Changes in reborn park have been remarkable

John and a dozen colleagues helped Sheffield Council staff on a planting day in January. The plantation was cleared following an outbreak of Phytophthora ramorum disease of larch, but it’s hoped the new trees, funded by a Forestry Commission Tree Health Grant, will soon start to become a new native woodland.

There had been some natural regeneration since the felling, said John Howard, with holly and rowan appearing last year. The tree guards (to protect the young trees from deer and other wildlife) will be removed as the trees grow, said John, who said he hoped the site would begin to look like an emerging native woodland in five years.

But as the young trees settled into their new homes on Saturday, 21 volunteers on one of the regular Friends of Whirlow Brook Park workdays were just getting on with their normal twice monthly toil as usual, this time clearing up the flowerbeds and wrenching out brambles and other invasive weeds to reveal an old stone path behind the hall.

The group have been going for a little under two years, but the changes in the park and surrounding area have been remarkable.

“It’s been amazing and very rewarding,” said founder member Shelagh Wooliscroft, who’d actually been helping out in the park for several years until the formation of the Friends group boosted the renewal workforce. “It feels as if we’re starting to make a real difference.”

During the gardening coffee break on Saturday, Shelagh and colleague Maggie Girling detailed some of the upcoming events open to all: the final tree planting day this Friday (10th), and regular workdays on the first Saturday and the third Monday of every month. (All meeting at the upper car park by the hall at 9.30).

There’ll also be a celebration of the group’s Climate Change Action Project with Professor Ian Rotherham on Saturday 18th at the Christ Church Dore Community Hall at 1.30. Details of all events at: https://friendsofwhirlowbrookpark.org.uk

Apart for all that, group members are also planning a renewal of the static and tired looking children’s play area, possibly with trails for young and older children, and wildlife watching features.

And there’ll definitely be a new tree trail for the whole family, where Friends and council staff have identified almost 50 very special trees in or near the park, including natives like Yew, Beech and Alder and planted species ranging from Dogwood and Japanese Maple to the giant Dawn Redwood. The trail will be opened on 9th June.

Meanwhile, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust have also been working nearby on their Limb Brook Nature-based Solutions Demonstrator Project, which includes a happy marriage of flood defence and biodiversity work.

Along with the Friends and other volunteers they’ve built 50 ‘leaky dams’ on the Limb Brook and six attenuation ponds and an area of wet ‘swales’ (small vegetated water channels) across from the park on Whirlow Playing Fields, which will slow water down and reduce flooding lower down the valley, while also improving and creating habitats for wildlife.

The idea is to demonstrate how simple and effective natural food defences can be, said project leader Leo Ingvorsen. “People can sign up for updates at [email protected], but the most important way to get involved is by coming and having a look at the sites, a natural flood management scheme in action,” he said.

And by Easter, The Shelter cafe should be open at the park, based at the old stone bus shelter on the entrance road.

Shelagh and Maggie picked up their tools. “We’d like to get down to the brook, but it’s very muddy,” pondered Maggie.

“We hope to get a boardwalk down there,” said Shelgah. Work goes on.