 News
January 2012
The recent strong winds fortunately caused very little damage to the trees on the Green apart from on either side of the stream near the wooden bridge. Two trees which were already dead, had partially fallen and were threatening to block the stream if left. These have now been removed.
The oak wood continues to develop and as part of its ongoing management plan, approved by the Forestry Commission, further thinning will take place in the Spring. This is necessary to allow optimum development of the strongest trees.
December 2011
We are sad to report the recent death of Lesley Skoludek, one of the founding Trustees of he Green. It was due to Lesley's vision and foresight that the possibility of creating a Millennium Green was first considered. She identified a potential area of land and made the initial approaches which led to its eventual purchase and was very active in getting the Green under way.
November 2011
A work-in was held on Saturday November 5th, the main priority being to cut back the grass in the Butterfly Meadow and to remove the resultant debris so that the soil is not enriched by its decomposition.Wild flowers do best in poor soils and we need flowers to encourage insects and bees.
The bridges and walkway were scrubbed to remove any algae and some grass was cleared from one of the drainage ditches ready for the winter.
We have joined the Pond Conservation group at the Water Habitats Trust to get advice and help on the best way to manage the pond, which is becoming quite invaded by grass. Although this provides a good shelter for some forms of wild life, we do not want it to silt up completely.
Pat Tomlinson has volunteered to train as a pond warden and oversee the pond management.
2011 AGM
The AGM will be held on Wednesday November 23rd at 2 p.m. The venue will be the Clubhouse of Ryde Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Playstreet Lane, Ryde. We are very grateful to the Club for allowing us to use their premises once again.
Do come along if you are free that afternoon to hear how we are getting on and give your views and comments.
May 2011
A small work-in was held on the Green on May 11th to finish laying a footpath on the beach area by the pond using the remaining stone chippings on a geotextile base as before.
The path leading to the bridge accessed through the archway has now been strengthened and ramped so that a disabled person with a robust mobility scooter may now be able to access at least part of the Green. He is already able to drive down the bridleway and along the footpath to Hillrise Avenue and he feels that a diversion on to the Green will make his "walks" more interesting.
Strimming of the grass has been carried out to widen this path area and also around the sculpture to display it to better effect.
We have had one or two donations as a result of the notice on the gate appealing to local inhabitants and purchases through the Easyfundraising site continue to bring in small but significant amounts of money.
April 2011
6th April 2011
We have had a very successful two days working on the Green and have laid nearly 25 tons of limestonechippings on a geotextile base and now almost all the footpaths have a good walking surface. At the moment the paths look very stark but we know from past experience that within a few months they will blend into the landscape once again.
The area at the top of the Butterfly meadow was extremely wet, almost certainly due to a new spring having arisen. Drains have been dug and pipe inserted in an attempt to divert the water away from the paths but it will be a week or so before we can gauge how successful this has been.
We would like to thank Andrew, Tony and Dan from Derek Mills and son for all the work they have put in and we are also very grateful to all the volunteers who helped - we would not have got nearly so much done without them.
March 31st 2011
Ian and Steve have now cut down the majority of the trees that needed thinning and most of the resulting debris has now been piled or burnt
Work on the footpaths is planned for next week, starting Tuesday April 5th. Andrew Mills of D. W. Mills and son will be our contractor bringing machinery and materials to the site. Both Moreys and Bardon Vectis have been very helpful in giving us preferential prices for their products and we are very grateful to them.
We hope to have a band of volunteers at the Green shovelling and barrowing so that as much work as possible can be completed in two days.
January 2011
A ditch has been dug alongside the previously very wet path in the Butterfly meadow and this has been very successful in draining the water. Marking the oaktrees which will need to be thinned has started and work on felling will get underway within the next few weeks if we get a reasonable spell of dry weather.
We are starting a new drive to raise money for the necessary insurance and maintenance costs of the Green. We would like to ask regular users of the Green to give a small annual donation of £5 to £10 per annum. This can be done by way of the Everyclick website or by sending a cheque.
Please see new page for donations.
November 2010
The Co-operative Community Fund has awarded us a small grant for which are very grateful. This money will be used to complete, as far as possible, the upgrading of the footpaths in the areas of the Green which still get very muddy in the winter. Work is planned to start in the Spring of 2011.
The Green Gym has paid us two visits this autumn and have worked hard clearing more brambles from the Butterfly meadow and also collecting wild flower seeds which they have spread on the grass near the main entrance in the hope that this section will become more colourful.
Earlier in the year they constructed some more steps on the path that leads from the large oak tree down to the stream. This will help to make this area more accessible.
A new spring appears to have arisen at the top of the Green near the East boundary and the water draining from it has caused a large boggy area. It is hoped to get a work party together to dig a drain and divert the water away from the paths.
March 2010
The Green was at its most wintery earlier this year after heavy snowfalls. This was followed by what seemed like weeks of rain and the stream could be heard from some distance away as it carried extra volumes of water.
At last the weather is improving and the Spring programme can be commenced. On March 11th the heaps of brambles cleared by the Green Gym last autumn, were burnt on a bonfire on the Butterfly meadow, some muddy areas were dressed with stones and trees were marked for thinning according to our Forestry Commission management plan. The majority of the thinning will take place in the autumn. This is essential to allow the stronger trees to grow well and produce a high woodland canopy in due course.
There had been some vandalism to the wattle fencing at the steps near the pond. The opportunity was taken to construct a much sturdier barrier at this site. Some of the oak tree thinnings will be used to construct the last section of post and rail fencing near the five barred gate.
2009
September 2009
We have recently heard that a Tree Preservation Order has been confirmed and applied to the whole of the Green. This means that anyone who damages trees on the site in any way, would face prosecution and a large fine.
If you use the Green regularly, please email us and tell us how often you walk there and for what purpose e.g. dog walking, using it as a shortcut, enjoying the countryside etc. and also what you think of the new footpaths. Grassroots who gave us the grant have asked for feedback from the local community.
We were delighted to hear from local dragonfly expert, Dave Dana that he had visited the pond in August and seen both Southern Hawker and Migrant Hawker dragonflies in the surrounding vegetation. Migrant Hawkers are more social than other species and on one occasion he observed eleven of them perched on tall dry plant stems beside the pond. They are carniverous and catch insects in flight so the pond was obviously supplying both insects and warm sunny spots to soak up the sun's energy.
If you would like to find out more about dragonflies visit the British Dragonfly Society
May 2009
It is good to report that the work on the footpaths in the Green is now complete. After looking at a number of options it was decided that the most cost effective way of getting the work done was by a contractor who was able to provide the necessary machinery and to arrange the transport of the tons of limestone chippings that were required.
Ralph Cook of Shorwell and his workers did an excellent job, first digging a very shallow trench at the site of the paths,
laying a strong geotextile and then depositing limestone chippings on top and rollering them. They also dug out the
drainage ditch which had become very overgrown.
The Green Gym paid us two visits during May and once again worked extremely hard on a number of projects.
They have put in a footbridge over the drainage ditch to link two parts of the new footpath, and they have also erected benches
by the sculpture, on the Butterfly meadow and near the oak tree. A bench by the pond will be completed when more
materials have been purchased.
One group of Green Gym members have also done a fantastic job in digging out large numbers of brambles from the
Butterfly meadow which will give the wild flowers a chance to grow.
January 2009
We were delighted to hear in December that we have been awarded a grant from Grassroots so that we can improve the footpaths
throughout the Green, many of which become muddy and slippery in wet weather. The plan is to lay geotextile in strips about a metre
wide and then to put down a top surface of limestone chippings. This will weather and become colonised by plants producing a firm but
non-obtrusive pathway.
It is hoped to start this work in the early summer, weather permitting.
2008
September 2008
We had another very useful visit from the Green Gym last week. The pond was once again cleared of the very invasive
"Parrot Weed" and some tidying up was done of the vandalised areas, habitat piles being created from a number of the
dead branches. Some progress was made on clearing some very overgrown bramble thickets and a replacement bench
on the path up to the Butterfly Meadow was also built.
August 2008
Why not help us raise money for the Green in a very simple way? Just use Everyclick as your Internet Search Engine and nominate
"Play Lane Millennium Green Trust"
as your favourite charity, and every time you search the web using Everyclick you will raise a small amount of money for the Green.
Six people have raised £45 in 6 months. Think what 60 people could do!
Just click on this Everyclick hyperlink to go straight to the relevant page.
We were delighted to hear of the Green being used to perform a Naming Ceremony for a baby recently. The parents did not want
a religious ceremony and felt the setting of the stone sculpture was ideal for an important occasion in their lives.
July 2008
We have been saddened by a spate of strange episodes of vandalism on the Green and neighbouring land.
A chainsaw has been used to sever the trunks of nearly two dozen trees in an apparently random manner.
The trees range in size from 3" diameter oaks up to a 65 year old 50' ash. The Police are very concerned
and at the time of writing are continuing their enquiries.
To add to the strangeness, a small cannabis nursey was discovered whilst checking for tree damage!
The Police have, of course, removed the plants and equipment and are keeping a close eye on the situation.
June 2008
The Green Gym spent their first of (hopefully many) very productive mornings at the Green in June.
They cleared a lot of brambles from the Butterfly Meadow and built two footbridges and a new "squeeze" entrance
at the SW corner of the site. More than thirty volunteers from all walks of life, including St. George's School and
Sunnycrest Nursery, worked strenuously for several hours. We were very impressed with the vast improvement
achieved in such a short space of time.
Spring 2008
Due to the wet winter, planned clearance of the brambles on the butterfly meadow has had to be put on hold. This will
enable the Whitethroats to nest and raise their chicks in peace.
January 2008
Ryde Town Management Committee kindly donated £300 towards erecting fencing and repositioning the gate at the
south east entrance. This will help to prevent unauthorised use by horses and motor bikes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2007
21 October 2007
We were delighted that the MP Andrew Turner attended our "non-sponsored" dog walk whilst recovering from his stroke.
Autumn 2007
Unfortunately, the dipping platform has suffered some vandalism. The hand rail was 'removed' and some of the safety grip netting was also damaged.
Plans for repairs are underway.
19 July 2007 Website Launched
Play Lane Millennium Green website finally launched - expect more updates soon.
|
