Bat walk - Thu 13th May 8.30-9.30pm

Ever wondered what hangs out in the valley of a nightime. Well come and join us for a special bat walk on Thursday May 13th from 8.30-9.30pm. We will be joined by experts from Avon Bat Group who will bring special bat detectors so we can hear the bats and torches so that we can see them too.

Last time we did this we saw rare Daubenton's bats catching insects along the river and tiny pipistrelles in the trees. This year we hope to see the large noctule bat which likes to dart about among the tree tops.

The event is free and everyone is welcome. If you have a torch, please bring it with you.

Bat walk photo: Ian Wade

Garden progress

Have you noticed how lovely the Snuff Mills garden is starting to look? This is thanks to the regular work of a small team of Snuff Mills Action Group members who have spent hours digging over the beds, planting bulbs and plants and even relaying the edging to the borders. Special thanks must go to Jean, Annette, Dave, Chris and Mark who have spent many an hour sorting out the garden, but there is a much bigger team of people who do their bit too, without whose regular help the garden would not be looking half so good.

You can help too by coming to one of our gardening events in May. This month they are between 10-12 noon on Sunday 9th and 23rd May. You do not have to be a gardener to do your bit, just bring yourself, tools and gloves if you have them.

New toilets for Snuff Mills

The first campaign Snuff Mills Action Group organised called upon Bristol City Council to replace the public toilets in Snuff Mills. The Council promised they would replace the loos sometime in 2010-11. They have been busily searching for funds to do this for some time and I am delighted to be able to announce that the existing public toilets in Snuff Mills will be replaced in October 2010.

The existing loos will be demolished and the area landscaped to make the entrance to Snuff Mills more welcoming. New toilets will be built in the green by the car park, as far away from River View as possible, but in such a way that they can be clearly seen from the cafe.

The new public convenience will include a single disabled toilet with baby changing facility with a key held by the cafe. The Snuff Mills toilets attract various kinds of misuse and to prevent this, the new toilets will be made up of two individual unisex toilets that can only accomodate one person at a time and a single urinal. Each toilet will have its own direct access from the car park and there will be no shared areas.

Bristol City Council are so pleased with the design for the new loos that they plan to enter it for the public lavatory of the year award. If they win, this will be a major achievement since the BBC decided the Snuff Mills toilets were the worst in whole of the country in 2002!

Vote Grove Wood

We have enjoyed excellent support from our current MP, Roger Berry, whose Kingswood constituency currently covers Grove Wood. However, Grove Wood is about to move in to Bristol East, so we have contacted every candidate asking them to:

1) Publicly support our campaign to ensure Grove Wood becomes a nature reserve and is in safe public ownership as soon as possible
2) Agree to urge Bristol City Council to do all it can to ensure the current landowner does not do any further damage to the woodland if you are elected
3) Support our call for Grove Wood to become a Town Green, protecting it for public enjoyment for all time
4) Support our efforts to ensure the rare wildlife that lives in Grove Wood is not disturbed by the landowner's damaging actions
5) Sign up to the Woodland Trust's manifesto about trees and woodland to show your wider committment to the natural world. Visit: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/campaigns/woods-for-people/general-election-2010/Pages/our-manifesto-full.aspx

We will post replies from the various candidates here in the order they arrive. So far, we have received replies from the Green, Conservative and Labour candidates. We leave it to you to decide whether their responses are satisfactory and whether it will affect who you vote for.

Dawn chorus walk this Sunday

Get up with the lark this Sunday 11th April and join us for a dawn chrous walk with bird expert Ed Drewitt. If you have ever wondered what a chiffchaff, robin or blue tit sounds like, Ed will train your ears so you will know some of the amazing bird song that makes the valley sound so alive this time of year.

Meet in the car park at 6.30am which should be open. The walk should finish by about 7.30am, just in tine for breakfast and it is FREE.

More gardening dates...

Major work is about to begin on the Snuff Mills garden and to help things along the Council have today removed some of the old cherry trees that were casting shade over the garden and making it hard for new plants to get going. Don't worry, they will be replaced as we replant the borders with colourful flowers and bushes.

Help us get ready for this by sorting out the garden with us on Sunday 11th April and Sunday 25th April between 10-12noon. Bring gloves and tools if you have them.

Snuff Mills Action Group - 2 today!

It's two years ago today that over 150 people gathered in Stapleton Baptist Church to launch Snuff Mills Action Group. From our very first meeting we said we wanted to help the Council improve the valley for wildlife and people and make sure Grove Wood was properly protected.

In the two years since we started we have raised nearly £50,000 to improve Snuff Mills and we have been busy getting our hands dirty by renovating the old garden and organising regular litter picks. We've also organised events to encourage more people to enjoy the valley including bat walks and owl prowls. Our People's Millions award will improve the valley for visitors and ensure that every child in Begbrook School gets to experience what Snuff Mills has to offer this year. And there'll be a photo competition and fun dog show this year too. It's probably no coincidence that Bristol City Council describe Snuff Mills and Oldbury Court as the city's Cinderella park and they seem ever more determined to do more to improve the area.

The Group has done everything it possibly can to protect Grove Wood, the woodland on the other side if the river from Snuff Mills park. When we started the Council would not listen to us. They even agreed to the felling of trees in Grove Wood next to Blackberry Hill, despite nearly 120 people objecting. But thanks to the hundreds of people who have written to the Council, turned up at protests and made it absolutely clear that they love Grove Wood, it now has a woodland Tree Preservation Order protecting every tree and the Council have removed the landowner's rights to undertake certain types of development in the wood. We have been campaigning for the upper path to be designated a Public Right of Way and have applied for Grove Wood to become a Town Green - common land for all to enjoy. We believe that Grove Wood should be in safe public ownership and we will continue to campaign for this until it finally happens.

I'd really like to thank everyone who has helped make Snuff Mills Action Group to force for good in the community that it has undoubtedly become, especially those people who have given so much time and energy. Thank you and Happy birthday to us!

Toilets should feel safer

Tree surgeons have carefully removed the trees that were making the Snuff Mills toilets feel like a dark and dangerous place to spend a penny. The area is now much more open and easily seen from the car park which means the toilets should feel safer to use and not attract quite so much anti-social behaviour.

Access for people with mobility problems will be improved in the coming months too.

Wessex complete sewer repair

Wessex Water are completing repairs to the drain in Grove Wood today. Overflowing sewerage was reported to them after the last litter pick and they responded very quickly to try and find the problem. The overflow was being caused by tree roots that had entered the pipework and should not happen again... at least for a while.

Sponsor a bench in Snuff Mills

We are about to order some new benches for Snuff Mills as part of the People's Millions lottery funded project.

You could help us make the money go further by sponsoring a bench, perhaps in memory of a loved one or just as a way of saying how much you love the valley. The full cost of a bench including a plaque is £677, but we can offer sponsorship at £350.

We have chosen a metal, near vandal proof bench (pictured), which we hope will last many years. If you are interested, email us at snuffmills@hotmail.co.uk and we can sort it out from then on.

Spring has sprung

Have you noticed all the water that trickles down Grove Wood just as the footpath heads uphill. We thought this was a broken drain, but Wessex Water have investigated and they tell us it is a natural spring. There used to be several natural springs on the Snuff Mills side of the valley before the quarrying took place and there are still places where water seeps out of the rocks, but it is good to know that a spring has sprung in Grove Wood.

Meanwhile, the first day of spring seems to have finally woken up all of the wildlife in the valley. Many woodland flowers are starting to sprout and daffodils are flowering in the garden. Birds are also preparing to nest with blackbirds, magpies, great and blue tits and many other songbirds all collecting nesting material to start building their nests. The valley is a great place to see the seasons changing - don't forget about our dawn chorus event on April 11th when you'll be able to meet a bird expert who will be able to tell us which birds are which!

More outrages in Grove Wood

This picture shows a branch of a tree that was sawn off in Grove Wood. It might not look much, but a member of Snuff Mills Action Group has written this eyewitness report regarding an incident in Grove Wood this morning (Sat 20 March):

"Mr Jafari turned up in Grove Wood with two workmen today. Within minutes they got out chainsaws and began cutting wood along the river bank. Four members of Snuff Mills Action Group went to ask them to stop. We started by telling Jafari that he was breaking the law because he was disturbing protected species. Kingfishers were nesting and the otters were present but he denied there were any there - but perversely he did want to know where they were.

He then began to get very abusive towards us all, swearing a lot and pointing his finger in our faces. We remained as calm as we could and kept repeating that he should stop.

We then pointed out to the workmen, who were taking quite an interest, that they were being asked to break the law and asked if they realised this. They didn't of course but, all credit to them, they downed tools almost immediately and left soon after.

Jafari denied the Council had told him to remove the cabin, denied that all sorts of people had told him not to disturb wildlife and said he was going to put two more cabins in the woods. He even denied that he had been summoned for not removing the cabin and finally insisted that Bristol City Council had ordered him to go and do what he was doing with his chainsaws.

We went over to see what damage had been done after Jafari had gone and found that one branch of approx 6 inches diameter had been lopped from one tree and another tree had been sawn off completely. This tree was laying on its side (presumably one he bulldozed previously), but was most definitely alive and had lots of sprouting branches. I would have thought this broke the TPO and he's already got away with doing that once last Autumn so should not be allowed to do so again. I don't know what he might have done if we hadn't persuaded the workmen to stop."

This account would seem to amount to clear evidence that Mr Jafari has both contravened the Woodland Tree Preservation Order that prohibits any trees from being felled in Grove Wood, no matter how small they are. There may also be a case to be answered because of the apparent deliberate disturbance of protected species. We await the invesitgations of the appropriate authorities with keen interest.

Kingfisher news report

Big litter pick

Look at all the rubbish we collected from Snuff Mills and Grove Wood today (Sunday 7th March).

From Snuff Mills we collected an old bike, car battery and inumerable beer cans (someone in the area is a big fan of Stella Artois and Fosters). We also collected a few new helpers on the day too. Thanks for joining us.

We removed lots of rubbish left along the footpath in Grove Wood as there was no sign of the landowner ever bothering to clear up the woods. Most of the rubbish seems to coincide with where anglers like to fish and included corn beef cans left with their sharp edges open just ready for wildlife, dogs or even a child to cut themselves on.

A couple of people wore waders and checked the river for discarded fishing line too.

March in Snuff Mills

There are lots of events and activities coming up in the valley over the coming months as part of our People's Millions project.

This month we have lots of chances to get your hands dirty.

Join us in sprucing up the garden on Sunday 7th March between 10-12noon. We'll also be litter picking between 2-4pm that day. Please wear gloves and bring tools or sturdy bin bags if you have them.

We'll be gardening again on Sunday 21st March between 10-12noon.

If you don't fancy any of that, come and join us on Monday 15th March between 7.30-9pm for a Snuff Mills supporters meeting at Stapleton Baptist Church, Broom Hill. Find out what's happening with the People's Millions lottery money and what you can do to help. We'll also launch our photographic competition and talk about our oral history project. Everyone who supports improving the valley is welcome.

Site works

Over the next few weeks a few things will be happening in Snuff Mills as part of our People's Millions project to improve the valley for everyone.

Volunteers from The Green Gym will be in the valley every Friday for the next three weeks clearing some of the scrub between the paths to create views across the valley from the upper path. They will also be cutting back some of the vegetation from the entrance to Snuff Mills to make it more welcoming.

Bristol City Council staff will be removing some of the trees and bushes that grow in the garden and next to the river. We need to do this to get more light in to the garden so that we can continue to renovate it.

A contractor will be removing trees from around the toilets to make them feel safer and to try to deter anti-social behaviour.

We will be removing some of the old benches and soon the paths will be resurfaced and new benches installed.

Children help the birds

Children from Begbrook School have been getting involved in improving the valley for wildlife recently.

They have even made bird boxes and put them up with help from Avon Wildlife Trust. We've already seen birds investigating the boxes and we hope that the children's efforts will be rewarded when they join us for an early morning dawn chorus walk in April.

Thanks to the People's Millions funding, we are able to involve every single child from the school in the valley over the next year.

Chainsaws in Grove Wood

This morning two men were seen cutting up some of the large logs along the footpath near Broomhill Bridge using a chainsaw. Who they were is not certain but we suspect they were stealing the wood to burn or sell as neither of them appeared to be the owner or any of his previous workmen. They took the cut logs away quickly and didn't return during the day. We are concerned about the use of chainsaws in Grove Wood for obvious reasons; will live trees be targeted next? There is a tree preservation order (TPO) on the entire woodland so any damage to living trees or saplings is a criminal offence. Please keep an eye out for the people doing this and report it to the Police or to SMAG if you see them again.

Kingfisher Killed By Fishing Line

This rare kingfisher was killed by a hook and nylon fishing line left tangled in a tree by an angler. The bird died an agonising death - one of its wings was practically torn off as a result of its struggle to escape. Can you imagine what that must have been like? We have put a close up picture of the bird at the bottom of this post. It is not for the squeamish, but we thought people ought to see it.

It's an unfortunate fact that far too much debris and litter is being left by anglers and others along the Frome. A Canada goose was found with a hook in its gullet and two foot of line hanging from its mouth a few months ago. It was rescued fortunately or it could have been another fatal casualty. We would ask everyone who uses the area to be very careful and take all their rubbish with them and to not fish under trees. If line does get caught please remove it. Just think of the suffering that might result if you do not do this. Surely spending some time collecting fishing line is better than having the death of a rare and beautiful bird on your conscience.

A large amount of hooks and line have been cleared from the river in the last couple of years by Snuff Mills Action Group members but we can't do it all. Please respect this precious environment!

Grove Wood container update

This article appeared in the Evening Post on Friday 29th January:

A landowner is due in court charged with breaking planning rules for failing to remove an 'eyesore' storage container from riverside woodland in Stapleton.

Lord Houshang Jafari will appear before Bristol Magistrates' Court next month to face an allegation that he failed to remove a temporary building from Grove Wood despite being ordered to move it by the city council in September last year.

Campaigners who have protested over tree-felling in the woodland next to Snuff Mills Park believe the blue and white metal 'shipping container' should be removed because it ruins the look of the area.

Steve Micklewright, chairman of Snuff Mills Action Group, said: "It's right at the entrance to the wood and it's an eyesore. It has been broken into and someone was living in it over the winter. It's making the woodland ugly and it's serving no purpose. We've been campaigning for its removal because the woodland is in a conservation area.

"It's good the council is trying to act on it."

Mr Micklewright said the temporary building first appeared in May 2008 and has only been used on a handful of occasions. He said it was moved, but only further into the woodland, once the city council ordered it be removed in September last year.

Grove Wood, which is part of a Conservation Area next to the River Frome, has been at the centre of a long-running row between residents and Lord Jafari.

It was bought by Lord Jafari at public auction in November 2007 and part of it was felled without permission in January 2008. A woodland tree preservation order was made on it in April last year, protecting it from further felling.

Campaigners are now calling for the council to make a footpath in the upper part of the woods a designated public footpath.

John Mair, agent for Lord Jafari, said the alleged breach of planning rules was nothing to do with Lord Jafari and was connected with his company Rhino Group Limited, which he says owns the woodland.

Mr Mair said: "We will defend ourselves. This is not a breach of the regulations. We've not done anything wrong and we are only trying to run our business. We are trying to clean up the woodland and the riverbank. We are planning to reinstate styles and walls which have fallen down.

"We have an obligation to manage the woodland and ensure safety on the public right of way. The container is used for equipment used to clear a public right of way, to cut up wood and also for a generator to keep our guys warm when they are working.

"We bought the woodland for our own private reasons and want to look after it. Before we had it, the land and public right of way wasn't being looked after."

Lord Jafari, of Downleaze, Sneyd Park, is due to enter a plea to the allegation before city magistrates on February 17.

Share your Snuff Mills memores

The first project that is part of the Snuff Mills People's Millions project is about to get under way. Working with pupils from Begbrook School, we are going to put together a book and DVD about the valley and people's memories about it. We are looking for old photos and for people who have special memories or experiences about Snuff Mills they would like to share. The photo was taken in the 1930s and shows that children have caught tiddlers in the valley for generations.

If you want to share photos or would like to be interviewed, or know someone that would be great to interview, please email us at snuffmills@hotmail.co.uk and we will explain how to get involved. If you have any stories you want to share now, you can always post a reply to this entry too. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Parks Forum Walk

Members of Bristol Parks Forum enjoyed a walk in the valley recently. We showed them around Snuff Mills first and talked about the People's Millions grant. Some of the other parks groups have also been very successful at raising funds for their local greenspace so they gave us some great advice on how to persuade the Council to put some more money in to the area. We also visited Laundry Field and the forum members could understand why we were concerned about the future of this field. Finally we walked through Grove Wood and shared with them the whole sorry saga about the wood since Mr Jafari bought it just over two years ago. Someone said there has been enough intrigue and drama associated with Grove Wood to make a TV show. Maybe one day we will write it all down. You wouldn't believe some of the things we have discovered or the things that have happened behind the scenes, even over the last month or so, that we are too dignified to make public at this time.

Red River

On Sunday 10th Jan the river Frome turned red all along the Grove Woods/Snuff Mills stretch. This alarming colour was accompanied by a sticky foam (not to be confused with the more normal froth when the river level is high) which coated the entire surface and lasted for at least 8 hours. The incident was reported to the Environment Agency who investigated. With help from a similar report phoned in from a member of the public at Folly Brook on Tuesday they believe they have now traced the source to an area in Westerleigh. They obviously need any further incidents reported as soon as possible to enable them to come out to test & trace the pollutant. If anyone see anything of this nature please phone the Environment Agency pollution incident hotline - 0800 80 70 60. It's free and is open 24 hours a day.

UPDATE: The source of the pollution has been traced to a business but we are unable to say more as it is now the subject of a prosecution. There have been no further incidents.