A Review of the LEADER Small Scale Enhancements Scheme (North York Moors) 2009 - 2013 1 2 4 3 1 6 Picture 1: Danby History Tree Danby Moors Centre, 2010 Picture 2: Drovers’ Road Play Helmsley Arts Centre2013 Picture 3: Coastal Forum Panels Coastal communities, 2011 5 Picture 4: Bygones of Bilsdale Chop 7 Gate, 2010 Picture 5: Hinderwell Cemetery Gates. St. Hilda’s Church, Hinderwell, 2013 Picture 6: Flithers & Swill Staithes, 2012 Picture 7: Hutton Buscel Church 8 Yard Project Hutton Buscel, 2013 Picture 8: River Esk Monitoring Initiative Esk Valley, 2011 2 Summary of the Scheme . An even geographical spread of projects was aimed for, as shown on the accompanying The LEADER funded Small Scale Enhancements map. Scheme [SSE Scheme] was a small funding stream developed to help communities carry out small scale . A fantastic range of projects were supported – enhancement works within their villages and parishes. from heritage trails, dry stone wall restored, plays performed, local dialect songs produced, It was launched in the North York Moors in January websites created, festivals produced, local 2010 and ran through until December 2013. heritage features restored and natural Projects were based on the following two LEADER habitats and features enhanced. themes: A full list of supported projects are shown at . Conservation & Heritage the end of this review. Village Renewal & Development . Of the 129 projects supported - 74 % of Latterly the Access to Basic Services theme was also projects fell within the cultural heritage included under the SSE Scheme, opening it up to theme, 14% village enhancement and 12% community building improvements, recreational access to basic services. facilities and recycling initiatives. The SSE Scheme also generated projects By providing funds, advice and support it enabled which aimed at increasing the skills provision groups and communities to deliver their small-scale through the Heritage Event of 2010 and the projects which were often put aside in favour of River Esk Monitoring Initiative in 2011; both funding larger projects or other village commitments. are explained in greater detail later. A total of 51 people increased their skills provision . The Scheme was able to assist with projects through the SSE Scheme. totalling no more than £7,500 which helped plug the gap left by the main LEADER . The average cost per project amounted to Programme funding. £2,734. The Scheme was jointly funded by the North . Community projects can take a long time to York Moors Coast and Hills LEADER get going and deliver. A strength of the SSE Programme and the North York Moors Scheme was its flexibility and easiness of National Park Authority. application which meant many projects came forward. The concept of the SSE Scheme was that all projects should be generated by the local 129 projects were supported over the 4 years. community, as it is the belief that local people were best qualified to determine what was of value in their area. Unlike other grant schemes, the SSE Scheme was fully administered by the National Park Authority which bank-rolled the funding until it was claimed back through NYCC. The Scheme awarded £323,586 to 90 Heritage Event: surveying veteran trees at Duncombe Park communities over the four years. An This report is to provide a summary of the main additional £30,000 of funding was generated achievements of the Scheme and give a flavour of through match funding. the projects it supported. 3 Educational Impacts 12 of the SSE Scheme’s projects focussed around young people and improving their understanding of the environments in which they live in, some of which are explained below. The Doorways Project in 2010 worked with Redcar & Cleveland’s Entry into Employment Service – a learning programme which is aimed at young people aged 16-18 who are not participating in any post 16 learning. The Hutton Buscel Church Yard Project taught pre-school children and their parents about the wildlife in the Park and encouraged them to explore the habitat the adjoining church yard has to offer. The Teaching Trees Initiative ran 20 educational woodland sessions, taking school children out of the classroom and into managed woodlands to inspire enthusiasm for trees, woodland and wildlife. The Chop Gate History Project involved local school children interviewing local village residents of the past 60 years of village life. The information was transformed into six mosaic panels. Roxby Old Manor Site involved the use of the Mulgrave Community Research Group (a main LEADER funded project) to undertake a geophysical survey to improve the understanding of the old manor site. Handale Abbey Gate Project encouraged local school children to explore local folk lore and legend and using their imagination from these stories to design a new gate to be erected at the site. Pictures from top: Hutton Buscel Church Yard Project - children hanging up their own bird boxes; The Doorways Project - young people making the boxes; Chop Gate History Project - erecting the mosaics at the village hall and Roxby Heritage – the ruins of the Old Manor which needed consolidating. 4 Environment Impacts 74% of the SSE Scheme projects had a conservation element to them. This equates to 95 projects and was by far the most popular of the three themes projects. Within this theme, projects can be split into heritage conservation and natural conservation. Heritage Conservation provided a varied range of projects from the restoration of village pinfolds, war memorials, cobbling works, information boards, ironmongery and finding new uses for the traditional red telephone boxes just to name a few. Robin Hood’s Bay Cobbling reinstated stretches of traditional cobbled highways throughout this historic fishing village. Similar work was also carried out in Osmotherley. Oswaldkirk Telephone Kiosk was adopted by the village and restored to its original condition as a feature of the village. Other boxes have been converted to information hubs housing maps, leaflets and other local information. Egton Mortuary Chapel erected an information panel relaying the history of the site to inform the many walkers passing by this hidden gem. St John’s Church, Pockley is perhaps the most unique project supported through the Scheme which saw the reinstatement of the Victorian heating system and underground train track system transporting fuel to the heating stove. Many other historical structures and village features were also restored through the Scheme such as the village pinfolds at Osmotherley, Hackness and Spaunton, Lockton Well, Kildale Tomb Chests, Horse Troughs at Hartoft and Goathland and Lastingham, Lythe and Hutton le Hole War Memorials. Pictures from top: Kildale Tomb Chests; Egton Mortuary Chapel; Hartoft Horse Trough Restoration and Pockley Church Heating System 5 Nature Conservation projects brought about direct habitat improvements or enhancement of the natural environment through the creation of wildflower areas and pond restoration. 7 projects were supported by the Scheme. Rosedale Abbey Conservation Area Project enhanced an area of the church yard using wildflower seed collected from a local farm. National Park volunteers helped the local volunteers by helping to clearing away the cut grass and preparing the ground ready for the wildflower seed. West Ayton Wildflower Areas provided for the enhancement of two different habitats within the village, a woodland and wetland area, enhancing the existing environments. Chop Gate & Carlton Schools Wildlife Areas created garden and wildlife areas within the two schools enabling the pupils to grow their own plants and vegetables. Honeybee Conservation Project helped to rescue our healthy native bee population by purchasing 30 hives to be given to new beekeepers to help increase our local bee stock ensuring our bees stay healthy and virus free. Rosedale East Pond brought about the reinstatement of an historic pond which had been silted up and overgrown for many years. By bringing it back into use, it is hoped to improve the biodiversity of the local area. Hutton le Hole Memorial Garden created a wildflower area to the back of the church. It was planted with native wildflower plants and installed with bird, bat and insect habitats to provide a tranquil place for visitors to enjoy. The Hutton Buscel Church Yard Project encouraged the local children to explore their Pictures from top: Chop Gate & Carlton Schools Wildflower church yard as an outdoor classroom. Bird and Areas with pupil watering home-grown plants; Rosedale bat boxes, ladybird logs and bug hotels were Abbey Conservation Area and volunteers clearing the cut all made and placed in the church yard. grass; Hutton le Hole Memorial Garden. 6 Village Improvements Village improvements formed 14% of the total projects supported through the SSE Scheme with 18 projects bringing about direct enhancement to the character and appearance of villages. Lastingham Railings are a feature of the village and assistance was provided to restore sections which had become neglected. One of the most popular of requests for assistance was the restoration of the traditional village name plates. Many villages were enhanced through this area of work. Levisham Flagpole was reinstated after many years. Historical evidence shows there being a flagpole on the village green since before the 1950’s. Lockton Village Seat was designed and created by a local blacksmith to provide a focal point to the village next to the large Lime Tree on the village green. Doorways Project used volunteers from Redcar & Cleveland’s Entry into Employment Service to create planters, placed in the public realm within Charlton’s and Easington so that the general public could grow vegetables and form part of their village improvement/in- bloom initiative. Goathland Village Enhancements saw the restoration and improvement of a group of features which cumulatively brought about an enhancement to the character of the village. Several directional finger posts were improved as well as a traditional double horse trough within the centre of the village.