Discover Dearne Valley

projects by Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership from 2014-2019

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About Landscape Partnerships

Landscape partnerships are a national programme funded by the The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Since 2004 £146 million of funding has been invested in 86 schemes nationwide.

Landscapes are an important part of our past and play an important part in our lives today.

That’s why the The National Lottery Heritage Fund wanted to help conserve them and get more people involved in understanding and looking after them for the long term.

Landscape Partnership schemes put heritage conservation at the heart of regeneration – both rural and the areas between rural and urban.

Local, regional and national organisations work together to make a real difference to landscapes and communities for the long term. They do this by conserving habitats at landscape-scale, promoting joined-up management, reviving longlost skills, and much more. The National Lottery Heritage Fund funded projects make a major contribution to work in the UK on implementing the European Landscape Convention.

The Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership was funded by the The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of its national landscape partnerships programme. It ran from June 2014 to June 2019 covering the Dearne Valley area of South Yorkshire, including parts of the boroughs of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham.

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sing More information discoverdearne.org.uk

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The Dearne Valley is rich in industrial heritage, valuable biodiversity, beautiful landscapes and strong communities. The landscape, geology and geography mean it has been at the heart of industrial development over thousands of years. Coal mining, glassworks, potteries and ironworks have had a huge impact on the landscape and the communities that live in the Dearne.

The DVLP worked with local groups in restoring and protecting listed buildings and key environmental sites. The impact and importance of industry on the landscape was highlighted through a range of surveys and community projects. Grants were provided to support local community groups in helping deliver the aims and objectives of the DVLP. Projects were supported across the area with an emphasis on developing sustainable skills and activities so that the DVLP has an impact beyond its lifetime. What is clear to all involved is that the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership was an exciting and innovative opportunity for the Dearne Valley that has secured a long term impact on the area.

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Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership

The DVLP was a partnership made up of important key agencies and community representatives and included:

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

Barnsley Biodiversity Trust

Environment Agency

Garganey Trust

Natural England RSPB

Swinton Lock Activity Centre

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust It’s aim was to protect preserve and enhance the heritage and landscapes of the Dearne Valley building on over 10 years of work by this wide range of partners.

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A quiet

renaissance

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Revealing The Hidden Dearne

There can be few areas of the UK where industry has shaped the landscape more than the Dearne Valley. The DVLP aimed to reconnect people with the wealth of industrial heritage, unique landscapes, significant environmental features, leisure opportunities and economic potential within the Dearne Valley. It raised awareness of the area’s significance, allowed local communities to become actively involved in shaping it, increased their understanding of what makes it so special and encouraged more people to benefit from the Dearne’s built and natural assets.

The Dearne Valley has been at the heart of the industrial development for thousands of years, this has had a positive and negative impact on the surrounding landscapes and communities that live within the Dearne. It is an area of great contrasts and great potential. The DVLP aimed to “Reveal the Hidden Dearne” – with its wealth of heritage and environmental features – to more people.

This book features some of the projects that made a real impact over the last 5 years.

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What people have been saying “I can’t thank DVLP enough.

They have been amazing. I don’t know where we would have been without their expertise and guidance on so many issues.”

Dearne Area Team

It is the best partnership board I’ve been on for doing what it says on the tin. A big part of this is down to the people that have been delivering the partnership.

Partnership Board member

“The staff have been fantastic.

They have been good to work with and the right culture has been developed. The opportunities to engage with nature are excellent and much more community focused than previous projects. The DVLP will leave a big hole.”

Interviewee

“The DVLP is helping lead a quiet cultural renaissance in the Dearne” Ian McMillan, Poet From 2019 Legacy Report (White Horse Ecology/The Natural Route) 13

Discover Dearne Valley Copyright Š 2019 Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership ISBN 9781916136908 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the authors.

Published in Great Britain by Made Now www.madenow.co.uk The DVLP would like to thank the many talented photographers who have helped capture their activities over the last 5 years, special thanks to: Timm Cleasby, Chris Sedgewick, Alwyn Timms, Charlotte Elizabeth and The staff and volunteers of the DVLP. Other photographs credited where appropriate.

Design & artwork by Patrick Murphy patrickmurphystudio.co.uk Every effort has been made to secure permissions and accurate copyright for images and text used in this book, however if there are any omissions, please contact info@madenow.co.uk and the corrections will be rectified in any subsequent editions of the book.

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contents

People

ART

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Howell Woods Bioblitz The Romany Woodsman Barnsley Pals Colours The Calvert Memorial Barnsley Main Heritage Group Art Comes Naturally Big Local Thurnscoe Celebration Suppers Barnsley Men’s Shed RSPB Old Moor Poppies at the Castle

Built Heritage 51 55 57 59 61 63 67 71 73

Archaeology Workshops Walking Through History Bolton Gun Battery Castle Hill Hoyland Lowe Stand Barnsley Settlement Dig Waterloo Kiln Site Glassby Arch Hemingfield Colliery

Forgotten Potteries of the Dearne Memories of Maurice Remembering the Oaks Colliery Disaster Art of the Dearne KES 50 - Barry Hines 50th Anniversary Our Glass Exhibition Ted Hughes Poetry Festival

exploring 125 129 135

Interpretation Panels The Dearne Way View Points

ecology 139 143 159 161 165 167 171 181 185 189 191 193 199 201

Hedge Laying Workshops Sorby Workshops Grass ID Workshop Mammal Weekender Northern Rail Surveys Goldthorpe Cuttings Woodland Engagement Brookfield Park Reptile project Harvest Mouse Survey Bats & Moths Tree & Orchard Planting Wombwell Woods Take Over On the Verge

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bringing together / scientists / families / students / teachers / community members 18

As part of the DVLP’s woodland engagement programme the team collaborated with skilled woodland ecologists from Haycock and Jay Associates in collaboration with Oak Forest School and Wilderness Skills CIC to engage the local community with 5 priority woodlands within the DVLP project area.

A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible.

Project: Howell Woods Bioblitz

Summary:

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Romany ancestors who lived and worked in the woodlands of the Dearne

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Participants tried basket weaving by the campfire and other crafts alongside a vivid oral history of Romany people’s culture, their migration out of India to the British Isles and their superstitious folklore. Antony also recounted his Romany ancestors who lived and worked in the woodlands of the Dearne Valley.

Project: The Romany Woodsman – A Living History

Summary: Antony Hill from Ruff Around The Hedges demonstrated traditional ways of working, living and craft skills synonymous with a Romany Woodsman over two day workshops.

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The Regimental Colours (Standards/Flags) for the two Barnsley Pals battalions were in very poor condition after 100 years of deterioration.

The DVLP supported the preservation of them for the future and in doing so helped support the remembrance of those who were involved in the First World War for it’s 100th Anniversary.

Project: Preservation of Barnsley Pals Regimental Battalions Colours

Summary:

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Laurence Calvert was born in Hunslet, Leeds and moved to Conisbrough in 1910 where he worked as a miner at Cadeby Colliery. He moved to Maltby Colliery for a short spell and when the great disaster happened at Cadeby in 1912 he presented himself at the colliery gate to enlist as a rescue worker. He moved back to Cadeby soon after and continued to live in Conisbrough until he enlisted in the Army and was shipped to France in 1915.

He won the VC at Havrincourt on the 12th September 1918. Conisbrough Community Events organised the installation of a memorial stone within Conisbrough Coronation Park in his honour and the street where the park is located changed to Calvert Way. Up to this point no commemoration of the hero had been made in the town.

Project: The Calvert Memorial

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The Barnsley Main Heritage Group (BMHG) formed in late 2016 as an independent group of volunteers working to conserve and protect the remaining buildings of Barnsley Main Colliery and the wider site.

The key aim of the group is to use the Grade 2 listed buildings to educate the current generation about the coal mining industry and the central role it played in the history of Barnsley and South Yorkshire. They have been funded over the five years by the DVLP to provide them with training and tools to help them in their work.

The group were the first community group to receive resilience funding to help secure their future and legacy.

Project: Barnsley MAin heritage group

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being creative together 32

A collaboration between Faceless Arts and environmental artist James Brunt. The project aimed to re-introduce nearby green spaces to their neighbouring communities and encourage families, children and young people to spend time outdoors by enjoying being creative together.

Project: Art Comes Naturally

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graphic

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Working closely with Big Local Thurnscoe we helped interpret this historic town for visitors and locals alike.

Interpretation panels were created for the Memorial Park, the reservoir and Phoenix Park.

We collaborated on creating a mural for the railway station underpass and an information board for visitors alighting from trains. In the reservoir park itself we funded the installation of a pond dipping platform for families to encourage them to explore the natural environment around them.

Project: Big Local Thurnscoe

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A series of fun, informal and relaxed community engagement evenings. Members of the DVLP team presented their work and objectives. The format also allowed project presentations by local organisations alongside refreshments including pie & peas.

Project: Celebration Suppers

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exploring wood & woodlands of the Dearne

The Barnsley Men’s Shed is a woodworking workshop, where men over 55 come to learn and expand woodworking knowledge.

The project involved a series of workshops exploring wood and woodlands in the Dearne Valley. The information and skills gained from these helped create a series of Living Wood Fact Sheets that illustrated using specific types of wood for woodwork projects. A Living Wood Open Day was held which gave participants chance to showcase their knowledge and work.

Project: Barnsley Men’s Shed – Understanding Living Wood

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As a key visitor attraction, valuable wildlife site and outdoor classroom, we worked closely with RSPB Old Moor. Over the lifetime of the project we have supported conservation internships, AQA awards for school children, provided new mobility scooters, and delivered many family sessions with artists and entertainers at the site.

We funded the planting of trees, ecological surveys and celebrated the re-emergence of the iconic bee orchid.

Project: RSPB Old Moor

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The Castle helped link generations in remembrance

WWI & II 46

Poppies at the Castle by Conisbrough Community Events projected a video of the photographs of many of the soldiers, whose names are on the Conisbrough & Denaby War Memorials, onto the castle keep. It included information about specific soldiers and how they died serving their country. It linked generations in remembrance in a two hour remembrance event which also included songs from WWI & II in signifying the optimisms of the new recruits marching to battle followed by shell-fire, battle noises and lighting including search lights.

Project: Poppies at the Castle - Conisbrough

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A lone bugler played the last post before a minute’s silence and the event ended with the keep being lit with poppies 47

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Archaeology

The work carried out through a heritage audit as part of the development of the DVLP had shown the sheer quantity and quality of the archaeology within the Dearne Valley.

The audit demonstrated a significant amount of prehistoric and Romano-British sites, with evidence of industry throughout the eras. This ranges from early bell pits in Wombwell Woods, all the way through to the remains of glassworks and brickworks. There are remnants of tramways and railways from the 1830s to link collieries.

At Houndhill there are remains from 1640 of a Royalist Garrison and then at Bolton there are remains of a World War 2 anti-aircraft gun battery.

Throughout the area there is evidence of Iron Age or Romano-British field boundaries and the footprint of Wombwell Woods remains virtually unchanged since these times. There is evidence of Bronze Age barrows and medieval earthworks across the area, with crop marks giving glimpses of the further discoveries to be made.

The DVLP commissioned archaeology consultants ArcHeritage to undertake surveys of 10 sites across the Dearne Valley and deliver community workshops at each of these sites.

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A series of workshops were organised to empower local communities to find out how to design their own archaeological projects and research their local surroundings.

The workshops demonstrated the different stages of designing an archaeological project and the considerations that need to be addressed at the outset. Activities ranged from site excavations to working with local archives.

Project: Archaeology Workshops

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Geologist Andy Howard facilitated a workshop and walk exploring Nearcliffe Woods, Conisbrough. The walk examined local geology and ‘ice age’ archaeology and its immediate environs, near Conisbrough. Situated above the River Don on the Magnesium Limestone, the walk considered the evidence for our ‘ice age’ past and how this can be used to reconstruct landscapes through time.

Project: Walking Through History – A geology walk at Conisbrough

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Summary: Although of comparatively recent date, 20th century military sites are increasingly seen as historic survivals representing a defining episode in the history of warfare and of the century in general; as such they merit careful record and, in some cases, preservation.

This site includes standing, buried and earthwork remains of a World War II Heavy Anti-aircraft (HAA) gunsite.

The site includes four gun emplacements, a command post, a Nissen magazine and part of the service track.

The site is situated to the east of Bolton Upon Dearne near to the River Dearne.

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Project: Bolton Gun Battery

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Castle Hills is an 11th century motte and bailey castle sited in Mexborough and is a scheduled monument. It is an excellent example of this type of monument and has extensive earthworks.

The project engaged the local community and pupils from New Pastures Primary School with the site through their involvement with digging test pits and also some classroom based archaeology sessions.

Project: Castle Hills

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The Hoyland Lowe Stand is the site of a Grade II Listed Building located in Hoyland, South Yorkshire. Built in the 18th century, the Stand was likely built as a hunting lodge.

The site has received support from the The Lowe Stand Trust who are concerned with its preservation. DVLP helped further research the site.

Project: Hoyland Lowe Stand

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The history of the site had been well documented from the late medieval period but there was a need to enhance understanding of the site and its usage with a focus on two fields where crop marks had been identified. A geophysical survey was undertaken which led to a successful community dig.

Project: Barnsley Settlement Dig

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The factory produced fine porcelain which was shipped worldwide during the 19th century. At the site, parts of the original factory remain.

It is best known for finely decorated rococo style of porcelain pieces. The DVLP carried out some exploratory digs to find out more about the sites past.

Project: Waterloo Kiln Site

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This project saw the restoration, reassembly and relocation of this historic arch in Mexborough.

The Glassby Arch is a freestanding semi-circular Romanesque arch. It has been relocated into the grounds of Mexborough Almhouses where it will be more visible, secure and public. The arch was created by Robert Glassby, who became known as “Sculptor to the Queen�, He constructed the Glassby Arch in 1860 and it was his first attempt at such a large project. A partnership between the DVLP, Mexborough Charity Trust, Doncaster Council, Mexborough & District Heritage Society and the National Crime Agency was formed in order to restore, reassemble and relocate the historic arch.

Project: Glassby Arch

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Hemingfield Colliery is the site of a now disused coal mine which has been re-purposed since its closure.

This project saw artist Iain Nicholls recreate a virtual reality experience of going down this 19th Century colliery based on Hemingfield.

There was a descriptive voiceover by poet Ian McMillan giving historical facts and descriptions of mining conditions at that time. The virtual reality (VR) content helped generate publicity and raise awareness of the Friends of Hemingfield Colliery restoration project.

Project: Hemingfield Colliery

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Celebrating the historic potteries of the Dearne Valley

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The DVLP commissioned Yorkshire artist Adele Howitt to produce a new piece of ceramic work inspired by the historic potteries of the Dearne Valley.

The potteries of South Yorkshire once rivaled those in Stoke-on-Trent, with the most famous being the world renowned Rockingham Pottery in Swinton. However during the nineteenth century over twenty other potteries made for a thriving industrial scene, but are now largely forgotten. Adele worked with local communities at four workshops, in areas where there were once potteries, helping them produce work to form part of the final exhibition which was held at the Cooper Gallery.

Project: Forgotten Potteries of the Dearne

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Delivering ceramic workshops in four community locations where there were once potteries.

Working together to produce new work to form part of a final exhibition

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Maurice Dobson was an enigmatic and curious character.

A former miner, WW2 veteran and antiques collector with a museum bearing his name. After serving in North Africa and the Middle East throughout the Second World War he returned to the Dearne Valley permanently in 1956 with his partner Fred Halliday. Together they ran the shop at 2 Vicar Road, Darfield, until the 1980s. The shop is now the Maurice Dobson Museum and Heritage Centre.

DVLP collaborated with Qdos Creates and the Maurice Dobson Museum to create a short play based on his life.

Project: Memories of Maurice

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An enigmatic and curious character.

A former miner, WW2 veteran and antiques collector

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In 2016 DVLP marked the 150th anniversary of the Oaks Colliery Disaster, the worst in English history. To mark the anniversary DVLP created a series of commemorative events which included ‘When the Oaks Fired’ an exhibition at Experience Barnsley Museum which attracted over 5000 visitors. The exhibition was the outcome of thousands of hours of volunteer research and community engagement. The exhibition also featured a stunning virtual reality film made by Alan Andrews, ‘The Art of Mining’. Ian McMillan also held a writing workshop helping participants write their own work as well as developing content for his own commission for the Oaks Disaster anniversary.

Project: Remembering the Oaks Colliery Disaster

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In 2016 DVLP created a series of commemorative events to mark the 150th anniversary of the Oaks Colliery Disaster, the worst in English history

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Photo © Gavin Joynt

‘Neon River’ by Patrick Murphy Laser light projected down the Dearne Valley

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DVLP commissioned three artists and an artist partnership to create a series of artworks in response to the landscape of the Dearne Valley.

The aim of the project was to highlight the significance of the River Dearne and how it has shaped the people and landscape over centuries. The river is at the heart of the Dearne Valley but is often overlooked and forgotten.

The artists’ work raised awareness of the river, where it comes from, where it goes and the impact it has had on the area. Participating artists were: Daniel Jones, Patrick Murphy, Louise Wright, Hayley Youell, James Lockey and Andy Seward.

Project: Art oF the Dearne

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Photo © Anton Want

‘Neon River’ by Patrick Murphy Digital light projections at RSPB Old Moor

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Photo © Anton Want

‘Neon River’ by Patrick Murphy Smoke release on the River Dearne

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‘Of The River’ by Andy Seward, Hayley Youell and James Lockey

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Photo © Anton Want

Mixed media textile mural by Louise Wright

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Sculptural stone and mixed media seat by Dan Jones

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The DVLP have been supporting projects that celebrated and drew attention to the work of Barry Hines and most notably his most well known 1968 novel ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ and subsequent film by Ken Loach ‘Kes’ (1969).

Barry Hines wrote about the landscapes found in the Dearne Valley and was born and lived in Hoyland.

The projects ranged from a Geocaching trail of locations from the film Kes, workshops with Ian McMillan and the creation of the Kes50 project by artists Patrick Murphy and Anton Want, which created a number of art interventions including a special book drop in Hoyland and the creation of a giant land art Kestrel for the Tour de Yorkshire race as the riders came through Hoyland during the 50th anniversary of the book.

Project: KES 50 - Barry Hines 50th Anniversary

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The glass industry was so embedded in the history and heritage of the local area that it is incorporated into the Barnsley coat of arms. ‘Our Glass’ exhibition uncovered the fascinating stories of local companies and how they contributed to the economic history of Barnsley and the Dearne Valley. They gained a national and global reputation for their products, which were exported around the world. This exhibition presented an important range of glass bottles and objects made in those glassworks covering over 350 years of glassmaking from the 17th century to the present day.

Project: Our Glass Exhibition

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DVLP supported a new group established in Mexborough to raise the awareness of South Yorkshire’s impact on Ted Hughes as a poet.

Hughes moved to Mexborough in 1938 when his parents bought a newsagent’s shop, and lived there for 13 years.

Hughes left Mexborough for university and went on to become one of the greatest poets of the English language and Poet Laureate from 1984-1998.

The Ted Hughes Project organised the inaugural Ted Hughes Poetry Festival in Mexborough. The main venue for the festival was the old grammar school Hughes attended which provided a unique environment to celebrate his work.

Project: Ted Hughes Poetry Festival

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Exploring

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Twenty three interpretation panels were created for key sites around the Dearne Valley. They tell of the industrial and community heritage of the sites or inform visitors about the local wildlife around them. Stories include those of the ferryboat at Mexborough, the mystery of Hoyland Lowe Stand, why you can find fossils at Stairfoot and the diversity of reservoir wildlife at Thurnscoe. We worked closely with local history societies to gather the stories that mattered to the people of the Dearne.

Project: Interpretation Panels

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The Dearne Way is a beautiful, long distance walking route which runs through the DVLP project area.

It is 30 miles long and starts in the village of Birds Edge in the Upper Dearne and follows the course of the River Dearne passing the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Barnsley town centre and RSPB Old Moor. The walk finishes in Mexborough where the River Dearne meets the River Don.

Project: The Dearne Way

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As part of the DVLP’s commitment to providing greater opportunities to explore our local landscape, viewpoints have been created to help open up iconic views of key sites in the River Dearne. These include structures made of living and dead willow working with artist Patrick Redstone and a wide range of fantastic volunteers and groups. An outdoor classroom space and vantage point of the Barnsley pit head at Barnsley Main has been installed and a structure at Conisbrough Mill Piece representing the legend of Ivanhoe offers amazing views of Conisbrough Castle. Other viewpoints include a sculptural bench by the river Dearne, views of Hemingfield Colliery, a celebration of the childhood home of Ted Hughes and a panoramic view across Park Springs in Grimethorpe.

Project: View Points

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Participants of these workshops run in partnership with the DVLP and Phil Rowell, discovered the traditional practice of hedge laying; a management technique to make a living stock proof barrier for livestock and an excellent wildlife corridor.

Philip delivered a series of traditional hedge laying workshops & coppice for up to 10 participants across a wide range of sites including Worsbrough Mill & Country Park, Goldthorpe Embankment, and Barnsley Main.

Project: Hedge Laying Workshops

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the traditional practice of hedge laying

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‘Training the Next Generation of Naturalists’ has been a fantastic and award winning collaboration with Sorby Natural History Society in the Dearne Valley, winning the National Biodiversity Networks Lynne Farrell award for biological recording in 2017. The project aims to promote the traditional study of natural history by providing a wide range of free training workshops in survey and ID of a variety of species groups to help train and upskill volunteers to feel more confident in biological recording regardless of skill level.

Project: Sorby Workshops

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Photos © Alwyn Timms

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Photos © Alwyn Timms

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Photos © Alwyn Timms

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Photos © Alwyn Timms

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This workshop was aimed at beginners and people who wanted to revise and improve their identification skills in common grasses; a popular yet under-studied group in the local area, important for recording and monitoring purposes. Led by tutors of Sorby Botany Group, Roger Butterfield and Jean Glasscock.

Project: Grass ID Workshop

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The mammal identification two day course provided a great chance to learn the key distinguishing features of all UK mammal species. The day was led by the Mammal Society working with the DVLP to encourage greater mammal recording and ID. Classroom sessions covered the key visual clues to identification; tracks, feeding signs, nests, burrows, sounds, droppings & skeletal remains.

Practical skills were demonstrated during field based sessions focusing on small mammal trapping*, field signs, handling small mammals and the analysis of owl pellets. * All traps were humane and safe, all small mammals were safely released.

Project: Mammal Weekender

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Love nature

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The DVLP & Sorby Natural History Society carried out a series of wildlife surveys at a number of Dearne train stations as part of a project called Destination Green with Northern by Arriva. This exciting collaboration provided a number of recording visits across the Dearne Valley network of eight railway stations.

Naturalists and volunteers recorded plants, animals and most notably insects during the surveys. These areas had never been surveyed previously so the project provided important data of species distribution across the Dearne and provided vital management guidance for Northern staff on how to make their station environment more attractive and safe for wildlife.

Project: Northern Rail Surveys

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Goldthorpe means “small settlement” and it was an agricultural area through post Medieval times with mining introduced in the 17th century and corn mills in the18th.

Coal mining took place in the Goldthorpe area from the 17th century, with the opening of a colliery in 1678. This mine was developed further as Marsden’s Goldthorpe Colliery in 1770. The site closed in 1783 but was reopened as Goldthorpe Colliery in 1909. The mine closed in 1994.

Goldthorpe Cuttings transformed an area of disused railway land into a new outdoor destination for local schools and residents in disadvantaged communities.

The site, once known as the most fly tipped place in England now features an orchard and wildflower area, seating, birdwatching screens, interpretation and an incredible ecosystem of flora and fauna. It also has a memorial stone commemorating the death of two local boys at the site. This was designed and sculpted by Dan Jones with words by Ian McMillan.

Project: Goldthorpe Cuttings

Summary:

‘The Railway Embankment Group’ – a group set up by the Dearne Area Team worked tirelessly and together with schools to create this new haven. The group includes the area team, Goldthorpe Development Group members, Salvation Army, elected members, Thurnscoe and Goldthorpe Big Local, Network Rail, Twiggs Grounds Maintenance, university students from Sheffield, local residents and wildlife enthusiasts, landlords and councillors.

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Goldthorpe Cuttings transformed an area of disused railway land into a new outdoor destination for local schools and residents in disadvantaged communities

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Since 2015, Otley-based ecological consultants Haycock and Jay Associates Ltd worked with the DVLP to implement a programme of ecological workshops to encourage the people of the Dearne Valley to record wildlife in their local woodlands and gain a greater understanding of our local woodlands values via more appropriate management & engagement opportunities.

The project focussed on six key woodlands across the Dearne Valley and included an exciting range of events including dawn chorus walks, woodland wildflower walks, woodland survey training, bat discovery walks and amphibian safaris. All the data collected has since been used to inform new management plans on how best to safeguard some of these key habitats and associated wildlife, whilst providing new opportunities to explore and discover.

Project: Woodland Engagement

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understanding our local woodlands

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The DVLP and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council worked with 5th and 6th year MA students from the University of Sheffield’s School of Architecture (SSoA) on a Live Project at Brookfield Park which is sited along the Trans Pennine Trail at the point where all three local authorities meet. Running every year for the first six weeks of the academic year, Live Projects involve students working in groups to produce built, strategic or detailed design proposals for clients.

The students undertook several public consultations on site, gathering people’s thoughts about what might be done to make Brookfield Park a more useable and positive space. The final design focussed on access and signage which have since been adopted to promote this beautiful underused space.

Project: Brookfield Park

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The reptile project formed part of the DVLP’s environmental surveying programme which aimed to increase peoples understanding and appreciation of biodiversity in their local area, as well as provide opportunities to gain new survey skills and help increase the information held on local wildlife in the area to help with future protection and conservation. Training sessions were held by John Newton who helped highlight the fantastic local habitat for such species.

The sites located on belts of magnesium limestone proved full of ecological promise most notably for grass snakes and common lizards, many that were pregnant and heavily gravid.

Project: Reptile Survey

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This workshop explored the ecology of harvest mice with local expert Derek Whiteley of Sorby Natural History Society on behalf of the mammal group with the DVLP. There was a talk and demonstration about how to identify harvest mice and their nests. Participants ventured out to the swamps and reed beds to find discarded summer nests. This has been an annual activity on site for the last 3 years, undertaking regular surveys to count the discarded breeding nests to help us monitor this key species.

Project: Harvest Mouse Survey

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The DVLP collaborated with bat and moth specialists for a series of discovery events exploring the diversity of moths and bats that inhabit and feed in the local landscape at Worsbrough Mill and Country Park. Activities included evening walks in Wombwell Woods, using bat detectors to identify calls and experience bats in flight.

Project: Bats & Moths

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The DVLP had a commitment to plant up to 10 hectares of new woodlands in the project area for the benefit of the local community and biodiversity. This included the planting of up to 3 hectares of new mixed woodland at New Park Springs, Grimethorpe, working with a wide range of volunteers and employers from the local community. Further tree planting work has since taken place working with partners on sites such as Houghton Washlands to increase habitat and flood resilience. A big emphasis of the tree planting project has been the support and creation of new community orchards which can be used as a free community resource, To date we have planted over 3 community orchards using local, ancient varieties of fruit trees.

Project: Tree & Orchard Planting

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plant 10 hectares of new woodlands

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This event was developed in line with our ‘Art of the Dearne’ project. It focused on using the arts as a tool of positive and creative community engagement, in which Wombwell Woods Take Over formed the first pilot event.

The event was a partnership event with UPLIFT of Creative Recovery and the DVLP. Wombwell Woods is a semi-ancient woodland believed to date back to the 16th Century, and provided an ideal location for the Take Over event. Activities included the construction of a forest theatre for hand made shadow puppets, alongside instrument making, pewter casting, woodland art and mini-bug hunts. A great opportunity for the community to gather around the campfire for story telling and knowledge sharing in the great outdoors, encouraging future exploration of our wonderful woodlands.

Project: Wombwell Woods Take Over

Summary:

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Summary: ‘On the Verge’ was a partnership project led by the DVLP working across the three local authority areas (Barnsley, Doncaster & Rotherham) working with a wide range of partners, volunteers & community groups. The project was led by Baker consultants on behalf of the DVLP.

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The project surveyed 18,000m2 of road side verge and over 13,000m2 of low value verge was enhanced via bulb planting and seed sowing for wildlife. provided management manuals for all three local authorities on how best to manage and safeguard our verges using survey data, training, and engaging a wide range of local volunteers.

MONITORING SURVEYS Plants Birds Butterflies Small Mammals

Project: On the Verge

PRACTICAL CONSERVATION Bulb Planting Wildflower Sowing Hedgerow laying/ management Scrub Clearing

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The Dearne Valley has been at the heart of industrial development for thousands of years, this has had a positive and negative impact on the surrounding landscapes and communities that live within the Dearne.

It is an area of great contrasts and potential.

The DVLP aimed to “Reveal the Hidden Dearne” – with its wealth of heritage and environmental features – to more people.

This book features some of the projects that made a real impact over the last 5 years.