Hidden gem on the Peninsu
The rural hamlet of Grange, in the Cooley Peninsula, first entered the National Tidy Towns Competition in 2010 and in the intervening period has enjoyed great success both at national level and in the local Louth Looking Good Awards.
Equally, if not more, importantly the vision and hard work of the tidy towns volunteers has transformed the environmental presentation of the area, added enormously to the public amenities and contributed to an improvement in the quality of life of local residents.
So how have the current restrictions affected the work programme of this dedicated group of volunteers? Secretary of the Tidy Towns Committee, Anne O Connor, explains that ‘ like every other group in the county we have, of course, had to curtail our activity and put a couple of planned projects on hold but we have been doing the best we can, in an individual basis, to ensure that Grange, and the wider district we look after, continues to present well’.
This includes grass cutting in public spaces by individual committee members and picking up litter on daily permitted walks to keep the community clean and tidy despite the challenges of COVID-19. Individual members are also propagating plants in their own greenhouses for use in individual gardens and for displays in the wider community. The committee are planning to have the usual seasonal displays in place to add much needed cheer to the area in these trying times. Birch and Mountain Ash trees have also been nurtured by volunteers in their greenhouses with many already having been planted in the wider community including at the wonderful public amenity that is Bush Park. Work carried out over recent
years at this landscaped amenity is really paying dividends at this stage with the majestic sculpture of the Brown Bull of Cooley taking pride of place among the varied tree planting, biodiversity planting arrangements and colourful seasonal displays. Nearby, the Eco Tribe Pollinator Planting Scheme along the stone enclosed stream, to the background of a vibrant wall mural is a most eyecatching feature that brightens up the area enormously.
Grange Pond has in the last couple of years been lovingly restored by committee member Michael Rogan with the assistance of other local volunteers and continues to be maintained and indeed improved at the current time with plans underway to add four further fishing stands to the much admired amenity. The work on this
amenity was recognised in the National Tidy Towns Competition in 2018 when it was runner Up in the Waters and Communities Special Award.
Another very interesting project that is being advanced at the present time is the restoration of a pre 17th century waterpump by a local landowner with research on its origins being undertaken by a local historian. This is an element of the heritage of Grange that will be highlighted by the committee in the 2021 National Tidy Towns application with this rural group of community activists not taking its foot off the pedal in terms of Tidy Towns activity while, at all times, adhering to current public health advice.