The Vale has now been taken over by Landcare Manchester. The Executive Committee and Droylsden Town Managers have had joint meetings with Landcare representative Roger Warren, the outlook for the Vale looks promising with no immediate plans for change of usage, we look forward to continued working with Landcare and Tameside to carry out more improvements and help make the Vale a better place to visit.
Work on the Vale has been continuing throughout the year . I am glad to say that all the hard work carried out by the Friends resulted in us winning the Green Space Award at the recent Pride of Droylsden Award ceremony. Two original footpaths have been refurbished which means that we now have a good, clean, circular walk. We won funding for this project by entering Tameside's “You Choose” competition and our thanks go to Greenscape Tameside for the excellent work they have done in bringing this very muddy area to life again. We are now the proud owners of a commercial strimmer thanks to the generosity of a friend of sunnybank who I will not name to save any embarrassment. over the coming months work parties will undertake clearing vegetation from the sides of the paths and thinning out some of the undergrowth.
More bird boxes have been erected, this time to trees on the edge of the small wood near Peakdale Road/Edge Lane.
30th March 2012 The work has now been completed on the path from Ansdell Drive to Greenside Pig on The Wall entrance and what a huge difference it has made, with a new path laid, entrance gates replaced and painted and planters placed at the Pig on the Wall entrance. A tremendous effort by all persons involved in this work, and once again again a big thank you to the companies mentioned below. Pictures of the work in progress can be viewed on the gallery page. 26th March 2012 Tomorrow will see the commencement of work on the path from the Greenside Lane/Pig On The Wall entrance, to Ansdell Drive entrance. The path is to be repaired with holes and dips being filled and top coated to allow for better drainage which will benefit all users when/if the rainy weather returns!
The missing gate half way along this path will be replaced and fencing around that area repaired. A general litter pick and tidy up will be done, and when all this is completed all metalwork will be painted. This has all been made possible due to the huge generosity of Air Products Clayton and DH Welton Failsworth, and Welding Engineers, who are working together and providing materials and labour free of charge, thanks must also go to some of the workforce of Air Products who volunteered to come along and help.
The work will commence tomorrow 27th March and carry over to Tuesday 28th March. This work will greatly enhance the area leading onto the Vale and will also tie in with the completed path/steps at the Ansdell Drive entrance. I will update further when the work is completed.
A visit to the Vale yesterday Sunday 25th March resulted in the sighting of a number of birds, most of which are include on the Flora/Fauna page, however of note are the sighting of the Chiff Chaff which will have arrived over the last week and also a Sparrow Hawk flying overhead. Last weekend a friend of mine spotted a Gold Crest (Britain’s smallest bird) along with Long tailed tits and Chaffinch. Good news is that at least two of the recently placed bird boxes are inhabited. As previously mentioned St Martin’s Cubs/Scouts will be monitoring the boxes and reporting on the progress. Numerous butterflies and Bee’s were also spotted including the rather colourful Peacock butterfly. That’s all for now folks Thank you all for your continued support. Roy
5th March 2012 A lot has been going on recently on the Vale, United Utilities have carried out work on drainage/sewers running through the Vale, unfortunately this has left a large area scarred by the work that has been done. The Friends Executive Committee/GMWDA, United Utilities and Town Manager Ian Cochrane have been consulting together and hopefully the result will be that the areas are tidied up and existing paths that have been damaged reinstated. We will try to keep you updated regarding this
Work has been started by Groundwork Ltd on one of the areas chosen as a priority path near to the Ansdell Drive entrance, this was made possible by a grant from the Droylsden You Choose money as you will see from the photographs on the gallery page, the work is not yet completed but already has made a huge improvement to the mud bath that existed there. More work is planned for other paths, grants have been applied for and when money becomes available the work will start. If you know of any individual or company that would be willing to donate material to assist in this then please contact via our contacts page.
Following on from a recent workshop at St Martins Church Hall where the scouts/cubs assembled bird boxes, Sunday 4th March saw our first site work with the cubs and scouts. you can see them on the gallery outside the church hall with bird boxes at the ready. we then went onto the Vale and placed 6 boxes which will be monitored by the group to see what species are nesting in the boxes. You can also report via our contact page if you notice birds using the boxes. The boxes are mainly located adjacent to the footpath which links Greenside Lane and Collingwood Avenue. Within minutes of siting, one of the boxes was being visited by a Blue Tit. Lets hope others species use the boxes, more will be placed around different areas in the future. Thats all for now folks Thank You for your continued support