Sharow Church of England Primary School is playing its part in marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee by planting a tree.
The Queen, who is already the UK’s longest-serving monarch, will celebrate 70 years on the throne in June.
The Queen’s Green Canopy tree planting initiative is inviting everyone across the UK, from individuals and organisations to schools and businesses, to get involved
With October seeing the start of the tree planting season, the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt. Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, invited children at St John’s Sharow, to plant a hazel sapling in the school’s grounds.
Sharow CE Primary School
Executive head teacher Jacqui Palmer and the Revd. Ruth Newton, parish priest at St John’s Sharow, joined Dr Hartley at the planting ceremony, which was also attended by pupils who are members of the school council.
Before the planting, the children impressed the bishop with their knowledge of the importance of trees to the environment and prayers were said after the sapling had been put in place.
Dr Hartley told the Stray Ferret:
“The school grounds provide such a fitting setting for this special tree and I hope that the children, their parents and staff enjoy seeing it grow and flourish.
“It will be a reminder to them and future generations, of the service that the Queen has given to this country.”
The Woodland Trust, one of the organisations involved in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, said:
“The Queen’s Green Canopy will create a network of individual trees, avenues, copses and whole woodlands in honour of the Queen’s service and the legacy she has built.
“This will create a green legacy of its own, with every tree planted bringing benefits for people, wildlife and climate, now and for the future.”
The photo shows members of the Sharow CE School Council at the planting with, from left: The Revd Ruth Newton, headteacher Jacqui Palmer and Bishop Dr Helen-Ann Hartley
A 37-year bid to recognise a public right of way in a popular woodland near Masham looks doomed to failure.
In 1984, a request to enshrine public rights across the 47-hectare Hackfall Woods was lodged with North Yorkshire County Council.
Councillors are now calling on George Eustice, Secretary of State for the Environment, to dismiss the order. They say it is partly due to the difficulty in establishing how many people walked on the routes between 1964-84.
The order, which anyone can seek if a path that has been used as a right of way for years is not shown on maps, was made on the basis of user evidence at the time of an application in 1984. The application aimed to ensure the public would always have access to routes through the woods, which were not recorded as rights of way.
Michael Leah, the council’s assistant director for travel and the environment, said the council had taken steps to add two public paths to the map as part of a concerted effort to clear a backlog of historic applications. He added:
“North Yorkshire has the biggest network of public rights of way in the country and due to budgetary constraints we have limited resources to manage the network. We have therefore worked on priority applications where recognised public footpaths have been under threat from change of ownership or change of use.
“As the public has been able to use freely the paths through Hackfall Woods the application was never treated as a priority.”
Before issuing the order, the council carried out a consultation and contacted the Woodland Trust, which leases the woods. The trust objected to the order as the landowner had a permit system in place to allow the public permissive use of paths through the woods.
Mr Leah said:
“The effect of this is to negate the acquisition of public rights. Had we been made aware of this issue we would not have made the order.
“Because the order has attracted an objection, we are required by law to submit it to the Secretary of State for a decision on whether or not it should be confirmed.”
The council has concluded that the trust’s evidence, along with the limited likelihood of now obtaining clear evidence establishing that the public had access to the order route ‘as of right’ between 1964 and 1984 meant the public’s right to walk in the woods would be difficult to demonstrate on the balance of probability.
Hackfall Woods history
Hackfall Woods, which is in a gorge of the River Ure, has been a popular visitor destination for centuries. William Wordsworth recommended Hackfall as an approach to the Lake District from Yorkshire in one of his tourist guides, while JMW Turner sketched and painted the landscape in 1816.
It features follies, grottoes, surprise views, waterfalls and a fountain created by the family of South Sea Bubble disgrace Chancellor of the Exchequer and Studley Royal landscaper, John Aislabie who bought Hackfall wood for £906 in 1731. It is believed he bought the woodland to get stone and timber to use at Studley Royal.
From 1851 the Marquis of Ripon, who was Viceroy of India and Grand Master Mason, extended footpaths and as transport became more widely available in the late 1800s the popularity of Hackfall as a visitor attraction grew.
Harrogate’s community woodland starts to take shapeThe people behind the campaign to buy Harrogate’s first community woodland have appealed for volunteers to help plant trees after achieving their fundraising target.
Rick Brewis and Trish Sanders have been part of the Long Lands Common Ltd committee from the beginning of the ambitious venture.
The pair are local landowners and were passionate about stopping plans for a bypass through green land.
They supported the move to buy 30 acres of local land for £300,000 and turn it into a community woodland.
So far the initiative has raised almost £320,000, allowing the group to begin planning the next steps.
Rick and Trish say plans are in place to begin infrastructure work in Spring 2021 – this will include footpaths and working on a disability access point. Tree planting is due to begin next autumn.
Trish and Rick are looking forward to starting work on the woodland.
The committee has been blown away by the response and is now encouraging shareholders to volunteer to help with planting.
Long Lands Common Ltd is continuing to fundraise until December 20 to try and reach its final target of £375,000.
The initial £300,000 target enabled the group to buy the land; funds raised beyond that will go towards the infrastructure work.
Read more:
- We asked people why they bought shares in Long Lands Common.
- Dreams become a reality as Long Lands Common Ltd reach their target to buy the land.
WATCH: Take a look at what might be Harrogate’s first community woodland
Take a look at the 30-acre site that could soon see the creation of the first community-owned woodland in the area.
The project would turn an area of green land, known as Long Lands Common into a public woodland with 40,000 trees.
£300,000 is required to buy the land- before the November deadline. A public appeal has been launched and people will be able to buy shares for a minimum of £50 from July through to November
The woodland plan is being led by Nidd Gorge Community Action (NGCA) and it follows its 3-year campaign against the ‘Harrogate Relief Road’ proposed by North Yorkshire County Council.
Chris Kitson who is the secretary of the Long Lands common group told the Stray Ferret:
Where better to have a new community woodland than on the very same greenbelt land, between Harrogate and Knaresborough, that was threatened by the Nidd Gorge road? 12,000 people said they didn’t want a road and now the same people are keen to buy shares. We hope to have this community woodland owned by as many people in Harrogate and Knaresborough as possible.
It would be our contribution to the northern forest project- a scheme which aims to plant 50 million trees across the North of England.
Chris went on to say that he thinks the support comes at a time where people are feeling like there are just too many new buildings:
I think there’s a lot of concern about the amount of development on greenbelt land, it’s just getting too much now. This gives the community the chance to take back real control, take power into their own hands and collectively own a piece of the greenbelt – to plant with trees, preserve for ourselves and wildlife, and leave as a legacy for future generations, instead of a road.
The community woodland would border the Nidderdale Greenway, close to its starting point at The Avenue, Starbeck and the Bilton Triangle.
Gary Lawson Photography