West Briton (Camborne, Redruth, Hayle)
Join Task Team and help protect Cornish heritage
NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO START PLANNING A GARDEN REVAMP – AND I’M HERE TO HELP YOU...
ARE you struggling with your New Year resolutions to keep your mind and body active? Well, we can help, and as a bonus you will be doing work which will also be helping to protect and make the Cornish environment, heritage and history more accessible to everyone.
The Monumental Improvement Project is working across 10 of the 12 Cornwall National Landscape Sections and has an avid and engaged team of volunteers known as the Heritage Task Team.
The task team is a friendly and supportive group of locals who work on all aspects of the project’s aim to improve the condition (physical and environmental) and accessibility of more than 35 scheduled monuments within Cornwall National Landscape.
The task team is fully supported by the project team who will help you with the costs of getting to and from events and workdays if required.
It will also support your integration into the task team with introductory sessions, at-home-learning and, if you like, with formal training opportunities.
The Heritage Task Team take part in all sorts of activities including archaeological excavation and surveying, desk-based research projects, supporting and leading guided walks, assisting at events and leading activities.
Planned events and activities the Heritage Task Team will be involved in during 2024 include guided cliff tours during the walking month of May; Green Man Festival at Mount Edgcumbe; relaunch of the Cornwall Young Archaeologists’ Club; an online webinar series, site surveying, research and interpretation; The Festival of Archaeology in July; Heritage Open Days in September at Maker Heights and Tehidy; scrub clearance and scythe/hand tool training; interpretation installation; online content research and production, just to name a few.
If you would like to become involved in 2024 please contact us at monuments@cornwall-aonb.gov.uk
THIS is the time of the year when we often make resolutions about change, and sometimes the long festive holidays lead us to look around our homes and gardens with a longing for something new and improved.
Now that we’re well into January, let’s think about moving towards a makeover outdoors and consider how to go about creating a new Eden or improving an older one.
The middle of winter is an excellent time for this as there’s not a lot to do on plant maintenance so there’s time to think, dream and plan.
In a new occasional series I’m going to set out a few simple steps to help with that, with points to think about so you can either start from scratch or upgrade your plot to achieve a dream garden.
Today I have a few simple pointers which will help you think about achieving a new improved plot.
Firstly, make an assessment of what you have. Take a long hard look at your plot and consider what you’re dealing with. If you’re improving an existing garden, are there features you should get rid of or retain? For example, will the removal of an established fast growing conifer transform your space by allowing lots of light in?
To understand what you can grow and consider where you may like to sit out, you should examine the garden’s aspect. This means where the sun is at different times of the day. Does your garden face north (a bit gloomy) or south (often sun-kissed)?
Productive plants such as vegetables or fruit will often require as much sun as possible.
Examine your soil. Is it light, loamy and free draining, or is it heavy and plodding?
Improving your soil may be key to any new garden success. It’s often the hard part and can involve digging or mulching with good organic material.
The addition of well-rotted manure will benefit every soil type, helping to break down the heavy stuff and allow lighter soil to retain moisture and nutrients.
Now, begin to dream. What type of garden do you love? Is now the moment to make the changes to move towards a complete new garden style?
Maybe you love the Oriental style – that sense of serenity with lots of green planting, bamboo, ferns, Japanese maples, variegated hostas, some gravel, possibly a pond or a stream with some fish. Or it might be the cottage garden look you’re after – with the glorious colour of herbaceous flowers set behind the relaxed margin of a low box hedge with possibly fruit and vegetables mixed in.
Contemporary garden style uses a more recent way of planting perennials, with waves of herbaceous plants married with grasses, swaying and dancing together as if in a field, speckled with spots of pink or yellow. Or is it the style I like, a feeling of the tropics with large architectural foliage – Tasmanian tree ferns, Cordyline australis in shades of green or purple, Phormium tenax and Japanese hardy bananas?
Let’s decide together and by the time spring arrives I’ll show you how to create a plan and what type of plants are great for your choice of new improved plots!