She said, "Forty people from St John's Church in Stamford Bridge, from grandparents to toddlers, arrived in the churchyard on Sunday 30th January armed with rakes, spades, ladders, trowels and hammers. We were joined by volunteers from Stamford Bridge in Bloom, which made this a real community effort.
"In the space of two hours, we achieved the following: three existing nestboxes were checked and emptied out, and sixteen new tree sparrow nestboxes were put up in clusters. Tree sparrows like to nest together, and we are luck in Stamford Bridge in having a good population of this species, which has declined alarmingly in recent years. The church youth groups had supplemented the next box provided by the Archbishop by making another 15 of their own during a couple of evening meetings in January.
"We made a bird feeding station, with two bird seed feeders and home made bird food cones. Leaves were energetically raked into two huge leaf piles, and log and twig piles – we should get an influx of interesting bugs! The churchyard changed from a sea of fallen leaves to green – we could then spot colonies of snowdrops just coming into flower.
"Because of the cold weather in the autumn, Stamford Bridge in Bloom were unable to plant all their daffodil bulbs. Enthusiastic volunteers set to and planted no less than 250 bulbs to naturalise in the churchyard.
"In the spring, we hope to plant a native hedge, and later on, we’ll check how many kinds of creepy crawlies have colonised our habitat piles, and we’ll monitor our bird-boxes to see if we have any inhabitants. Some of our All Age services during the year will pick up the conservation theme.
"I was amazed and impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of all those who took part. It transformed a bleak grey Sunday afternoon into a hive of activity and fun. It has certainly got the Diocesan Year of the Environment off to a flying start in our parish."
Eleanor Course
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