News
Pond Redevelopment & Biosphere News
The children have created designs for a total renovation of the pond and pond area. The final design includes increasing the area of the pond, improving the quality of the liner, building decking for safe access, wildlife-friendly planting and purpose-built habitats around the pond, a solar-powered fountain, re-fencing the area (with hedgehog highways included) and planting hedging around the pond enclosure and the outdoor classroom.
We have already started the work and on Monday Jack Woolfenden from the N D Biosphere and local councillors and maintenance staff of Northam Town Council visited to help children from years 1-6 plant mixed native hedging plants, sharing with the children their knowledge on maintaining our local parks and other green and wild spaces.
Our thanks to our hedging advisers and volunteers from Northam Town Council: Guy Langton, Deputy Town Clerk, who organised the event and sourced the hedging plants through a Tree Council Branching Out grant, Ivan Heuze and Dominic Callebaut, maintenance team, Heather McCarthy, Northam Ward Member and Peter Hames, member for Appledore. Plus our thanks to other members of the council to visited the school on a previous occasion to see the work the children are doing on establishing the school grounds as a micro reserve. The ND Biosphere and AONB have also supplied valuable funding and support.
We will be digging the pond out by hand during a weekend this term, and completing other jobs around the woods, so if you feel you need to get a bit of exercise to blow away the winter blues, and would enjoy a barbecue in the woods as a reward, please contact Jon Walton, Chair of the Friends of Appledore School (FOAS) on 07816 087609.
Work continues on our biosphere and we made the Biosphere North Devon newsletter
