There are a total of 11 footbridges in Great Wood, seven of these have aluminium balustrade railings and four have timber ones. Friends’ volunteers are first smartening up the metal bridges using paint and painting equipment kindly given to us by Chorley Council. Preparing these bridges for recoating has been a task in itself. Special thanks for that go to our members Steve Hodgson, ably assisted by Sue Giles, who first cleaned all the bridges. Following that, teams of our volunteers have got on with the painting job – as pictured below.
The Sensory Garden has recently been further improved by the addition of two obelisks. These were very kindly paid for by a substantial donation collected at the funeral of Dorothy Riley, a lady who greatly enjoyed her visits to Astley Park.
The obelisks each have memorial plaques as shown in detail below.
Further recent additions to the Sensory Garden are slate plant identification labels as shown below. These supplement the existing braille plaques.
Friends’ volunteers have recently built two small wildlife refuges made up of logs, sticks and leaves with a topping of turf. The turf was re-used from our Community Garden display at this year’s Chorley Flower Show and the logs have been re-purposed from a dilapidated seat.
The piles have been constructed between the Lost Fountain and the Green Pond and we hope that by being so sited they will prove to be an attractive home for amphibians as well as a wide variety of insects.
Log pile under construction.
Guidance of how best to finish off the piles with a turf topping varies – either roots uppermost or underneath. So, we built them alternative ways! See below.
Proper Summer weather arrived late in the North of England this year, but the plentiful rainfall helped boost plant growth leading to stiff competition between the Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) and our native flora in many parts of Astley Park.
Pictured above we have Wild Teasels (Dipsacus fullonum) and Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) amongst other species battling with the Balsam aside the main path down from the Sensory Garden. Briefly the teasels flower (as seen below) and provide a source of nectar for bees.
Nearby, the wildflower meadow managed by the Council has also bloomed well in recent weeks.
Above we can see Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare), Greater Bird’s-Foot-Trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus), Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena) and Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) amongst others.
As the Summer approaches an all too brief climax berries of various types are appearing. The much maligned ‘brambles’ (all in Genus Rebus) are bearing fruit with Blackberries widely distributed around the Park and less common are wild raspberries, pictured below, in Great Wood found by our Members whilst Balsam bashing.
Also discovered during Balsam clearance was an Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila Elpenor) caterpillar. This fine specimen, pictured below, was about 5cm long by about 1cm broad and was found on the edge of Great Wood across from the bowling greens.
The second and final Astley Park Bat Walk and Talk of the year is taking place on the evening of Saturday 24th August starting at 8.00pm from the front door of Astley Hall. It will comprise a short talk by Harold Green of the Merseyside and West Lancs Bat Group followed by a guided walk to look for the bats.
There will be a charge of £2.00 for adults with under 16’s free – payment on the night. Numbers are limited so advance booking is essential – please contact Maurice on 01257 271507 or via emandbeejay@talktalk.net. The walk will finish at 10pm.
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.
The 2024 Chorley Flower Show was a big success for the Friends of Astley Park. Helped by generally good weather over the three days we certainly attracted a lot of interest at our stall and this was helped by the Friends’ award winning nearby Community Garden that showcased our work.
The painting raffle was particularly popular due to the very attractive artwork prize which was won by Natasha Clark from Bolton who was thrilled to be the recipient. We also signed up five new members to help us with our important work in the Park. All the effort in preparing our exhibits and staffing them by our volunteers paid off. So, a big debt of gratitude is owed to them. Below are just three of our volunteers pictured with Chorley’s MP, Lindsay Hoyle.
After months of preparation and days of setting up by the exhibitors the Chorley Flower Show opened to sunny skies at 10am this morning and continues until Sunday (28th July). This year numerous groups have produced Community Gardens including the Friends. Designed and led by our Committee member Jan Sanderson and assisted by Friends volunteers Connie and David Joyce, Steve Hodgson, Lynda Sutch and Sue Jackson, the team have produced a highly distinctive and colourful model garden replicating the key features of Astley Park.
You can find the Garden across the lake bridge from the Hall alongside the temporary path to the Grand Floral Marquee.
Also nearby is our stall.
If you are at the Show, here you will find creative activities for kids, and in exchange for donations, a wide range of plants, attractive flower pots and specially made drainage pot stands, unique greeting cards and the opportunity to win an original painting – all given or produced by our members. Please also take the opportunity to check out all that we do and find out about all the benefits you could enjoy by being a member.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of trees in Astley Park. Some comprise woodland areas, others stand separate from other trees. Most of the trees are within Great Wood which stretches along much of the southern edge of the Park. This is designated and protected as an Ancient Woodland which means it has existed since at least 1600. Other individual trees have been purposely planted to enhance the appearance of the Park. That process has occurred for hundreds of years from the time the Park comprised the private landscaped grounds of Astley Hall and continues to this day.
Picking up on a suggestion made by the judges at last years’ Britain in Bloom competition we have a developed a trail through the Park which picks out, with photographs and fascinating facts, a selection of mainly freestanding trees, covering some of the Park’s more interesting species and specimens. It also displays images of their leaves and, in some cases, their nuts, flowers and bark.
The Trail is presented Here as a self-guided walk that can be completed in about 30 minutes. There is also a short leaflet available that can be used to spot and record the trees which all have a small waymarker sign on or near them.
The trees are listed in an order that starts from near the main gates at Park Road. It then proceeds past the Sensory Garden and then back to the main path where it crosses the River Chor. The Trail then continues along the main path towards Astley Hall before continuing down the side of the bowling greens and finishing next to the nearby River Chor bridge. However, the Trail can be followed in whatever direction you wish. All 19 trees included can be seen from made paths in the Park.
Once again, the Chorley Flower Show is coming to Astley Park. This year it is on 26th, 27th and 28th of July. In addition to our stall (last year’s pictured below), the Friends are also entering the Community Garden competition.
Designed by our member Jan Sanderson, the Friends’ Community Garden entry is up against a record number of others this year – 17. The gardens are judged against criteria associated with how well they convey their project’s brief. More details of the Friends’ entry and photographs of it will be posted on this website when the garden has been built.
In the meantime, see below an image of the delightful painting our member Sandra Sugden has produced and donated to be raffled this year.
Please come to our bright and colourful stall to get a ticket for the draw. Here you will also find fun activities for children, plants available for a donation and, featuring for the first time this year – our unique plant pot stands, carefully made by our member Steve Hodgson. You can also discover all the Park activities we get involved in and how you can join us.
Friends of Astley Park 