Lawley Green Space Group

Green Space Update

2011-05-26T18:45:00.009+01:00

LAWLEY GREEN SPACE GOES ROYAL
To celebrate the Royal Wedding Lawley Green Space hosted a street party, the event started at 11am and was attended by approx 150 people">

The event started with a picnic,

which was then followed by the World Lawley Green Space egg curling championship, an Easter egg hunt and face painting.

We then paused for a break where we all enjoyed the food that other people had bought to share. While everyone was busy eating the goodies we hosted a royal wedding quiz and golf chipping competition and a pinaner for the kids.

Throughout the day people were bringing items they wished to be put in the time capsule the time capsule grow by almost double to what we tought , this was later buried on the green in a secret location. The children from Lawley Primary School helped us to fill it as all the classes produced something that was placed inside the time capsule to be dug up in 30 years.

The event finished at 6pm and was really enjoyed by everyone who attended. I would like to thank everyone who helped with the setting up and the running of the event.plans are now under way for the next event

2011-02-26T15:25:00.005Z

Lawley Little Diggers

Lawley Little Diggers is a gardening group organised and ran by children who live in Lawley. The group have utilised the vegetable plots on the green space to grow all kinds of different vegetables.
The group met for the first time last week and the children decided on the name “Lawley Little Diggers’” and that they would meet every 2 weeks. They also discussed what sort of vegetables to grow.
Today the group met to prepare the vegetable plots ready for sowing the seeds. The first thing the children had to do was to get some extra soil to top up the beds. Luckily the mole hills were an ideal source and the kids had great fun collecting the soil in their buckets.

Next came the raking of the beds

The kids got a little carried away and we ended up with 5 rows of onions and 3 rows of garlic.

As this week is RSPB give a bird a home, Lawley Little Diggers made 3 bird boxes, which we put up around the Green Space so that the birds can nest in them.

The next meeting of the Lawley Little Diggers is in 2 weeks time and hopefully the onions and garlic would have started to grow.

2011-01-30T16:04:00.010Z

RSPB BIG GARDEN BIRD WATCH 2011

On Saturday 29th January 2011 at 2 pm for the third year we took part in the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch.
We had more people than in previous years turn up for this family fun event, the children got to see a lot of different birds.

It was nice to see that the green space is continuing to be home to so many different types of birds who seem to be doubling in numbers. We noticed a large increase in House Sparrows, Great/ Blue Tits and Goldfinches and we were also lucky enough to see two buzzards.

We also took the opportunity to empty the bird boxes, which we recently put up and they all showed signs of useage, but only one nest was found and that was a Robin's nest.

On discovering the nest the kids were amazed on what the nest was made from, it consisted of animal hair, string, moss along with normal twigs.

Robins Nest

The children really enjoyed the hour we spent doing this event and they are all looking forward to doing it again next year.

The results have been entered on the RSPB website.

Carols on the Green 2010

2010-12-27T10:54:00.004Z

Carols on the Green 2010

This was the third year Lawley Green Space has hosted Carols on the Green an event ran by the community for the community, and this year we had more people attend than in previous years even though it was -9.

The event lasted approx 50 min which was made up of 6 Carols followed by food and drink , which was donated by residents who attended.

The event was a great success and it was really nice to see the community all together enjoying themselves and we hope next year we will have an even bigger turn out

Carols on the Green 2010

2010-12-23T12:23:00.002Z

Carols on the Green 2010

Lawley Green Space a local residents group invites you and your family, this Christmas Eve at 17:45 hrs for “Christmas Carols on the Green”.

Carols on the Green will take place around the Christmas tree in front Tom Morgan Close by the metal archway. A copy of the carol sheet will be emailed and put on the Blog nearer the time so that you can print your own copy.

There will be Jan and Dave’s potent mulled wine, mince pies, sausage rolls and other delicious refreshments during the interval. Don’t forget to remind the children to bring their torches for the Glow stick walk. The whole event will last around an hour including the interval.

If you would like any further information or if you would like to make a donation towards this event or bring food then please contact Steve Tyrer. If your children would like to help with the music and singing, you can contact Steve Kelly, the community vicar.

If you are not on the email list or would like to receive Lawley alerts, which cover crime bulletins for the area and Green Space future events, then please email your address to steve.tyrer@btinternet.com and you will be added to the distribution list.

We hope to see you there.

Lawley Green Space

Lawley Green Space Golf Society

2010-10-10T13:33:00.004+01:00

Lawley Green Space is not only committed to developing the green to bring the community together, we have also set up a few groups to forge stronger links such as a running club and playing rounder’s. These were open to all ages and were well supported. This month we decided to set up a Golf Society and we had our first round on Saturday 9th October 2010. The venue for this event was Horsehay Village Golf Course and we arrived to bacon rolls and a hot drink, followed by 18 holes golf. The group were divided into groups of four of very mixed abilities and an enjoyable game was had by all. The winner on the day was Damon, however the golf ball manufacturers have since had a surge from Lawley for golf balls!
The next game is forecasted to be on the 27th November 2010

End of a decade and a blue moon

2010-01-01T15:29:00.002Z

Well it has been another good year for the Green Space Group, we have built upon the work of the previous year and added a few extra touches to the green space.

Hopefully come spring we should have a good display of bluebells amongst the trees around the meadow area as we planted 1000 bulbs in the autumn. We have also acquired a new bench which we have positioned so you can get a good view over the green, and a further 750 daffodil bulbs have also been added to the existing areas of daffodils .

The events that we have organised on the green have also gone well and have been supported well by the local community, it is planned to run similar events again this year so we hope to see you again. As ever with these events they could not be held if it wasn't for the kind donations from the community as each event supports the next one, so a big thank you from the group .

Our final event of 2009 was "Carols on the green", in many ways this is my favourite event as it encompasses all the things we as a community group are striving for.

It's always great to see so many people from our community in one place enjoying themselves eating, drinking and singing carols and creating a good misty Christmas eve atmosphere.

It was also good to get back positive feedback regarding the special glow sticks that we use, as we now have proof that the special SantaNav homing device they contain does work and we hope there was a high success rate this year as well.

To end the decade on we also arranged for a 'blue moon ' to ring in 2010, this took quite a bit of effort and as a result we wont be able to do it again on new years eve until 2028.

If you are wondering what a 'blue moon ' is, according to popular definition it is the 2nd full moon that falls within a month. This happens once every two and a half years hence the expression 'once in a blue moon.'
It will not fall on a new year eve for another 19 years.

We would just like to wish everyone a happy new year and hope to see you in the Spring when work on the green space starts again.

New Wiggly Catalogue

2009-10-30T14:50:00.003Z

My new Wiggly Wigglers catalogue popped through the post this morning and it was good to see that Heather had chosen one of my pictures to appear of the front cover.

It always gives me a thrill to see one of my pictures appear in print and to such a wide audience.

Here is the original picture of Guelder Rose berries that was taken on the green space this January. Don't forget if you would like to order this plant or anything else from the Wiggly catalogue please consider clicking onto the pink button

as every purchase you make will help support the Green Space group . If you would like to order a catalogue you can either ring 01981 500391 or click on this link and fill out the form

Damson Gin From The Green

2009-09-24T10:48:00.000+01:00

It has been a great year for damsons from the orchard so rather than just eating them we thought we would have a go at making Damson Gin.

As it turned out it is not a very difficult thing to do as the recipe is:-

1 lb/454 gms of washed wild damsons

6 oz/168 gms of white granulated sugar

75 cl bottle of medium quality gin

After collecting the damsons you wash them and discard any bad or damaged ones and then prick each damson with a fork

Add the damsons to a Kilner type jar together with the sugar

Finally add the gin and seal the jar.

You then shake the jar each day until all of the sugar has dissolved, once this has happened place the jar in a cool dark place for around 3 months minimum. You can drink it after this point but you can also leave it for up to a year (if you can resist) when you must then remove the damsons as they might spoil the gin.

We shall be doing the same sort of thing with some sloes from around the green once they are ready

Teddy Bears Picnic - take two

2009-09-22T20:16:00.003+01:00

Finally we have had a spell of good weather and last Saturday we managed to have our Teddy Bears picnic. This was our second go at the picnic as the first one was washed out due to the rain.

The teddies got tucked into their picnics and enjoyed a whole day of sunshine. After the picnic most of them just lolled around and enjoyed the sun.

It was a different story for the humans, no lolling around, as the space hoppers were crying out to be bounced on, so to appease them we had some races.

We even had some full grown space hoppers and they were duly raced up and down the green.

Next up was the serious stuff, the welly wanging. To make it a bit more interesting we had a target to hit this time so more skill was required rather than just wanging it. As you can see the target looked a bit odd as I don't own a pair of yellow wellies.....

We are so lucky at the green space to have our own coach. Dave is one of only a hand full of professional welly wangers and is always pleased to show people his welly wanging skills. His other half didn't even know he possessed such skills and was quite bemused by his hidden talent.

The teddies were rounded up towards the end of the afternoon and were judged on their finery.

A great afternoon was had by humans, teddies and the space hoppers .... roll on next year and hopefully some better weather to go with it.

Help Support The Green Space By....

2009-08-02T14:18:00.004+01:00

Purchasing all of your gardening, wildlife and Eco friendly products from

You can do this because Heather from Wiggly Wigglers has chosen us to become an affiliate member. This works to both our advantages, as we are introducing new customers to Wigglies and any purchase made through the link means that our group receives a percentage of any sales. For us to receive this you just have to log in and shop using the button below.

This button is also on the right hand side bar for future use. Wiggly Wigglers has been a big supporter of the Green Space from the very beginning, without their help we would have not achieved as much as we have and so by doing this it is a win win for both of us.

Lifting The 1st Earlies

2009-06-23T23:37:00.004+01:00

It is becoming that time of the year when many vegetables are ready to harvest. The first early potatoes that we planted back in March being one of them.

The children that came down were fascinated to see the potatoes coming from the ground as this was a totally new experience for them.

With this being the first time that we have grown potatoes I was also a little apprehensive how they would turn out. As it was I needn't have worried as the potatoes were lovely and firm and in good numbers.

We only had to throw a couple onto the compost pile that were damaged from grubs

otherwise we had a good haul from the 8 plants that we lifted. The bounty of our harvest was then shared out amongst ourselves. Hopefully Mrs Greenspace will be using some this week so I will be able to report back how nice they where.

The space where the potatoes were, has been planted up with 3 courgettes, 2 rows of dwarf runner beans and some beetroot that was swopped for some potatoes.

What Great News...

2009-06-19T23:06:00.004+01:00

At last nights 2009 Pride of Shropshire Awards ceremony,

Lawley Green Space Group

won the

"Shropshire Community Group Award"

This is a great achievement for our group, as the whole project has been carried out on a shoestring and with the good will of many people and organisations.

Here you can see our winners trophy, certificate and bottle of champagne.

And finally from me... I would like to thank everyone who has helped us get to this stage and hope that other communities have seen what we have achieved and are inspired.

Focus On....The Meadow

2009-06-15T17:50:00.004+01:00

As most areas on the green are finished structurally I thought it would be a good idea to focus on one area in depth . So over the next couple of weeks you will be able to see more of each area.

The first area I shall take you through is The Meadow

The meadow has been under construction since Autumn of last year and it has involved building a dry stone wall, clearing out a small wooded area, making a fence around it , providing two benches, sowing some wildflower seed,creating two log pile/habitat things and finally marking out the area with 26 two meter logs. The view you are looking at it what you will see if you enter the meadow from the reindeer hut entrance.

As you can see the grass and wildflowers are starting to look quite meadowy and I think you will agree the logs marking out the area fit in very well. The paths will remain grass and will be strimmed every now and again to keep it short. I think leaving the paths grass adds to the feel rather than mulching them.

Several of the areas were sown with wildflowers around March time and they are just starting to fill out the beds and blend in with the grasses.

The log piles are also starting to blend in and the green roof will be in flower soon. You can also see our giant log pile in the middle of the picture, these logs where put there around 6 years ago and they are starting to break down quite nicely, creating habitats for insects.

I mentioned earlier that we had cleared out some of the lower branches from this wooded area, this has been planted with woodland plants and in the Autumn we shall be planting it with bluebells, so come next Spring it should look fantastic.

A bit of a closer look at the plants in the wood. The wooded area has a fence that goes around it which you can see at the top right of the picture. It is made from hazel and silver birch and works really well.

The view from the woods looking out onto the meadow. The two places blend quite nicely into each other by using the right plants in each area.

The dry stone wall is now complete with its grass bank. This has taken a while to establish due to the warm April, but with all of the rain we have had recently it has taken off.

And finally... this is the view from one of the benches and it one that I enjoy sitting on watching all of the insect. That in its self is important to me as I feel that we have created a useful habitat for many insects and other animals in what was just another bit of grass that was mowed once a month and was not a lot of use to anyone or anything.

So if you would like to have a closer look why not pop down and I'll fight you for the bench.

Pulling Up Radishes

2009-05-18T17:50:00.003+01:00

The first vegetables to come out of the new community veggie plots were harvested yesterday

The radishes were the first to grow and you can see the children were quite fascinated with them. New ones have been sown ready for the next crop.

How are your veggies doing?

Insects And Flowers

2009-04-30T17:52:00.005+01:00

All of a sudden the green is coming alive with insects and flowers coming into blossom.

I have seen plenty of 'speckled wood' butterflies as well as 'orange-tip' and green -veined white butterflies. It will be interesting what other butterflies pay us a visit this year and with a bit of luck lay their eggs somewhere in the various habitats we have created.

I have been photographing wildlife for sometime now, but I still get a buzz when I come across something new. I had this feeling when I came across this Bee-Fly (Bombylius major) feeding on the grape hyacinth in the 'cottage garden' bed.

It is quite a weird looking insect with very long legs.

The blossom on the hawthorn is just coming out and I'm sure they trees will be covered soon, giving a great display and plenty of food for the insects.

Talking of food, the blackcurrants are in flower and starting to form their berries. The netting will have to go on soon to stop the birds from getting to them.

Many of the alpines are coming into flower.

This area is one of my favourites as it has a nice relaxing feel to it.

The cuckoo flowers are now in full bloom throughout the green and if you a re lucky enough you will see the 'orange-tip' butterfly feeding on them. They also lay their eggs onto the stems.

In the wild flower area the 'cowslips' are currently putting on a great display. If you look closely though you will notice that some of the flowers are different to normal cowslips. They are in fact a cross between primroses and cowslips and you can see form the picture that the flowers are larger (from the primrose side) but still keeping the vibrant yellow from the cowslips. This crossing of the two flowers results in a flower called an oxlip.

The trees that we purchased from Aldi last year that er in the cottage garden bed are flowering for the first time and as you can see this crab apple blossom is quite lovely.

Some of the fruit trees in the orchard are also flowering for the first time, one of them this pear tree.

close up the blossoms are quite fascinating, but don't take my word for it why not take a bit of time out and have a mooch around the green you are bound to come across something that will put a smile on your face.

A Wander Around The Green

2009-04-26T16:49:00.003+01:00

With the beautiful sunny weather we have been having the Green Space is starting to look lovely.

All of the fresh growth on the trees and spring flowers certainly cheers you up. I particularly like the new leaves on the Silver Birch trees, there is something about the colour of them that does it for me.

The meadow area is starting to take shape with all of the wild flowers planted, one of the log pile finished and the wild flower seed sown .

The "Cottage Garden" is also starting to fill out and it is one area that I can't wait to see in full flower.

Most of the fruit trees have come out in blossom now, and to help identify what tree is what the people from the Ironstone Group kindly made up a sign showing what tree is what. Grandad John has also worked his magic and made a stand to put the sign in. It compliments the notice board and is very much appreciated by all.

Things are most definitely on the move in the vegetable plots, I think this is mainly down to the excellent watering that the children from the estate do that is makes all the difference.

If you like what you see why not come down for a wander as things are changing by the minute...

"Pride In Shropshire" Awards

2009-04-17T00:04:00.003+01:00

I received some good news in the post today. The green space group has made it through to the last three in the "Community Group Award" for this years "Pride In Shropshire" Awards

We will find out how well we have done at the award ceremony on June 18th, so fingers crossed.

Easter Eggstravagansa

2009-04-14T20:26:00.006+01:00

The green space group has been running for a year now and to help us celebrate this mile stone we decided to hold an Easter community event on the green.

A couple of activities took place, such as a best decorated egg, a gnome hunt, egg and spoon race and the worlds championships of egg curling.

Below you can see the certificates and the trophies kindly made by Grandad John.

We also had a crack team of face painters drafted in to add that bit of glitter to both the adults and the children. They were kept busy all afternoon and they certainly earned their cold drink at the end.

Around 120 people turned up to the event which was spread out over the green, we were lucky with the weather and everyone took advantage of this to chat and enjoy themselves.

We were fortunate that we were able to help the children add to their Easter egg collections as Steve the community vicar and Birse Civils donated eggs to the event, so a big thank you from the children to them.

Everyone entered into the spirit of the events, however it did get a bit serious in the final of the adult egg and spoon race.

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time to see someone display a truly remarkable and unexpected talent.

Here we can see years of training coming into play.........

Through out the day we also ran 'guess the number of eggs competition', which pleased one of the children very much when they won the jar, as he could tell his friends that he had more than 189 chocolate eggs for Easter.

We had a great turn out for the best decorated egg competition, which was of a very high standard, even though Steve had to be disqualified as he was 25 years too old.......

It is great to see so many people from the local community supporting the events, and we are definite proof that by doing what we do on the green, it really does work in bringing our community together.

It Is Pleasing When....

2009-03-31T11:04:00.001+01:00

You have one of your pictures turned into something else.

In this case it is the front cover of the latest Wiggly Wigglers catalogue

It is even more pleasing knowing that the Greater Knapweed that the Silver Y Moth and the hover fly are feeding from was one that Wigglys supplied our community group, Lawley Green Space Group with when we first started and should be in flower around Summer time in the cottage garden bed.

If you would like to receive one of Wiggly's catalogues you can sign up by clicking here. You wont be disappointed as their are loads of great ideas and products inside.

What's Been Happening Down At The Green Space?

2009-03-15T17:52:00.004Z

It has been quite a busy few weeks down at the green. A lot of work is just about finishing and we should be able to enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of our labours in the coming weeks.

One of the most important events was the planting up of our community vegetable patches. We had a good turn out for the planting with plenty of willing children getting stuck in and planting up the veggies.

We even put in a pot of chives

To go with the onions, garlic and shallots

Together with carrots, leeks and spring onions from seed

But the main crop was the first early potatoes. Many of the helpers have been down to the plots on a daily basis to see if anything has started to grow yet. Well not much is happening on the surface but everything is putting down roots and am sure it wont be long before they start sprouting.

Just in case you are wondering why I have put these next few pictures up, they are in fact pictures of Granville Reeves (mob no:- 07967 708947) who is a woodsman extraordinaire. Not only that but he is also very generous to the green space.

Granville can be seen here in one of the woods he manages. He uses this wood to supply fire wood, all sorts of hazel products and most importantly to the green space he also coppice's willow. If you pass the 'cottage garden bed' you will notice that all of the beds have got willow fencing around them. Well this very willow is the willow from Granvilles woods that he has given to the green space

I think you will agree that his generosity has really enhanced the bed

We have also added one extra special feature to the fence. In each corner we have missed out some of the willow and left a gap, this is so if any hedgehogs or any other small creatures should like to have a look around , they will be able to get in and out.

A few of the other projects that are on the go are nearing completion and I'll post more about them shortly. In the meantime I hope you are enjoying this lovely weather and seeing everything burst into life.

Radio Shropshire

2009-02-23T15:24:00.005Z

If you are looking for something to do today between 4pm and 7 pm the why not listen to John Darvall on Radio Shropshire. As Tim Cook has just been down to the green space to record a piece about the vegetable plots and other parts of the green.

Update...should be on around 5.40 ish but could be pushed back untill tomorrow due to other news breaking

Vegetable Patch Complete

2009-02-18T17:53:00.004Z

Over the last few days we have been working on finishing the vegetable patches. The extra soil we needed and manure arrived on Monday and then it was a case of barrowing it down to the beds. Here you can see one of the beds complete with a good layer of manure on top. The weaving at the front was done with the hazel we coppiced the other day with the Severn Gorge Countryside Trust .

After a bit more barrowing and spreading some gravel around to tidy up the path I think you will agree that the beds look great. The manure was added to all of the beds apart from one as certain crops don't like manure.

The fruit beds were also manured and as you can see a rhubarb plant was added to the blackcurrant bushes. The first bed yo can see will be where we plant the raspberries. The front of the bed has been divided and strawberries will go in there.

We will be using the advise from the RHS of what vegetable to plant at what times. The plan is to

grow in rotation so that we maximise the use of the beds. We will be holding planting and sowing days and we would love to see new faces coming down and having a go. All the produce grown from the beds will be shared out amongst everyone. Keep an eye out for newsletters as they will have when will will be planting and sowing or you can check the notice board.

Hazel Coppicing And The Green

2009-02-10T17:25:00.004Z

Last Saturday saw an intrepid group of 5 from the Green Space head off to Coalbrookdale to meet up with Carrie from Severn Gorge Countryside Trust and Cliff from the Telford Green Gym to carry out some hazel coppicing in one of the woods managed by the countryside trust. Having met at the community center at Coalbrookdale and armed with our tools and safety gear (provided by the trust) we headed off to the woods. Carrie and Cliff explained about the importance of coppicing and the techniques to use. The B.T.C.V. have produced a book about woodland management if you would like to find out more.

We got to work around 10.30ish after splitting into twos, this makes it easier to coppice the hazel as one person cuts and the other hold the hazel, we did this for around an hour then broke for a cup of tea and a biscuit that was once again supplied by the trust. After the tea break we got to work on dressing the hazel by removing all the branches and stacking everything into appropriate piles. We finished around 1.30ish and made our way back. We will return at a later date to collect the hazel and finish off dressing what we didn't finish.

The coppice hazel will be brought back to the green and used in various places. This is a fine example of groups helping each other out and we wanted hazel and the trust wanted a wood coppiced, so we both gain. It was also a beautiful location and a great way to spend a few hours having a laugh and doing something that helps the environment, so a big thank you to Carrie and Cliff.

Just in case some of you haven't noticed we have had some snow. Like most people I was quite pleased at first , now I'm getting a bit fed up of it. Any way just in case you haven't been down to the green to enjoy the snow here are several pictures from around it.

Starting off with the rose bed

through the woods

out to the rock circle

and down to the cottage garden

over to the new veggie patch

and into the orchard

down to the habitat tower

and over to the large log pile

into the area that will be the meadow

and finally finishing up at the Christmas tree

Hope you enjoyed the trip around the snowy green

Work In The Meadow

2009-02-01T16:15:00.003Z

Work has been taking place in the area that will be a meadow area this year. Essentially we will be letting the grass do its thing but a few areas will be sown with wildflower seed. We have cleared the low growing branches from the woods (to the right as you look). We have done it now as it wont be long before the birds will be nesting and we didn't want to disturb them.

With the wood that we have cleared we had a couple of fires and these areas will be rotivated and the wildflower seed will be sown here.

As you can see some of the seed will be sown under the trees that is open to the light. We plan to plant snowdrops and native bluebells further in under the trees. This will be more for next year as we will be buying them "in the green" .

We have also knocked up two benches so that you will be able to take a break and enjoy the wildlife. Next to one of the benches we have also piled up a load of dead wood, creating another habitat. As you can see the back and top of the dry stone wall has been covered with the sods from the vegetable patch, this will be sown with a wild grass mix and the tops planted with alpine strawberries.

The veggi patch has also moved on a bit, with the extra wooden bits added on to the ends and the paths mulched with gravel. The top soil is starting to arrive and the rest should be here in time for planting. The black currents are already in and the raspberries should be arriving soon.

Don't forget that we are going hazel coppicing with the Severn Gorge Countryside Trust on Saturday 7th Feb , meeting at 09.30am by the arch and travelling down to Coalbrookdale to one of their woods to coppice the hazel. We will be there from 10.00am till 1.00pm. Tea, coffee and tools will be provided, it would be great to see a few new faces so we look forward to seeing you.

The hazel will be brought back to the green to be used here for various things.