Over the last few months, Colton Parish Council has been working with Rusland Horizons to enrich the biodiversity in four patches across our Parish. The project has been funded by Cumbria County Council as part of a much bigger initiative to create, improve or restore verges and hedges, and small plots of land close to the roadside.
So far, with the help of lots of fantastic volunteers from the local community, we have planted native wildflowers seeds in the polytunnel at Abbots Reading, which we will use in future schemes.
We have also planted native wildflower plugs on the green next to Oxen Park Reading Room, to help attract and support butterflies and other insects.
All the seeds and plugs used were chosen because of their local origins and their ability to thrive in local conditions.
We joined with the family and friends of Tim Fleming to help create a traditional mixed species hedge. This will not only function as a home for birds, small mammals, and insects, but provide a wildlife corridor and help to restore an eroded track.
There are two more sites in the pipeline. Opportunities to get involved will be published on the Rusland Horizons’ website in due course, see: https://www.ruslandhorizons.org/
In the meantime, if you want to see for yourself, you can go along to Oxen Park Reading Room, grid reference SD317873, or the footpath at Thwaite Moss, Rusland, grid reference SD340898.