Projects for 2020-2021
Coming out of Lockdown: project report 2020-2021
Plenty to do on the Reserve
Despite the Coronavirus lockdown, maintenance work has continued on the nature reserve as usual and we’ve been pleased to welcome a lot more visitors enjoying local walks.
Erie Wood
There’s been plenty to do, though work on one of our projects, Erie Wood: Growing History, was delayed for a few months as we were unable to arrange delivery of the trees early in the year. However, this has allowed us more time to prepare the ground for planting which will be better in the long run, and we haven’t had to water 65 new trees in this recent heatwave – every cloud has a silver lining! We now intend to plant the trees in the autumn on the open area at the Alder Road end of the nature reserve. In the meantime, we will continue to try to locate the former residents of the huts on the Erie Estate so each family can have a tree with a number matching their hut. Families from Heatherlands will be offered the remaining trees to adopt free of charge, and will be able to plant spring bulbs nearby to personalise their choice. Everyone will be invited to an
inauguration ceremony as soon as we can all get together complying with Covid-19 Regulations. We’re grateful to Councillors Floss Mitchell, Richard Millard and the One Stop for funding this project.
A return to heathland
Another project starting this autumn will be Heathland Heritage: Putting the Heather back in Heatherlands. As many of you will know, before the Second World War and the construction of the Canadian Erie Camp, the site was open heathland. We will be preparing a section of sunny bank at the Maple Way end of the nature reserve to restore a little bit of this local heritage by planting various heathers. We’ll choose varieties to flower at different times of the year to encourage bees and butterflies, and to give a feast for visitors’ eyes too. In this case, our thanks for funding go to Councillors Anthony Williams and Richard Millard who have added to the award from the East Hants District Council S106 fund.
Art in the heart of Erie Wood
We have recently applied for Arts Council support for an exciting new addition to the nature reserve. Although this ‘Heart of Erie Wood’ project is still in the early stages, we are hoping to raise sufficient funds for a permanent sculpture to act as a destination point in the middle of the Erie Wood new trees. It would have a hard-surfaced path connecting with the existing one, in order to allow access for all. We hope to involve all ages in the choice of artwork which will also have an element of community hands-on participation through workshops with the artist.
It’s a pity that we have been unable to hold any community events as usual, but we hope that before long we’ll be able to meet up all together again.
