft drinks provided.

May News

Meeting at 4.30 in the morning didn’t stop 16 valiant people turning up for a terrific symphony of a Dawn Chorus – 18 species identified, hot drinks and nibbles much enjoyed at the end.

What’s next for Explore in ’24? At the very end of this month on Thursday 30^th May there will be an evening walk 7 – 8.30pm with ecologist and plant enthusiast Dorothy Casey, to look for some of the Green’s early summer wildflowers and compare today’s list with what we know was here 20 years ago. Find out more about why we manage some areas of the Green so intensively and leave others alone. Meet at the River Lane entrance to the Green, that’s near the basketball court (What 3 words ///chess.supply.shortage)

And then in the middle of June, Saturday 15^th, is a real first for the Green: Millennium Green’s Bike Day from 10am to 4pm. Bike wheel sculpture, bike challenges and fun PLUS  something very special – a demonstration of several bikes adapted for people with disabilities by Bike Active North Suffolk. This group will be starting to offer rides on the Green in 2025. The Bike Day is your chance to meet them and their bikes, see how you might make use of the opportunity to join their rides, or to come and help those who do. This will be a new group working in a very similar way to Bike Active Norfolk, have a look at that website to learn more about Bike Active’s terrific work.

All the Explore in ’24 events planned so far – and there will be more throughout the year – are on our website under “Our Activities / What’s On”. 

It’s 25 years since the Green was set up in 1999 with the help of money from government, Europe, local businesses, local groups and individuals. Halesworth is so lucky to have this extraordinary, huge, open space, with free public access to every part, historic railway and waterway, and bursting with wildlife – some of it rare and all of it special.  The Green has an active and cheerful volunteer body helping with work-parties, planning events, keeping on top of the finance, running the special projects that crop up. Come and be part of it all.

April News

Join the early birds and vole detectives on the Green

There are more Explore in ’24 events coming your way in the next weeks. On Sunday 21^st April starting at 10.30 we’ll be walking the Green’s waterways with ecologist Penny Hemphill, for many years Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Water for Wildlife Officer. We’ll learn how to look for signs of water voles and otters along any waterway.  Both these species use the Green’s rivers, dykes and ponds (see photo, thank you Tony Dunn).  And afterwards  … 12 noon there’ll be a short film show of various riverside mammals who live in or visit the Green, in The Stables behind The Angel. Meet at Blyth Mews footbridge in the Town Park for the Walk at 10.30.

Our first May event is on Sunday 5^th May starting just a little earlier – at 4.30am !!  because this is a Dawn Chorus Walk. No need to trek off to ancient woodlands or reedbed reserves – the Green has got a whole host of songbirds who’ll be waking up and shouting right here in Halesworth. In the company of experts, you can learn to tell a song thrush from a mistle thrush, and a Cetti’s warbler from a whitethroat. How are the songbirds faring? Will we hear more than 20 species? Come and find out. And to cheer you on there will be hot drinks and cakes at the end. Meet at the entrance to Arthur’s Wood, that’s down the track right next to the railway bridge in Quay Street.

All the Explore in ’24 events planned so far – and there will be more throughout the year – are on our website under “Our Activities / What’s On”. 

It’s 25 years since the Green was set up in 1999 with the help of money from government, Europe, local businesses, local groups and individuals. The town is so lucky to have this extraordinary, huge, open space, with free public access to every part, and bursting with wildlife – some of it rare and all of it special.  The Green has an active and cheerful volunteer body helping with work-parties, planning events, keeping on top of the finance, running the special projects that crop up. Come and be part of it all

March News

Look out for Explore in ’24 on the Green

What’s Explore in ’24?  It’s the Green’s year-long celebration of 25 years of setting up, expanding, working on and enjoying the town’s wonderful 55 acres of open space. The first Explore in ’24 event was the Big Bird Count on the same day as the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. On a cold unpromising day the group recorded 26 different species including Cetti’s warbler and siskin, capped off at the very end by 20 redpoll swooping in to land. And now spring is really beginning with chiffchaffs in the hedges and frogspawn in the pond.

The next Explore in ’24  event will be on Sunday 21^st April, a Water Vole and Otter walk along the waterways; then for the early risers a Dawn Chorus Walk on Sunday 5^th May; at the end of May on Thursday 30^th Plant Hunting; as summer gets going a very special Bike Day on Saturday 15^th June; at the end of June on Sunday 30^th another Plant Hunting walk and then a Bat Evening Walk on Wednesday 7^th August – and more in the months after that. Very soon further details, will be on the  “Our Activities / What’s On” page.

Thank you Halesworth for your response to the survey forms the volunteers posted through most of the letterboxes in town. We have had masses of replies in the collecting boxes we placed in the Library, Chinny’s and The Angel – many thanks to them for giving our boxes the space – telling us about how you use the Green, what you value about it and how you would like to help. We have replied to nearly all those offers now but if we somehow missed you out and there is something you think you could do to help the Green thrive – join a work party? help with social media? do some bookkeeping? help do the backroom work to get a project along to delivery? – get in touch.

And a particularly big thank you to the kind anonymous donor who posted a big gift of money through the letterbox at the Bainers’ house. Right at the beginning of our special year that was so wonderfully cheering.

It’s 25 years since the Green was set up in 1999 with the help of money from government, Europe, local businesses, local groups and individuals. The town is so lucky to have this extraordinary, huge, open space, with free public access to every part, and bursting with wildlife – some of it rare and all of it special.  The Green has an active and cheerful volunteer body helping with work-parties, planning events, keeping on top of the finance, running the special projects that crop up. Come and be part of it all.

February’s News

WinterLight! is back on the Green for half term

Remember the 15 foot caterpillar winding its way to the Green?  The enormous owl shaking its head on a 30 foot pole? The ghost on a bicycle? If you do, you know you can expect something puzzling in the daylight and sparkling effects after dark. If you don’t, now is your chance to share the Green’s WinterLight! experience for the first time.

For the whole of half term, Saturday 17^th to Sunday 25^th February, the WinterLight! Trail and Quiz will be on the Green. Find details through the QR code which is here and on the posters around town and along the Track. There will also be some printed Trail-and-Quiz forms in the Library and in Hetty’s.

But don’t stop there:  at the end of half-term on Sunday 25^th February there’s a brand new Millennium Green film to see made by Johnny Thompson. You’ll see into corners of the Green you might not have visited yet and certainly not from the air, and you’ll see how the Green has changed over 25 years. Help to decide what happens in the next 25 years! The Green’s film will be having its World Premier! at The Cut around 2.20 but if you get there at 2.00 you’ll also very much enjoy “Caught in the Act” by Meg Amsden starring local otters. And if you spend the day at The Cut you’ll see a whole batch of interesting and beautiful films in the Big Green Film Day run by Halesworth ASH (Area Sustainable Hub).

What’s special about this year for the Millennium Green? It’s 25 years since the Green was set up in 1999 with the help of money from government, Europe, local businesses, local groups and individuals. The town is so lucky to have this extraordinary, huge, open space, with free public access to every part, and bursting with wildlife – some of it rare and all of it special.  The Green has an active and cheerful volunteer body helping with work-parties, planning events, keeping on top of the finance, running the special projects that crop up. Come and be part of it all.

January’s News

Big Millennium Green year – don’t miss out

What’s special about this year? It’s 25 years since Halesworth Millennium Green was set up, with the help of money from government, Europe, local businesses, groups and individuals. The town is so lucky to have this extraordinary open space, with free public access to every corner – and bursting with wildlife, some of it rare and all of it special.

Sometimes people say to the work-party volunteers “Why don’t you just leave it and let it get on naturally?”  The answer is because after not very long at all you wouldn’t be able to follow the paths – they would all be entirely overgrown – and all the meadows would begin to look the same because no grazing or mowing or woodland-management would be being done. The range of wildflowers and wild animals would diminish and become the same in every part of the Green. Trees would start to fall on your heads, the benches and the all-weather Track would decay and disappear.

And that’s just what’s visible – so much has to happen behind the scenes: making sure the money is there to renew fencing and maintain tools, sorting out grazing issues, working with local and national agencies to create new ponds, new tree planting, new ideas about how to make things even more accessible and enjoyable for people. The behind-the-scenes people are the Trustees who are volunteers just like the work-party people. We do everything we can to spread the jobs so that no one person has to do too much, which makes things easier when volunteers move away or otherwise stop volunteering. If a lot of us do a small thing each, no-one is overloaded.

You can help! How? Look out for the Big Green Survey forms that will be in Chinny’s, the Library, and the Angel (and coming through doors) very soon. You can tell us about your use of the Green and how you’d like to help in this special celebration year. You might be able to help keep the Green ticking along by joining work-parties or working with the Trustees behind the scenes. 

2023

December’s News

Celebration of the first 25 years of the Green

In 2024 the Green volunteers will be running events to celebrate the (nearly) 25 years of the establishment of Halesworth Millennium Green. There will be an event to Launch the Celebration in February – look out for information about where and what – and throughout the year there will be opportunities for you to spend a couple of hours on the Green with an expert of one kind or another helping to survey what’s there. Wildlife that moves as well as wildlife that’s rooted to the spot will be checked over. More details in next month’s Community News.

The Green can be stunning in these winter months, and it’s doing its job of helping to prevent flooding in the town by soaking up water in the meadows. So don’t be frustrated by the puddles, put on your wellies and keep visiting – but stay well away from the New Reach and the river when they are full. Our local rivers are “flashy” because of all the drainage into them and the levels can come up very, very quickly. Two of our lump benches were swept a long way from their places by the water – now replaced by the volunteers, but this shows how powerful flood water can be. 

November’s News

Hooray for volunteers who look after the Green!

Did you know that the Green is not owned by a council or other authority, and is not managed or maintained by anyone who gets paid?  The land is owned by a charity, the charity is run by Trustees who are volunteers, the work on the land is done by work-party volunteers.

If all the Trustees and work-party volunteers downed tools tomorrow, what would happen?  The all-weather cycle track would crack up – at the moment volunteers spray off the weeds to prevent that from happening.  The paths would become unwalkable – you’ve seen volunteers working on keeping them clear. Fences would fall and obstruct the paths. The open meadows would gradually fill with scrub and become impenetrable – you’ve seen us haymaking. The owls and kestrels would have no open areas to hunt small mammals in, the wildflowers that flourish in open conditions would be swamped by rough grass and overshadowed by shade. And without Trustees the charity’s connections with the local councils and with other community groups in the town would disappear, new projects would not arise – would the land still be available for public use?

So here’s a loud “hooray” for all the volunteers, past and present, who over the years have made the Green what it is today and who continue to keep it accessible for people and varied for wildlife, and who work to keep in touch with others in the town.  And a “welcome” for the volunteers of the future.

We will soon be sending out all around the town an invitation to take part in a Millennium Green Celebration Survey to mark the first 25 years – a whole quarter century – of the Green and you can help enormously by returning the survey to us. And look out for the Celebration Launch Event in February 2024.

October’s News 

Maintenance on the Green with White Bridge closed

Since the 1770s when the New Reach waterway was dug for wherry traffic, there has always been a bridge at White Bridge. Was the bridge just for foot traffic? No, it has always been wide enough to accommodate passage by whoever owned the land on either side to cross with a cart, horse and other land management equipment. The current bridge is the latest in that long, 250-year line of “accommodation” bridges.

he landowner on both sides is now Halesworth Millennium Green Trust, which is the charity that holds the land for the local community. The volunteers who maintain the Green for you need to be able to get across the New Reach with mowers and other tools to keep maintaining the paths so that you can use them. We also need to keep the habitats in good heart for wildlife by haymaking and other conservation work. No need for horses and carts nowadays, just mowers and fully laden wheelbarrows, but these are wider than simple foot traffic. So, the community needs White Bridge replaced like-for-like and we know that Suffolk County Council, who are responsible for the bridge, has embraced that need.

Meanwhile, with the bridge closed, and after such a warm and wet growing season, the volunteers know that everywhere on the Green is a bit more wild-and-woolly than usual. We’ll keep on doing what we can within the restrictions of not being able to cross the bridge with equipment and we look forward to the day when the closure of White Bridge is a distant memory.

September’s News

Why not use a tractor on the Green?

As the Green volunteers cut the hay with our small mowers and rake it off, we’re often asked “Why don’t you use a tractor? Why rake the hay off?” There are quite a few reasons.

We have tried with a tractor – the kind of tractor that our wet ground can support carries the cutting equipment behind (not in front like a combine harvester). This means that the long grass is partly crushed down by the tractor before the cutters reach it, so the cutting is not efficient and raking off is unbelievbly hard.

Why not cut earlier when the hay is less matted? because the wildflowers haven’t finished seeding.

Why rake off what we’ve cut, why not just let it lie? because wildflowers need “poor” soil, and rotting hay and vegetation put nutrients back into the ground which wildflowers don’t like.

Tractors move too quickly for small animals to get out of the way. At our last work-party we rescued a toad and several harvest mouse nests – a tractor driver simply can’t see small animals quickly enough. So although we don’t use scythes (unless you’d really like a go at that) we do use the next most flexible and wildlife-friendly option – that is small slow mowers followed by a team of rakers. It can be hot but it’s very rewarding work, we’re always amazed at how much we achieve each week.

With White Bridge closed, we meet at Arthur’s Wood gate which is a very short way down the track off Quay Street just before the railway bridge. During the hot weather we’re meeting earlier at 9 am (not 9.30 am).

Don’t forget! Now is the best time for scrumping in the Community Orchard, pears and apples are falling to the ground.

August’s News

Haymaking on the Green

Haymaking is underway on the Holton Road side of White Bridge. If we don’t cut these meadows, the coarser grases and commoner plants dominate and the rarer wildflowers and creatures who live among their roots will die out.

On the Holton Road side of White Bridge, in the meadows called Folly Meadow, Poplar Meadow and Orchard Meadow, we can hope to see adder’s tongue fern, common spotted orchids, ragged robin, alder buckthorn, slow worms and grass snakes, toads, lizards, Norfolk Hawker dragonflies, bats etc…but these can’t flourish if we allow the ranker growth and scrub to get established. So if you love to see these plants and animals on your walks through the Green, and if you can spare an hour or two on a Wednesday morning, meet the volunteers at 9.30 am at the gate at Arthur’s Wood, just off Quay Street down the little track from the railway bridge.

Meanwhile remember that the  ommunity Orchard is for scrumping. Apples and plums are getting ripe – the birds get nearly all the cherries – and your’re welcome to take them. Do keep letting us know of any exciting sightings, you can contact the Green directly on: thegreen@halesworth.net

July’s News

Worrying damage on the Green

We recently alerted everyone to the theft of a newly-planted young tree from our new Commemorative Community Wood alongside the Track in Angel Meadow and we’re very grateful for the stream of sympathy and outrage that came back to us. Unfortunately, we have to report more damage very recently: the life-sized model wagon in the engine shed worked on with great skill and love by our local Narrow Gauge Railway Society has been interfered with and fencing broken, and in Blyth Meadow more fencing has been brought down and a favourite log bench, the one by the pond, uprooted. This has all been reported to the police.

We have never had a spate of damage like this before. Some of the damage would have required considerable strength and in any case we are never quick to blame “the kids” – it is our experience that local youngsters love the Green and don’t damage either the furniture or the trees, and are often helpful to people on the Green. So if you do see anything odd going on we don’t ask you to get involved but do please take a photo if it’s safe to do so and tell us about what you saw on thegreen@halesworth.net  

Much better news is that we have completed the transfer of the Trust, which we flagged up a few months ago, from an old-fashioned status to the new one of Charitable Incorporated Organisation or CIO. This means that Trustees will have less personal liability than before should the Trust get into trouble, and that the way the Trust is run is more up-to-date. 

 

Do keep letting us know of any exciting sightings – it’s not only damage that we want to know about, the Green continues to be a wonderful space for wildlife and people alike.   You can contact the Green directly on thegreen@halesworth.net 

June’s News

Launch of Woolnough Way on the Green

 

In 2013 the whole community helped to make the Track happen (raising money, working with Sustrans, putting up with construction mud in one of the wettest springs there’s ever been) but the idea would never have taken shape at all if not for the work of Richard and Judith Woolnough, the first Trustee and Secretary of the Green.

So on the 10th anniversary last month, it was a delight to celebrate their crucial input by launching ‘Woolnough Way’ with a terrific community event and the unveiling of new signs and with three generations of Woolnoughs in attendance.

Spring is definitely sprung: Keep letting us know of any exciting sightings on the Green you can contact the Green directly on thegreen@halesworth.net 

May’s News

10th birthday of the Green’s Track on Sunday 21st May

Bikes, scooters, prams, wheelbarrows, bring them along, decorated, or just come along yourself to join the birthday party! We’re calling everyone in and around Haleswroth to join in the 10th birthday party for the all-weather track which takes you from the town park right through the Green’s water meadows up to the level crossing on the road for all points south. In 2013 the whole community made the Track happen, raising money, working with Sustrans, putting up with the construction mud in one of the wettest springs there’s ever been, so the 10th birthday is really something to celebrate.

John and Sue Bainer (the longest serving Trustees of the Green) said “We’re so proud that the all-weather track gives access to the Green’s 55+ acres of meadow, wood, orchard, heritage railway and waterways for the people of Halesworth to relax, play, explore and discover nature and history on their doorstep. So please come along on May 21st for the 10th birthday party, whether you visit the Green each day in your lunchbreak or want to discover it for the first time. You’ll find something new each time you visit.”

How are we going to celebrate?

• The track is part of National Cycle Route (NCR) 1 but it’s not just for cycles: buggies, prams, scooters, walkers, push-chairs, everyone can now get all the way through. You’ll need wellies when the water meadows are doing their job of protecting the town from flooding, but even then the track re-emerges dry and strong. Thank you Sustrans and local donors who all made the track possible 10 years ago.

How can you take part?

• Join the parade led by Oxblood Molly starting from the Library at 2pm with your decorated wheels, and look out for the letters of the Mystery Word along the way.
• Bring along paintings and models celebrating how you have used the track, on your bike? In your wellies? for a picnic? and they’ll join the work done by local school children on show in the marquee.
• Be there for the grand unveiling of the brand-new signs naming the track.
• Get your sticker for joining the parade or for walking or wheeling the track on the day.
• Get a piece of the birthday cake.

The missing reports will be inserted very soon

2022

October’s News

Date for your Millennium Green Diary

It isn’t too soon to make a note of Sunday 21^st May 2023 – what for? not the Coronation, that’s earlier in the month.  Not WinterLight! that happens in February. No it’s the Green’s All Weather Track 10^th Anniversary Celebration.  We will be officially unveiling the signage of the Track to be known as Woolnough Way for Richard Woolnough who sparked off the Track project and the creation of the Green itself, and Judith Woolnough who made sure that everything to do with the setting up and running of the Green and the Track ran smoothly and properly.  There will also be a community competition in 2023 – there just might be prizes.

People who were in Halesworth in 2013 will remember the festive opening of the Track, and 10 years on we will be celebrating with a Dress Up Your Wheels event. Every sort of wheel with every age of person has been seen on the Track since it opened from racing bikes to balancers, scooters both mobility and leg-propelled, tricycles, wheelchairs and even a hoover …  so be thinking about your chosen wheels.

The work-party volunteers have done a terrific job this year in getting the hay in off the meadows in spite of the difficulty of not being able to get mowing equipment over White Bridge, but thanks to help from our good neighbour Henry Cliff that has all been managed beautifully. And we are delighted to be welcoming two new Trustees, to help with the less-visible part of the work involved in keeping the Green going.

Last but not least, the latest on White Bridge: we’re working hard with SCC to cost the various options and make sure that the new bridge will meet the needs of all the users. Posters will go up again along the Green, and in social media, when there is definite news to report, so look out for News No. 3.

September’s News

How to celebrate the Track across the Green?

Does it feel as if the all-weather Track has been there forever? Or only since yesterday? In fact it will be 10 years in 2023 and it was clear from our Annual Open Event earlier this month (display in the Library and on the Green) that there is real enthusiasm for making a special celebration.  So how shall we celebrate this? One certain celebration will be the putting up of signs naming the track “Woolnough Way” to commemorate the fact that without Richard and Judith Woolnough the Green itself would not have been established in 2000 or the Track laid down in 2013. We could have a wellie race to mark the fact that even floods don’t get in the way of the Track; or a parade of wheels in fancy dress (thanks for that suggestion!); or …. send us your Track celebration ideas.

And don’t forget that we’re looking for additional Trustees: all Trustees are volunteers, the Trust has no paid positions. Trustees serve for an initial period of 4 years. We’re looking for people to help specifically with managing records, money management, events and outreach – but if none of these are your special interest don’t be put off.   Contact thegreen@halesworth.net for more information and details of how to apply.

August’s News

Annual Open Event in the Library and on the Green

The ears of the Green Trustees are always open for comments or concerns about the wonderful 50+ acres of open space that is the Millennium Green (email at the bottom of this piece, and on the website) but on top of that the Green offers a yearly opportunity for a different sort of engagement. For a week from Monday 3^rd October there will be a small display in the Library which will cover some of the events of the last year and some possibilities for the year to come with a Comments box for your thoughts. At the end of that week, on Sunday 9^th October in the morning, the display and the volunteers will be on the Green (near the basketball park) to welcome your input into all things to do with the Green. Look out for posters along the Track with more information about this.

Of course the outstanding major concern for everyone who uses the Green at the moment is the closure of White Bridge. This makes it impossible for people on the Green to cross between the different parts of the Green and the Town, and impossible for the volunteers to get machinery and equipment across to the hay meadows (Folly, Poplar and Orchard Meadows) to carry out the summer haymaking work. Walkers and volunteers alike are all patiently finding ways to cope; meanwhile, the situation at the time of writing is this.

Engineers for Suffolk County Council who are responsible for the bridge decided that the washing away of brickwork and the rotting of wooden supports under the Bridge had reached such a state that the solid-looking concrete on top can no longer reliably be held up. They are now urgently putting together various options for replacement (widths, materials) which will be discussed with the Green Trustees and the Town Council. We had hoped for a possible temporary solution but unfortunately the cost and practicalities make this not deliverable, we will continue to focus on sorting out a permanent replacement as quickly as possible. The Green Trustees will keep updating the posters around and within the Green and on Halesworth Community Forum Facebook but if you have special concerns do contact our email box (address below) or let Suffolk County Council know.

And don’t forget that we’re looking for additional Trustees: all Trustees are volunteers, the Trust has no paid positions. Trustees serve for an initial period of 4 years. We’re looking for people to help specifically with administration, money management, events and outreach.   Contact thegreen@halesworth.net for more information and details of how to apply.

July’s News

Love the Green? help to develop it!

Do you love the Green – the paths, the wildlife, the cows? How about taking on a 4-year stint as a Trustee?

The Trust is entering an exciting and challenging period. Locally, new housing is bringing new volunteers and increasing use of the Green. Globally, climate change is affecting habitats for wildlife. As a Trustee of the Charity you would help to plan how to embrace these and other changes while achieving the Trust’s aims and ensuring that the Charity is managed effectively.

Halesworth Millennium Green was established to contribute to the life of the community by being accessible to locals and visitors alike, also to make a positive contribution to the local environment. This means that the Trustees’ task is to balance the needs of people with those of wildlife, both by hands-on management and by long-term planning.

As a Trustee you would focus on long-term planning. All Trustees are volunteers, the Trust has no paid positions. Trustees serve for an initial period of 4 years. We’re looking for people to help specifically with administration, money management, events and outreach.   Contact thegreen@halesworth.net for more information and details of how to apply.

Meanwhile, we hope you’re appreciating the smart and useful dog poo-bag dispensers which have appeared. Halesworth dog walkers are an exceptionally responsible bunch, because compared with the number of dogs who enjoy the Green there is very little poo left lying about. However there is always some, in spite of the 4 bins in different places on the Green. Now help is at hand: Steve Holman and the Halesworth Fairies have supplied dispensers at all 4 locations, and their volunteers will keep the dispensers topped-up. So if you forget your own bags look out for the dispensers, near the 4 bins. Huge thanks to Steve and the Fairies.

Volunteers meet down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). Tools provided, bring a drink and nibble. The website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ millenniumgreen.halesworth.net carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology. Contact the Green directly on thegreen@halesworth.net  or – only in an emergency – on 07879 844143.

June’s News

Help with dog poo on the Green

Halesworth dog walkers are an exceptionally responsible bunch, because compared with the number of dogs who enjoy the Green there is very little poo left lying about. However there is always some, in spite of the 4 bins in different places on the Green. Now help is at hand: Steve Holman and the Halesworth Fairies have supplied dispensers at all 4 locations, and their volunteers will keep the dispensers topped-up. The bins are in Arthur’s Wood at the entrance from Quay Street under the railway bridge; at White Bridge which is the concrete bridge near the first cattle grid; at Three Ways where the Track from the town, from the industrial estate and from Blyth Meadow all meet – it’s also where the three ways of travelling by path, water and rail meet. The fourth dispenser is right at the end of the Green near the level crossing access from the back road to Wenhaston which brings you down into Two Acres.

So we’re hopeful that there will be no need for any more poo spraying over volunteers when they’re strimming, or for children to step in when plunging into long grass. Huge thanks to Steve and the Fairies.

Would you come to a Sunday work party if we ran one?  Do let us know. Very soon we’ll be starting the big job of haymaking and the more hands we have to help the better. Meanwhile, if you’d like to spend a couple of hours helping to maintain the Green as the wonderful place that it is for humans, dogs and wildlife alike, volunteers meet down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). Tools provided, bring a drink and nibble.

 

 

 

May’s News

Cows and Picnics on the Green

Yes they’re back – and yes they do seem to prefer to leave their droppings all over the Track if at all possible …. they also tend to gather at the tool containers just when we want to get tools out …. but the work they do for us is beyond price. They keep the grass short for the more fragile wild plants and small mammals (which the owls like) and leave the volunteers free to begin mowing and stacking the meadows that aren’t grazed, up near the Folly. These cows are already less curious than when they first came on, and you can gently encourage them to move aside so that you can get by. Do keep your dogs under close control.

Elsewhere on the Green, the Orchard is a wonderful place for a picnic. We recently celebrated there a birthday for Peter Goodchild, one of our longest-serving and hardest-working volunteers. The Orchard is stocked with East Anglian varieties of apples, pears, plums and cherries which flower and fruit at slightly different times, but at the right time to pollinate each other. Most of the flowering is over, so keep your eye on the trees for the fruit fattening and becoming ripe, ready for scrumping.

If you’d like to spend a couple of hours helping to maintain the Green as the wonderful place that it is for humans and wildlife alike, we meet down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways).  Tools provided, bring a drink and nibble.

April’s News

Four-legged mowers are back on the Green

The Green’s four-legged helpers are back. Without the mowing that the cattle do the Green’s biggest meadows would slowly become covered in rough grass and strong common weeds, then scrub, then trees, and the whole of the Green would be nothing but woodland. All of us love the wildflowers and so do the small mammals who live in the secret world at their roots, and the owls love the small mammals … and so the cycle goes on, making sure there are different sorts of habitat for the widest possible range of creatures and plants. The human volunteers could not possibly mow and stack all the hay that would need to be cut from Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece, and so the grazing of the cows is crucial for the health of the Green. Welcome back!  The cows might be a little curious at first but they will get used to walkers and dogs very quickly, do be aware of them and make sure your dog is under very close control.

To welcome the the cows we have to make sure the fencing all around the grazing meadows is in good condition and this year we had the help of Simon King who has done a really efficient job of replacing large numbers of the aging posts and rails. The volunteers also did our bit in Blyth Meadow by hacking through the old cement to replace the woodwork around the cattle grid and gate which lead into Blyth Meadow, just under the railway bridge.

Elsewhere it’s blossom time.  If you get a chance, go and admire the fruit trees in the Community Orchard (go to the first cattle grid, turn left over White Bridge and left again into Folly Meadow – where the willow wherry is – and follow the path up).  Most of the apples and pears are now 14 years old and have grown more than we ever expected. We started with varieties traditional to Suffolk and Norfolk and wanted trees that would flower and fruit at slightly different times. We chose types which would be in flower at the right times to pollinate each other. So, now – as long as the honeybees, bumblebees, flies, beetles and wasps do their part – the orchard ought to produce some fruit this autumn. Quite soon after the petals fall it’s possible to see the little swelling apples, pears, plums or cherries.

If you don’t feel able or willing to get down onto the land itself to help with the physical work, there are lots of less visible jobs to be done. Every small job one person does means that a box is ticked. Meanwhile, weather permitting we’ll continue to meet down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). 

March’s News

Mystery gift to the Green – Thank You!

A recent work-party was amazed and delighted to find a gift of bird boxes left anonymously for us on the Green. Bearing in mind how much tree-planting the work-parties have been doing recently, this gift seems particularly appropriate, although clearly not for the new trees.

All four bird boxes have been put up immediately around Arthur’s Wood and the Orchard;  this is the part of the Green you get to from the first cattle grid, over the New Reach and turning left by the willow wherry. Many thanks to the mystery donor, gifts like this help with our management work and bear witness to the love which local people have for this very special place. The Green also receives gifts of money, some anonymous and some not, and all of these help to keep the regular maintenance work going as well as giving the flexibility for the volunteers who manage the Green to plan for replacement and new equipment, training, fencing and all the other things that require money.

If you don’t feel able or willing to get down onto the land itself to help with the physical work, there are lots of less visible jobs to be done:  keeping our profile up in this excellent and supportive local free paper, getting display material together for events, making sure we get grant applications in on time, reporting changes in the organisation to the Charities Commission. Every small job one person does means that a box is ticked. Meanwhile, weather permitting we’ll continue to meet down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). 

February’s News

Food for fussy butterflies and a new cutting edge on the Green

We have two charities to give big thanks to this spring. The National Lottery Community Fund quickly responded to a request for help with the purchase cost of a new reciprocating mower for the Green – this is the sturdy beast that you see on the Green week in week out, keeping the paths clear and the vegetation good for wildlife but walkable for people.

And for less sturdy beasts:  the caterpillars of brimstone butterflies feed only on the leaves of Buckthorn trees and bushes.  The longest lived of all UK butterflies, this little creature has an unerring sense of smell which guides it to this one species of plant. The charity “Butterfly Conservation Trust” (itself funded for this particular project by the Susie Mellor Legacy) has kindly donated five buckthorn saplings which Millennium Green volunteers have planted – two Alder Buckthorn and three Common Buckthorn in a sunny position near the New Reach.  They will take a couple of years to establish.  In the coming years, if you see the sulphur yellow male Brimstone butterflies or the paler females around the Green, we will be pleased if you can report them on the Millennium Green website or to any of the volunteers you might see hard at work (or having a coffee break) on Wednesday mornings. 

And here’s a warning: Common Buckthorn is also known as Purging Buckthorn for its strong laxative effect, so best not to nibble on the leaves yourself …  if you’d like to support this project further, you can read all about it on the Butterfly Conservation Trust website. This project is a good reminder of what a contribution legacies can make to conservation.

If you don’t feel able or willing to get down onto the land itself to help with the work there are lots of less visible jobs to be done:  keeping our profile up in this excellent and supportive local free paper, getting display material together for events, making sure we get grant applications in on time, reporting changes in the organisation to the Charities Commission. Every small job one person does means that a box is ticked. Meanwhile, weather permitting we’ll continue to meet down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways).

January’s News

Local trees to remember local people on the Green

Alongside the Track you’ll find the first of some new mini-plantations of native (British stock) trees:  hawthorn, field maple, rowan, crab apple and wild cherry, clustered around one of our sturdy block benches. This is a response to the requests we get both to plant more trees and to have trees dedicated to local people, particularly people who have died. Trees can only flourish if planted at a certain time of year, so rather than trying to plant individual trees as a request comes in we are planting these little groups at the right time and people can then make a contribution if they would like to sponsor the planting. As always, we try to keep a balance between public enjoyment and ownership of the place with the feeling of the Green as a wild (at least semi-wild) place, so there will be no plaques. However, every sponsor will receive a printed card bearing wording of their choice to commemorate their special person with the time and place of the tree planting.

You might already have noticed that an earlier mini-plantation is getting its feet down. These are 3 birches on the mound, put in by the Twinning Society to help develop links with our friends abroad.

We have been delighted to welcome some new volunteers recently, and do remember that if you don’t feel able or willing to get down onto the Green to help with work-parties there are lots of less visible jobs to be done:  keeping our profile up in this excellent and supportive local free paper, getting display material together for events, making sure we get grant applications in on time, reporting changes in the organisation to the Charities Commission, keeping the admin in order. Every small job one person does means that a box is ticked.

Meanwhile, weather permitting we’ll be meeting down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). 

2021

December’s News

Frosty mornings, slushy afternoons on the Green

Whatever the weather, there’s always something to surprise you on the Green – even if it’s water covering the paths!  the Green does act as flood protection for the town by allowing the waterways to overflow onto the meadows, so if your favourite route disappears put on the wellies and be glad that the water isn’t roaring into the Thoroughfare.

A visit to the Community Orchard is well worth the walk. Either start from Quay Street down the track by the railway bridge or reach it by going over the river bridge at the first cattle grid, turning left and following the path. At this time of year, the hazel nut trees are covered in catkins and the apples, pears, cherries and plums are resting before next year’s blossom and fruit. We decided to give the plums and cherries a break from pruning last summer to see what impact that has on the harvest, although it’s always hard to judge because there are so many things that affect fruit setting and flourishing. The trees in the Orchard grow enormously vigorously because of the wetness of this area – not many orchards have an adjoining reed bed, which is a bit of an indicator.   

And in spite of the wetness there is still work to be done and mornings in particular can be stunning under frost. So, weather permitting, we’ll be meeting down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). 

Community News article for December edition

New bench for the New Year – thanks to Green users

People who use the Green are endlessly generous and supportive. We now have a brand new, very sturdy, very dug-in bench at White Bridge to replace the one crushed by the willow earlier in the year, see the triumphant work-party photo. It’s been funded by a generous local user. In fact we had two kind offers for replacement benches in quick succession after the fall of the willow, and the Green is also supported by many monthly standing order donations as well as one-off gifts. It’s very clear how much the Green is loved and appreciated.

At this time of year work-parties can occasionally get called off because of weather, but there is still work to be done so weather permitting we’ll be meeting down on the Green every Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). 

Contact the Green directly on thegreen@halesworth.net or, only for really urgent things, ring 07811 630946.

Community News article for November edition

What’s happened down on the Green?

What’s all the mud spread about near the Community Orchard?  The ditch in the Black Poplar meadow needs to be dredged now and then to provide better habitat for voles and clear water for dragon and damselflies, and other wildlife. Mark Woolnough and Olly have done a terrifically neat and considerate job for us, spreading the mud as thinly as possible so that the new growth will come through easily. There is also a new dam at the end to separate it from the dipping-platform ditch, because that ditch does occasionally get contaminated by water coming under the railway embankment carrying discharges of we don’t quite know what from the built-up areas beyond. Olly also made good some of the low-lying areas near the ends of the ditches which get very wet and muddy in winter time, so hopefully those pinch-points will be easier to walk this winter.

The haymaking is almost finished for the season but there’s plenty of other work going on. We’re doing a careful cut along the top of the bank alongside the New Reach so that people can see down into the water, making sure we leave the last metre for the water voles undisturbed by cutting high at that level. Ragwort has been pulled – and removed, very importantly because that’s when it’s most dangerous to cattle  – from Lester’s Piece but there’s more to take from Blyth Meadow. At the Open Meeting we took the opportunity to clean the entrance board and are looking out for a dry spell to give that a coat of preservative before the really wet weather.

So there’s plenty to do. Come and join us on a Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near the rail and river bridges at Three Ways). 

Community News article for October edition

Two special reasons to go to the Green in October

It’s haymaking time again; this is the hardest and yet most enjoyable work we do. We press on with it until it’s finished, and if we have a run of wet Wednesdays that can take us well into the autumn. So if you would like to join the ancient practice of cutting, raking and stacking, including shifting families of tiny voles to safety, watching birds come down to hunt in the stubble, leaning on your fork and gossiping, come and join us on a Wednesday morning at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance, near Three Ways river and rail bridges).

And the second reason? This is the special annual opportunity to meet with the Green’s volunteers to tell us what you have particularly enjoyed in the last year, and what you would like to see happening in the years to come. On Sunday 3^rd October between 10 and 12am we will be down on the Green at the entrance – on the concrete near the basketball court and our notice board – and would be glad to meet you there. Of course you can talk to us at any time throughout the year, by our email box or when you see us working on the Green, but the annual meeting is time for reflection and for looking at wider things than the regular management tasks. We hope to use some of the wonderful drone images which John Lord created and generously donated to us by his hard work in January 2020, overflying and recording the current state of the Green from the air. We believe these images will be a seriously valuable tool for assessing the past and imagining the future.

Community News article for September edition

Shaping up on the Green

Everyone has noticed how much growth of vegetation there has been in the last few weeks and the Green is no exception. Growth of every kind has taken off – the cows are keeping it down in Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece but it’s up to the human volunteers to keep it down everywhere else where it isn’t wanted. We’ve been tackling the growth alongside the paths, sorting out a space at White Bridge for the replacement seat, and giving the Willow Wherry a haircut.   If you see something you think might need cutting back please don’t do it yourself, let us know – it’s possible that our Management Plan wants us to allow regrowth in that area.

Last month we drew your attention to the engine shed in the Folly. In September you’ll have the opportunity of joining a walk conducted by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society as part of the Heritage Open Day (HOD) events. You will learn things about the Green generally on that walk as well.

Go on-line to find the full list of events (type in Heritage Open Days Halesworth) or pick up the printed programme.

Work parties meet at 9.30 on Wednesday mornings at the containers, at the Industrial Estate entrance near Three Ways bridge. They are socially distanced, bring your own drink and nibbles, your own gloves if you’ve got them but otherwise we can provide them.  If you are not free during the week do get in touch in any case, there is often work to be done at other times and there is always work for willing volunteers.

Community News article for August edition

An owl, a bench, a railway carriage – on the Green

The barn owl has been seen again over Blyth Meadow, so we’re very glad that the cows are settling in because without them we wouldn’t have the long, wide view across that allows us to see the barn owls, or keep such a lovely diversity of plants. This meadow and the one beyond the bridge, Lester’s Piece, have both been topped; that is, not closely mowed (the cows will do that) but just the top thick growth of vigorous plants removed that otherwise prevents the more delicate wildflowers from getting through.

At White Bridge –  the crossing over the New Reach at the first cattle grid from town – the bench that was destroyed by the fallen tree has been removed and the new bench will be installed in the next few weeks. We have received a generous donation towards purchasing this bench, and the Green could not run as it does without the financial support that comes through from users whether by one-off donations like this one or by monthly standing orders.

If you carry on into the Folly and along the old railway track you will come to the engine shed, cleared and restored by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society. There you can see the first railway carriage in place for almost a century! We have been glad to support the work the Society has done in recent years in sensitively recovering and recording the significant contribution to the town that the Halesworth to Southwold railway made. We are uniquely privileged in Halesworth to have both rail and waterway networks (the New Reach navigation) preserved on the Green.

We have been made aware of someone cutting back vegetation particularly around the Folly: please talk to us before you cut or plant anything at all on the Green, we do have a Management Plan made in careful consultation with conservation advisers and our work is directed by that (the Plan is on the website under “Our Activities” and then “Practical Management”). Things might not always look exactly as you would like, but there might be a good wildlife reason for that – do talk to us before taking action yourself.

And do come and take action with us. Work parties meet at 9.30 on Wednesday mornings at the containers, at the Industrial Estate entrance near Three Ways bridge. They are socially distanced and with careful tool cleaning. Bring your own drink and nibbles, your own gloves if you’ve got them but otherwise we can provide them.  If you are not free during the week do get in touch, there is often work to be done at other times and there is always work for willing volunteers.

Community News article for July edition

Live mowing machines on the Green

Our full-time summer volunteers are back in action – look out for the cows in Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece. They might be a little curious for the first couple of weeks but they will very soon get used to the many people, bikes, dogs, runners passing through and will pay you no attention at all. They have already put their stamp of approval on the improved pond in Lester’s Piece, and will enjoy the better water supply in Blyth Meadow too.

The wildflowers are amazing at the moment, the sudden warmth is bringing them out in crowds. Dragonflies and damselflies are out over the waterways, and birds nesting everywhere. Work parties are back, meeting at 9.30 on Wednesday mornings at the containers (Industrial Estate entrance near Three Ways bridge). They’re socially distanced and with careful tool cleaning. Bring your own drink and nibbles, and it’s helpful if you can bring your own gloves but we can provide them.

Community News article for June edition

Thanks –  for works on the Green

There are lots of thanks to give this month. First of all, big thanks to East
Suffolk who came as soon as the land was dry enough to clear the huge fallen willow at White Bridge, not only the part in the water but the section threatening the footpath as well.
Thanks to ‘Gold Star Fencing and Gates’ of Halesworth for the help in repairing our fencing. And all in time for the return of the cows, our summer-time volunteers who keep Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece grazed for wildflowers and small mammals. The work was organised by Mike Nurse whose business you can find on the Blyth Industrial Estate.
And thanks to Mark Woolnough and Ollie Ringwood who have cleared the ditches in Lester’s and Blyth in time to avoid disturbance to the voles and other creatures, and at the same time have created much firmer passing places for walkers – we’ve already had thanks from users for that.

There has been a little spate of vandalisms recently; the dog bin pulled up, the seat frame
destroyed, a few trees uprooted, the hide in Folly Meadow entirely destroyed, the notice
board uprooted …. we’re hopeful that better weather and more activities beginning again
will mean this dies down, but meanwhile we have informed the police in case the damage
on the Green chimes in with other things happening in the Town. If you see anything amiss
on the Green, do please let us know. The change to the willow tunnel was not by vandals!
but by our own volunteers, to keep this intriguing and contemplative area accessible.

Work parties are in full swing again (socially distanced and with careful tool cleaning etc.)
meeting at 9.30 on Wednesday mornings at the containers (Industrial Estate entrance near
Three Ways bridge). Bring your own drink and nibbles, and it’s helpful if you can bring your
own gloves but if not we can certainly provide them.

Community News article for May edition

The Green in full swing

Big thanks to East Suffolk, who came as soon as the land was dry enough to clear the huge fallen willow at White Bridge, not only the part in the water but the section threatening the footpath as well.

You will have noticed the barriers at White Bridge; these are put up by Suffolk County Council who are concerned about the crumbling of the concrete around the railings and hope to prevent anyone from tumbling into the New Reach. We hope that the repair work will be done soon, as the barriers spend more time in the water than protecting people using the bridge, and we know the Council will do what it can as fast as possible.

There has been a little spate of vandalisms recently – the dog bin pulled up, the seat frame destroyed, a few trees uprooted, the hide in Folly Meadow entirely destroyed, the notice board uprooted …. we’re hopeful that better weather and more activities beginning again will mean this dies down, but meanwhile we have informed the police in case the damage on the Green chimes in with other things happening in the Town. If you see anything amiss on the Green, do please let us know.  The change to the willow tunnel was not by vandals! but by our own volunteers, to keep this intriguing and contemplative area accessible.

Work parties are in full swing again – socially distanced and with careful tool cleaning etc. – meeting at 9.30 on Wednesday mornings at the containers (Industrial Estate entrance near Three Ways bridge). Bring your own drink and nibbles, and it’s helpful if you can bring your own gloves but we can provide them.

Community News article April edition

Springing out on the Green

WinterLight! as a Trail rather than an event worked so well we just might repeat it, so watch out for next year. And maybe even something before then ….

Meanwhile we’re getting on with the winter pruning in the Orchard, just the apples and pears at this time of year. We have an impression that someone might have decided to do some pruning on their own initiative earlier in season, and sadly chose the plums and cherries which can get diseased if pruned at this time of year. So please contact us first if you would like to help in the Orchard, we’d be very glad to have you.

Pruning regimes can look very different from each other:  the Green’s approach is to keep the topmost branches cut low so that we can always reach them to prune for maximum fruit without having to mount ladders. We also lop off the very lowest branches so that we can mow underneath to keep nettles down which compete for nutrients. The trees might therefore look fairly severely lopped early in the pruning season but they do blossom and they do bear fruit (varying always with weather and pollination) and they are very healthy. The trees at the front are native hazels and some are pruned for nuts and some for sticks, and we have left a large pile of sticks waiting for anyone to take some away for pea sticks, bean poles or kindling.

Work parties are beginning again on Wednesday mornings, meeting at the containers (Industrial Estate entrance near Three Ways bridge). We have strict Covid and social distancing rules and at present work without a sociable break, but we bring our own drink and nibbles. It’s helpful if you can bring your own gloves but we can provide them (you’ll need to hang on to them and wash them) and we provide all tools and materials to clean them.

The website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ (millenniumgreen.halesworth.net) carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology. Contact the Green directly on thegreen@halesworth.net or, only for really urgent things, ring 07811 630946.

Community News article March edition

Half term and WinterLight! are over, but the Magical Mystery Trail needs your photos (send to the email address below) to reverse the magic and get the pictures back in the book. Big thanks to people who started sending them in at the beginning of the half term week, that started us off so well. We need them all whether simple, clever, funny or mysterious so that the judges can decide who to give our prizes to – one very special book of stickers and, thanks to the Halesworth Fairies (wherever and whoever you are) not just one or two but FIVE book vouchers for £10. In the next week or so the website will be showing all the photos sent in so have a browse. And if you’re a winner, you’ll get an email from the Green that you can take along to Abbie at the Bookshop to collect your prize.

Covid and the weather between them have halted volunteer work parties on the Green for the time being, although you might see one or two of us out doing urgent jobs. So if you spot anything amiss please let us know so that we can deal with it quickly and safely. East Suffolk is aware of the tree in the New Reach at White Bridge and will get down there to remove it once the land is dry enough for their vehicles.

The website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ or  millenniumgreen.halesworth.net carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology. Contact the Green directly on thegreen@halesworth.net or, only for really urgent things, ring 07811 630946.

Community News article February edition

WinterLight! Mystery Trail on the Green

IF we are still allowed to exercise once a day at half-term week (Saturday 13^th to Sunday 21^st February) you will be able on your daily walk to follow the WinterLight! Mystery Trail on the Green.  Both by day and by night – take a torch, to get the full effects at dusk or in the dark  –  the Trail will go through Angel Meadow and up into the Folly. Starting from the basketball court, Angel is the first meadow you enter, then turn left over White Bridge, under the railway bridges and up into the Folly.

What will be on the Trail?  You will be able to follow the Trail at your own pace and time by downloading a map and mystery-story outline from the Millennium Green website, or connect by the QR code which will be on the posters. There will be a puzzle to work out and lots of animals to look for. Send in a photo of yourself on the Trail with one of the animals you find, with or without the solution to the puzzle, and your photo will go onto the website –  and be entered for a (very small) prize.

Look out for the Library window display (rules permitting) and for posters which will also carry details about the Trail.  Paper copies of the Trail will be at the Library if it is allowed to open during half-term.

Volunteer work parties on the Green have been suspended for the time being, a combination of the weather and Covid rules. Meanwhile, if you spot anything amiss – fencing down, paths needing attention – let us know so that we can deal with it as quickly and safely as possible.

Community News article for January edition

Shorter days aren’t all bad, the earlier darkness means you might still be lucky enough to be out and about when the night animals are on the move. Recently otters have been seen around the waterways; Gerard Roche told us that as early as 5.30pm he was crossing from the Saxon’s Way car park to the town park by the underpass when he disturbed an otter, just visible thanks to the underpass lighting. The otter swam off underwater down river.  Keep your eyes peeled and let us know of any exciting sightings.

You will be seeing work parties again on the Green over winter, as permitted by the rules and with careful social distancing and cleaning of tools. It won’t be long until we’re into the New Year and then in February comes WinterLight! with the good help of Halesworth Library as always. WinterLight! isn’t likely to be in quite the same format as previous years as we’ll have to cater for whatever virus restrictions might be in place at the time, but that just gives us a creative challenge that we’re determined to meet. Watch this space for further information about our annual February celebration – 2021 will be the 6^th event. If you remember the lantern-lit wassailing, the Ghost of Fred the Wherryman, the glowing Fire Chicken and Owl, the illuminated 15-foot Caterpillar and breath-taking Moth, and last year’s eels-on-a-wheel and all the mystery and fun of the storytelling you’ll know that this Halesworth Festival is worth looking out for.

2020

Community News article December edition

The Green’s open, as always

When so many places have been forced to close against their wishes, Halesworth is exceptionally lucky in having these more-than-50 acres of wonderful, rambling, varied, permanently open space where we can all go to stretch legs, ride, walk, play games, enjoy wildlife, take the dog. And even meet friends as long as everyone keeps to whatever the coronavirus rules happen to be.

The volunteers have been hard-working and lucky enough with the weather to finish the haymaking just before the November coronavirus rules came into being. As nothing else is desperately urgent we’re not running work-parties at the moment.  Nevertheless, volunteers are out and about on the Green most days but it’s a big place, so if you happen to see anything that might be a problem or need attention (a wobbly fence post, some brambles beginning to block a path) or get a sighting of something lovely or unexpected (birds, water creatures, people) you can get hold of the volunteers or send in a message or picture at the email  thegreen@halesworth.net. We do try to post images we’re sent onto the website as long as you’re happy for us to do so, so tell us exactly where and when your images were taken.

Community News article for November edition

Volunteers keep the Green ticking along

Haymaking in the meadows, clearing fallen tree branches, checking weed encroachment on the paths, filling in trip hazard holes, mowing … it’s still all to do before the end of the autumn and it’s all done by volunteers for the pleasure of keeping this stunning place usable by so many people with so much pleasure.

Not everyone is aware of the full extent of the Millennium Green. Starting from the basketball pitch in the Town Park, you can walk through Angel Meadow to the first cattle grid and there you have a choice:  over White Bridge and sharp left up towards the Community Orchard, or over White Bridge and straight on under the railways (how many community places boast two railways? one functioning and the other a piece of transport history) or straight on through the meadows – past the cows – until you get to Six Arches. And beyond that you can walk up to the industrial estate or keep to the Track and go up the lovely gentle slope (there’s a bench in case you don’t find it so gentle) to the railway crossing. That’s where the volunteers have been clearing back weed and growth from the Track in the last weeks while it has been too wet to carry on haymaking in the meadows.

You can come and join us any Wednesday morning, meeting at 9.30 at the containers (industrial estate entrance) or for the occasional Sunday workparty – contact us for details of Sundays. All tools provided – but bring your own drink and nibbles – with careful distancing and cleaning measures in place. Our website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology (or email thegreen@halesworth.net).

Community News article for September edition

Fruit-and-nut on the Green

Fruit and nut anyone? Not the chocolate bar, even better than that – local varieties are there for the picking in the Community Orchard. From White Bridge (the first cattle grid) go over the bridge and immediately left past the willow wherry, the dipping platform and the poplar and you’ll find the Orchard just before Arthur’s Wood. As well as local varieties of fruit (such as Lady Henniker and Lord Stradbroke apples, Blickling and Warden pears, Cambridge Gage plums and Polstead Black cherries) we have hazel nuts cultivated both for nuts and for pea-sticks. All for consumption and use by you, right now there are apples on the ground and waiting to be gently removed from the low branches.

Further along towards Arthur’s Wood there are more odd and ancient varieties of less eatable fruit; medlar, almond (lovely blossom but we aren’t expecting fruit) and mulberry. The website has a click-able map which tells you more about each section of the Green.

We will soon begin the summer pruning of the stoned fruit, do contact us if you would like to join the special Orchard work-parties.

We are focussing on improving the management of water in the meadows (Lester’s and Blyth) where the cows graze. The dykes and ponds in both are having work done to improve the capacity and holding of water, and the cattle quickly get the hang of using the cattle-waterers that have been installed. Once complete, these works should mean that in future there can be less movement of cattle between the two meadows, especially under the railway bridge, for water.

So our work-parties are not just about clearing brambles and raking hay, there are also challenging and satisfying small engineering jobs to be done. Join us on Wednesday mornings at 9.30 and on the second Sunday in every month at 10, at the containers (industrial estate entrance). Everything provided – but bring your own drink and nibbles – with careful distancing and cleaning measures in place. Our website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology (or email thegreen@halesworth.net).

Community News article for August edition

Work parties catching up on the Green

All the Green volunteers have been delighted and proud at how many people have been coming along to enjoy the meadows, woods,waterways and walks during the pandemic. The Green is big and varied enough to offer lots of space to lots of users and everyone has been careful and considerate. Thank you Halesworth.

Now the work-parties are back: very carefully – disinfecting tools, wearing gloves, households keeping the proper distance from each other. We have cut out the mid-morning break for the time being to cut down the opportunities for accidental contact, so work-parties are at most one and half hours for the time being. There’s lots of work of all kinds to be done to keep all parts of the Green accessible for you and protected for wildlife. Our first priority is making sure that access to all parts of the Green is possible, so we have been mowing paths and cutting back creeping brambles. The Orchard trees have been rescued from the lovely but threatening encroaching grass, and it’s a stunning place for a picnic and a wander. Summer pruning won’t start quite yet, if you’d like to help (we can teach you, and experienced pruners are enormously welcome) do let us know (contact details below).

Our regular work-parties meet at the containers (industrial estate entrance) at 9.30 every Wednesday, and at 10.00 on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 9^th August is the next).  Bring a drink and a nibble and gloves if you’ve got them, if not we can supply a pair for your exclusive use. You can do as little or as much as you have time for. Our website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology (or email thegreen@halesworth.net).

Community News article for May edition

You’re welcome on the Green if you keep your distance

How lucky we all are in Halesworth to have this 50acre green space in which to walk, pedal, amble, run, sit and gaze. It’s a great place for physical exercise and mental renewal so – if we are still allowed out when you read this – do use the Green, but make sure you keep the necessary distance away from other people.

 The Green Trustees have decided that the volunteer work-parties can’t sensibly be done in this situation, so these are postponed until further notice. We will not be able routinely to carry out the normal maintenance jobs, so do help by contacting us if you see anything which concerns you (email thegreen@halesworth.net or phone Paul on 07811 630946).

Meanwhile, we have an embryonic Facebook page which (among other things) contains some images from superb drone pictures taken for us by John Lord, a qualified pilot, on a couple of bright winter days earlier this year. If anyone out there now has time and inclination to help us manage this page and get these images up and running really well we would love to talk to you. Then people who can’t get down to the Green would be able to take a virtual tour. Again, email the green as above. But in any case, there’s always our website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ which carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology.

Last of all, with great sadness, we have to postpone the celebration of Richard Woolnough’s life that was due to happen at the Rifle Hall at the end of this month. This important event will not be forgotten, and we will keep you informed.

 

Community News article for March edition

Trees of all kinds on the Green

The Green now has a fairly well-stocked Community Orchard, planted with scrumping in mind. Apples, pear, cherries, plums, some odd ones like medlars and a few you can’t scrump like almond. All these trees need pruning to keep them in good heart. We have a small Orchard Group of volunteers who meet other than at the normal Wednesday and Sunday work-party times and we would be very pleased if more people would like to join us in the orchard. We are currently arranging dates to prune the apple and pear trees during March. Then it is quiet until the summer when we prune the stone fruit trees (plums and cherries). As well as pruning there are jobs of clearing up, checking tree guards, etc. We provide all the tools needed. Don’t worry if you are not confident about pruning, we will be pleased to provide guidance.

If you have fruit trees at home and are not sure what to do with them then joining us in the Orchard is a great way to learn. if you are interested in helping in the Orchard email us at: thegreen@halesworth.net

Talking of trees, you might have noticed a large number of tree shelters have appeared in the Scrub Triangle and some more along the banks of the waterways. These 100 or so saplings have been planted as a result of a project with Suffolk Wildlife Trust and The Environment Agency to enhance the excellent habitat we already have here: more scrub species in the Triangle and a few carefully sited clumps of native trees in places on the banks where they won’t interfere with existing planting. We have a Management Plan, which was achieved by consultation with local people and with conservation bodies, and our planting takes account of that expert advice and democratic input. By coincidence some trees that we hadn’t planted sprang up overnight in Chestnut Meadow – it’s lovely that people are keen to help enhance the Green but there are things that need thinking about so do please talk to us first if you have planting ideas.

We have now fixed on Saturday 25th April as the day for celebrating the life of Richard Woolnough our key founder member who died in October. We will be meeting around 2pm on the Green for a walk, to visit some of the places which have a particular connection with him, then going to the Rifle Hall for 3pm for reminiscences (with buffet) finishing by 5pm. Look out for further details.

We meet at the containers at Blyth Road Industrial Estate entrance at 9.30 am every Wednesday and at 10 am on the second Sunday of every month. Bring a drink and a nibble and we’ll supply gloves and tools. We work for about 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle but you can do as little or as much as you have time or energy for.

Community News article for February edition

WinterLight! on the Green

Look Out, the 5th WinterLight! Festival is on its way. This year there are extras: first of all a lantern-making workshop and lantern-lit story procession both on Saturday 15th February followed by a whole week of stalls and displays at the Library on the theme of “Our Shared Earth”. Make sure you drop in to the Library throughout the half-term week to catch up with all the good sustainable things that Halesworth communities run and support.

On Saturday 15th the lantern-making workshop is from 2.30 to 4pm in the Library followed by the story-stroll with lanterns starting at 6pm from the Library. There will be a magical story and discoveries to look out for on the way with a finale at the entrance to the Green, by the basketball court in the town park, between 7 and 7.30pm. You will be very welcome to both workshop and walk, or either, and if you found the whole walk a bit much last year this one is a lot shorter!

Winter is the time for lots of make-do-and-mend in particular this year we need to replace and mend many of the fence posts and fencing that keep the cattle safe in the meadows. If you enjoy tht sort of work you would be very welcome at a work-party but there are plenty of less heavy  jobs to do as well.

Community News article for January edition

Tree planting and lanterns on the Green

Planting trees is flavour of the times and for good reason; trees help absorb the carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change and they provide shelter and food for an astonishing number and variety of insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals. From its beginning the Green has sought to establish and protect a good variety of trees: planting native birch, hazel, oak and spindle in Arthur’s Wood, planting East Anglian fruit varieties in the Community Orchard, planting the new wood in Angel Meadow and protecting the old wood in the Folly, planting the mixed local species on Two Acres including poplar and much willow.

We are now working with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust to do some planting along the New Reach in Chestnut Meadow, and in Blyth Meadow. This planting will include alder, willow, hawthorn, field maple, oak, black poplar and other local species and will be spaced and occasional so as to preserve views but at the same time to provide habitat and create shade for the waterways. We’ll be having a planting session with the Wildlife Trust on Wednesday 19^th February, when extra hands will be most welcome (contact details below).

That week also happens to be half-term, which means it’s time for WinterLight! again. There will be lantern-making at the Library on Saturday 15^th February, then a lantern-lit procession through the Town on Saturday or Sunday to end at a mysterious location for music and nibbles. The Library will be hosting a whole week of activities about “Our Shared Earth” with displays and stalls, so watch out for posters in the New Year about all these half-term events.

Meanwhile we are coming to the end of another month of good work in maintaining and enhancing the Green for people and wildlife, in spite of some astonishing rainfall. The work is all done by volunteers but you don’t have to slash at brambles or cut down meadow grass – you could help with invisible things like all the admin jobs. And writing pieces for Community News … do get in touch if you have a little time to spare to help with those sorts of activities.

But if work-parties really are your thing, we meet at the containers (industrial estate entrance) at 9.30 every Wednesday, and the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 12^th January is the next). Bring a drink and a nibble and we’ll supply gloves and tools. We work for approximately 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle but you can do as little or as much as you have time for. Our website ‘Halesworth Millennium Green’ carries news of past and future events, photos, wildlife records, history and geology (or email thegreen@halesworth.net).

 2019

Community News article for December edition

Richard Woolnough 1945 – 2019

How did someone who started life and spent many years as a quantity surveyor in construction become a driving force for community action and wildlife? Richard Woolnough died last month aged 74 leaving a glorious trail behind him of hugely valuable and effective projects, all achieved by mobilising community support and practical volunteering combined with visionary thinking. He has been hugely supported by Judith throughout, using her terrific organisational and admin skills.

He left construction and became the very first paid staff member (Conservation Officer) for the Suffolk Trust for Nature Conservation (now the Suffolk Wildlife Trust) in 1979, at the forefront of what was then a just-emerging broad movement to conserve and enhance wildlife. By then Richard had already spent 15 years volunteering at weekends on various nature conservation projects. While with the Trust, he set up and co-ordinated a Community Programme Agency with over 180 employees and played a crucial part in the successful development of the Trust’s role in managing the wider countryside, enabling thousands of acres of heath land and woodland to be brought back into active management and – crucially for Richard – made available for public enjoyment.

There continued to be more points than can be listed in Richard’s working life where he was the “first” this, set up the “new” that, co-ordinated “the beginning” of the other:  he was endlessly inventive and creative, seeing and making opportunities to promote local involvement, both of formal and informal bodies, in developing projects which make the locality a better, richer, more diverse, more fun place. A major project in later years was the establishment of the Greensand Trust in Bedfordshire, an independent environmental charity that works with local communities and landowners to enhance the landscape and improve access.

In Halesworth, Richard and Judith set up and helped to co-ordinate various local groups:  for footpath surveying and improvements; scrub clearance on local heaths and public open spaces; coppicing local ancient woodland at Reydon and establishing that woodland as a community asset, and always keen to involve people of all ages. His own children and grandchildren have all been introduced to the joys of crawling under an enormous ancient ash coppice stool, exploring and feeling at home with everything wild. Richard enjoyed public speaking and is well-remembered for many informative and amusing slide shows and presentations, speaking to a wide range of audiences.

Anyone visiting Richard in recent years was invited to enjoy the latest video of otter activities, captured by trail cameras at Minsmere – where Richard advised the Springwatch team on capturing otter moments and has developed courses and walks – and here on the waterways in Halesworth. Richard set up and lead the Suffolk Otter Group, producing enthusiasm for the collection and analysis of otter spraint (poo) in people who had no idea this was how they wanted to spend their spare time.

In his own spare time, what Richard did was hardly relaxing. He pedalled everywhere, making several long-distance rides, including one from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and constant shorter early morning rides to Minsmere to monitor the otters, coming back full of delight at having heard no less than 6 nightingales on the way.  His own pleasure in cycling fuelled his enthusiasm for spearheading the achievement of the Track across the Green.

The Green itself arose from a proposal put forward in a community consultation in 1998 – Richard was utterly committed to genuine local involvement. 44 acres of grazing marsh were acquired during 2000/01 for the benefit of the local community which created the largest Millennium Green in the country.  Richard had masterminded the idea and the town is permanently indebted to him for this astonishing unrivalled local green space. He co-ordinated management of all aspects of the project and volunteer working parties for 18 years, including the installation of the Track with the good support of Sustrans, and continued as a Trustee contributing, thinking, planning right up to his death.

With a footprint almost as large as the town itself the Green brings together walkers, wildlife, bikers, owls, glow worms, naturalists, picnickers, scooter-riders, water voles, toddlers on their first bikes, fritillaries, dogs, grass snakes, geology, runners, railway history, skateboarders, waterway history, grazing cows, hay meadows and hay stacks, dreamers ….  without Richard the vision would not have evolved or the management developed in such an integrated and inspired way.

Richard refused to be sorry about the fierce illness which lead to his death at what is, for these days, a relatively early age. Instead he rejoiced in the life and opportunities he had had, in his family, his friends, in the wildlife and community projects he was still firing off ideas about, and the weather outside the window. So next time you go down to the Green, take a moment to be immensely grateful and glad for the life of a young quantity surveyor from Bedfordshire who turned out to be Richard Woolnough.

Community News article for November edition

The Green and Richard Woolnough

After some years of a fierce illness which Richard endured with humour and grace, he has finally died peacefully at home with his family all around. Richard not only founded the Green in 1999 he continued through the following 20 years as Trustee, work-party leader, conservation adviser, entertaining and informative giver of talks and was still planning and thinking creatively right to the end. We will miss him badly and will write a proper tribute to him next month.

When the all-weather Track, which Richard did so much to achieve, was laid in the Green five years ago we hesitated to tarmac the surface thinking it would not fit the look of the Green. But Sustrans, our partner in the project, insisted – and how right they were. The recent tremendous rain has not lifted or damaged the Track surface, it stays in place and you can walk it as soon as the rain stops, or even before!

Next summer’s work will be made easier by gifts from the New Reach Working Group. They have passed on to us a fine strimmer and a weed rake which will make it easier and quicker to keep the paths clear and the waterways free of litter and surface weed. Thank you to Gerald and his volunteers.

Meanwhile the work of mowing and raking continues into November. The wet weather throughout the late summer has meant that we are having to carry on with this work much later than usual, so if you feel energetic on a Wednesday morning come and help us. Removing the strong growth from the meadows allows the more fragile wild flowers to come through which we all like to see.

We meet at the containers next to Blyth Road Industrial Site at 9.30 am every Wednesday, bring a drink and a nibble and we’ll supply gloves and tools. We work for about 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle, but you can do as little or as much as you like.

Community News article for October edition

Make hay while it rains on the Green

What is it about Wednesdays?  Sunshine on Tuesdays, sun on Thursdays, but when we want to cut and rake and stack hay on a Wednesday – rain. Our mid-week work-parties have been rained off very often in the last few weeks and you’ll have noticed that we’re behind with the summer mowing.

Why not just leave it? Because then all the Green’s meadows would look like Chestnut Meadow. That’s the one that you get to after White Bridge, with the lovely walk alongside the New Reach and with a path mown around the outside but otherwise chock-a-block with tough growth becoming scrub. It’s good to have scrub, there is a whole network of plants, animals and birds that thrive in those conditions. However, Green users also want to see wild flowers in spring and the softer grasses, with all the creatures that live on them. So we will keep cutting and stacking elsewhere on the Green.

The more the merrier, come and spend just half-an-hour, if you like, wielding a rake or pitchfork and help the haystacks grow. One Wednesday while mowing we found a dormouse nest, and an unusual spider who wears a wasp-striped jersey.  We have been very glad this summer to share the hay and the seed it contains with volunteers from Falcon Community Meadow in Bungay who are needing to re-seed land there that they are reclaiming for local people and wildlife. Hay-making is good exercise, as much or as little as you like, and good company. We meet at the containers (industrial estate) at 9.30, bring a drink and a nibble and we’ll supply gloves and tools. Or just come straight to Folly Meadow, you’ll find us easily.  We work for approximately 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle but you can do as little or as much as you like and have time for.

Community News article for September edition

Haymaking on the Green

The cows do a wonderful job by grazing Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece. They keep the grass short for more fragile wild flowers and for a great wealth of small mammals and spiders, crickets, hover-flies, slow worms, beetles. And then there’s Folly Meadow, which is the Green’s very best flower-rich meadow and isn’t grazed so we have to keep that short by the time-honoured method of cutting and stacking. It’s lovely work in the summer sun and the more of us the easier it is to get the job done. We feel very much in touch with our mediaeval ancestors, raking the hay into piles and forking it up onto the stack. So join the (work) party!  Details below.

If you missed the Annual Open Event (Sunday 8^th September at the Green entrance) it’s never too late to let us know your thoughts about the Green and what you’d like to see happening there. Contact details at the end.

There are now huge numbers of people around the town who treasure the Green and know it well, and it’s also a delight when we hear from people who have discovered it newly. We’ve just had a wonderful flurry of photos from a hover-fly enthusiast who has been delighted to discover the Green, and we’ll be glad to add his photos to our natural history list. Do keep the photos coming in – landscapes, close-ups, animals, plants, people – and you’ll find them appearing on the website and our posters.

The big job of the summer is mowing, raking and stacking the hay in Folly Meadow, that’s the meadow over the first bridge from town and up towards the Community Orchard. We’re running special Wednesday morning work parties until the job is done. Meet at the containers (industrial estate) at 9.30 with a drink and a nibble and we’ll supply gloves and tools. We work for approximately 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle but you can do as little or as much as you like and have time for.

Community News Article for August edition

The Green’s a-glowing

Glow worms are about again, they have been spotted along edges where the cut grass meets the long grass. You need to go along the Track through Angel and Chestnut Meadows as dark falls and keep your eyes peeled for a tiny but very bright green light. These little beetles (they’re aren’t really worms) are advertising that they’re ready to mate, with their bright tail-lamps poked upwards to mark the spot. They have also been seen along the New Reach, on the opposite bank.

The kingfisher has been seen again dashing along the river in Blyth Meadow, and up at Saxon’s Way at the underpass a fully grown eel has been spending time in the river.

The cows are using their new water troughs which draw water from the river and that means that in normal times we could continue to keep the gates closed between the two grazing meadows. However, water levels are so very low at present and the cows, like us, need extra water at the moment so they are being allowed to come back and forth under the railway bridge to the spring-fed ditch in Lester’s.

If you use the Green and have ideas about what you’d like to see there look out for the display in the Library from Monday 2^nd September to Sunday 8^th when the display will move down onto the Green. Your comments and ideas are all fed into our management process.

And if you visit and love the Green and would like to be part of helping to keep it running, work-parties are on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 11^th August is the next, 10am start) and every Wednesday morning (9.30am start). Bring a drink and some nibbles for the break, everything else is provided. We meet at the industrial estate entrance in Lester’s Piece at the containers, near the Three Ways railway bridge. We normally work for approximately 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle. Heavy and light jobs available, as much or as little as you like – something for everyone.

Community News Article for July edition

A Special Volunteer for the Green

In the last month we celebrated the birthday of a special volunteer. Peter Goodchild began working on the Green not very long after it was set up and has spent hundreds of hours mowing the Track edges, cutting brambles, mending fences, checking up, making ailing trees safe, planting new trees, strimming to keep access open, dredging litter and lifebelts and excess weed out of the waterways, pruning the Orchard, monitoring slow worms, haymaking, looking out for rare wildflowers, servicing tools, photographing wildlife, monitoring water voles … Peter often carries out the emergency tasks (fence down, cows in danger) and the dreary repetitive tasks that don’t necessarily get noticed but which make the Green the stunning place it is for local people and for wildlife. We were very happy to celebrate his birthday during a recent workparty.

We will soon be coming into the season of mowing and hay-making. In the meadows grazed by cows – our other special volunteers – the grass is kept short by them so that small creatures can breed (and be hunted by owls) and people can amble wherever they like.  Chestnut Meadow is not grazed or cut, and it shows what the whole of the Green would be like if we carried out no management at all. There are no cows in Folly Meadow so we cut and rake there, and as a result it is the richest area of the Green for wildflowers and small creatures:  there is adder’s tongue fern, common lizard, common spotted orchids, common toad, grass snake, harvest mouse, marsh orchid, Norfolk hawker dragonfly, soprano pipistrelle bat, slow worm and water vole. There are paths all around Folly Meadow to take you to search for these plants and creatures.

Community News Article for June edition

Congratulations to the Green and Richard Woolnough

All the Green volunteers are thrilled that our own Richard Woolnough has received the Tamsyn Imison Award for Halesworth’s Community Project of the Year. The Award was one of the last things that Tamsyn organized before she died and it is typical of her to seek to celebrate the most community-minded among us in the Town. Her award celebrates volunteers in general and outstanding volunteers in particular, and we are delighted that Richard has received recognition in the Award’s very first year.

Local glass engraver Lesley Pyke has created a stunning decorated Award bowl which lives in a special cabinet upstairs in the Library, and which she presented to Richard at a ceremony where all the nominees received Certificates recognizing their work for Halesworth.

The month of May also saw another successful Plant Sale run jointly by the Green and the Library. Thanks to the support of those who donated plants and gardening items, the people who were on the stalls, and the willing public who spent their money, the magical amount of £444.44 was raised to be shared between the Library and the Green. If you missed the Sale, you will find plants still on offer in the Library Garden – go and have a browse.

Work Parties continue on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 9^th June is the next) Bring a drink and some nibbles for the break, everything else is provided. We meet at 10 am at the Industrial Estate entrance in Lester’s Piece, near the Three Ways railway bridge. We normally work for 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle. Heavy and light jobs available, something for everyone.

Community News Article for May edition

Plant Sale for Green and Library coming up

Coming very soon, on Saturday 11^th May, is the annual Plant Sale run by and for the Library and the Green.  It’s a bring-and-buy:  bring anything from seedlings to full-grown plants, tools and equipment.  And buy at super-reasonable prices. All money raised is shared between the Green and the Library. If you can’t come on the day and you have things to contribute, bring them to the Library beforehand.

And the following day, on Sunday 12^th May at 10am, is our monthly work-party. The weather seems to have taken a leap into spring and so there should be no need to grit your teeth against bitter weather. Bring a drink and some nibbles for the break, everything else is provided. We meet at 10am at the industrial estate entrance in Lester’s Piece, near the railway bridge. We normally work for approximately 2 hours with a sociable break in the middle.

Community News article for April edition

Fifteen-foot glow-caterpillar spotted on the Green

And not only that, but a human-sized illuminated moth as well. This was Halesworth’s fourth annual WinterLight! festival run by the Library and the Millennium Green at the end of the half-term weekend. This year’s Festival told a story of metamorphosis, but with startling differences.

Participants watched Oxblood Molly’s inventive and colourful dancing at the Library and then the story-telling began. Children, who had come with their own sock-caterpillars made at the Library’s workshop, helped a small lantern-caterpillar magically become enormous – 15 foot long, lit from within and supported by 14 human legs. This hungry beast led the procession of around 100 adults and children through the Town Park and to a far corner of the Millennium Green where it was met with stirring drumming by Wooden Roots West African Drums and Percussion.  The enormous caterpillar collapsed into its cocoon to emerge, finally, as a human-sized and fully illuminated moth.

The Festival has developed from a simple wassailing event in 2016 to provide the spectacle of the Ghost of Fred the Wherryman in 2017, the Alesworth Howl in 2018, and this year the spotted caterpillar becoming  a rainbow-underwing moth.

It’s all done by volunteers:  Oxblood Molly bring their music and dance, Adele Goodchild and Nicky Rowbottom of the Green made the giant caterpillar and moth, Meraylah Allwood for the Library created and operated props with the help of local children, Wooden Roots is a leading supplier of African drum and other percussion instruments, and members of Bungay Camera Club created a beautiful and entertaining photographic record. Extracts from this will soon be on the website.

Work-parties are on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 14^th April, Sunday 12^th May etc.). Bring a drink and some nibbles for the break, everything else is provided. We meet at the industrial estate entrance in Lester’s Piece, near the railway bridge.

Community News article for March edition

Winter into Spring on the Green

Heard of Park Runs?  They happen every Saturday morning between 9 and 10am in locations all over the country and are managed with great efficiency and fun by a national organisation. They are not competitive and the routes can be run, walked or jogged and can attract anything from dozens to hundreds of participants. The Green has been approached by the Park Run organisation about the possibility of establishing a Run on the Green, but after a number of site visits and discussions the Park Run organisation decided that there were too many obstacles for a hazard-free large-scale run to be set up. However, any runner is enormously welcome to run in any part of the Green – the surfaced Track is less likely to result in a turned ankle  – and if any local running group might like to establish a small-scale regular event for their members we would be delighted to try to support making that happen.

The Orchard work-party has been entertained by a couple of wheeling buzzards, using the warm up-currents to circle lazily above us making their distinctive mewing sound.  It’s time for apple and pear pruning  – pruning for plums and cherries happens in the summer –  and thanks to the volunteers’  work of the last couple of years the whole Orchard is now in very good heart, all East of England varieties. The beginnings of disease on some plum trees has been defeated and we’re hoping for a good crop this year.

The part of the Orchard nearest Arthur’s wood has some specimen trees, among them a medlar and an almond, still very small so unlikely to fruit much this year. Where’s the Orchard? Walk along past the willow wherry (near the bench at White Bridge) past the big fallen willow and out towards Quay Street and the railway bridge, you’ll find the Orchard and a sturdy bench to sit for a quiet moment.

Regular work-parties go on through the winter. Every second Sunday (10^th  March, 14^th April, etc.) we meet at the industrial estate entrance at 10am to collect tools for that morning’s jobs. Bring a hot drink and something to fortify you at the break, everything else is provided.

Community News article for February edition

WinterLight! coming to the Green

This will be the fourth annual WinterLight! event and the first without the support of Ali Hopkins, Manager of the Library. Ali welcomed the idea of the Festival when it first sprang up between an inventive Green volunteer (Nicky Rowbottom) and a creative librarian (Meraylah Allwood) and supported it enthusiastically, as she did the joint Library-Millennium Green annual Plant Sale and so many other community-based activities that have flourished under her management. Ali will be badly, badly missed by us all.

This year WinterLight! happens at the end of the half-term holiday on Sunday 24^th February. Starting at the Library , the Oxblood Mollies will dance us into the very beginning of the evening’s story. You need to be there by 5.30pm at the latest to catch the beginning of the story and help the story-teller start the magic. We will then move through the town into the Green, along the Track (hard surface all the way) while the story develops, arriving at the special place in the Green where the story will reach its grand finale.

Earlier in the half-term week there will be a WinterLight! crafts workshop at the Library (Wednesday 20^th February  2.30 to 4pm) to create some of the props that will be needed for the story. Children and adults all welcome.

Regular work-parties go on through the winter. Every second Sunday (10^th February, 10^th March, 14^th April etc.) we meet at the industrial estate entrance to collect tools for that day’s jobs. Bring a hot drink and something to fortify you at the break, everything else is provided.

 

 

 

 

 

2018

November News

Did you know ….. that the Track which runs through the Green will take you all the way from the town to the level crossing on the back road which runs between Wenhaston and Walpole?  The volunteers have been slashing back the bramble and trimming the hedges on the Track alongside the railway running up to the crossing, it’s a pretty walk or cycle from the bridge in Two Acres up the gentle slope to the road.  There’s a bench for resting on the way, when you reach the crossing you can turn around and wander back, or carry on to local villages.

The days are shorter and greyer but the Green is still worth visiting. As well as the late autumn colours, wintering and migrating birds have started to move about and drop in. Mixed flocks of finch, siskin, and goldcrest have been seen locally, and redwing and fieldfare are also about. Tell us about any sightings on the Green (contact details below).

The cows have gone until the spring. Watering them is becoming more of an issue with hotter and drier summers. We’re having a good look at the situation over the winter to see if there’s anything more we can do to keep a steady water supply in Blyth Meadow, so that the gates can be kept closed and the passageway under Three Ways Bridge not quite so mucky. Weaving around a bit of muck is part of a walk or ride in the country, but if anyone wanted a small job that would be a big contribution to enjoyment for people who don’t like the muck, occasional muck-scraping under that bridge would bring you their thanks – including from gardeners and allotment holders who could use the muck!  We have the tools anyone is welcome to use, but regular work-party volunteers don’t always have the time.

October News

Raking things over on The Green

Finally, finally the raking and stacking of the long grass cut in Folly Meadow is at an end. Why do we do it?  why not just let the grass grow and die down again year after year?  We do do that on Chestnut Meadow and the edge of Angel Meadow, and the result is a rough growth of hardier commoner plants which are good for some flying and creeping residents and visitors. But not every meadow should offer the same habitat (for wildlife) or appearance (for people to enjoy).  Moreover, by not interfering at all shrubs and small trees do begin to creep in and over time every meadow would become woodland. By mowing and raking Folly Meadow – which has got the most varied and unusual plant seed-bed of all the meadows on the Green – we prevent that rough growth from developing and give the more fragile plants and the mini-beasts that use those plants a chance to flourish.   Adder’s Tongue Fern,  Common lizard,  Marsh and Common spotted orchids,  Common toad,  Grass snake, Harvest mouse,  Norfolk Hawker dragonfly,  Soprano pipistrelle bat, Slow worm …  over the season, Folly Meadow has them all.

So spare a thought for the weary volunteers who have flexed their muscles all summer removing the cuttings from the meadow, and remember their work when you see orchids and grass snakes there next season.

September News

Cow commuters and new species on the Green

Most of this summer people using the Green have been meeting cows, and hopping around cow pats, underneath the bridge at Three Ways. The big meadow (Blyth Meadow) on the side of the bridge away from the town has got several ponds but they dry out fairly quickly. The smaller meadow on the town side of the bridge (Lester’s Piece) has a ditch which is spring-fed and never dries. That means that when Blyth’s ponds are dry the cows have to move freely between the two meadows to eat in both (the grass keeps growing all summer) and drink in one. We’re investigating getting a permanent source of water in Blyth Meadow so that the gates between can be kept locked all summer during the time when everyone most wants to walk and cycle. Meanwhile, please do collect the cow poo for your gardens!  And we’re delighted to see that people do not need encouragement to collect the fruit from the Orchard. There has been a good crop of apples and pears, not so many plums and the birds got the cherries. The specimen trees in the Orchard Extension – the almond, medlar and quince – are still getting their feet down.

Not one but two new (to the Green) species of insects where recorded in September. The first was in The Folly and goes by the name of Antlion, however it’s neither an Ant nor a Lion but more a cross between a lacewing and a dragonfly. The flying adults are nocturnal and seldom seen so their presence is usually detected as larvae who dig distinctive conical pits in soft sand (usually under small overhangs) in order to trap their prey.  The second recently discovered Millennium Green resident is the Ivy Bee. This does exactly what is says on the tin:  it’s a Solitary Bee that has only been in Suffolk for the last 3 or 4 years which exclusively feeds on the nectar of ivy flowers. It has a stripy wasp-like body with a furry ginger upper body. Ivy bees are not only new to the Green, they have only been found in Suffolk in the last 3 or 4 years so it’s exciting that they’ve reached Halesworth. They are on the wing until early November so keep an eye out for them this month on the ivy in your own gardens. Older visitors, a treecreeper and a goldcrest, have also been spotted among a flock of tits in The Folly.

August News

Millennium Green Art Explosion

A giraffe, a water vole, a hare, several elephants, a bee … all on the Green?  Not necessarily …. but the Green did inspire a wonderful shower of native and exotic animal portraits in our first ever Art Competition. Run by Laura Blackman as a promotion and fund-raiser for the Green, this event brought talented local artists of all ages out of the shrubbery and into the open.

Laura brought together support from local sponsors Durrants Estate Agents, Eagle Veterinary Group, Hammond Motor Group, Marshall Used Car Centre, and Spectra Packaging with Adnams and Africa Live contributing to the prizes, the Co-op organising a collection, and the Angel providing the venue for the judging. Floral rosettes for prize-winners came from The Halesworth Florist and the artwork was judged by Sarah Reilly of Love Country Artwork and Gifts.  There were dozens of lively and intriguing entries showing just how much people of all ages in Halesworth enjoy and value the Green.

The amount raised clear of all expenses was a staggering £547.79. Laura’s theme was “All About Animals” so the Trustees have decided that this lovely pot of money should go towards supporting the Green’s longest-serving volunteers, the cows. They graze the two largest meadows (Blyth and Lester’s Piece, at the railway arches) keeping the grass short to encourage wildflowers and the small mammals and insects who are so important in the cycle of life on the Green. There is a permanent water source for the cows in Lester’s Piece  – which is why the gates between the two meadows are left open during dry times so that they can eat wherever the grass is greenest but always drink in Lester’s Piece – however, if summers are going to become increasingly like the one we’ve just had, we would like to install drinkers for the cattle in Blyth Meadow so that there will be permanent water there as well.  Thanks to the Art Competition, we can now set about organising that.

All the Green’s volunteers – particularly the cows – are hugely grateful to Laura for having the imagination and skills to make this event happen. No-one last month spotted giraffe, wolf or elephants on the Green, but we were happy to see 11 willow emerald damselfies whirling around the dipping platform and the Orchard, and a comma butterfly caterpillar was found during the Sunday work-party. If you would like to discover animals and plants which might be seen about the Green, explore our website at the tab “About the Green” and click on “Wildlife”.

July News

Winged invasion on the Green

Thanks to our wonderful community-minded librarians, who once again gave the Green the space to hold our annual display of the year past and possibilities to come. At the weekend we moved the display down to the Green and continued to collect helpful comments about things people would like to see happening on the Green. You can of course let us know at any time during the year (see contact details at the end) but we very much enjoyed 4 days of being able to speak to people more fully and hear their experiences of the Green.

We were particularly delighted to be visited that same day by a purple hairstreak butterfly in the Folly – this is a first for the Green and will be added to our records. If you’re especially interested in natural history, go to the Tab “About the Green” at the top of our website and click on “Wildlife” to get a menu of records of sightings and surveys. For instance, under “Flora” you will find a table setting out detailed surveys carried out by Graham Peck over 5 years – he’s about to carry out another. If you have interesting sightings, please email us the details of what, where and when. thegreen@halesworth.net

The purple hairstreak was not alone: in the last month the first willow emerald damselfly of the year was seen along the New Reach tow path, as well as southern hawker, migrant hawker, ruddy darter, and common darter dragonflies. Away from the waterside you might have seen common blue and small copper butterflies, as well as meadow brown and gatekeeper butterflies, both new sightings this year. Many people have reported the eel in the Town River, and there have been kingfisher and slow worm sightings too.

The summer challenge for work-parties is cutting and raking the grass in one of the meadows where the cows don’t do this job for us – Folly Meadow is the work place, from the willow wherry up to the Orchard. You can do as much or as little as you like, do come along to work-parties which happen on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 12^th August, 9^th September, etc.) starting at 10, meeting at the containers inside the industrial estate entrance (just beyond the Three Ways signpost). Gloves and tools all provided, bring a drink (lots of water) and something to nibble. If you have a special interest (say, the Orchard, or the waterways) you could join the work-parties that are arranged specifically for those purposes.

June News

Annual and Surprise events for the Green

You can contact the Green at any time to let us know things you think we need to know about what’s happening on the Green, or what you would like to see happen. However, we do make a special opportunity every year to update you on the events of the last year and to gather your thoughts for the coming year. This year we’re running a display at the Library from Wednesday 18^th to the evening of Saturday 21st July, then on Sunday 22^nd the display will move down to the Green entrance to catch regular and occasional Green users. So do please drop into the Library or find us on the Green (near the basket-ball pitch and new Teen Shelter).

What’s the surprise? We’re delighted and grateful that a local Green supporter is running an Art Competition on the theme “All About Animals” for the Millennium Green. Look out for posters with the wonderfully simple entry details and rules, make sure you enter before it’s too late. There’s no age limit, no limit on the number of your entries, only one restriction on method – no photography allowed. And it’s only £2 per entry.  Contact Laura on 07920 146290.

If you’ve ever wondered about coming to a work-party it could be your chance to hear a turtle dove, enjoyed by the June Sunday morning work-party while peacefully clipping the willow wherry. Nearby at the dipping platform hovered a Norfolk Hawker dragonfly, and the sudden heat of the last weeks has brought out many other flutterers: four-spot chaser and broad-bodied chaser dragonflies, emperor dragonfly, banded demoiselle and comma butterflies. Another welcome sound is the willow warbler in The Folly.

Thanks to our regular volunteers and with good help from Mencap, the Orchard trees have been largely cleared of nettles. You can get close enough to read the smart new tree labels, thanks to a creative volunteer, which tell you the name and type of each tree. You can plan your scrumping!

Work-parties on the Green happen on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 8^th July, 12^th August etc.) starting at 10, meeting at the containers inside the industrial estate entrance (just beyond the Three Ways signpost). Gloves and tools all provided, bring a drink and something to nibble. If you have a special interest (say, the Orchard, or the waterways) you could join the work-parties that are arranged specifically for those purposes.

May News

Spring is sprung on the Green

On the sunny morning of That Wedding, there were enough Millennium Green and Library volunteers and customers not glued to their screens for us to raise from our joint Plant Sale a magnificent £300 plus, to be divided between the two organisations. The remainder of the plants are sitting in the Library Garden waiting for you to inspect and buy, so do ask the librarians to let you have a look. As well as the welcome cash, we received lots of encouraging enthusiasm about the work both groups do and some offers of new volunteer help. So – our thanks to Halesworth and visitors, for your support and generosity.  And for those of us who love a spectacle, the Library had kindly supplied a large TV screen indoors to enjoy snatches of the Windsor event throughout the day.

 

 

Many, many people in Halesworth love the water voles who can be seen in and around some of the waterways which run through the Green. With advice from nature conservation organisations we have carried out a survey to try to discover how the voles are doing, so that we can make sure our management practices continue to encourage them. You might have seen volunteers in wellies, carrying clip boards and sticks (for safety) looking out for the tell-tale signs of this delightful endangered and protected species.

While you’re looking out for water voles, keep an eye peeled for frogs, sticklebacks and, if you’re lucky, stone loaches and even a pike. Don’t forget to raise your eyes for the butterflies – holly blue, red admiral, orange tip and speckled wood have all been seen in the last month. Large red damselflies and hairy dragonflies love the New Reach, and at the other end of the Green at Two Acres a cloud of thirty or more house martins came streaming in, while our regular grey wagtails are about the place again.

Work-parties on the Green happen on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 10^th June, 8^th July etc.) starting at 10, meeting at the containers inside the industrial estate entrance (just beyond the Three Ways signpost). Gloves and tools all provided, bring a drink and something to nibble. If you have a special interest (say, the Orchard, or the waterways) you could join the work-parties that are arranged specifically for those purposes.

 

April News

Trees up and down on the Green?

Trees down?  At the top of Arthur’s Wood you’ll have noticed a couple of enormous poplars which have been truly distinctive landmarks on the edge of the Green. Recently they began to drop branches and endanger the overhead line. They have passed their best and been efficiently taken down, with a large stump left standing to provide dead wood for the mini-beasts that thrive on dying material. We’re planting some native saplings in the newly exposed area which will eventually patch up the woodland cover there.

Trees up?  Over a dozen years ago volunteers planted tiny saplings along the boundary in Lester’s Piece where there had been a clear view through to the industrial estate. These trees have taken well and we have recently cleared away their protective guards. For the dog-walkers, and cows, who enjoy that meadow there is now a rising screen of green.

The cows will soon be back. Our grazier and cowman do everything they can to keep cow passage under the railway bridge to a minimum but if you positively enjoy meeting the cows – and we know that many Green users do – you’ll be seeing them in Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece. Their grazing makes room for relatively delicate meadow plants and creates habitat for populations of small mammals, which are lovely in themselves as well as being crucial for keeping our resident owls well fed.

Meanwhile keep an eye open for brimstone butterflies who are now joining the tortoiseshell and peacocks along the New Reach. Water voles are emerging after winter, one was spooked by a close encounter with a moorhen, and you might see them by the bench at White Bridge. At the other end of the Green the cattle pond in Blyth Meadow has raised quite a few frogs and toads this year. Beyond the pond and into Two Acres two male whitethroat were heard having a mighty singing competition; they are well named, with a very obvious bright throat and chest. And if you go as far as the level crossing you might see house martins and swallows circling above.

March News

What’s happening on the Green

We have just finished the winter pruning of pears and apples in the Community Orchard (in Arthur’s Wood, near the railway bridge on Quay Street).  Some of the hazels have been pruned for nuts, and some for wands which will make useful bean-sticks, all for local people to take and use. The sturdy bench means you can sit for a breather after the longish walk up through Folly Meadow.  If you would be interested in helping in the Orchard but don’t want to come to regular general work-parties you’d still be hugely welcome. Just let us know.

Spring has been a long time coming this year so watching the Green wake up is going to be an even greater pleasure than usual. Snowdrops, including the green variety, have been lingering in the Folly and look out now for the early warblers – chiff chaffs have been heard already, dragonflies will start emerging from the water, there might even be a brimstone butterfly or two.

You will have noticed the footpath work at the old railway bridge, which should make it possible for buggies and less nimble walkers to get up that previously very uneven slope. Soon the East Area Rights of Way team (Suffolk County Council) will be back to do a little more work to level out the approaches to White Bridge. Taken together, these works should make the very special place that is the Folly easier to access for lots of us.

The Green and the Library together made a great hit with WinterLight! in February, and in May we’re getting together again to run our joint Plant Sale. This will be on Saturday 19^th May, in the morning outside the Library. Bring tools, seedlings and plants you don’t want, take away things for the garden that you do want. You’ll be helping to raise a little cash for the Green and for the Library, both of which rely on local support.

Work-parties on the Green happen on the second Sunday of every month (Sunday 8^th April, then Sunday 13^th May) starting at 10.00 meeting at the containers just inside the industrial estate entrance. Gloves and tools all provided, bring a hot drink and something to nibble.

February News

The Howl of Alesworth on the Green

What do you get if you stir together lots of enthusiastic lantern-makers at Halesworth Library plus the Oxblood Mollies plus a very dim-witted Fire-chicken plus an illuminated six-foot Owl – 20 feet up in the air? You get the third annual WinterLight! mini-Festival on Halesworth Millennium Green. One hundred and twenty people enjoyed the Mollies dancing, the lanterns and        the newly-discovered ancient Tale of the Howl of Alesworth (? think about it).

If you missed WinterLight! you’ll be able to see the Owl  in the Library window in the next week or so, and if you didn’t miss WinterLight! you’ll have a chance to see her much closer up than you did on the Green, where she was high in the air. And just wait until after dark ….

The whole of the Green is open to public access, you can walk anywhere without needing official footpaths. However there are a couple, and one of them runs between White Bridge and the Holton Road. The approaches to White Bridge and the slope between the Southwold Railway bridge and the Folly are steep and difficult to negotiate for many people. We are enormously grateful to the East Area Rights of Way team, part of Suffolk County Council, who have helpfully taken on doing the necessary work to make those areas of the footpath safer and better for everyone.

Ducks on Folly Meadow? The whole area is wonderfully wet and has been attracting water birds in the last weeks who look as if they’re settling in  –  the wetness makes you understand why there’s a reed bed, just a small one, close by. The Green does get muddy at this time of year so if you’re going to stray from the Track it’s as well to wear wellies or good boots. Don’t let the wetness stop you from exploring all the far corners of the Green.

Come along to a monthly work-party: the second Sunday of every month (next one Sunday 11^th March) starting at 10.00 meeting at the containers just inside the industrial estate entrance. Gloves and tools all provided, bring a hot drink and something to nibble.

January News 2018

Winterlight! half-term on the Green

The third WinterLight! Festival run by the Green, the Library and the Oxblood Mollies starts on half-term Wednesday 14^th with a workshop in the Library 2.30 to 4pm creating lanterns. Then, on half-term Saturday 17^th the Mollies will lead dancing outside the Library from 4.30 until, at dusk around 5pm, they will begin the procession down to the Green. Stewards will lead the way through the Town and along the Track – this year the final Magical Event will be in Chestnut Meadow so the whole walk will be on hard surface. You do need to wear warm clothes and sturdy shoes, and bring a lantern or light (and a hot drink). The Festival will finish around 6pm and you can walk back to Town along the Track.

There’s been quite a lot of water lying about in recent weeks and the water meadows on the Green are doing their job of helping to prevent flood waters getting anywhere near the Town. Wellies or walking boots are a good idea these days, but being on the Green in rain and wind is lovely fun.

At the far end of Arthur’s Wood – beyond the Orchard and going towards Quay Street railway bridge – two very tall poplars are past their best and in the sort of wind we’ve been having recently are shedding enormous branches in a potentially dangerous way. You’ll see work going on to pollard them (cutting them quite high up) to make them safe but also to leave many metres of what will become standing dead wood, very attractive to all kinds of insects and birds.

Works will soon begin on the approaches to White Bridge to make them more buggy-friendly (less steep). Also, the slope beyond the old Southwold Railway bridge will be smoothed so that buggies will be better able to get into the Folly itself.

Come along to a work-party: the second Sunday of every month (next one Sunday 11^th February) starting at 10.00 meeting at the sheds at the industrial estate entrance. Gloves and tools all provided, bring a hot drink and something to nibble.

December News 2017

Winterlight! on Millennium Green

Yes, we intend to run the third WinterLight! Festival with the Library on the Green in the New Year. Put Saturday 17^th February in your diary and look out for posters around the town giving details. There will be a lantern-making workshop at the Library over lunchtime and then music and dancing by Ox Blood Molly who will lead a procession onto the Green. Remember the ghost of Fred Lambert the wherryman last year? Who knows what this year will bring …

In the next weeks you might find works being done in the Folly to make the path from the old railway bridge into the Folly easier for buggies to get along, and works at White Bridge to make the ramp onto the bridge less steep. The Green is a place for everyone and it is important that people who are less physically able or active can get access to as much of it as possible, not just the parts served by the wonderful Track.

The work-party volunteers have once again done a terrific year’s work. Without them paths around the Green would become increasingly difficult to walk, the wild flowers in Folly Meadow would be overwhelmed by coarser growth, the fruit trees in the Community Orchard would become derelict and unproductive, the lovely sight of the New Reach waterway would be obscured by tall growth …. it’s astonishing what can be achieved by a few hours on a morning work-party by a group of dedicated people, and  there’s work for however much or little you feel able to do. Come along to a work-party: the second Sunday of every month (next one Sunday 14^th January) starting at 10.00 meeting at the tool containers at the industrial estate entrance. Gloves and tools all provided, bring a hot drink and something to nibble.

December 2017 Community News

In 1999 the idea of a Green for Halesworth was a twinkle in the eye of some very long-sighted local people, who were themselves building on the wonderful work around the New Reach done by Buzzy Took and friends in the early 1990s.  All these inspired and hard-working people have given us the astonishing open space that we enjoy today. And one of them, having been the Green’s Secretary for all those 18 years, is stepping down from that role. Judith Woolnough will still volunteer for the Green and support the work, but it’s someone else’s turn now to do all that admin and co-ordinating work behind the scenes that keeps things going. All of us who enjoy the Green owe Judith an enormous vote of thanks. And Catherine, a good friend to the Green, helped us to celebrate Judith’s work by making and decorating the most astonishing cake: complete with cow, owl, kingfisher and a dog … which was enjoyed at the last Trustees’ meeting.

And, as if to celebrate with us, kingfishers can still be seen flashing along the waterways in these autumn days. The end of mowing and raking frees the Green’s volunteers to turn to other tasks, and you will soon see discreet replacement fencing going up around the entrance to the Green and alongside the New Reach to prevent people tripping off the concrete apron onto the path.

November 2017 Community News – A new mower for the Green

No the mower isn’t a super-cow, it’s a new sit-upon mower to keep the edges of the Track and other main paths walkable in Arthur’s Wood, Folly Meadow, Chestnut Meadow and Two Acres. We’ve been hugely grateful for the mower kindly donated by Pete and Sue Lock which has done the job for years, but the time has come for a replacement. We have just had news from the Big Lottery that they can grant us £2,749 towards the new mower. Along with money from our own funds – much of this donated by individuals, groups and businesses in Halesworth –  this grant will enable us to buy a new and sturdy mower which will cope with the rough ground of the Green. Our mowing is both for people access and for wildflowers and small mammals, and having a powered mower gives our hard-working volunteers with hand-tools a rest from raking and stacking, and leaves them free to get into places the mower can’t reach.

Now the clocks have gone back it’s darker even earlier but there is still lots of wildlife to be seen on the Green and lovely autumn scenes. Kingfishers are flashing along the New Reach, bats are about at dusk. It’s a good season for joining a work-party! the next one is  Sunday 12thA new mower for the November – work-parties are a couple of hours on the morning of the second Sunday of every month.

Meet at the Tool Sheds (containers) at 10.00am at the industrial estate entrance in Lester’s Piece (the smaller cow meadow) and bring refreshment with you. All tools and gloves are provided.

October 2017 Community News – Ukeleles on the Green

All the people who work on or for the Green in any capacity are volunteers. It isn’t all practical work, but everything is focussed on getting the practical work done to improve access for people and to maintain and enhance habitats for wildlife. Mowing, raking, mending fences, keeping footpaths clear, holding the weeds back from the surface of the Track, keeping ditches running, picking up litter, organising events, carrying the can for the decisions that are made and the money that is spent, strimming – not too much! looking after the tools, keeping an eye on work practices, planting and pruning trees, consulting agencies and liaising with councils about access, wildlife and management issues …. There’s not a lot of time for socialising so once a year we get together to spend some work-free time. This year our bring-and-share BBQ was serenaded wonderfully by the Uke3A (University of the Third Age Ukelele Group). Third Age they may be, for the BBQ they were First Class with a beautifully judged range of songs and music.

Even as the mists and darkness start creeping in there is a lot of wildlife about, especially at early morning and evening. You might get to hear the Little Owl just after dusk and, although the dawn chorus has mostly packed up, the very early morning in autumn is a magical time to be on the Green.  If you’re there and capture something wonderful on your phone or camera, do send it in to us and we’ll gladly put it on the website.

September 2017 Community News – Mowing for wildflowers on the Green

Mow and rake, mow and rake … it’s the song of the summer on the Millennium Green. Cutting the long grass just once at this time of year, and raking off the cut grass, means that the more fragile wildflowers have a chance to see the light and get through the dense grass. The cows do the job best, in Blyth Meadow and in Lester’s Piece, but in Folly Meadow the less efficient – human – volunteers have to do our best to imitate them. The result is orchids, fritillaries, ragged robin, a multitude of tiny mammals, grass-snakes and slow-worms every spring. And the joy of the Green is that you can get close enough to see them, because there’s nowhere you can’t walk.

So it’s well worth the effort of mowing and raking. You are enormously welcome to join us. Coming to one Sunday morning work-party doesn’t commit you for ever, and these summer mornings are a delight.  We start at 10am, bring a drink and something to nibble at half-time. We’re out there on the second Sunday of every month, and the list of dates is on the notice board by the first cattle grid.

Meanwhile our Orchard volunteers have been brushing-up their pruning skills. We’ve just had the second of two very useful courses run by Crown Nurseries (Woodbridge, Ufford). This session was for soft fruit, cherries and plums. The 3 plum trees – over near the wasps’ nest in the far corner – are not doing well, but all the other trees are flourishing. Fruit is patchy this year, because of late frost and then odd weather. Any fruit is for you to take, and don’t forget the hazel-nuts on the little copse at the front of the Orchard. There will be some more apples in September, keep an eye out for when they ripen.

August 2017 Community News – Millennium Green cows on the move

Our cowman has been enormously helpful by keeping the gates between Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece shut, so that you don’t meet cows wandering under the railway bridge between the two meadows. However, the increasingly dry weather means the pond in Blyth Meadow – the one next to the Track, where the seat is – dries up earlier and earlier. There is no other source of water in that meadow, but in Lester’s Piece there is a ditch which is permanently wet. Blyth and Lester’s are separated by the railway bridge. This means that, once the grass in Lester’s is all grazed, we have to leave the gates open so that the cows can eat in Blyth and drink in Lester’s.  We hope to solve this by establishing a permanent water source in Blyth, probably a cow-activated pump into a trough. The gates between the two meadows will then be kept shut all the time. Meanwhile, the cows will move out of the way if you just walk gently onwards.

The dry weather has allowed us to sort out the overflow in the Blyth Meadow pond. You might have seen one volunteer working very hard mixing cement and several others helpfully cheering him on. The cowman has topped thistles in both meadows so that, as well as keeping thistle infestation at bay (there are lots elsewhere on the Green) there are lovely areas of both short and long grass that meet different wildlife needs. And the wildlife seems to like it: recently there have been sightings of Emperor, Four-spotted chaser, and Common Darter dragonflies, half a dozen Willow Emerald damselflies (on the hawthorns right next to the towpath), and the sound of a male Reed Bunting along the New Reach.  Slow worms and grass snakes are about – don’t worry you won’t tread on them, they are much more wary of you than you are of them – and there has also been a wonderful visitation of Migrant Hawker dragonflies in the Folly.

July 2017 Community News – Millennium Green says Thank You Gwen

The Green was glad to take part in Halesworth in Bloom’s celebrations of the town’s very own top scientist, Joseph Dalton Hooker born 200 years ago and recognised as having made a crucial contribution to the development of natural science. At the same time, we ran a 5-day exhibition about the Green in the Library setting out events of the last year and inviting people to comment and suggest how the Green might contribute to the enjoyment of local people over the coming year.

On the Green itself, the cows are doing their sturdy job of keeping the grass in Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece short for wildflowers and small mammals, which in turn help to support barn and little owls. The human hay-cutters are rolling up our sleeves for the mowing-and-raking season which will start soon in Folly Meadow.

Chestnut Meadow, in accordance with preferences expressed by local people, is being left for the time being to contribute to the scrub rotation on the Green with just paths mown around and through here and there. Meanwhile the newly-cleared once-fenced area is becoming a favourite site for picnics and water-gazing. Strimming the New Reach banks is in suspension while the water voles need the cover.

At the end of this month, be sure to look in the Folly for migrant hawker dragonflies. They have been recorded there at this time of year by our World Land Trust lunch-time strollers and data-collectors Dan & Scott for a couple of years now. While you’re in the Folly look out for the new fingerpost which will appear very soon at the engine shed.

Our signage has been so welcomed that we’re installing just two more, the other at the farthest end of the Green where the Track meets the back road from Wenhaston at the level crossing. That post bears a “Thank You” to our good neighbour Gwen Woolnough, without whose ready and welcoming co-operation that distant and crucial link between the Green’s Track and all points south of Halesworth could not have been achieved.

June 2017 Community News – Halesworth Millennium Green thanks local businesses

Local businesses MRA on the Blyth Industrial Estate, Ridgeons at Broadway Drive, Adnams in Southwold as well as the Big Lottery have all helped the Green move into a new era.

For 17 years, ever since the Green was set up, Richard & Judith Woolnough have kindly given over their garage space to a growing collection of tools and equipment. But thanks to the Big Lottery and local businesses we now have two fine tool storage containers on the Green itself. This will make organising work-parties simpler and more efficient, and gives the Woolnoughs their own storage space back. MRA installed the containers one spring morning speedily and with no damage to the surrounding trees. Ridgeons provided wood to fit out the insides, and Adnams topped up the Big Lottery grant with a critically useful contribution. Green volunteers have kitted out the containers ready for use. We are enormously lucky that such ready financial and practical support has always been offered for all the Green’s needs.

There has been a certain amount of interest in the new containers from local youth as is only natural. We are constantly aware that there is very, very little damage done to anything on the Green and we believe that this must surely reflect the extent to which local people, including young people, understand that the Green is theirs. Halesworth Millennium Green is not a nature reserve which people are permitted to come into, it is a public open space every inch of which can be  walked, sat, run, played – and in many places, cycled – on or visually enjoyed for its landscape and wildlife value. The volunteers who manage the Green strive for the human and the wild life to be in balance and we are always grateful for feedback from users as to whether we are achieving that, or might achieve it differently.

And the wildlife does flourish: recently there was a small copper butterfly along Arthur’s Wood track and a whitethroat was not only heard but seen in Arthur’s Wood.  A large red damselfly coasts along the New Reach, and Folly Meadow’s flowers are blooming.

May 2017 Community News – Four-legged helpers and seedlings support Green and Library

Saturday 27^th May – that’s the day to make sure you get to the Library to stock up on first-hand seedlings and second-hand tools and books for the new planting season. And bring along any tools, books and seedlings you’d like to be rid of. If you can deliver them to the Library beforehand that would be even better. All money taken will go to support the Green and the Library.

This month will see the cows returning to the Green. They are hugely welcome because the volunteers could not possibly cut the biggest meadows – Blyth and Lester’s Piece – so if they were not grazed that would mean that the open areas of the Green would become overwhelmed first with coarse grass, bramble and shrubs and eventually with trees.

There are large amounts of rough grass, scrub and treed ground in other parts of the Green and it would be a great shame to lose the lovely long views of Blyth and Lester’s and the wide spaces to roam there that we now enjoy. We are lucky that the cows, and our grazier, can live with a very high level of people passing through and it helps enormously that Green users keep their dogs under close control. This is particularly important in the first weeks when the young cattle are unused to close contact with people and dogs and can be very curious. So we’re happy to say hello once more to our four-legged helpers.

April 2017 Community News – Changes in Chestnut on the Green

Big changes in Chestnut Meadow, just after the first cattle grid. In the near future this meadow will not be grazed by cows which means there is no need for the fence between the meadow and the New Reach. That has gone, and a strip of vegetation mown to allow clearer views and access to the waterside. The noticeboard has hopped from the waterside to sit alongside the Track, where many more people will be able to see it.  We have heard the requests for better access around the meadow so have mown a good path right round, and we’ll keep this clear during the growing season. The rest of the rough growth will be left to support the established wildlife, which again is something many users have requested.

More rough growth and scrub – excellent for birds and small mammals – can be seen in “Scrub Triangle”. That’s just opposite Folly Meadow and will soon have its own nameplate. We once tried establishing a picnic site here, also an experimental arable weed area, but neither of these were successful. So this area will be allowed to do what it does best – grow scrub. Follow the windy path in, the Triangle is more interesting than it looks from the gateway.

After the huge success of WinterLight! the Green and the Library are working together once again to run our joint Plant Sale. Do look out for this outside the Library on Saturday 27th May, just the right time to be picking up seedlings and other gardening goodies.

Our good neighbour Henry Cliff on the far side of the New Reach has done a short-back-and-sides job in strimming his banks so that it is very easy to see the water voles, in and out of their holes just above the waterline and nibbling vegetation. They are so relaxed you can sometimes see them almost at your feet on the near bank of the New Reach. And further down, near White Bridge, they are even more active. In the meadows the first slow worms have been seen, and we’re hoping for a grass snake any day now.

March 2017 Community News – Ghost? on the Green

The last wherry to use the New Reach as a commercial waterway was Fred Lambert’s Star, in the early 1900s. More than 100 years later at the WinterLight! Festival in February in 2017 we saluted his memory and raised a 30 foot mast on the willow wherry to celebrate the days when these HGVs of water transport would have sailed between the meadows and right into Halesworth.

More than 70 people, including many children who had made lanterns at the Library’s afternoon workshop, made a lantern-lit evening procession led by the Oxblood Mollies from the Library to the Green. White Bridge twinkled as never before, a bright blue star was hoisted on the mast, and finally the ghost of the Green made his appearance biking down to his wherry – as many wherrymen did, morning and evening, to begin and finish their day’s work.

In daylight hours, the warmer weather is making the birds much more active, one song thrush even singing his heart out to a work-party of volunteers during their tea-break. A Norfolk Hawker larva has been found on water soldier in Folly Meadow dyke, so later in the summer remember to look out for a dragonfly with a yellow triangle on its abdomen and very large green eyes. At the moment these striking dragonflies are found only in Norfolk and Northeast Suffolk, so finding them on the Green is very encouraging.

This year we won’t be running Walks & Talks on the Green, but there will be other things happening. Following the WinterLight! Festival remember to look out soon for posters about a fair around Easter-time … meanwhile you might have noticed that in Chestnut Meadow the fence between the meadow and the New Reach has been taken out. Back in the autumn at our Annual Open Day we asked for ideas about the future of Chestnut Meadow and taking everything into account this meadow will not be grazed in future. That means the kissing-gates are not needed – one less gate to negotiate along the Track, and no gate at the end of the towpath. The fence keeping the cows away from the Reach is not needed either. Removing that fence has made the area nearest the New Reach less closed in and gives an extended view of the water. In the next weeks we will be improving access around and across Chestnut Meadow. Most of the rough growth will remain to support the established wildlife.

February 2017 Community News – Orchard haircuts and winter lights on the Green

You might have noticed one apple tree in the middle of the Orchard looking strangely shorn of branches. The Green’s Orchard Group is gearing up: we’ve enjoyed an enormously helpful training session from Crown Nurseries and are set to tackle pruning the rest of the apples and pears in the next few weeks. The plums and cherries will wait till summer for their haircuts.  And there is now a small extension where there is a newly planted medlar and a quince. Can’t tell one tree from the other? Help is on the way, each tree will soon have a permanent wooden label with its name and type of fruit shown.

Much of this is only possible because of the donations of local people, by means of standing orders, to our maintenance fund. We still haven’t quite reached our annual target of £1500 coming in from standing orders for basic maintenance but we’re nearly there. If you’re able to spare even a few pounds a month, regularly, that means we can plan, without having to apply for grants for every single thing. For the Orchard we’re using the fund to equip ourselves with good quality secateurs and loppers, essential for keeping fruit trees producing well. The Standing Order form is on our website, address below.

You might have seen the recent press coverage, and there are also posters around the Green and in the Town (Library, Bookshop, Remnants, the car park) with the details of the WinterLight! Festival on Sunday 12^th February.  Lantern-making at lunch-time, Molly dancing early evening and then a lantern-lit procession to the Green for more unusual and surprising light moments.  And no need to struggle in the dark up to the Orchard, this year the fun will happen around the Willow Wherry in Folly Meadow.

The weather changes from oddly mild to fiercely cold, so much so that for a little while the edge of the New Reach was frozen hard  –  but not quite enough for skating!

 

 

January 2017 Community News – Winterlight on the Green

Remember the Winter Glowworm lanterns on the Green in February last year? If you do you’ll be glad to know they’ll be back this year, and if you don’t you can join in this year.

It will all happen on Sunday 12^th February. First step: lunchtime workshop at the Library to make simple lanterns with materials and paints provided by the Library. Second step: meet in the Town Park at dusk with lights and lanterns. Third step: a lantern-lit short walk to a magical place on the Green, led by the Oxblood Molly musicians and with some weird and wonderful special lights. Fourth step: a WinterLight ceremony –  with luck there might even be hot chocolate around the fire. Why not at the Orchard this year? because it’s hard for mobility scooters and push-chairs to get over the uneven and possibly wet ground up there, and it’s a little tucked away. This year the event will be just off the Track over White Bridge. Watch out for posters in the Library and on the Green for details.

We have tried to make the walk up to the Orchard easier. By digging out Louise’s Pond we have been able to build up the section of path nearby to be flatter and drier. Willow-and-hazel hurdles (made with Green materials at a work-party) along one side of the Pond will protect that part of the bank for growth and wildlife access. If you would like to help in the volunteer management work of the Green, come to our monthly work-parties on second Sundays (next one Sunday 8^th January). Tools, gloves and a hot drink provided. We start at 10am, usually meeting at White Bridge.

Work parties also provide opportunities to see and hear wildlife. At the December work party a kingfisher was seen repeatedly – flying along the dipping platform dyke, perched on a branch over the pond. A buzzard circled above and a great spotted woodpecker hammered away on a tree in Folly Meadow.

December 2016 Community News – Autumn around the Green

Throughout November you might have seen Green volunteers toiling alongside the towpath of the New Reach. We’re pushing back a margin of overgrowth on the hedge side that we can keep strimmed, and we’re reinstating the hedge which has become swamped by ivy and very derelict. The rows of tiny trees you can see in the hedge line are not as new as they look – we planted them 5 years ago!  Their survival is a tribute to their courage, but their small size shows how desperately the clearance around and above was needed. Now, hopefully, they can flourish.

Earlier in the year we strimmed the banks to keep views down to the water clear and walkers have been delighted to see water voles eating, playing, home-building on the opposite bank, totally calmly. We have no intention of creating a lawn alongside the Reach, and the wildflowers will come again and do better.

The season of floods is beginning and we’ll do our best to lay vegetation over the swampier parts of the paths through Folly Meadow to keep them walkable. Parts of the Track, particularly in Chestnut Meadow, will be under water occasionally and at those times walkers and cyclists would be wise to turn back if you can’t see the edges of the Track, as the grass alongside will be pretty soggy and might turn you over.

November 2016 Community News – Plans for easier access on the Green

An outdoor event in October?  always a risk and the rain did come down for a while. Nevertheless, many people enjoyed the displays and games of the Green’s Drop-In Annual Open Morning. There was lots of interest in, and feedback on, our suggestions for what might be done with Chestnut Meadow. This Meadow is hard to graze because of having no water supply and is too big for Green volunteers to cut and rake on top of the cutting and raking done in Folly Meadow (the Green’s richest wildflower meadow) during the summer. Scrub is a fine habitat but there is no shortage of it on the Green, and Chestnut Meadow has become harder for visitors to enjoy. Watch out: thanks to ideas from you, that is due to change.

The wildlife highlight of the Drop-In morning was the attendance of not one or even two, but three water voles along the New Reach. They plopped in and out of the water all morning, and seemed very happy to sit calmly on floating leaves on the far side of the Reach (the side we haven’t strimmed) munching away, knowing that they are safe. And they are now easily seen from the towpath, thanks to the clearance of vegetation along that side.

The Orchard has been thoroughly scrumped, we’re delighted that no fruit has been left to rot on the ground. There are still a few nuts, don’t fail to look through the hazel copse at the front of the Orchard.

October 2016 Community News – Drop-in-have-your-say Day on the Green

The mowing and raking of the summer done, it’s time for thinking and planning – so help us please.

On Sunday 23^rd October between 10 and 1pm we will have pitched our gazebo at the Entrance to the Green (just beyond the skateboard and basketball pitches). Come and talk to us about what you enjoy and what you’d like to see changed. For example, any ideas for Chestnut Meadow? (the meadow just beyond White Bridge). This has not been grazed or cut for a few years, what might we do with it now?   And what about that patch on the right-hand-side as you walk up from the New Reach towards the railway bridges and Holton Road?

There will be displays of the year’s wildlife sightings and main events. Did you come to the Glow-worm Festival? You might feature in the photos and if not you might be inspired to join the Festival next year. A quiz, a treasure hunt, a chance to carry out water-quality testing, some light refreshments. And no speeches except the ones you make!  Come anytime between 10am and 1pm.

What’s gone from toe-hold to triumph in a few short years? The willow emerald damselfly: this lovely miraculous flying machine had only a small toe-hold in a southern corner of Suffolk until very recently. But two summers ago they were first recorded on the Green, and during a sunny September day this year 25 plus were spotted perched on the twigs (into which they lay their eggs) that overhang the New Reach and the ditches in Folly Meadow. One was even seen on an oak tree in the Folly. It’s always good, and cheering, when a wildlife success story can be reported.

September 2016 Community News – Testing the water on the Green

Question: what’s wet and any shade of pink or purple? Answer: water in the simplest kit for testing water quality you ever came across. The Green received our kits and instructions by post from the Freshwater Habitats Trust who are running a project to collect data on the state of the nation’s freshwater bodies – rivers, streams, ditches and ponds (phone 01865 595 505 or see http://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/projects/clean-water/). They say “Clean Water for Wildlife is a citizen science survey that aims to raise awareness of the true extent of nutrient pollution, and identify clean water habitats in England and Wales, with the ultimate aim of helping to protect biodiversity.” They are asking anyone with access to bodies of water, from the smallest garden pond to the largest lakes, to carry out this simple and vivid test and to feed the results back to them. Contact them to get your kit, phone number and website address above. So if you saw some of the Green’s volunteers scrambling up and down the banks of the River Blyth, the Town River and the New Reach with scoops for water and clip-boards for results, that’s what they were up to.

Meanwhile on land, people-powered mowing and raking is finished for this year although the cow-powered mowing will carry on for many weeks yet. In the air, Migrant Hawkers are floating from the Green up into the town; one appeared in the World Land Trust carpark and the records kept by Dan & Scott (who work there) tell us that their arrival is very punctual when compared with other years. A Ruddy Darter dragonfly has been demonstrating its name by darting over Louise’s Pond in Folly Meadow, and the first Willow Emerald damselfly of the year was seen hanging from a hawthorn twig along the New Reach towpath. Fruit in the orchard is coming along but do test one plum, pear or apple before you take an armful – they are all different kinds and ripen at different times. The fruit is there for scrumping, please help yourself.

August 2016 Community News – Damsels & Dragons – on the Green?

Mythical monsters and distressed ladies? No, all very much smaller – but possibly even more wonderful! Show me a dragon to compare with Norfolk Hawker dragonflies when engaged in lots of aerial combat (around the lily pads at White Bridge and at the dipping platform); or an Emperor ovipositing (laying eggs) along the New Reach; and Chasers both Four-spotted (at the dipping platform) and Broad-bodied (at Louise’s Pond).
And the damsels? Stunning Banded Demoiselle damselflies can be seen cruising along the New Reach, and if you’re lucky you might see clouds of Azure and Common Blue – as many as 50 males and females were seen in one day by our World Land Trust lunch-break recorders Dan & Scott. Not to be outdone the shy water vole has been spotted by our mowers and rakers, in the dyke at the dipping platform. If you see a shape a little like a house brick and mostly underwater but with slick wet fur, that’ll be the vole.
This is the season of mowing and raking. Doing a single cut at this time of year and removing the cut material creates a habitat for particular flower species that would otherwise be swamped by coarser growth. Surprisingly, it’s a different habitat from that created by grazing cows, so it’s well worth having both grazed areas (like Blyth Meadow and Lester’s Piece) and cut areas (like Folly Meadow). The secret is in how cows eat; they wind the grass around their tongues and pull, whereas cutting makes a clean slice. Easy for cows, for humans it’s a lot of work – even if not using our tongues – but rewarding. Do join us on the second Sunday of most months, equipment and refreshments are all provided. We meet at White Bridge (the first cattle grid from town) at 10am.

July 2016 Community News – Walks and Works on the Green

Don’t miss the next Walk & Talk:  on Sunday 31^st July at 10am we’ll be taking a close look at the New Reach that brought commercial wherries right into the town, and the River Blyth with the meadows that surround them. You can pick up a New Reach Trail leaflet at the Library and around the town but this gently guided walk will give you much more. And there’s always the chance of water voles and other water life. Meet at the Green’s entrance board (near the basketball court in the Town Park).

Meanwhile, you might catch the Reed Bunting – a first for the Green –  in Two Acres. This is the meadow furthest from the Town (just beyond Six Arches) with a flourishing small wood planted in 2005. If you stray a little from the path mown around the outside you might find the Black Poplars within the wood. Back in Folly Meadow a few precious orchids are popping their heads up, and an Emperor Dragonfly was seen skimming along the New Reach.

 The rush of growth caused by the warmer weather means the Green’s work-party volunteers have been focussing on keeping paths cut back just enough for comfortable walking. We have also had a blitz on the weeds growing up through the cattle grids because if the cows can’t see the spaces between the bars they think the ground is solid and will walk across.  Soon it will be time to start cutting and raking the grass in Folly Meadow again. We do this by hand and with small mowers so that little and slow creatures have a chance to move along in front of the equipment and find safety elsewhere. Having carefully managed the meadow for (among other things) mice, slow worms and toads we don’t want then to slice their heads off with large and fast-moving agricultural equipment. So if you would like to join a centuries-old tradition and lend your energy to the annual hard job of raking and stacking, you would be especially welcome in the summer months coming up. Work-parties are the second Sunday of every month, equipment and refreshments all provided, meeting at White Bridge (the first cattle grid from town).

June 2016 Community News – Walks and Talks on the Green

Thanks to the Uke3A Band (University of the Third Age) for their invaluable musical support for our Sing to the Trees event and for their generous donation to our funds. The Band goes from strength to strength and adds zest to any event.

It’s Walk & Talk time again on the Green. There are three planned for the summer, each exploring a particular area of the Green in some depth. The first is on Tuesday 7^th June at 7pm exploring the Folly with its history of rail transport, its stunning tall woodland, open grassland and special butterfly.   On Tuesday 28^th June also at 7pm we’ll be having a close look at Folly & Angel Meadows.  Folly Meadow is particularly rich in wildflowers not always easy to spot, and Angel Meadow’s new woodland is slowly raising its head above the surrounding vegetation.  The third Walk & Talk will be on Sunday 31^st July at 10am, taking a close look at the waterways and water meadows. All Walks & Talks meet at the Green’s entrance board (near the basketball pitch in the Town Park).

May has seen more and more wildlife crowding onto the Green: swallows swooping over the meadows, treecreepers ‘creeping’ up willow tree trunks, a turtle dove, the sound of the cuckoo. A whitethroat has been seen by the reed bed, pike and water vole spotted in the New Reach and – for a gloriously long few minutes for a lucky group of Green volunteers – a grass snake swimming, head held high, towards and under White Bridge.  Insects on the wing have been holly blue & orange tip, brimstone butterflies and large red damselflies. Keep your eyes peeled for the spotted flycatcher which was seen at this time of year for the last two years running. And don’t miss the cuckoo flower, yellow rattle and adder’s-tongue fern which have sprung into life in Folly Meadow.

May Community News

Mapping the Green

At last, the entrance board is up! Thanks to that and the meadow nameplates, you really will be able to find an event which is “in the Orchard” or “on Two Acres”. The board is at the entrance from the Town, after the basketball court, so that as you come into the Green from that direction you can have a browse over the map to see if there are any places you haven’t visited recently, or even some parts that you didn’t know were Millennium Green. The entrance board combines the work and cheerful support of a lot of local and regional businesses: Mustard Creative (at The Cut) designed the panel, OTW (Aylsham) printed it up, Crispin Chalker (Big Wood at Thorington) delivered the green oak, CW Ellis (Holton Airfield) cut and joined the oak to make the board – with especially deep legs to take the wildlife carvings done by Mary Anstee-Parry (Walsham le Willows).  Along with the fingerposts and meadow signs by Harrier Signs (Norwich) and the footpath improvements by Mark Woolnough (Wenhaston), this “Access for All” project funded by Big Lottery represents a terrific local effort to enhance a much-loved local place.  Don’t forget to give the lizard and mice a stroke as you go by the board.

Spring put in its first tentative appearance on the Green in April with the sight of newly emerged (from hibernation) Peacock, Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies. Not to be outdone the Green’s resident birds, along with some summer arrivals, have been launching into song – listen out for Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and many others as they all get down to the business of breeding, nest building and raising young. A flock of Siskins were reported on Blyth Meadow and a Sparrowhawk was spotted darting along the New Reach. The first Slow-worms have also been seen after waking up from their winter hibernation. We have moved the basking tins for the reptiles, to collect data in other areas.

April Community News

Des Res for owls and kestrels on the Green

 

Why do birds need to be provided with boxes, surely they can DIY their own Desirable Residences?!    Some (like barn owls) are struggling because their traditional nesting sites, such as old barns, have vanished or been developed and other favoured locations, such as old hollow trees, have been lost through farming practice, disease or increasingly frequent winter storms .

Kestrels, like all our wildlife, face pressures from modern day human activity but they also compete with other birds like barn owls and jackdaws for suitable nest-sites.  For these birds special boxes, made by people who have studied the needs of the particular species, make a real difference to their safety and to their chances of successfully raising young.  So as you go about the Green peer up into the branches and see if you can spot the two new barn owl boxes bought from the Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project as well as an RSPB kestrel box, kindly donated by Charles and Jayne Watkin.  Work-party volunteers decided we would be unwise to teeter up ladders at the heights needed by these birds so the boxes have been erected in the last few weeks by Tree Surgeon Paul Jackson who generously donated his time. Another owl box, donated by Linda and Doug Gray, will be erected later. The Green is hugely lucky to be surrounded by a community who so willingly and creatively support it.

You might have noticed a work party replacing the boards of the sluice under White Bridge (the first finger-post from the town).  This is not a new structure, it has been in place since the early 1990s, and the Environment Agency has been concerned about its increasingly rotten condition. The Agency supplied new boards which Green volunteers installed into a sturdy metal frame made by Easitron of Linstead.

March has also been a month of tree work: checking the condition of the little saplings in Angel Wood (Angel Meadow is the first one after the Town Park) and pruning the Orchard trees. The fruit trees have been newly labelled, all are East of England varieties and some are very unusual.

 

 

March Community News

Hand-made glowworms brighten the Green

The real, wild, secretive glowworm beetle only lights her light in the summer months to attract a male to mate with and to warn off predators. But February saw dozens and dozens of “glowworms” on the Green. Handmade by the Time Out group and Children’s Club sessions at the Library, these glowworm lanterns lit the way for more than 60 people to walk with musicians from Oxblood Molly through the Town Park, along the Track and up Folly Meadow into the Community Orchard.

The trail was lit with night-light glowworms and the procession was welcomed to the Orchard by a blazing brazier fire. Tree celebration rituals were carried out, cake and apple juice placed in the branches of the fruit trees, and a cheerful chant shouted to the dark skies to promote a really good harvest in the coming year. So don’t forget, in a few months’ time, to come to the Orchard to scrump for apples, pears, plums, and cherries – if the birds don’t get there first – and hazel nuts. If you’re not sure where the Orchard is, our leaflet in the Library (and around the town) has a map.

Look out for news of more spring and summer Millennium Green events on the notice board at White Bridge (the first fingerpost from the town), in the Library window (near the small door at the bottom of the stairs), and here in Community News.

Natural events are slowly hotting up on the Green: listen out for the welcome spring songs of the humble great-tit, robin and song thrush. In the next month owl and kestrel boxes will be going up to join the bird boxes already being well used about the Green. And looking down at your feet, you should still be able to find in The Folly some Green Snowdrops – it’s not the flowers that are green, the name is because this species has larger and darker green leaves than regular snowdrops.

February East Anglian Daily Times Halesworth Supplement

A new year for the Millennium Green

In each issue Sal Jenkinson, chair of Trustees at Halesworth Millennium Green, brings you an update on the open space.

“This is Louise’s Pond in Folly meadow to remember with love the short but profound contribution made to the Green by Louise Solomon. The steep sides will be sloped off to make access into the water easy for wildlife and a path will be kept mown to make access to the pond easy for people. Louise’s Pond creates yet another distinctive habitat for creatures on the Green.

“If this looks like your idea of fun, do come along to work parties. All the work that happens on and for Halesworth Millennium Green is done by volunteers. We meet on the second Sunday of every month from 10am for a couple of hours, with tools, gloves, hot drinks and tasty nibbles all provided. Other work is done between times and if you don’t feel able or willing to do physical conservation work you could take a turn at running a stall at a community event or help with the website.
“But you don’t have to work at it at all, just come and explore. We have just celebrated the first ever Winter Glow Worms Festival held on Valentine’s Day. Now keep your eyes peeled for details of Sing to the Trees on Friday April 22 and then for Walks& Talks after that during the summer – the Millennium Green events’ season has begun again.

“Thanks to the Big Lottery you’ll be able to find your way around more easily than before. We are just coming to the end of an Access for All project which has provided nameplates at the entrances and exits of all the different areas on the Green – woodland and new grazing meadows, old quarry workings, the route of the Southwold to Halesworth railway. There are also three new fingerposts at key junctions, a welcome entrance notice board, path surfacing to key routes to enable buggy access and new leaflets with an up-to-date map.

 

February 15th East Anglian Daily Times

 

Ritual aimed at fruitful harvest by Polly Grice

The people of Halesworth gathered to bless the town’s fruit trees in the hope of a good harvest later in the year.
Organised by Halesworth Library and the Millennium Green volunteers dozens gathered at dusk last night to take part in the ancient tradition at the community orchard.
And while the ceremony itself may be historic, it is the first time the event has been held in the town.
Nicky Rowbottom, one of the co-ordinators, said. “We wanted to encourage people to get out into the community orchard and see the Millennium Green at different times of the day and different times of the year.
“It’s not just a place for summer and it’s not just a place for daylight.
“It’s really lovely to have so many people, we never dreamed that so many people would turn up.”
Earlier in the day children made lanterns in a special craft session at the town’s library. Then all were invited to the green for a candlelit procession to the orchard led by Oxblood Molly dancers.
Once in the orchard each person took a small piece of fruit cake to put in the trees’ branches and poured apple juice on their roots while reciting a short poem.
Librarian Meraylah Allwood led the blessing, known as wassailing, and said, “For a couple of years we’ve thought it would be nice to have a winter festival of lights on the Millennium Green and this year we just thought we’d go for it. What’s great is we’ve got really little children here and the oldest person is about 85.”

February Community News

Strange diggings and stranger lights on the Green

What’s that digging which has appeared on Folly Meadow, near the Community Orchard? It’s Louise’s Pond, to remember with love the short but profound contribution made to the Green by Louise Solomon. The sides will be sloped off for easy access by wildlife, and we will keep a path mowed for easy access by people. Louise’s Pond creates yet another distinctive habitat for creatures on the Green – different from the dykes and ditches, different from the running waterways.

Still not sure which is Folly Meadow? There is now a nameplate at the entrances and exits of every meadow, at each end of Bird’s Folly, also at Rail’s End and at Arthur’s Wood.

On Sunday 14th February the Green is proud to be hosting, with the Library, the very first Halesworth Winter Glow Worms event. February celebrates not only Valentine’s Day but also the Chinese New Year, and many ancient winter ceremonies such as candlemas (the blessing of candles, once the only source of light) and orchard-wassailing (making music among the trees in the hope of promoting a good harvest). The Library and the Green have conspired to roll these events into a single day of lantern-making, procession and orchard-wassailing.

You can join the Children’s Sunday Club at the Library between 12 and 2.30pm to make (safe) lanterns that will later in the day be used in the Procession. The Procession starts at 5pm (just after sunset) in the Town Park at the bridge by the play park. It will wind its glowing way along the Track to White Bridge, over the New Reach and up through Folly Meadow to the lantern-lit Orchard. Musicians of the Old Glory Molly Dancers will greet the Procession. Wear warm clothes and waterproof footwear, bring a small bite to eat or drink. If you can’t get to the making session come to the Procession anyway, bring your own lantern: a torch with coloured paper round it works beautifully.

You’ll see that the hazels around the Community Orchard have been coppiced (cut to the ground) to let in more light and air to the fruit trees, and the cut wands can be used for hedging jobs around the Green. The little fences around the new coppice stools are to keep the rabbits and muntjac off while the shoots regrow. Hazel trees can last for hundreds of years when managed in this way, producing enormous amounts of wood for all kinds of purposes and becoming very high-class wildlife hotels as they get bigger and older.

 

January Community News

Not so bleak mid-winter for the Green

Green volunteers were glad to take part again in the Lions’ Fayre, and in spite of the rain lots of people enjoyed our games and helped us to raise over £150. Guessing the weight of the chocolate cowpat – with fly – was hotly contested and won by Caroline who came within 3oz. of the proper weight. The hampers for guessing the distances between the new signposts went to Sally and Reg, and Tricia got the name of the cow (Cowslip, of course!). Even more than fund-raising, the Fayre gives us the opportunity to talk to lots of local people about the Green, especially the far corners that not everyone knows.

Even the endless, dreary rain hasn’t defeated our work-party volunteers. We have restored the Lily Seat and steps at White Bridge, and the clearance has been completed of the Southwold-Halesworth railway line from the top of the old bridge to meet the current railway line. Louise’s Pond, in Folly Meadow, is taking shape and newly planted alders in the far corner of Angel Meadow have been staked and mulched. All our nest boxes have been cleaned out ready for spring next year, this year’s occupation rate set records: four of the tit boxes had been used and one of the open fronted boxes contained a probable robin’s nest. While checking the boxes we saw redwings, a new record for the bird list, and the local U3A bird group spotted 22 species during their visit in early December.

Every single thing that happens on and for the Green is done by volunteers. We meet on the second Sunday of every month from 10am for a couple of hours, with tools, gloves, hot drinks and tasty nibbles all provided. Other work is done between times, and if you don’t feel able or willing to do practical conservation work there are lots of other jobs you could help with. But you don’t have to work at it – just come and enjoy it.