Snakes at the Spa and other Stories..

Hope you are all keeping well in what is sadly still one of the strangest and troubling of times.

We are very pleased to report that Birley Spa appears to have had many new visitors during the lockdown as more people have explored their local area, let's hope they don't forget about us as and when normal life returns!

To engage local children (and adults) a Spa Snake of Stone has appeared and continues to grow, doesn't he look great? He will be relocated to the garden to preserve him, when the time is right.

There have also been sightings of fairies, we always knew it was a magical place, keep a look out, there may be more appearing very soon.

Work has started on removing the garden waste, given current restrictions progress is slow, but we're getting there and some little splashes of colour will soon be starting to bloom.

Planning for Heritage Open Days is ongoing, it may be possible to proceed in a socially distanced manner with something like our original plans but other options are being considered, such as a virtual tour, if necessary. A decision will be made this month.

We have been very lucky to have received 2 separate sets of photos of Birley Spa, one from the 1960s and another spanning from the 1940s to 1980, so grateful to the donors, we can now start to expand our Social History collection. If anyone has any old photos from the Spa they would like to share with us, please do let us know. We are also collecting stories, memories and anecdotes, there are some lovely ones out there, again if you have any please feel free to share.

We are looking to apply for Birley Spa Grounds and Silkstone Ravine to be made a Local Nature Reserve. The area is currently classed as a Local Wildlife Site, which although an acknowledgement of its importance, carries little weight. We have included Silkstone Ravine as it is adjacent to the Spa and because much of it was originally part of the Spa land. Also, it is worth pointing out, wildlife doesn't recognise our boundaries. Within the Spa grounds we are working with Parks Department, on advisement from the Ecology Team, it seems common sense to expand this across the Ravine as well. Parks Department cover the basics, it is as much as their budget will allow, with our volunteers we can do more and help to enhance biodiversity in the area. The Hackenthorpe Litter Pickers are already doing a fantastic job keeping the whole site clean, it is looking better than it has for years. We believe, moving forward from this terrible time, our green space will be more important than ever. LNR status could open doors for more funding opportunities to improve the area further. Our community deserves that.

Obviously due to the current pandemic situation any events we had planned were cancelled. May Day, History talks and market stalls, all things that would have raised considerable funds for our cause have not been able to go ahead. Event planning for the future is complicated and once again our lack of basic facilities is problematic. But, we still need to raise money to secure a future for the Bath House, the building continues to deteriorate and in the current conditions acquiring funding is going to be even more difficult, the more money we can raise the better. To this end we have opened a Paypal account for donations if anyone would like to contribute. Thank you.

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