District GREEN SPACES

0 F 2 eb 20 ruary

Green Space of the Month

Whitnash Brook Local Nature Reserve

In this edition The little known Brook and associated Whitnash Brook • Pump Room Gardens Local Nature Reserve is located on the eastern boundary of Sydenham Schools Programme between and Radford Semele. • Tach Brook Country Park public drop-in sessions The 2km wildlife corridor features a range of habitats including brook, marshy grassland, swamp, woodland, dry grassland, tall herbs and • Bird feeding in our parks and scrub and also has a small play area. This valuable wildlife corridor open spaces was once dominated by rough, species-poor grassland and scrub • Meet Alice Ellis, but was enhanced recently with the creation of a number of pools. Sustainability Officer These already support a significant variety of wetland plants such as brooklime and lesser water-parsnip, and provide an excellent place to watch dragonflies in the summer.

A footpath runs along the side of the brook from the canal at the back of Portland Close all the way to Whitnash – access is past the play area, Otters Rest, Mill Pond Meadows and Marbled Close.

There is reputedly a holy well along the course of the brook, believed to have healing powers and to foretell the future. Unfortunately, this ancient landmark has now been drained, but some water still trickles into the brook.

The Brook is managed in partnership with Wildlife trust visit www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk for further information

Postcode: CV31 1YJ Parking: Otters Rest, off Chesterton Drive Public Transport: Bus 67, 67A from Leamington town centre What to look out Pump Room Gardens for in February Programme Update With Spring around the corner, Our Big Garden Bird Watch on the Pump bulbs such as crocus and early Room Gardens 25 January was a daffodils are now beginning to success, with 20 bird species being show. Our teams are busy working spotted between 12 and 1pm and 130 on hedges – rejuvenating old hedge people taking part in activities including rows and thickening up new ones. creating bird hats, designing bird This is a great time to enjoy a romantic feeders using apples and Valentine’s Day walk. Perhaps wait for a sunflower seeds, and taking beautiful frosty February morning and take in part in the RSBP’s annual the wonderful views and natural wide-open garden bird count. Local spaces at or Priory Park. residents young and old enjoyed the event, especially the spotting of a Peregrine Falcon Events and Activities and a Kingfisher on the Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 February, 11am - 4pm . Snow Drop Weedend, Hill Close Gardens, Warwick Find out about the different varieties of snowdrops Inside-Outside and winter flowers in the gardens. Adult £4.50 Child (5-17) £1.00 Schools Programme www.hillclosegardens.com As part of the Heritage Lottery funded Pump Room Gardens restoration project, Leamington Spa Art Gallery Every Saturday 9am: and Museum have now expanded their workshops Park Run, Newbold Comyn, Leamington for school groups. Workshops take advantage of the , Warwick wonderful learning resources of the grade II listed Royal 5km run, come and join in whatever your pace! Pump Rooms building (with a collection of over 13,000 www.parkrun.org.uk/leamington or objects) and opportunities for outdoor learning in the www.parkrun.org.uk/warwickracecourse recently restored Gardens next door. Visits are available Every Thursday 11am (meet at 10.50am) for Key Stages 1 and 2 and are led by experienced Tach Brook Clarendon Park Walkers, learning facilitators. Topics include Victorian Co Clarendon Lodge, Leamington Spa CV32 5SS u Leamington, Dynamic Drawing and Creative Clay and nt Join the Clarendon Park Walkers group for a walk of can be booked throughout the year as either whole ry approximately one hour and enjoy the riverside walks or half day workshops. P in the centre of Leamington including , a To book a visit or for further information: Pump Room Gardens and Victoria Park. Walk meets r E. [email protected] k inside the Clarendon Lodge Medical Practice with T. 01926 456944 opportunity to chat over a tea or coffee afterwards at the Oxford Café. For a full list of local ‘walking for health’ walks visit: RESTORING THEIR HERITAGE TO HEALTH www.warwickdc.gov.uk/walkingforhealth

Second Saturday of the month Farmers’ Market, Pump Room Gardens Over 15 producers sell meat, game, cheese, olives, honey, breads, cakes, fresh and smoked fish, and a large variety of fruits and vegetables.

Bird feeding in our parks and open spaces The care and welfare of both visiting and native birds in our parks and open spaces is of great importance to our Green Spaces team, particularly during the winter months. In winter 2018/19 we installed two bird feeding stations on St Mary’s Lands, Warwick which are working well, particularly as we have the support of the golf course for the upkeep of one of the stations. The Council also has two feeding stations in Jephson Gardens which are maintained as part of our grounds contract and for which we supply the seeds and feeders. We recently celebrated a district ‘first’, planting 3000 square metres of wild bird food mix at Newbold Comyn, Leamington. This new innovation not only offers feed Bird Feeding tips for our birds on a large scale, but also provides valuable Jon Holmes, Green Spaces Development Officer nectar for our pollinators. It has also given a great use • If you feed the birds please feed all year round for some of the soil excavated when the Newbold Comyn with appropriate foods and fresh water Leisure Centre was developed. • Remember the food we put out is the birds’ This process will now be repeated on St Mary’s Lands, supermarket! If we fail to provide our birds in Spring 2020 when we plan to seed a 5000m2 area with food or stocked feeders in winter, of ground and in the winter we will seed the Radford it can have catastrophic results Road Meadows. • Don’t leave out mouldy kitchen scraps The wild bird food crops have been selected to attract farmland birds such as finches, buntings and sparrows - • Always keep feeders clean these species are in dramatic decline and desperately For more information and advice visit: www.rspb.org.uk need our help. h Bro Tac ok C ou Abbey Fields Management Plan Following the recent public n t The Green Space team in partnership with our consultants survey asking for options for the ry district’s new Tach Brook Country P Idverde are putting together a 10-year management plan Park. The feedback and ideas received a for Abbey Fields so that these beautiful fields can be have been analysed by our consultants r protected and enhanced for years to come. k and will now be put into plans which will be At the end 2019 we undertook an information gathering available to view and comment on at public exercise for Abbey Fields, collecting as much feedback as drop-in sessions on: possible from our communities and key stakeholders, to Saturday 21 March allow us to shape the future management and maintenance 10am - 4pm of the Fields. Through a combination of Heathcote Primary School, an online survey and seven public Heathcote, Warwick CV34 consultation events we received 7AP (to be confirmed) over 1000 responses. We are Saturday 28 March currently analysing this feedback 9am - 3pm and will be sharing the results St Chad’s Centre, on our website in the next couple Bishops Tachbrook of weeks. We would like to take CV33 9RJ this opportunity to thank all those who participated in the consultations. of A day in the life Alice Ellis, Sustainability Officer

Tell me a little about your position and what you do on a day-to-day basis? My role is very varied, I cover all aspects of the Council’s sustainability and environmental improvement agenda. This week, I am involved with developing our fuel poverty strategy to raise awareness of home energy efficiency and at the same time I’m looking at a bike share scheme.

What keeps you motivated If you could have dinner How has your role to go to work each day? with anyone from history, changed recently? The variety of work and the who would you pick and why? In June last year, the Council enthusiasm and passion of my Maybe not someone from history, but declared a ‘Climate Emergency’ colleagues and the many local I was sad to learn that David Bellamy and since then a large part of my organisations, partners and volunteers passed away recently. I recall his job has focused on how we can who are committed to sustainability. energy and passion for the natural meet our targets of becoming a world from his younger days, he would net-zero carbon organisation by What could our readers probably be quite a funny dinner date! 2025 and reducing the total carbon do to help address the emissions within ‘climate emergency’? Which is your favourite to as close to zero as possible Small and simple things that really green space in the district? by 2030. This is a massive task, help, are making sure your home is I’ve always really liked Jephson thankfully there is great buy-in really well insulated, using the car less Gardens, it is close to town and has from everyone at the Council to and growing your own vegetables. Act something for all ages. My kids love really deliver on this and make on Energy is a local organisation who having a run about there followed by a positive long-lasting change. can offer free advice on energy saving, trip to a local café. visit www.actonenergy.org.uk for Who do you work with more details. closely in your job? Everyone, my role affects all areas How will you be spending of the Council! We have a core Valentine’s Day? Sustainability Officer Group who I wasn’t expecting this question are working on delivering a number at all! I’m married with two To sign up to this of projects, plus my colleagues in small children, so it is quite e-newsletter, please visit: the Community Partnership Team, likely that we will stay in and www.warwickdc.gov.uk/gsnews Elected Members, and Senior perhaps have a slightly Management including our Chief posher meal than normal… For more information about Executive. and reminisce about when green spaces in Warwick we used to go out on District please visit: pu Valentine’s Day! kie’s n of [email protected] ar t P he If you were an animal, m www.warwickdc.gov.uk/parks o which species would A handsome man n t you be and why? WarwickDCNews sprinted past me in h Jephson Gardens. Maybe a monkey, because @Warwick_DC I thought, �He’s dashing!� I’m a bit cheeky at times!

EMPLOYER www.warwickdc.gov.uk