February newsletter
February’s (brief) sunshine… brings hope for spring!
Welcome to the Friends of Brislington Brook newsletter for February. The start of spring is nigh and as FOBB Vice Chair Jackie has spotted…it’s all happening in St Anne’s Woods!
The fruiting bodies of scarlet elf cup are in their usual place, growing on the decaying sycamore. Yellow brain fungus is growing nearby. And the first sign of spring: blossom on the cherry plum tree 🌸
Annual Planning Meeting
The annual planning meeting was held on the 4th of February where we were generously hosted at St Anne’s House. The theme for much of this year’s work has been decided to focus especially on people and culture (in addition to all the FOBBY ecological goodness as usual).
We’re particularly interested in resurrecting the St Anne’s Day Pageant, and some form of pilgrimage route to the holy well. The idea is to start small and build to something larger and more ambitious next year, but for now, anyone with a connection to the idea (or even experience of it in the past?) is welcome to pitch in to focussing the event toward reality that will most likely also be the FOBB midsummer event – what with it landing on Sunday 26th July! You can read about the pageant held in 2016 here.
Vice Chair Jackie made an inspirational and impressive round-up of last year’s achievements which we’d love to share with you.
“I looked back though FoBB’s Facebook photos to remind myself of all the events and activities that had taken place last year. The aim was to establish what FoBB had achieved to inspire us to build on our accomplishments.
I’d also like to introduce you to FoBB’s core group and some of our volunteers. These volunteers have dedicated their time to making good things happen in the St Anne’s Valleys. They’ve had many inspirational ideas and have worked hard to bring them to fruition. So, well done FoBBers, you’re doing a great job!
New volunteers are always welcome. We have an exciting year ahead, what with stage 1 of the dragon sculpture being completed; working to create a community space at our newly established allotment at The Rock; introducing goats to the Valleys to help keep the brambles and Himalayan balsam at bay; and preparing the tree planting sites for the arrival of 420 native trees in November. There are volunteer opportunities for everyone, no matter what your physical ability. We’re a friendly group and you’ll soon feel as if you’ve known us for years!”
*Unfortunately, having converted the PowerPoint presentation to a PDF file, the videos no longer play.
To view Jackie’s presentation please click HERE.
As ever FOBB is busy come rain or shine – keep an eye on our socials and as ever get involved – we hope there’s something for everyone!
The dragon has landed!
Andy O’Neill, the wood sculptor responsible for carving the Dragon has finished the first stage of his work and what an impact this has made already. He has received more than 300 likes on his Instagram and the positive response from adults and children alike in the woods has been brilliant. We all have nothing but praise for Andy’s work.
Read about Andy’s work and see more photos here!
Work It Out
Despite the weather impacting the turnout, the five of us managed to get a fair bit of bramble clearing done. Most of the area by the end of Chapel Way on both sides of the brook is now ready for the tree planting that will take place in November, although there will no doubt have been some re-growth by then.
We assembled in the Co-op car park this time, as we will for future work parties in St Anne’s Wood, as there is more room for parking and it’s closer to where we were working.
The next work party will be on Sunday March 8th in Nightingale Valley meeting at Hill Lawn – lots of litter, fallen trees and slippery/collapsed steps down to the bridge are all on the agenda. Anyone interested can also come and see the new allotment afterwards too!
Geoff Thomas
Treasurer
A lot going on in the allotment – and the first look at our goats!
Work on the FOBB plot at The Rock Allotments just off Allison Road kicked off on the 7th when James led a Duke of Edinburgh group to start clearing the brambles. They made a good start, clearing sufficient space to allow FOBB allotment expert Martin to start digging up the bramble roots and getting some of his compost into the soil, ready for sowing.
After much planning and huge FOBB teamwork (with brilliant support from Bristol City Council) three goats all arrived happily yesterday. Smaller brother and sister Holly and Hamlet (she has the curly ears), and larger Braveheart with big heart on forehead, all look to be settling in well and already munching into the brambles on the bottom end of the allotment.
Read more about our allotment efforts and the arrival of the goats here!
The next planning meeting will be from
7-9:00pm on Wednesday 4th March at The Langton.
Anyone keen to get involved or find out more about what’s going on is always welcome to join us.
Our next work party will be
10am on SUNDAY 8th February
meeting at the Hill Lawn Entrance for access to Nightingale Valley.
