AUTUMN 2002 PROGRESS UPDATE : 20/11/02

MILLENNIUM PROJECT TRIUMPH

All the hard work put into Darwin Gardens by volunteers, and other contributions by so many individuals and organisations, has been recognised by our achievement in winning Yorkshire in Bloom's Millennium Project Trophy. Creating Ilkley's Millennium Green has been a great team effort, and we trust that this award will prove a source of justifiable pride and satisfaction to all who have helped to make our community's celebration of the Millennium such a continuing success. Darwin Gardens has also been recognised as demonstrating a standard of excellence in the use and management of public space in the government report 'Greener Spaces - Better Places' released at the recent Urban Summit.
With this in mind we have now embarked upon a maintenance programme to bring the scheme to a state of flourishing maturity. As part of this, a portion of the ghyllside has been cleared of accumulated debris and dug out to create a pond fed from the stream. This will add significantly to the range of wildlife habitats over the site, as well as forming an attractive landscape feature.

We have augmented the bulb and wildflower stocks in the woodland and meadow areas, including cranesbills, loosestrifes, stitchwort, woodruff, bugle and lady fern, as well as the native daffodils, bluebells and snowdrops, taking the grand total of ground flora distributed over the site to forty thousand plants.

A similar augmentation of shrubs and trees is taking place during National Tree Week, with the planting of more blackthorn, buckthorn, hawthorn, hazel, holly, and honeysuckle, and our tree adoption scheme has so far resulted in almost half of the 1000 trees in the wildlife hedges and groves becoming dedicated as 'family trees' or to friends, societies, organisations and businesses (including 50 free dedications to celebrate Golden Jubilee year!)

Trees currently being offered for adoption at £2 each are in the hedgerow bordering the maze area, and application forms to send in with your donation can be obtained from our  information point at Darwin Gardens. Alternatively you can use our website application form. We will normally affix name tags to the trees within a week of receiving an application form.

In addition to the hedgerow trees, the same forms can be used to adopt trees in the dogwood groves beside the ghyll - to be dedicated exclusively to dogs! - at £5 each, and we hope that responsible dog owners will take advantage of this opportunity. There will even be some 'pussy willows' on offer for cat lovers!

Within the ever-popular Millennium Maze, two more feature flagstones have been laid, for the well-known local businesses 'Reg Cranage School of Motoring' and 'Bettys & Taylors'. More than 800 of the 1000 flagstones in the Millennium Maze have now been dedicated and new dedications are being added quarterly to our display board beside the maze area. Full details on dedicating flagstones, with application forms and a regularly updated list of available flagstone numbers continue to be available at the main signboard behind the car-parking area, and on this website.
 

DARWIN CORRESPONDENCE PROJECT EXHIBITION


The Darwin Gardens Trust has also co-operated with Cambridge University Library to exhibit the Darwin Correspondence Project in Ilkley over the same dates  that Charles Darwin stayed here in 1859. The exhibition includes extracts and facsimiles of letters relating to Darwin's visit to the area and gives a unique insight into his thoughts and experiences during the crucial period which saw the first publication of his epoch-making book 'The Origin of Species'.

Charles Darwin's famous associate T H Huxley, nicknamed 'Darwin's Bulldog' who visited the area on another occasion wrote "....after 24 hours here I feel wonderfully better already. I took a three hours' walk over the moors this morning with nothing but grouse and peewits for company, and it was perfectly delicious!"
 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Friday 28th February 7.30pm at Christchurch Green Room (use Riddings Road entrance)

ALL WELCOME

Come along to this opportunity to hear the Annual Report and to have your say on the future maintenance of the Millennium Green, managed by the Darwin Gardens Trust with volunteer support from & for the local community.
 

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