New Work Days Announced
With the Heavens Valley now under community ownership, we are keen to do further work to improve the condition of the existing footpaths used to access the site. We will be holding two volunteering days on Sunday 17th August and Tuesday 2nd September from 10am to 3pm.
To sign up please click on the Eventbrite links below
We will have a series of days in the autumn so if these dates do not work for you, please email us on volunteers@heavensvalley.org.uk to show interest in this or other land management activities.
We are starting with work to cut back vegetation overgrowing one of most heavily used and overgrown routes into the valley: focusing particularly on the path down from the Cemetery. The path has slipped down the bank significantly from its original position and we hope to be able to carry out work to move it further up the bank and make it easier for everyone to use. We expect to tackle other areas of the site in future!
We know there is much more work to be done to improve path surfaces; replace gates / stiles; and generally improve accessibility. We are working on plans to take this forward.
What will you do with anything you cut down?
We will stack up anything cut during the day and leave it on the site, out of the way of the paths. These piles create great habitats for invertebrates.
Why don’t you just leave nature to do its thing?
Promoting nature recovery alongside access and recreation is at the core of our vision for the Heavens. This work is happening in a limited way on key public rights of way to keep these open and clear for the community to use.
Alongside this, we are working with a group of local ecologists to understand the various habitats on the site so we can tell the community about the opportunities to promote nature recovery. That will inform any additional plans we make to remove scrub / overgrown areas of the site.
I want to get involved, what do I need to do?
Space on the days is limited to 10 people for safety reasons so please do register through the Eventbrite link above or email volunteers@heavensvalley.org.uk if you would like to help in the future but can’t make either the 17th of August or the 2nd of Septeber