Biodiversity by your back door

Biodiversity by your back door

Churchfield in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire
Churchfield in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire Barbara Priest
In every village, town or city there are green spaces nestled amongst houses and workplaces. In Denby Dale, Churchfield lies between two woollen mills and the local church, with views of the viaduct and woodlands.

However once the site stopped being used for traditional grazing rights the field became neglected. In 2014, the Friends of Churchfield formed to look after this special haven in their village.

A recent Sharing Heritage grant will help the group to develop the area as a natural recreation space for the benefit of the whole community. Over the next year the Friends will improve the habitat for animals and birds by planting more trees, shrubs and wildflowers.

Improvements to pathways will allow all members of the local community to come and get involved. Throughout the next year the group will be hosting activities such as dry stone walling courses to get the community involved in caring for their green spaces. Information and interpretation boards will highlight the rich biodiversity of the field showing how important such spaces are for nature. Find out more at the Friends of Churchfield Facebook page.

The Yorkshire and Humber team are keen to work with groups just like Friends of Churchfield to care for and share Yorkshire’s fantastic outdoor spaces. The Yorkshire’s back garden campaign will promote HLF’s funding for natural heritage and promote opportunities for funding through our small grants programmes.

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