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CURRENT
ACTIVITIES
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WITCH WOOD
The area of protected woodland on the north side of the railway between Ansdell and Lytham is part-owned by the Society and part rented from Railtrack. This wood, known as Witch Wood, is maintained by the Civic Society. The wood was declared open in May 1974 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the public is allowed free access.
Volunteers work in the wood
each week throughout the year. They meet at the shed, which is just inside the
Skew Bridge entrance to the wood, on Friday at 9.30 a.m. except for the second
week of every month when they meet on Saturday morning. New volunteers are always
welcome and anyone interested in becoming a volunteer worker can either come
to the shed/nursery area near to Skew Bridge or make contact through the email
section of the website at the bottom of the Home Page. The volunteers carry
out a variety of work including tree planting, making bird and bat boxes and
general maintenance work. Sycamore trees are being cleared from much of the
wood, on the advice of experts at the Forestry Commission, to be replaced largely
by oak and beech, interspersed with trees such as birch, rowan, hazel, hawthorn
and holly. The costs of major improvements to the paths, signs and fencing are
covered by a variety of grants and through fund raising. These projects are
described in more detail in the Witch Wood section of the website.
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TREE PLANTING
Trees are planted each year at a number of sites around the Borough, particularly at schools. Over 140 trees were planted along Preston Road by the Society for the Queen's Jubilee in 1977. A third have since died and been replaced recently. We have planted over 700 trees at the Ansdell College Annexe.
SOCIETY MEETINGS
Society meetings are held about once per month, September to June, with talks on matters of local interest. Social evenings, day visits, and weekend trips to national heritage sites are arranged.
GUARDING THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
A technical committee meets regularly and