Projects

Our Breathiing Places 'Outdoor Classroom'

Last Autumn Treesponsibility was awarded money from the BBC Breathing Places grant to improve public access and biodiversity in Knott Wood.

Knott Wood is a 20 Acre secondary succession woodland on the south facing slope of the Calder
Valley one mile East of Hebden Bridge. 23 years ago the land was used for pig farming and had been largely cleared of the original damp oak wood that had dominated the valley since the last ice age. The crumbling dry stone walls and falling down pig shelters are all that’s left of the land’s previous use, as now, steadily moving up the slope, woodland is reclaiming the land, assisted by the Knott Wood Coppicers, slowly replacing sycamore with diverse indigenous species.

For a few years now we have been running 3 day environmental awareness residentials with primary schools from Halifax, creating new woodland at various sites and providing Forest School sessions in the marvellous mixed woodland of Hardcastle Crags, using the old Lady Royd Playing field near Gibson Mill, as our ‘Outdoor Classroom’. We decided the Breathing Places project was a good way to develop an ‘Outdoor Classroom’ of our own, so we set to work in Knott Wood.. We built paths from the existing public footpath through the East field, to a central seating area built with dry stone retaining walls around a terrace cut into the slope. This was the most labour intensive job of the project with up to 30 groundwork volunteers taking part in the initial earth moving phase. We also built a two-chamber dry compost toilet, and, with the help of local volunteers, two ponds were created. Bird and bat boxes were installed and occupied.

We designed and built a high ropes course with the creative input from the pupils and staff from the Wellesley House Pupil Referral unit, and local young people . It includes an all ages scramble net, and a section, designed for supervised use by children age 10 plus, where high rope walkways lead to a canopy observation platform, 10 metres up a semi mature oak

All infrastructure work was completed on time and on budget and means that as we start a new planting season we have a first rate educational facility set in 20 acres of well managed and expanding woodland within easy reach of Hebden Bridge. We are developing our Forest School work, so if you are a teacher and would be interested in bringing a group to Knott Wood’s Outdoor Classroom or exploring the possibilities of Forest School courses, please contact Ian Fillingham on 07766 377889. If you are a parent and would like to bring a group along for a Woodland Adventure, we can arrange day or half-day sessions.

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