Author: joolsjack

A flower bed in front of the Hall has been planted by our members to mark twenty years of the Friends. Using 130 perennial and annual plants given by the Council, the bed was recently planted by Jan Sanderson, David Joyce and David Francis to a design produced by Jan.

The flower bed will continue to be maintained by our members in future years. The significance of the bed is marked by a full colour plaque designed by Friend’s volunteer Sue Jackson and is displayed on a timber stand constructed by member Steve Hodgson.

Yes, that pretty pink flowering alien species – Himalayan Balsam – is again growing vigorously in Astley Park, crowding out the native plants. Friends’ volunteers are on the case to remove it, but we need help to tackle the problem of the balsam spreading even further. This year we have a new group of people assisting us who are up to the challenge; to whom we are very grateful. Locally based refugees and asylum seekers from across Africa and Asia, are joining our members on our Saturday morning work parties.

They are part of a group of people being taught English for Speakers of Other Languages, by Aleksandra (Ola) Piękniewska. Ola is employed by Beam, a national social enterprise that provides support for a wide range of disadvantaged people in association with local and central government and the NHS.

If you think you can help us with balsam clearance, you are welcome to join us on Saturday mornings over the next few weeks. We meet in the Coach House/Café Ambio courtyard at 9:30am. You are advised to wear thick gloves, stout footwear, long trousers and a long-sleeved top.

Friends’ volunteers were again working on the timber balustrades of footbridges in Great Wood recently. These ones needed a great deal of preparatory work. Not just cleaning off years of accumulated algae and grime but also removing inappropriate white primer before they could be properly stained. See below for the before, during and after pictures. What a transformation!

Last year students from St Mary’s RC High School, Leyland made 30 bird boxes for Astley Park. The construction materials were supplied by the Friends, paid for by grants.  Chorley North West Ward Councillor Aaron Beaver kindly gave £300 from his Community Grant fund. The same amount was also generously donated by Astley Village Parish Council.

The bird boxes were made to a design approved by the RSPB. Most significantly they incorporate a metal plate around the access hole. This is so the hole can’t be made any larger by squirrels or woodpeckers. This means the boxes remain ideally suited to small birds such as wrens, blue tits and great tits. The boxes were installed in the autumn of 2024 on suitable trees in the Park’s woodlands by Chorley Council Rangers – as shown below.

Twenty students from across all age groups made the boxes in their after-school club, supervised by Technology teacher Mrs Sales. Each of the boxes are numbered according to which student made them. Recently, six of the children involved came to visit the Park accompanied by their teachers and were shown the bird boxes installed in Great Wood by Friends volunteers. It had been hoped that installing the boxes last autumn would give time for the local bird life to become accustomed to their presence and roost or nest in them. So it proved, as many of the boxes seen by the students were clearly in use on the day of their visit, with birds viewed regularly flitting in and out.

Chorley 8^th (Trinity) Brownies did a sponsored walk and raised a magnificent amount of £170 for our funds. They chose to donate to the Friends because they love going to the Park and admire the work we do to help look after it. Recently Friends Vice-Chair Julian Jackson went along to a meeting of the Brownies to talk with the children involved and receive the cheque from Brown Owl.

In return the Brownies were given individual bags of wildflower seeds and were presented with a special thank you certificate.

Thirty Year 4 pupils from St Laurence’s School recently had a highly enjoyable and informative trip down to the River Chor in Great Wood. Sam Phillips from Groundwork Wigan and Friends volunteers explained how the health of the river can be assessed. This is done by using the Riverfly technique – counting the diversity and abundance of specific invertebrate species caught in net sampling. The children also learnt how easily the river could be seriously polluted and wildlife species wiped out. A big danger in this regard is dogs getting into the river that have been treated with flea powder. This insecticide can easily wash off and damage the health of the river.

Pupils looking at the catch from net sampling.

One of four timber bridges in Great Wood recently received a re-stain by Friends’ volunteers.

Friends’ volunteers have produced a small exhibition to mark our 20^th anniversary year.  This is now on display in the Council’s Coach House Shop and Information Centre. The material on show briefly explains how the group came to be formed, the activities we do and features short descriptions of the 12 key projects we have implemented and enabled over the last 20 years. The Shop is open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 3pm.

Friends’ volunteers have recently been spreading fine gravel, kindly provided by Chorley Council, on the path leading to the Lost Fountain. This area had become muddy, so the gravel gives a cleaner surface to walk on.

The three oak bench seats in the Sensory Garden have been sanded down, repaired and the wood re-stained thanks to the diligent work of our member Steve Hodgson. A good job done as you can see in the picture below: