Dear Civic Pride,
Welcome to another week of gardening, litter picking and community spirit.
Thanks everyone…..What would Rossendale look like without your fantastic efforts…? If the last few weeks are anything to go by then we’d be sinking below an antisocial tide of rubbish on our streets and in public spaces. There seems to be more than ever, combined with weed strewn pavements and a rise in fly tipping too
Not to be deterred, the Lone Rangers have carried on regardless and shifted bags and bags (and yet more bags) full of rubbish, cut back brambles and cleared pavements; it all makes a massive difference to our Valley.
The gardeners meanwhile are battling the best weed growing season for many a year, and given the number and size of Civic Pride’s community gardens and planters, that’s a lot of weeds. The recent installation of more compost bins in the gardens helps us to recycle the waste, but we still need lots of volunteers to pull the unwanted plants out in the first place! Talking of uninvited plants; we have also been tackling the encroachment of Himalayan Balsam around the area before it spreads any further. You can see all the details on QT and check the CPR website for more information too. All in all, we’ve started, but we haven’t finished.
Here we go again:
Crawshawbooth
Monday 17th August – 9am. It’s weeding at Hill Street playground today.
Wednesday 19th August – 6pm. Village litter pick. Meet at the lovely Jubilee Gardens.
Trickett’s Memorial Ground, Waterfoot
Monday 17th August – 9:30 until Noon. More gardening duties. Planting, weeding, pruning, and standing back to admire.
Peaceful Plot @ Rawtenstall Cemetery
Tuesday 18th August -9:30 until Noon. Bashing the last of the Himalayan Balsam.
Rawtenstall
Tuesday 18th August – 10 am until Noon. Haslingden Road Garden (By St. Mary’s Chambers) for weeding, pruning and scraping away the pavement weeds.
Thursday 20th August – 10 am until Noon. As above
Sunday 23rd August – 10 am until Noon. Third session this week at Haslingden Road Gardens. It’s a big, bold garden that makes such an impact on visitors and local residents. Come and help to keep it looking at its best.
Helen Thomas
Vice Chair, Civic Pride Rossendale
View from the Back Room
It’s wonderful to see so many Civic Pride hi-viz jackets around the town as they reinstate fabulous gardens, clear litter, destroy Himalayan Balsam and even stencil bright yellow signs on the ground to deter dog fouling. Truly remarkable.
However, it doesn’t stop there. Bacup Pride, Haslingden and Helmshore Civic Pride and many other organisations have emulated what we do and not just in the UK, a group was set up in Karachi a few years ago!
Of course, not everyone wants to be part of a group, no matter how successful it is. 10 years ago, a new volunteer started clearing a small area of Rawtenstall of litter every morning, come rain or shine. Without a CPR hi-vis but wearing a distinctive hat he became a regular sight for early risers whilst walking their dog or going to work. Indeed, we could say that he is the original Lone Ranger!
A recent walk up to the fells and I came across dog fouling signs presumably put there by a local resident, fed up with dog poo on the track. I came across walkers with litter picking sticks and bags who just get on with it. We’ve even had emails about how to remove Himalayan Balsam so we’ve put a useful page on our website.
Across the valley, small communities have developed their own independent groups transforming their own small patch of England. Some have asked us for advice, plants or equipment in order to get started but then continued to go their own way. Fabulous. Yet more small projects helping to make the valley a more attractive place live.
Well done and thank you to you all, also to those who haven’t yet started. Best wishes for when you do!
Roger G.