Volunteers at Skelton Grange Environment Centre have been busy planting lots of trees towards the end of the winter season. Many tree in the woodlands at the centre were planted as part of a donor tree programme in the 1990s, and occasional trees are still donated, helping the centre to create a new wave of woodland for the future!
Volunteers recently enjoyed planting a Red Maple tree that was generously donated by instrument maker Steve Evans of Beltona Resonator Instruments, who makes guitars, mandolins and ukuleles. The red maple tree had previously been planted in his garden in Birstall, but had outgrown its surroundings. Mike Goodman of Freshscaped Ltd, who carries out grounds and garden maintenance at the site decided that a new home could be found for this special tree, and contacted The Conservation Volunteers (TCV), who found a space for it at their Skelton Grange Environment Centre site in Stourton– where hopefully it will flourish!
“Tree planting is an important way that volunteers have made a long term contribution to development and regeneration of the Skelton Grange site over the last 23 years” explained TCV Project Officer Toby Roberts “We’ve created valuable new woodland habitats for wildlife in this mostly industrial part of the city. It’s also great to have individual trees within the site that are interesting and memorable to visitors, and the striking red leaf colour should really make this maple stand out. Maybe we’ll even be able to tap it for maple syrup one day in the future!”
The Conservation Volunteers offer a range of practical conservation activities and environmental education sessions for schools and other groups throughout the year at Skelton Grange Environment Centre. The centre is a partnership between The Conservation Volunteers and National Grid, with support from Leeds City Council, and the site has been regenerated by the work of hundreds of volunteers since 1992. For more details please see our website www.tcv.org.uk/skeltongrange or Facebook page www.facebook.com/SkeltonGrangeEnvironmentCentre or contact the Skelton Grange team at (0113) 243 0815 or skelton@tcv.org.uk.
