Author: essyouuee

This coming weekend, starting on Friday 28^th July, the annual Chorley Flower Show is happening once again in Astley Park. There are many floral related exhibits to view, trade stalls to visit and fun activities for all the family to get involved in. There are also a wide variety of community group stands including one devoted to the Friends of Astley Park. Here there will be a great chance to discover all that we do in the Park, plus make a donation to aid our work and get a free plant in return! We are running activities for children; you can also decide to buy our specially produced greetings cards and enter a raffle to win the original painting pictured below. Both the cards and painting have been produced by local artist Sandra Sugden who is one of our members. Hope to see you there!

The Friends will be focusing efforts on trying to control the invasive Balsam in Astley Park over the next 6 weeks. We are appealing to anyone with a spare hour or two to join us on our Saturday morning Working Parties on the 8th and 22nd July and the 5th August. Non-members welcome for these sessions.

If you are interested and can help us, please meet at the Coach House Courtyard at 9.30 am on the above dates. Please wear appropriate clothing – long sleeve tops, long trousers and stout footwear would be ideal – and a hi-vis jacket if you have one although this isn’t essential.

Here is a photo of some members Balsam Bashing by the Putting Green.

The next Bat Walk will be on Saturday 26th August 2023 at 7.45. We will meet outside the front door of Astley Hall.

A short talk by Harold Green of Merseyside & West Lancs Bat Group will be followed by a guided walk to see and hear the bats. The walk will finish at around 9.20pm.

There will be a charge of £2 for adults. U/16 free. Payment on the night. Booking is essential as number will be limited. Please ring Maurice on 01257 271507 or contact him by email at emandbeejay@talktalk.net

Please bring a torch and wear strong shoes and, if you have one, bring your Bat detector.

**Please note that if it is raining the event will be cancelled as the bats won’t be flying.**

About 25 people recently enjoyed a late evening bat walk and talk in Astley Park led by expert Harold Green of the Merseyside and West Lancs Bat Society. He brought along two ‘captive’ bats for the participants to see close-up and answered a wide range of questions. Then equipped with shared-around sound emitting bat detectors, the group first went to the ‘Green Pond’ area behind the Lost Fountain where numerous Pipistrelle bats were electronically heard and actually seen. There were also Daubenton’s bats flying under the nearby river bridge and further bats were encountered at the lake next to Astley Hall. Pictured below is one of the two new bat detectors bought by the Friends this year (with funding from Astley Village Parish Council) displayed on a bat box that is used for demonstration purposes. Ninety of these roosting boxes have been installed by the Friends in the Park.

Built from cut-up old pallets and stuffed with all manner of bits and bats, the new Bug House now sits in pride of place at the Sensory Garden. Designed to be a home for a wide range of insects it was constructed by Maurice Houghton our Vice-chair and then pupils from St. George’s C of E Primary School filled it with the materials to make cosy nooks and crannies for the bugs to dwell in.

To clearly show the new routes of the step-free paths that have been added to the Astley Park Trail the two information boards in the Park have been updated. The boards are handily placed for Park visitors. One is located just inside the main gates off Park Road and the other is opposite the front of the Hall close to the main path.

The First Bat Walk and Talk of the year will be on Saturday 27th May 2023 starting at 8.45

Meet outside the front door of Astley Hall.

A short talk by Harold Green of Merseyside & West Lancs Bat Group will be followed by a guided walk to see and hear the bats. The  walk will finish around 10.15pm. 

There will be a charge of £2.00 for Adults.  U/16 free. Payment on the night. Booking is essential, as numbers will be limited, please ring Maurice on 01257 271507 or contact via email at emandbeejay@talktalk.net

Please bring a torch and wear strong shoes. if you have a bat detector, please bring it.

If it is raining, the event will be cancelled, as the bats will not be flying

Friends’ volunteers have been splitting and transplanting snowdrops along the Trail. Moving them from places where they are abundant to fill in gaps that have occurred elsewhere.

Friends’ volunteers have been doing further clearing of the duckweed covered pond behind the Lost Fountain using a variety of implements, including a grappling hook. The work is part of on-going efforts to improve the pond and its immediate vicinity.

Thanks partly to recent leaf and bramble clearance work done by Friends’ volunteers, the flowers on the Snowdrop Trail are now on full show. The circular waymarked Trail can easily be walked starting from opposite the front of Astley Hall and either by going down the Dam Wall Steps or along the woodland edged lawn opposite the bowling greens. The Trail continues from the Lost Fountain eastwards along the southern bank of the River Chor to the bottom of the Steps.