Its a while since I have managed to update the blog but this doesn't mean to say that progress has not been made.

Firstly back in March I attended Singleton School to give a talk about wildlife and then went up to the wood with several pupils to install 10 new bird boxes. 4 of these boxes have been successful in attracting blue tits and this years first fledglings which is a really good result!

The trees which were planted by local Children as part of the Queens Diamond Jubilee and donated by The Woodland Trust are all doing great and growing well.

In addition Fylde Mayor Heather Speak generously donated a lovely beech tree also as part of the Diamond Jubilee. This has been complemented by the installation of a plaque in recognition of this event.

During her visit to the wood Heather also presented Tommy Kay (Jnr) a certificate as recognition for all his help on a weekly basis and shared passion for Puzzle Wood (although Tommy Kay Snr has also made valued contributions)!!

Cllr Maxine Chew has always been generous in donating various items during the restoration. Last week Maxine donated various woodland furniture including a wooden bench. This has been strategically placed at the end of the path looking across Singleton's Parkland. During the summer months and when the sun is setting it shines straight through the gap at the edge of the wood and onto the small area where I have secured the bench. It is almost like Thomas H Miller designed the wood with this in mind!

Up and coming jobs include treating the wooden lychgate and removal of young saplings. Following this one of the final tasks is to arrange a grand opening which is hugely anticipated by the residents of Singleton. So please watch this space!!!!

Queens Diamond Jubilee event 11.11.12

As Part of the Queens Diamond event today several families from Singleton and some who's children attend Singleton School gathered at the wood to plant 105 trees which were donated from the Woodland Trust following a successful grant application.

In addition several trees have been planted this weekend that were kindly donated by Maxine Chew on behalf of her Mother, Hannah Miller, to commemorate 25 years since Maxine's Father's death. The trees included rowan, holly and crab apple and so will provide lots of colour and fruit for the wildlife to feed on.

Also spring bulbs that have been donated by Jim Pawson have been planted around the wood so look forward to a great spring display. All these donations are greatly appreciated and will ensure that the wood is enjoyed by generations for the future.

Below follows pictures from today including all the children surrounding the oak tree which was part of the pack of 105 and had been seeded from one of the Royal households. Upon planting the tree we held 2 minutes silence at 11am to commemorate Remembrance Day.

It was a great morning and many thanks to those who gave up their Sunday morning.

 

Work on entrance

 Yesterday Jim Pawson and myself set about laying the entrance way flags. The flags were kindly donated by Maxine Chew. It really sets the lych gate off and provides a firm footing for visitors to the wood once it has opened to the public. Below shows several views of the lych gate following the work being completed and thanks go to Jim for donating his time to undertake this work. (It was the hardest he has worked since he retired from BNFL, Salwick!!)

I am now going to set about sourcing the material for the top layer of the paths. Various materials are being considered for this but obviously needs to be hard wearing but in keeping with the wood. Singleton Dumbreck Trust have generously donated £500 towards the materials for this work to be completed.

The completion of the work coincided with the end of a wedding ceremony who asked if they could take some pictures in the entrance. This was followed by a visit from Reverand Martin Keighley who gave his blessing by having a walk around the wood!

Spring is here!

The blue bells are spreading year on year and the ones which required transplanting (due to the location of paths) have also taken and in full bloom. For those of you who may have peered into the wood over the past week you will have noticed that there are 10 bright red tulips in full bloom. The bulbs must have been mixed in with a load of top soil which Steve Catterall donated from his garden in Kirkham. Also in the soil was some old bits of pottery which looks like Roman..........since Kirkham was a originally a Roman settlement then this would be no surprise! No Roman coins found as yet though! However what I have found is a 1900 silver sixpence which Mr T H Miller must have dropped on his way to church. The coin has a star shaped punch mark in it....?? any ideas.

Singleton Dumbreck Trust have donated some money so that the surface for the paths can be purchased and so I am currently sourcing material for this purpose.

John Highton has been working with some of the children from Singleton School on making some bird boxes for the wood. The Children will also be involved in siting the boxes (obviously not climbing the ladders though).

Singleton Parish Council have kindly agreed to purchase an information board for the entrance to the wood which is great. First thoughts are to include a brief history of the wood along with birdlife that can be observed.

In the next month or so the entrance will hopefully be finished off by laying some flags down. In addition the pond will be designed and hopefully started to be dug out. The soil can then be used to build up around the edges of the path.

Latest progress

As the undergrowth has now died off sufficiently there has been some work carried out on the paths that are winding their way round the wood!

However for once I haven't laid a finger. Some of the inmates of HMP Kirkham worked in the wood one day last week and have done an excellent job so many thanks to them.

They have agreed to return next week where 8 tonnes of hard core and 100m of 8x1 wood planks await them. This will hopefully finish off phase 1 of the paths.

Over the past couple of weeks I have done a lot of general tidying throughout the wood. Due to the recent high winds many dead branches have been blown down and so have now been added to the brash stacks.

The snow drops, daffodils and blue bells have all shot up over the past 2 weeks and I am expecting an early bloom this year.

This afternoon I decided to trim the hedging at the front of the wood and whilst doing so I came across an empty cat food tin. Upon picking it up I observed another one and then another. In all I picked up 78 empty cat food tins!! We did experience this problem early last year and also found blocks of cat food strategically placed. We thought it may be someone perhaps feeding hedgehogs and then discarding the tins by throwing them in the wood. Well the phantom cat food tin person has certainly returned with out a doubt! The police were informed last time it kept happening and promised to take appropriate action if the culprit was caught. If anyone observes this person throwing litter in the wood please get their car registration number if they are in a car (which I suspect that this person is) and let either me or the local police know. The following photo shows the empty tins plus some additional rubbish!

Bird life

Local bird watcher Jonny Scragg from Poulton-le-Fylde has recently taken a couple of great photographs of the birds which frequent Puzzle Wood and agreed for me to post them on the Blog. The first is superb and one that I'm sure the whole of Miller Crescent has heard but rarely seen! What a great photo of the tawny owl, as I say we all hear them especially during darkness but rarely see during the day.

The second photograph is a little more common. Several bird boxes have been installed and it would be nice to think that this blue tit has used one of the boxes for breeding or is indeed a result of a breeding pair!

Hopefully Jonny will be a regular visitor to the wood and take some more great photographs of our wildlife. Watch this space!

Title Photograph

As you can see I have inserted a photograph on the title page of the blog of how Puzzle Wood looked in its hey day. It was taken from the same position as the 'Back to Front photograph I inserted in yesterdays post! What a difference to the way the wood presents today! Unsure of year taken but definitely prior to 1946.