Sunnyhurst Wood is a beautiful 85 acre wooded valley, with Sunnyhurst Brook flowing down through the wood from the West Pennine Moors. Paths meander up the steeped sided valley beside Sunnyhurst Brook, past the paddling pool, over ornate bridges up to Earnsdale reservoir, onto Darwen moor, Jubilee tower and beyond. The site is managed by Blackburn with Darwen Council and the Friends of Sunnyhurst Wood are deeply involved. Find out more about the site on the Blackburn with Darwen Council website.
Creating a new pond - phase 1
Over 100 years ago, Ellis Gibson built a pond in Sunnyhurst Wood, and for years local children enjoyed watching the frogs and collecting frogspawn from it but then the pond went into decline. For years it has been hidden by trees and scrub, and covered with Himalayan balsam. Lately however, the Friends of Sunnyhurst Wood have been hard at work to sensitively restore the pond. Their fundraising efforts have been successful, and the work finished in February 2008. Some trees and scrub have been cleared whilst valuable areas of moss have been left in place, and a new path, railings and a dipping platform have been created for visiting school groups to get up close and personal with the pond.
Phase 2
Phase 2 of the project is to recruit a team of volunteer Pond Wardens who will keep an eye on the pond, record the wildlife that colonises, and help other people enjoy the pond. A simple management plan will also be produced so that everyone knows how the pond is to be looked after.
The first meeting of the Sunnyhurst Wood Pond Wardens in March 2008 went very well, with Becca Cleaver helping the group decide what they would do in the next few months. The group agreed to meet again soon to start drafting a management plan for the pond, and to arrange some training in plant and invertebrate identification so the Pond Wardens can monitor how the pond develops.
An important part of the Pond Wardens' role will be to keep an eye out for plants or fish being dumped in the pond. Putting the wrong kind of plants in ponds can be disastrous for wildlife, especially if they are invasive non-native plants, such as Crassula helmsii, which are considered to be a major threat to wildlife and flood management. Putting fish in ponds can also have a big impact on pond wildlife, and in most cases it is also illegal to put fish in ponds with official consent. Unfortunately, on the group's first official visit to the pond, they found some non-native plants that had been put there from a garden pond. The plants were quickly removed from the pond, and luckily there was no sign of the really bad plants like Crassula.
The first wildlife sighting was also recorded on that visit - there were several clumps of frogspawn.
Phase 3
The final phase of the project is to make sure the pond is a useful educational resources for local schools and other groups. This may involve producing leaflets about how to use the pond and what wildlife can be found there, training Pond Wardens and school teachers in how to run a fun, educational and safe pond dipping session, and promoting this excellent resource to schools and groups.
Get involved!
If you are interested in Sunnyhurst Wood or the Friends group, call 01254 691239 or visit the Blackburn with Darwen Council website.
