Festival Bowland

Festival Bowland is a year round calendar of events that celebrate the birds, wildlife landscape and culture of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership has worked together with landowners, local experts and businesses in the area to provide a wealth of events and opportunities for people to explore the area's special qualities and to share with others what makes this area such a special place for people and wildlife.
For the full programme of events and for other things to see and do in the area, visit www.forestofbowland.com

Bowland Blog

Keep up to date with all the latest inside stories and events from our very own Community Projects Officer, Martin Charlesworth. The blog has already proved to be a big hit and has an increasing number of followers and is guaranteed to entertain. Read it here first www.forestofbowland.com/blog

Apple Day

Looking ahead, Knowle Green village hall is booked for a ‘Bowland Apple Day’ on Sat 2 October 2010. Apples are not all that will be celebrated and eaten, the full list is apples, pears, plums, damsons, honey, cider, jam and anything else related to fruit and orchards. Just yesterday someone suggested cheese – ‘An apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze’ is what we've been told so we’ll add cheese and bread to make the perfect meal.  Further suggestions are being considered so if you want to find out more or contribute your ideas please contact Martin Charlesworth martin.charlesworth@lancashire.gov.uk

Follow this link to read about another apple story www.forestofbowland.com/news_appletrees

Sustainable Development Fund

It's been a busy year for the Sustainable Development Fund, with extra donations of funding coming into the pot from Lancashire County Council and Lancaster City Council's Local Strategic Partnership fund. In total we had £111,666 to allocate – our largest fund to date.

We have offered grants to 19 sustainable projects which range from composting and energy efficiency to environmental education and wildlife conservation. We have supported some longer term projects with RSPB and Bowland Arts Festival, and also made new awards to projects like the community centre in Halton, and Gazegill Organics in Rimington. Find out more about all of these and more on the SDF web page www.forestofbowland.com/cons_devfund 

For further information email  cathy.hopley@lancashire.gov.uk

Landscape Stories

Learning and creativity have been the order of the day for the Landscape Stories project over the winter months!  From glaciers to dry stone walls and skeletons to steel toe capped boots – pupils in the Forest of Pendle have been delving into the past with the help of some expert guidance.

During summer 2009, Pendle Forest History Group was awarded a £5000 Grassroots grant towards the delivery of a local schools' heritage project to complement their own work as part of the Forest of Bowland AONB's HLF programme www.forestofbowland.com/landscape_stories Since November, North Yorkshire-based Kevin Cale, of Community Archaeology Ltd has been delivering a series of workshops to local primary schools, which have seen children dress up in hard hats and lab coats, brave the wintry weather to check out the history on their doorstep, travel to Bradford University to piece together "skeletons" and peek inside laboratories and take part in a mini classroom dig!

Over in Chipping, both primary schools have now had a "taste" of the Landscape Stories cheese project.   St. Mary's enjoyed a very entertaining demonstration by Bob Kitching of Leagram Organic Dairy where several of the children had a truly hands-on experience of cheese making.  Just along the road, Year 3 & 4 pupils at Brabins Endowed recently completed a whole week of cheese-themed activities – from felt making and poetry to cooking and tasting.  Follow this link to read the full story www.forestofbowland.com/news_landscapestories2

For more information contact Sandra Silk on 01200 448000 or email sandra.silk@lancashire.gov.uk

Tatham Fells School Pond Project

Last year we helped Tatham Fells primary school, at Lowgill, obtain a Green Partnership Award (GPA) worth £500 for a dipping platform. We wanted to do the work in the winter when the pool was dormant so we set aside a couple of weekend days last month to make the dipping platform and also create a path, seats and garden area. This turned out to be a much bigger job than originally envisaged but we were confident that we would get some willing volunteers from the parents, teaching staff and local community. Kath Godfrey from BTCV, the practical conservation charity designed the new garden and platform and managed the task. We also had an expert fencer, local farmer Andrew Taylor, who is a school governor. There were hundreds of hammer blows and nails, lots of bolts, endless spadefulls of earth and wheelbarrow trips but the finished garden is a delight and the children are looking forward to spring when the pond wakes up and things start to slither in and out and grow around it.

Hedgelaying Grand Prix

The Bowland Hedgelaying Grand Prix was won by Ralph Lee this year. The event on 27th February, held on the Downham estate was very well attended and competition was as usual very tough. There was a real cheer when Ralph's name was read out and genuine good will from his fellow hedgelayers. Ralph is not a professional, he just loves to take part and do a good job. Not just good this time though, the best! Ralph got a rosebowl for best hedglayer and a tankard for 1st place in the championship class. Last year, Ralph completed 12 yards of hedgelaying rather than the 10 that he was allocated as his 'stint'. He said that it would look better if he did the 2 yards extra.

Unbelievably the 'cutting fee' for hedgelayers has stayed the same ever since Ralph started competing several years ago. £5 for a days work.

Awards for Green Businesses

Through the Lancashire Green Tourism Project 16 tourism enterprises will gain GTBS accreditation by the end of March, joining the 33 who have already gained GTBS accreditation since 2007.  Among the accredited businesses will be our own AONB offices – The Stables at Dunsop Bridge; it's been really useful undergoing the accreditation, as well as giving us plenty of ideas it has also given us a real insight into the accreditation process - perhaps now we are more informed as to what a business goes through!
Three businesses gained accreditation in the autumn and were awarded as follows: Gold – Caldertop Self Catering Cottage, Higher Landskill Farm, Silver – Gibbon Bridge Hotel, Chipping and Silver – Middle Flass Lodge Guest Accommodation, Bolton-by-Bowland.  Very well done to them and we look forward to hearing how the hard work has paid off for the remaining businesses. 
We are looking forward to supporting further businesses interested in gaining GTBS accreditation during 2010.   Funding and support is available through the Lancashire Green Tourism project and some of the benefits include, free marketing training and web support, PR and marketing opportunities via www.forestofbowland.com and www.lancashiregreentourism.com  If you would like further information about the Lancashire Green Tourism Project email or phone Hetty Byrne hetty.byrne@lancashire.gov.uk 01200 448000.

European Charter

Some may remember back in 2005 the Forest of Bowland AONB was awarded the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (www.forestofbowland.com/visit_sustainabletourism) – the first protected area in England to gain the award. As a partnership we were rightly proud of our achievement then, and of all the work we subsequently went on to do within the AONB with an ever growing network of sustainable tourism businesses.
However, the Charter was only awarded for five years, so we are now in the process of re-applying for it from the Europarc Federation (www.european-charter.org).  Our bid was submitted in December and included a revised Strategy for sustainable tourism and a new Action plan for 2010-15 (www.forestofbowland.com/cons_tourism_sts) together with a review of our activities over the last few years and our plans for the future.
In mid April our application for the Charter will be verified during a three day visit from Europarc Consulting. Their assessor, Barry Ferguson, will be checking out our sustainable tourism activity and meeting a good number of our partners and funders within the AONB. After making a report on our work, Barry will take his findings to the Charter committee in the summer, and we will hear if we have been re awarded this honour at the Europarc conference which is being held in Abruzzo, in Italy in October. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Bowland's New Tourism Business Cluster

We are pleased to announce that the newly formed Bowland Experience Ltd (BEx) now has 38 members, the majority of which already participate in the Forest of Bowland Sustainable Tourism Network (www.forestofbowland.com/bn_about ) BEx provides a long term framework for supporting and promoting tourism businesses of the Forest of Bowland AONB area.
The company has been formed as a "Company Limited by Guarantee". This means that the members of the company, instead of owning shares, agree to guarantee its debts, limited to £1 per member.  In every other respect it is just like any other limited company and has the same powers, rights and responsibilities. Any profits made by BEx will go to Bowland Tourism Environment Fund to support its charitable purposes.
The company's directors are local tourism operators: Jon Beavan (Dalesbridge Centre) Robert Gardner (Bleasdale Cottages) and Edwina Miller (Cobble Hey Farm and Gardens).
If you are a tourism business and would like to get involved or find out more please contact Mike Pugh mike.pugh@lancashire.gov.uk

Tourism Awards

A last minute plug for the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board annual tourism awards! Deadline for expressions of interest is today – March 8th, although at this stage you only have to complete a short expression of interest form.  There are many benefits to entering including staff motivation, increased profile, new business and extra publicity.   There are a variety of categories that you can enter, the Sustainable Tourism award is particularly relevant to many of you.  For further information visit www.lancashireandblackpool.com/site/promote-your-business/awards and Good Luck!

International Year of Biodiversity

2010 has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) by the United Nations. For further information visit the IYB-UK website, which is the UK partnership supporting IYB www.biodiversityislife.net
Our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are just that! They contain this country’s finest landscapes and countryside and are home to some of our most exquisite and unusual wildlife species.  They are protected landscapes managed through local partnerships on behalf of the nation. Our biodiversity is a part of what makes these landscapes special. 
The family of AONBs supports the aims of the International Year of Biodiversity. Forest of Bowland AONB along with our partners, will be hosting a variety events throughout the year, many of which are part of our Festival Bowland programme.  The events are aimed at promoting an understanding of the biodiversity of the Forest of Bowland and what we can do to protect it.  For further information visit www.forestofbowland.com/wild_iyb

Lancashire Wildlife Blog Launched

Many of you may be already aware of a dynamic group of green tourism businesses in the Forest of Bowland who have teamed up to help visitors discover the wildlife hotspots of this beautiful area.

The Bowland wildlife website (www.bowlandwildlife.org.uk) highlights the best places to see the rich wildlife that inhabits the Forest of Bowland AONB.

The project involves 16 tourism businesses who are either accredited in The Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) or are members of the Forest of Bowland Sustainable Tourism Business Network.

Working with the Forest of Bowland AONB and web consultant Barrie Tyrer, the group of businesses all contribute to the website that highlights the area’s wildlife opportunities. The tourism businesses themselves provide up to date details and images of wildlife sightings via a blog on the site.  Due to the success of the Bowland wildlife blog, the Lancashire Green Tourism project has commissioned Barrie Tyrer to launch an additional site to encompass businesses in wider Lancashire.  The new site includes all the existing Bowland businesses as well as new interested business and features wildlife hot spots, habitat of the month and places to visit and stay – visit www.lancashirewildlife.org.uk
If you are a tourism business and would like to start wildlife blogging please contact hetty.byrne@lancashire.gov.uk

Seasonal Ideas

It's wonderful when the first signs of spring become apparent, snow drops are making an appearance and before long daffodils will appear all over Bowland in the woodlands and verges.  March is the best month to see the Mad March Hares buffeting each other about the fields during their mating rituals.
Bird song begins to fill the air, especially listen out for the song thrush and its amazing array of phrases and look out for meadow pipits as they begin to head back up to the moorland breeding areas in small flocks.  To spot those hares why not try our walk of the month at Bleasdale, which is also a tramper friendly trail www.forestofbowland.com or for a full list of our walks visit www.forestofbowland.com/walking
To find out more about Bowland birds how they sound and how to identify them, visit the bird profiles on the website www.forestofbowland.com/wild_birds