Hundreds of trees planted as support for Silsden park grows
The Barrett family (pictured above) were among local people who answered a call to help plant 250 saplings in Silsden park on Saturday, March 14th. Richard and Rachael Barrett and their 11-month-old daughter Suzie joined in the "Great Tree Planting Day" organised by the Friends of Silsden Park alongside the charity Trees for Cities in partnership with Bradford Council's parks and green spaces department.
The Friends of Silsden Park came into being in autumn 2017 when it was realised that Bradford Council, debilitated by the then government's austerity measures, intended to reduce maintenance to a minimum. Friends' chairman Richard Barton, a Silsden town councillor, is pictured above with founder-members (left to right) Anne Knight, who specialises in tree work, Dorothy Leary and Mags Croft.
Trees for Cities supplied the 250 saplings for planting on the park slope opposite Fletcher Avenue and in the boggy south corner of the park by Mitchell Lane. Trees for Cities' Mel Frances (right), who runs the charity's edible-playgrounds network, is pictured at the plant-in with volunteer Lucia Gomez.
Above: Bob Thorp (in baseball cap), of Bradford Council's parks and green spaces department, provided equipment and oversaw the volunteers. The partnership between Trees for Cities and the council has additionally resulted in 1,250 trees being planted, mainly on the sloping area between the two rugby pitches, leaving a 20-metre clear strip for the sledge run.
Above: also helping with the planting on March 14th were left to right Caroline Whitaker, who is a member of Silsden town council and leader of the Plastic Free Silsden initiative, Joyce Kilvington, who chairs the Friends of Silsden's Green Places, and local resident Jackie Bates. All the park's saplings have been planted without plastic tree guards. Instead, stakes and close-planting have been deployed. Oak, hawthorn, holly, rowan (mountain ash), blackthorn and Scots pine will add to the park's established trees, a dazzling highlight of which are the flowering cherry trees each spring. Also, the Woodland Trust have donated around 100 hedging saplings, which have been planted on the east side of the park.
As well as transforming the tree cover, the Friends of Silsden Park have reinstated the flower beds above the bowling green and tennis courts, planted more than 1,000 daffodils and hundreds of bluebells. The emphasis is on pollinator-friendly plants for the borders. Plantings have been designed and sourced by Joyce Grant, who is pictured above. Silsden residents and the Friends of Silsden Green Places have also donated shrubs and plants. The Friends of Silsden Park have received funding from the Town Council, Skipton Building Society's Grassroots Giving and the Harry Beverley Tillotson Trust. Practical support has come from Bradford Council and other agencies and businesses.
