Litter at Lovers Leap

One of the issues that the Places and Spaces project has identified as of particular concern is the volume of rubbish that accumulates in and around some of our most famous beauty spots. Lovers Leap was mentioned at the last committee meeting, and so on a mild and sunny Monday morning, Roger Floyd and Simon Fussell set off to investigate and to see if it was practical and safe to organise some future litter picking activities at this famous landmark.

As can be seen from the photographs there is plenty of litter. In the space of an hour Roger and Simon picked up four sacks from the top of the gorge and from the lay by and path by the river.

There is still lots of rubbish left at the sites. To tackle the problem properly will require a risk assessment and to ensure that anyone helping out is properly equipped. The A6 is busy and very dangerous and there are significant drops from the top of the gorge down to the stream.

We will also be contacting HPBC to request that they remove some of the larger objects.

We plan to hold a litter picking day at Lovers Leap at some point in the New Year, so if you are interested in helping out contact us at;

communications@buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk

Mark Cocker, environmentalist, campaigner and writer and old Buxtonian is giving a lecture at the WILD THING conference in Sheffield on 9th September 2015. The title of the talk is 'Birds and people'.

You can apply for tickets by clicking on the link below, but places are limited.

Details of talk and booking details

Viv Russell, Lime and Powders Director at Tarmac, visited Poole’s Cavern visitor centre, at the invitation of Buxton Civic Association, to inspect the path restoration work that the Association had carried out in Grinlow woods, with the generous help of stone and material supplied from Tarmac.

Thanking Viv Russell, and Tarmac for their help Mike said;

"The support and help that we have had from Tarmac has enabled us to improve the paths considerably and to carry the work out much more quickly. The work to the paths is vital as it has improved the accessibility to the woods as well as protecting key areas of the woods from erosion and damage."

Enabling as many people as possible to have access to the woods is a key objective of Buxton Civic Association whilst ensuring that the flora and fauna is protected and the site retains its SSSI status.
"It is great to be able to work in partnership with Tarmac and other local companies to help ensure that our wonderful woods can be of benefit to locals and visitors alike” added Mike.
Tarmac supplied stone for much of the restored pathways in two of the Association’s woods, Corbar and Grinlow. The stone was transported to site by Lomas Distribution.

Enabling as many people as possible to have access to the woods is a key objective of Buxton Civic Association whilst ensuring that the flora and fauna is protected and the site retains its SSSI status.

"It is great to be able to work in partnership with Tarmac and other local companies to help ensure that our wonderful woods can be of benefit to locals and visitors alike” added Mike.

Tarmac supplied stone for much of the restored pathways in two of the Association’s woods, Corbar and Grinlow. The stone was transported to site by Lomas Distribution.

Granby road community garden are holding their first open day on 29th July 2015. Every one welcome to come along and help with the wildlife garden.

Poole’s Cavern visitor centre was packed for Buxton Civic Association’s 46th AGM. Mike Monaghan in his first address as Chair of the Association welcomed members to the meeting and described how the next few years could be the most exciting in BCA’s history. Building on the strong foundations that had been laid down over the past ten years, Mike explained that the Association was now able to focus on using its wealth of experience and knowledge in reaching out to other Buxton organisations and developing influential partnerships to help shape the future of the town.

Paying tribute to the board and to the staff, Mike said that the strong business model that Poole’s Cavern provided enabled BCA to manage and constantly improve its extensive estate of woodlands, and to provide support to other like-minded organisations in the town.

Peter Philipson, Director with responsibilities for the Woods gave a presentation on the work of the Wood Watch committee and explained in detail the work that had been done earlier in the year to create a woodland ride. Supported by RSPB and a grant from the Forestry Commission he explained that this work would complement the glades, which gave Grin Wood its SSSI status.

Considerable investment had also been made in improving some 1.5km of paths in Grin Woods and also in Corbar where the final link in the Ring of Trees walk had been completed. This would not have been possible with out the generous donations of materials from Lafarge Tarmac and support with transport from Lomas Distribution.

Simon Fussell talked about the Environmental Quality Mark that the Association had been awarded for a second year, and explained how the EQM supported the board’s objective in providing an environmentally sustainable business model. It provided a benchmark against which decisions could be made to ensure that the environment was always put at the forefront. The Association was also pleased to be able to support the work that Derbyshire Wildlife Trust was doing to vaccinate badgers in the area from Bovine Tb.

Brian Shawcross, Finance Director, reported another successful year. We increased visitor numbers, controlled costs and generated a healthy surplus on a turnover of over £0.5 million which will allow us to plan for future improvements.

Mike thanked the two retiring director’s, Tim Middleton and Owen Longden for their hard work and support and welcomed Nigel Manning to the board.

It had been decided at the last AGM that major planning issues would be opened up to the membership and it was encouraging that so many members attended the meeting to discuss the Nestle Station road proposal and made their feelings about the scheme clear by voting unanimously to reject it. BCA needs to continue to be vigilant on the planning front and the strengthening of the planning group was to be welcomed, with the addition of Derek Bodey and John Anfield as consultants.

Mike thanked the Association’s staff, the directors, volunteers and other committee members, and everyone else who had supported the Association.

Following the formal business of the AGM, Mike Wilde (Chair of the Membership and Communities Group) and Simon Fussell (Business Development Manager) gave an interesting and stimulating presentation on the recent project “Places and Spaces – telling the story of Buxton.”

AGM Documents

Chair Report to 46th AGM

Environmental Report

A sequence of photographs taken on an iphone on 2nd June in Gadley wood. It had just stopped raining and the birds especially the great tits were very noisy.

Including the First Large Skipper sighting of 2015

Hi Everyone,
In meteorological terms, today is the last day of Spring and May 2015 will go down as a cold and wet month generally (similar to 2013) which explains why the transect results have been particularly poor for what is normally a very productive month for butterflies. Surprisingly, the total number of species seen in the month has been 20 with the addition of the Large Skipper during the last 10 days, the first sighting being on the 21st of May 2015 at Williamthorpe NR (Willy Lane).only 4 days later than the earliest date for this butterfly in 2014. This is the first of the summer skippers to emerge and it is somewhat larger than the other 2 golden skippers – namely the Small Skipper and the Essex Skipper. It also has a chequered pattern on both the upperside and underside of the wings which the other 2 skippers do not have. Also the tips of the antennae, although black underneath, have a hooked end. They are also usually seen perched on foliage, rather than grasses, with bramble being a favourite plant. The other 2 skippers are not expected to be on the wing until mid June (for the Small) and early July (for the Essex) so any golden skipper that is seen in the next couple of weeks is likely to be the Large Skipper.
It is pleasing to note that the Dingy Skipper has managed to survive at most of its known areas in the County with recent sightings coming from 21 sites, mainly brownfield, with a maximum count of 15 being noted on the 22ndth of May 2015 at Ashbourne Airfield (Gary Atkins) and 14 being seen on the 27th of May 2015 at Drakelow NR (Tom Cockburn).
Records of another BAP species, namely the Small Heath are mainly being received from brownfield sites in Lowland Derbyshire but the first sighting from the Peak District and Peak Fringe areas have come from Clough Wood (Peter Faulkner), Northwood Hillside, Darley Dale (Christine Gregory) and at Longstone Edge
(Brian & Jean Hallam).
Even the Holly Blue has managed to take advantage of the odd day that proved to be sunny in May 2015 with a reasonable number of recent sightings coming from a total of 15 sites in Lowland Derbyshire but no recent records from the Peak DIstrict or Peak Fringe areas where presumably the wind chill factor and consequently the temperature had an adverse effect on its appearance there.
However, the Brown Argus migrating has only been reported in very low numbers from a few discrete colonies in Lowland Derbyshire including Drakelow NR (Tom Cockburn), Woodside NR, Shipley (Jim Steele) and Stanton Ironworks (Steve Plant & Ian Hunt).
Common Blues are now being more regularly sighted in the County, although the first record from the Peak District is still awaited, with the Blackwell Trail proving to be a ‘hot spot’ for this species with 73 being seen on the transect there on the 23rd of May 2015 (Helen Naylor) and over 100 noted at the same site by Willy Lane on the 30th of May 2015.This site has benefited by both the current owners, Hall Construction, together with the eventual owners,Derbyshire County Council, working together including taking on board advice from both the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Butterfly Conservation to produce a really good habitat for wildlife generally and butterflies in particular, so this site is well worth a visit at sometime during the forthcoming summer (whenever that arrives!)
Only a couple of the ‘blue spotted’ Small Copper were seen recently with sightings at Eyes Meadow, Duffield on the 21st of May 2015 (Mick Ball) and at West Hallam Tip on the 30th of May 2015 (Pat & Ken Orpe) and only a few sightings of the normal version of this species coming from only 6 other sites in the County.
No sightings have been received yet from the Peak District for either the Brown Argus or the Dark Green Fritillary, but the Wall Brown has been noted at Clough Wood (Peter Faulkner), Chee Dale (Robert & Margaret Davies) with a maximum count of 12 at Longstone Edge on the 30th of May 2015 (Brian & Jean Hallam).
Fortunately the poor weather of May 2015 has not curtailed the flight period of the Green Hairstreak with recent sightings up to and including the 30th of May 2015 coming from Northwood Hillside, Darley Dale (Christine Gregory), Coombs Dale (John & Aline Roberts), Hall Dale (Nikki Mahadevan), Padley Gorge (Jim Steele & Karl Proctor) and at Longstone Edge ( Brian & Jean Hallam). Similarly the Orange-tip is still being noted in many parts of the County, albeit in low numbers.
It is pleasing to confirm that a handful of fresh Red Admirals have been seen during the last 10 days including sightings at Aston Brickyards (Pat & Ken Orpe), Hatton Meadows (Alex Charles-Roe) and at Rosliston Forestry Centre (Felicity Towns).
Fortunately the small numbers of butterflies seen on transects have been supplemented by some day flying moths including Burnet Companion, Mother Shipton and Latticed Heath (photos of which were attached to Update no 17) and, in the Peak District, the Speckled Yellow, and recently the Cinnabar moth has emerged (photo attached) to add some colour to the general countryside, especially at those sites that contain the much maligned ragwort plant, upon which this moth depends as it is the main foodplant of its caterpillar, the colour of which are bright yellow with black bands which warn predators that they are very distasteful!
Finally, it will probably not be too long before the first sighting of our most common butterfly is made in the County – namely the Meadow Brown followed by the almost equally abundant Ringlet. both of which were flying by the 9th of June in 2014.
Only your records will be able to confirm whether the above mentioned butterflies have emerged yet within the County – thanks again in anticipation of them!
Regards,
Ken Orpe

We understand that Buxton Crescent is to receive an additional grant of £11m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) making a total of £23m in total awarded to the project. This still leaves a shortfall of around £2m to secure the future of the project. D2N2 the Local Economic Partnership for the region has been approached to provide this.

It may seen along way off but by the time Christmas and the New Year is over Civic Day will only be 5 months away.

Civic Day is a national celebration of civic pride. Its a chance for communities across the country to express their pride in the place in which they live. The first civic day was organised in 2011 by Civic Voice, it will be held again in 2015 and, it has the potential to become one of England’s most popular voluntary cultural events. The event is a unique opportunity to stimulate new interest and generate a renewed sense of civic pride for communities across the country.

Although the coordinating work is done by Civic Voice, what really makes this event happen is the fantastic effort of thousands of volunteers. Its the guided tours , the exhibitions, street parties and the competitions that help the visitors understand the area they live in just a little bit more.

BCA is planning to hold an event or a series of events to mark the day. If anyone has any suggestions drop us an email at communications@buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk.