Digging for Heritage!

After much consideration and planning we are pleased to announce that we will be taking part in Heritage Open Days 2020. We are offering a talk and tour of the Bath House, taking in a little more of the grounds this year and tapping into the 'Hidden Nature' theme for HODs. As we are following current guidelines for Covid 19, we are restricting group sizes to 6 people only, to allow for social distancing. We have fixed times for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each week, but are offering a number of discretional family/social bubble groups at other times. As always HODs are free events, but donations are welcome. https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/birley-spa-bath-house-history-talk-and-tour    

Our Volunteer Days have restarted, we are currently focusing on getting the garden and paths ready for HODs. There is a lot to do, the effects of not being able to work during the lockdown have certainly made the task more difficult, but we are currently feeling pretty pleased with the progress we have made. 

We had been looking into having Birley Spa and Silkstone Ravine classed as a Local Nature Reserve to help us get funding, particularly for the pond. On taking professional advice we will no longer be pursuing that option. Natural England are apparently reluctant to grant more LNRs, and it would appear having that status has little impact on funding applications. We have approval from Parks to seek funding and we have a collaborative work plan for various areas in the grounds, some of which has already started. Before we can apply for funding for repairs to the pond, we need to prove that there is a desire for the work to be carried out, that it is of value to the community. To achieve this we have created an online survey to assess public mood for the project. https://forms.gle/Hsax1xazhPU1WdMB9 We would be most grateful if you could complete it, thank you.

We are due to have a meeting with the council on 4th September, via zoom, hopefully we will be able to resolve at least some of the ongoing issues. Fingers crossed we get some resolutions. 

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