News
28th July 2010
Pigginshaw Brook enjoys a facelift!
Over the past year big changes have been afoot in the Bollin Valley. A £50,000 grant from the Landfill Communities Funds of Waste Recycling Group Limited, administered by Environmental Body WREN has enabled the Bollin Valley Partnership to re-vamp a large section of the Bollin Valley Way between Twinneys Bridge, Styal and Altrincham road, locally known as Pigginshaw Brook.
Since November 2009 a dedicated team of 2 contractors have been working in all weathers to edge and stone over 1km of footpath, replace 200m of boardwalks and small bridges, build 2 major bridges through the woodland and renew over 80 steps!
The footpath passes through land owned by the Wilmslow Rugby club who were instrumental in getting the scheme underway. The club have allowed the footpath to run through their land for over 30 years, sharing their training ground with members of the public.
The path was officially opened by Councillor Andrew Knowles, portfolio holder for Cheshire East at a small ceremony in July and is already seeing an increase in the number of walkers along it.
The work is part of an ongoing scheme to smarten up the Bollin valley Way, a 25mile route following the River Bollin from near its source to the Manchester Ship canal.
26th June - 2nd July 2010
Balsam bashed in the Bollin!
Hundreds of volunteers throughout the Bollin valley have been working tirelessly to banish Himalayan balsam from along the river.
Balsam, although harmless looking, is an invasive alien species, native to Western Himalaya and is rapidly spreading across riverbanks and damp woodland areas out competing our native plants.
The balsam can easily be removed by volunteers as it is shallow rooted and members of the public were encouraged to join in the organised community events or plan some of their own.
The work culminated in a ‘Big Bash Week’ jointly run by the Bollin Valley Partnership and the Environment Agency's Mersey Life Project. The aim was to remove as much balsam as possible as well as raising awareness of the problems the plant causes.
Groups taking part included ‘Bollinbrook school, Prestbury Parish council, the Co-operative Bank and the Environment Agency as well as lots of individuals. Everyone pulled together to remove mountains of balsam, which, if piled up, would have reached the height of over 110 double decker buses!
Next year, there are plans to involve even more people in the scheme including farmers, schools and community groups.
10th June 2009
Bollin Valley Partnership Countryside Taster Day
The Bollin Valley Partnership held its annual 'countryside taster day' for people with disabilities at Riverside Park Macclesfield. The event was as popular as ever, attracting over 500 people from all over the Bollin valley area. The day brightened up as the visitors started arriving. The mayor of Macclesfield attended the event and joined in the fun trying out circus skills and holding a tarantula!
Activities on offer included archery, pony and trap rides, pond dipping, badge making, crafts and face painting. It was a brilliant day with everyone enjoying themselves and some groups have even asked to be put on next year’s waiting list.
The day could not happen without the many volunteers who organise and run most of the activities. This year we had help from Beech Hall School, who ran a few activities including face painting and beat the goalie; New Century Bowmen ran archery sessions; Prospects ran a coconut shy, and Lower Moss Wood nature reserve brought along native birds and hedgehogs for the children to see and touch.
The event was sponsored by Bollington Insurance, the William Dean Trust, Costain, Macclesfield Lions and Cheshire East council.
We will run the event next year, sponsorship permitting, and any offers of help either to run an activity or to volunteer their time would be very gratefully received.
3 June 2009
Footpath Improvements at Macclesfield Riverside Park
With the help of twenty one volunteers from Manchester Airport an old flight of steps has been replaced and extended. The new steps greatly improve the accessibility to Sycamore Wood in Macclesfield Riverside Park.
The work would have been a large project for the rangers to have undertaken themselves but the extra hands made light work of the task. This has been the fourth year in a row that Manchester Airport has carried out one of its team building days working with Bollin Valley Partnership which shows the benefits to both organisations of such a day.
November 2008
Bollin Valley Way Revamp on Schedule.
Assisted by a £38,500 grant from the environmental body WREN earlier this year, the Bollin Valley Partnership is now close to completing phase one of the planned improvements to the Bollin Valley Way.
After negotiations with landowners along the stretch of the footpath between Riverside Park in Macclesfield and Wilmslow Park, all the stiles have been replaced with kissing gates making access to the route much easier for everyone, particularly families with small children and the less able bodied.
A school competition was held to find ideas for designs on the signposts for the route, and the 6 winning designs have been routed onto fingerposts which are now at every junction along the footpath.
Earthworks are near to completion, with resurfacing work at Bridge Green in Prestbury, and the Prestbury Sewage works area, making walking along the Bollin Valley Way even more enjoyable.
A launch event to mark the completion of the project is planned for early 2009.