Swindells Wood: School pupils plant 5,000 trees to create new Ribble Valley community woodland

Two weeks of planting started with schools getting stuck-in on site, followed by a community day. Teams from corporate partners Pets at Home, B&Q, Lloyds Banking Group and Sofology planted the last 900 trees. Also installed in the 8.47 hectare site is a new pedestrian footbridge connecting the main footpath.

Paul Bunton, Northern team Engagement Officer at the Woodland Trust, said: “It’s a great project and really satisfying that all the trees have been planted by volunteers and Woodland Trust supporters. Some volunteers on the community day had travelled from as far as Birmingham, which was dedication indeed. Overall, we involved 832 people and planted over 5,000 trees."

Deer fences have been erected, removing the requirement for plastic tubes (animals like to munch on young saplings), and taking away the top layer of grass will help to keep the vegetation down and competition for light and moisture in the early stages of tree growth. All the tree species were native broadleaves, including; oak, willow, birch, hazel, field maple, cherry, hawthorn and blackthorn.

The Peel Bank Woodland and Conservation Trust gifted the land for the project, with the late Gordon Swindells, its founder, planting many of the existing woodland trees.

The initial work was funded by Lancashire Environmental Fund (LEF), followed by funding from the Government's Grow Back Greener fund. Swindells Wood is also within the Northern Forest - the 25-year vision to plant 50 million trees stretching coast to coast from Liverpool to Hull.

For more information on the Woodland Trust, visit woodlandtrust.org.uk