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An evening view out over Morecambe Bay © Jon Sparks
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AONB in the snow
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Whilst the recent thaw has just about seen off the last of the winter's snow - at least for the present,
it has been an unusually long snowy interlude. The AONB looks very different under a blanket of white and we
would like people to share with us any photographs they managed to take of any of the interesting places
around the AONB whilst the snow lay deep and crisp and even.
Please email any photographs (in jpeg format)
to info@arnsidesilverdaleaonb.org.uk. We will be happy to publish the best ones on our website.
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The snowy scene across Church Fields at Silverdale |
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AONB Hedgelaying Competition
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Saturday 7th November
The first round of this Winter's Lancashire and Westmorland Hedgelaying Association Grand Prix took
place at Pye's Bridge Farm, Hale, near Beetham. Organised by the AONB Countryside Officer,
the event attracted a good entry and despite challenging weather conditions the event was a success.
Frequent heavy showers and more persistent rain toward the end of the day made for unpleasant and difficult
conditions, but the competitors worked on despite the increasingly wet and muddy conditions.
After six hours toil, the judges assessed their work and the winners were:
- Juniors : Michael Todd
- Novice : Max Roclawski
- Open : William Hodgson
- Championship : Andrew Kirkwood
- Hedge of the Day : Andrew Kirkwood
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Young hedger working on the Competition hedge near Hale.
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AONB Hedgelaying Competition at Hale, near Beetham
(on the left) Andrew Kirkwood receiving the overall best hedge trophy
from Tony Riden (AONB Countryside Officer) - Photos © AONB |
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Apple Day
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Saturday 3rd October
Orchard Barn, Briery Bank, Arnside.
The AONB celebrated Apple Day on Saturday 3rd October this year, a day marked by gales and squally showers. We even lost a few of the tents to the wind, but we managed to find enough space for everyone anyway.
Despite the weather, a large number of people turned out to support the event and all concerned thought it a great success. The Apple day was run in conjunction with Ashmeadow's open day being held at the same time this year.
Apple Day marks the main AONB fun family learning event for this year and many agreed it was a day not to missed. Below are some photos capturing the atmosphere of the day.
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AONB Apple Day at Briery Bank Orchard, Arnside - Photos © Ian Henderson |
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Finding Out about Energy
A FREE one day course organised by Green Communities
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Wednesday 23rd September 10am - 3pm at Arnside YHA
14 delegates attended this event run in conjunction with the AONB by Green Communities,
a national sustainability organisation. The event aimed to help people learn about energy efficiency, sustainable energy use and
renewable energy technologies, showing people how to reduce their fuel use (and bills), and what grants and incentives were available
to help. The seminar was particularly focused on helping people reduce CO2 in their community and develop community schemes to address energy conservation and renewables.
It is hoped the event will stimulate further interest in this area and generate some SDF bids in the future,
If you would be interested in attending any future events run by Green Communities in the area please contact the AONB Office on 01524 761034.
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Helen Phillips - Natural England CEO visit to the AONB
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Thursday 17th September 10am to 2pm
The Natural England Chief Executive is visiting all the English AONB over the coming few months and the 17th was our turn.
The final programme for the visit included a visit to Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, where Helen planted out a number of Lady's Slipper Orchids as part of the national programme of conservation, followed by a visit to the AONB Office at Arnside Station, where she was introduced to the AONB team and shown a range of initiatives the Unit is working on regarding bio-mass, climate change and volunteering. This was followed by a local produce lunch at the Arnside YHA, before taking the train home. Unfortunately time precluded a visit onto Arnside Knott.
AONB Partnership members and AONB Staff with Natural England CEO Helen Phillips and NE Officers
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Westmorland County Show
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Thursday 10th September 9am - 5.30pm |
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The AONB Stall at the County Show |
The County Show marked the start of a year long celebration of everything to do with woods and woodland
in Cumbria. As the AONB Unit is one of a group of organisations who have funded and are promoting the Cumbria Wood
and Forestry Festival, our stand was within the dedicated Festival arena.
The Festival was officially launched at the Show and
over the coming months watch out for many woodland and forestry themed events up and down the county.
The Festival highlights the important contribution Woodlands make to the Landscape and their role as
carbon stores, nature reserves, renewable fuel source, economic resources and places for leisure activities. |
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There will be guided walks, woodland workshops, tree days, woodfuel seminars, fun days for kids,
coppice craft demonstartions and hands-on sessions culminating in the AONB Greenwood Fair next September. |
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Another view of the AONB Stall
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 AONB Staff chatting to the public
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AONB Office Open Day
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Friday 11th September 10am - 12.30pm
The theme of the AONB Office Open Day this year was volunteering in the AONB. The tea, coffee and cake
proved very popular as did the opportunity to look through the Countryside Officer's spotting scope at the
bird life out on the estuary.
A number of volunteers came forward and signed up to join the team, along with a few people just
interested in finding out what activities the AONB Unit is involved with. |
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AONB Open Day - another sunny day for an outdoor event
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Management Plan Review
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The AONB Executive Committee has now completed the statutory review of the 2004 AONB Management Plan. The
document has now been adopted by the County and District Councils responsible for the AONB and Natural England have
issued a letter confirming that the plan fulfils the requirements of the legislation.
Following its formal publication and the public launch, the Plan has been forwarded
to the Secretary of State for the Environment for formal approval.
Following this a summary document will be produced and widely circulated. The summary document will be available to download in late November 2009.
The formal launch of the Plan, which took place on 17th June, as part of the AONB Annual Conference
"Tomorrow's Landscape".
at the Gaskell Hall in Silverdale, proved to be a successful day, despite the heavy rain - which did
little to dampen delegates enthusiasm for the afterrnoon's guided walks.
The public open drop-in session held from 2.00 pm was rather quiet so clearly the rain did keep people away in the afternoon.
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| Action Plan Review |
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The AONB Action Plan, which is the delivery plan for the AONB Management Plan
was always intended to be a less fixed document than the Management Plan, and as such we are inviting comments and suggestions from the public and our partners on any amendments for
inclusion within the Action Plan. Copies of the Action Plan can be downloaded from the website or are available on disc from the AONB Office. Please return your suggestions by the end of November.
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Bittern Bulb Exchange
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The AONB Service and the RSPB have been running this scheme for over two years and wish to make a final effort
to distribute the remaining stock of low energy light bulbs.
We have also been offering a re-cycling service for
the old light bulbs brought in for exchange or merely those you have wanted to dispose of properly rather than binning them.
We are now looking to wind up the recycling service, and expect to be unable to take in any bulbs for re-cycling
after the end of this year.
So if you want to get some bulbs or bring in your old ones for recycling, then you'd better
look sharp and get on down to the AONB Office asap! |
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Woodfuel Boiler for the AONB Office
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The AONB Service has updated its office heating system, taking on the very latest technology with the oldest fuel.
We have installed a woodpellet boiler, which provides a fully automatic responsive heating
system, running on a sustainable fuel which has very low CO2 emissions
The boiler has a better than 90% efficiency
rating. The old night storage heaters were proving to be an expensive embarassment, being hot on warm days and not particularly
effective if we got an unexpected cold snap. (They can only respond to adjustments made the day before you need the extra heat!) |
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Although the boiler arrived much earlier in the year (in April) we had to wait for warmer days to turn off the electric
heaters for the very last time, these were taken out and the plumbing in of radiators etc was completed by the end of August.
The next major step was the installation of the flexible stainless steel chimney lining completed in just a few hours
on the morning of 18th September. The Engineer returned the following week to commission the boiler and test the pipework.
With the addition of a three-way valve to ensure a good boiler return temperature at all times, the system has been up and running
successfully since the 29th September.
The plumbing installation work has been done by a small band of volunteers, working mostly at weekends to avoid too much disruption
in the workings of the AONB Office. We were especially fortunate to benefit in a training and work placement volunteer, Trevor Pollard
from Lancaster, who had recently completed a plumbing course at college. |
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If you want to know more about the system chosen call in at the AONB Office for a chat - or click the link to look at our suppliers website -
Cumbria Green Fuels |
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News Briefing 1
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The 60th anniversary joint web portal for all UK protected Landscapes is now live - see www.diamondsinthelandscape.org.uk -
the site celebrates the diamond jubilee of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.
You'll find plenty of AONB and National Parks content on the site and there will be additional National Trails and NNR content
to follow. A number of associated organisations including CPRE, the Ramblers, National Trust, RSPB
and others will be adding further content and links to the site. CNP has already promised content and a link to their website.
The site will also be linked to the BBC Breathing Places website.
Visit www.diamondsinthelandscape.org.uk for more information. |
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News Briefing 2 |
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The AONB Service and the AONB Business Forum - working together - are getting ready to build on the success
of the "Visit Bittern Initiative".
The updated reprint of the successful Visit Bittern leaflet has been available from the AONB Office and Tourist
Information Centres regionally for some time now and is proving to be as popular as the last version.
You can now download a copy from the website too.
Further improvements to the website
www.visitbittern.co.uk are also planned, including an e-shopping page,
initially selling online, goods from the AONB Landscape Trust. It is hoped this facility will be online by the end of this year.
Later the facility will be extended to include
publications produced by the AONB and the Bittern Countryside Community Interest Company.
There will also be further work to support
a number of joint events and projects.
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2010 marks the UN International Year of Biodiversity. You can use the links here
to visit the dedicated website to see what is happening around the world to mark the year.
This AONB has a rich Biodiversity, and is recognised
internationally as well as locally. Much of the management work undertaken by the conservation
organisations working in the AONB is focused on maintaining the species diversity evident
in the area and working towards more robust and resilient eco-systems and habitats, that are
more interconnected and are able remain viable despite the many pressures acting on them.
Click the link to visit now.
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International Year of Biodiversity
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Each year the AONB service working with many of the other partner organsations
of the AONB, publishes a guide to the AONB. The popular booklet is distributed
to all households in the AONB and made available
more widely through Tourist Information Centres, Partner organisations, public events and also by being
downloadable from the website. The 2010 issue will be available before Easter, but in the meantime you can
still download the 2009 issue, the files are rather large - so if you haven't got broadband you may find
it takes a long time to download - if you want to reserve a copy of the 2010 Bittern guide, email the AONB Office
and we will post a copy out to you as soon as the new issue is received from the printers.
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The Bittern
your guide to the AONB for 2009
(full colour pdf booklet - 2.1Mb)
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To view The Bittern you will need a copy of
Adobe Reader on your computer. You can download a free version by clicking
on the icon to visit the Adobe website for the latest version of the software. |
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