News and Events
Five of the Friends of Gallows Bank arrived with sturdy boots and gloves – and waterproofs, just in case with this uncertain and unseasonal weather – to comb the Bank for litter on Sunday 23rd April. Di Lyle, Secretary, has worked with the Friends’ Chairman, Dave Davies, to involve the members in various projects and the litter pick was the second opportunity for volunteer involvement this year. The weather was kind, although the recent persistent rain made conditions underfoot muddy and slippery on some of the steeper downhill slopes and the litter pickers were serenaded on their quest with bird-song. They returned to the Rockspring Centre car park with bags bulging, but not overflowing, with rubbish which, Di said, was a positive.‘While I never like to see volunteers’ time under-used, the fact that the bags were not overflowing shows that the users of Gallows Bank are caring of that space and the Bank was cleared of litter in just an hour. And the team was still smiling when they left!’There will be other opportunities for the Friends to get involved with projects on Gallows Bank during the year.To find out more, call Di Lyle on 07786 620 624 or email gallowsbank@gmail.com
Litter Pick
Tree Planting
On a grey, but dry, Saturday morning, volunteers turned up with their spades, gloves and enthusiasm, to plant 29 trees along the top of Gallows Bank.
The trees were purchased from a grant secured by the Chairman of the Friends of Gallows Bank Trust, Dave Davies, from Tesco.
The 5 ft saplings are all native species and include horse-chestnut, almond, birch, maple, hazel, larch and broome.
The trees will not only provide an attractive screen at the top of the Bank but will, of course, also provide additional habitat for birds and pollinators as well as capturing carbon. The volunteers responded to a call for help sent out to the members of the Friends and Dave Davies said it was encouraging to see such support. “They were a good bunch to work with. We had set aside two days for the planting, but with so many turning up on Saturday morning, the trees were all planted by lunch time!”
There will be other volunteer opportunities during the coming months, the next being a litter-pick at the end of April.
For more details contact Di Lyle, secretary of the Friends of Gallows Bank on 07786 620 624
AGM Tuesday 20th September
The Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Gallows Bank will take place onTuesday 20th September 2022 at 7.30 pmin the upstairs Meeting Roomat the Rose & Crown pub, Church Street, Ludlow.All are welcome but only signed up members will be entitled to voteThe agenda for the meeting can be read hereThe draft minutes of the 2021 AGM can be read hereNOTE - the 2022 AGM agreed the Minutes from the 2021 AGM and the final version can be read here
The changing face of Gallows Bank beautiful meadow
From green grasses and flowers, the meadow is rapidly changing colour with the grass seed heads maturing giving a reddish hue to the meadow.
Yet the meadow is still full of butterflies and when these pictures were taken there were Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns Ringlets, Small Whites and other species could be seen. Sadly they were all too quick for me to get photos!
What have you seen on Gallows Bank?
Graham Hubbard - Trustee - July 2022
Glorious Grasses
From fresh green just a few weeks ago to this wonderful red as they flower.
Flowers, flowers, flowers
Red clover, birds foot trefoil, knapweed, buttercups, goatsbeard, yellow rattle (great for stopping the grass taking over) ....
So many flowers in this meadow if you look carefully.
Tree Maintenance
The vegetation had grown strongly around the recently planted young oaks and it was actually very difficult to find the young trees.
Unfortunately a couple of the original plantings have died but we were very pleased to see the rest are growing well. Hopefully if we look after them some will be able to be transplanted into other areas.
Graham Hubbard - Trustee July 2022
Jubilee Picnic
Sunday 5th June
To celebrate the Jubilee the trustees are inviting everyone to a picnic on the bank from mid-afternoon onwards.
Bring a blanket and chairs, bring your own food and drink, bring your own sense of fun and enthusiasm for what will be a unique event in our lives - and the life of Gallows Bank.
If anyone wants to bring a guitar or musical instrument for a bit of singing and dancing that would be great.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed for fine weather.
Wildflowers to help improve insect populations.
The next stage of the preparing the wildflower area has been completed.
The area has been ploughed and rotavated.
Wildflower seed has been ordered and this will been sown once that area has been harrowed.
Seed needs to be sown soon if we are to see flowers this year so come back soon for more news.
Wildflowers to help improve insect populations.
During the Gallows Banks and Styche Brook Trust’s Committee meeting on the 3rd November 2021 Chairman David Davies out lined previous attempts to establish areas of wildflowers and the difficulties involved particularly cutting and removing the crop at the right time to allow the spread of seed.
David suggested that the hump near the bottom of the bank on the right hand side as you look down the hill would be a good site to establish a wildflower area. The size of the plot is ideal, not being too ambitious and therefore achievable.
The committee agreed with David and he is organizing to cut and if possible find someone to plough it. We would then need volunteers with forks and spades to go over the area and remove any remaining plant debris. There would be no need to remove all bramble roots, just expose the growth tip and cut below it.
Once sown it would need volunteers to cut the area in July / August and remove the arising in order to keep the area with low fertility.
A further cut and rake may be needed in September or before spring growth.
It would be great if local young people could help in sowing and raking!
The Ludlow Branch of The Shropshire Wildlife Trust is committed to supporting the Trustees and Committee in the bank's many uses and biodiversity.
January 2022
Gallows Bank - Playday - August 2021
South Shropshire Youth, Ludlow Branch of the SWT, Gallows Bank Trust, Hands Together and the Rocksprings Community Centre joined forces to provide 5 playdays with Lunch for young people mainly from the Rocksprings area.
It has been a pleasure working with these young people over the five weeks and with Rich Morley, Lesley (who covered for Rich while he isolated) and Poppy, from South Shropshire Youth. We wish Poppy well in her endeavour to have a career in children’s mental health.
The Ludlow branch paid for the lunches, Hands Together Ludlow prepared excellent lunches and Shropshire Wildlife Trust along with the Youth Service, equipment.
Many thanks to Robin Pote who join us on the last Thursday.
We were privileged the children shared their secret dens on Gallows Bank and they had fun improving one of them with a ground sheet, a sail and hammock.
Working through the John Muir reward scheme some of the activities were building bird boxes, creating living maps of Gallows Bank, the bug hunt caused great interest and excitement, observation game, photography, tracking, and predators and prey, a form of hide and seek with walky-talkies .
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AGM 26th July 2021
At the AGM of the Friends of Gallows Bank on Monday 26 July, attended by fourteen registered members, the following were elected to the Executive Committee for the year (until the next AGM).
Re-elected
Chair - David Davies
Treasurer - Jane Davies
Committee members - Heather Price, Brian Smart, Lesley Smart
Elected for the first time
Secretary - Diane Lyle
Committee members - Patricia Astill, Kate Adams, Graham Hubbard, James Cooper
It was also agreed by the meeting that the annual subscription for registered members should be set at £10.00 per adult member (under 18s free).
A number of members attending indicated their willingness to take on volunteer tasks. This resulted in a small working party on Saturday 31 July to clear bindweed and other competing herbage around some oak saplings planted this Spring.
Friends of Gallows Bank Trust
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Monday July 26th 2021 at 7:30pm at Rockspring Centre, Sandford Rd, Ludlow SY8 1SX
All are welcome but only signed up members will be
entitled to vote.
To all Friends of Gallows Bank.
Please find links to the formal notice of the meeting on 26 July and a proxy voting form.
Election to the Executive Committee.
All members of the Exec. including officers, are elected annually (para. 6e of the constitution), Nominations must be made by members in writing before the commencement of the meeting (para. 8c); this can include nominations by e-mail. Nominees must themselves be full members.
It is not permissible under data protection regulations for the full list of registered members to be circulated and, as most of the 32 full members are only recently signed up individuals may find it difficult to locate others to fulfill nomination requirements. In case of such problems please contact me - gallowsbank@gmail.com - for assistance.
Meanwhile, if you know of others who are interested in the work of the Friends please direct them to this website and encourage them to sign up.
Hoping to see you on 26 July.
Peter Norman
Snow - Monday January 25th 2021
Heavy snowfall over the weekend brought out families enjoying what is the best toboggan run in Ludlow - long and fast but safe.
Oak tree vandalised
Trustees of the Gallows Bank Millennium Green overlooking Ludlow have been angered and distressed by the destruction of a fine young oak tree along the Dark Lane boundary. The tree, part of a developing woodland area,
had been crudely cut at 1.5 metres from the ground and left in a potentially dangerous state (see photo).
Informed of the event by one of the many walkers on the Green, David Davies, Chair of the Trustees, said “Thoughtless vandalism like this makes me very angry. Over the years many people have put a lot of effort into caring for the site and improving it for wildlife and outdoor enjoyment. I hope anyone noticing such inconsiderate behaviour will feel able to intervene”.
Peter Norman, a fellow trustee and also Ludlow's tree warden commented “Whilst reducing the stump to ground level to make it safe I was able to count the tree rings. This showed that it had been planted shortly after the site was secured as a Millennium Green in 2000. I well remember the working party that did the job. It is distressing to see the long-term project to turn this area of brambles into mature woodland sabotaged in this way”.
Click on one of the thumbnail pictures below to see the full image.
