This year has been a good one for native plant blossom. Below are hawthorn and dog rose in Grove Wood.

    

WINTER FESTIVAL

Come along and make festive decorations and Xmas Wreaths

Mince Pies and other Festive Fare

SUNDAY 13TH December at the Mill

1.00PM to 3PM

The event is Free but donations are always welcome

SMAG AGM and Nature in The Valley Film & Talk

Please come along to the Baptist Church Hall, Broom Hill Thursday 21st May for our AGM and what hopes to be an interesting Film and talk about wildlife along the Frome, by Jez Toogood
Along with updates and news about SMAG and what we have been up to.
Meet the team and find out how to get involved

Easter Egg Hunt

Fund Dog Show Sunday June 8th 1:30pm

Its that time of year again!

Time for all those lovely dogs to strutt their stuff and make their owners proud and entertain the crowd.

Yes it the annual Snuff Mills Fun Dog Show.

No registration required just turn up
£1 per class and all proceeds go to DAWG and Snuff Mills

Cake and plant stand along with doggy goodies for sale

Grove Wood Walk

A SMAG Grove Wood Walk with naturalist Rupert Higgins took place on Sunday, 18th May.

Rupert pointed out many of the great variety of woodland plants there & told us a bit about them and the Frome Valley. 

Photos c/o Richard Pring

Come and Join us for a fun afternoon exploring the Oldbury Court Estate

Sunday 18th May 12 - 4:30pm 

Meet Near the Oldbury Court Cafe

The Botany Walk is the only event that needs booking and all events are Free!

Litter Pick and Easter Egg Hunt

As an update to the last Post the following events are taking place shortly

Sunday 13th April Litter Pick through Grove Wood 12.00 noon - meet at Grove wood entrance
lets give Grove Wood a spring clean whilst enjoying the wood anemone's and other spring delights.


Sunday 20th April Easter Egg Hunt 12.30pm Meet at the entrance to Grove Wood...
This is aimed at encouraging the local children of the area to enjoy and explore the woodland with their parents whilst gathering a few chocolate treats on their way..(This is not meant for a large audience and as such 100s of easter eggs will not be available but we should be able to cater for people who live locally with their young children..)

Update March 2014

We've been busy since the last post and have lots of plans for this year.
We are just confirming some dates etc but we hope to be putting on the following events
Litter Pick -Sunday 13th April 12:00noon
Easter Egg Hunt 20th April 12:30pm
Oldbury Court Explorers Day 18th May (Plans are afoot with Bristol Festival of Nature for a joint event, just finalising details - keep your diaries free should be lots of activities)
Fun Dog Show 8th June 1.30pm
Family Fun Day Sun 31st August (location to be confirmed Laundry Field??)
Winter Festival Sun 7th Dec

You may have noticed we have also installed cycle planters in the car park recently with thanks to Bristol City Council for the funding. These have been located in places where cars are not supposed to park. This will enable emergency services to be able to get into the park without obstruction and when leaving the car park will also help in providing better visibilty.

After several years of asking we have eventually managed to secure some funding from Bristol City Council to repair some of the footpaths leading into Snuff Mills. This will however mean that the footpath will be closed on Tuesday 18th all day. You can still walk along the grass on the left but will have to hop off a low wall at the end!

Snuff Mills Action Group Awarded the Green Flag Community Award 2013/14

Snuff Mills Action Group has for the second time been awarded the Green Flag Community Award

a national award that recognises high quality green spaces in the UK that are managed by voluntary and community groups. The Award is part of the Green Flag Award® scheme, the national standard for quality parks and green spaces.

The scheme realises that all green spaces are different so each site is judged on its own merits and suitability to the community it serves. Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Community Award status.

to celebrate our success we will be proudly displaying both our Flags in the Gardens on Wednesday 30th between 10am and 12 noon and during the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of August

Gardeners from Snuff Mills will be in the gardens on Wednesday 30th and Sunday the 4th August for all those who wish to come and find out more about Snuff Mills Action Group and our activities

In addition we will be proudly displaying our Flags at City Hall on Tuesday 30th when we meet the Judges for this years entry for the RHS Britain in Bloom National Category Large City of which Bristol is a finalist between 12:50 and 13:10 where we will be happy to meet anybody after the Judges have had a chance to look around.

We are very proud to have been recognised for the second year running and it is a testament to all the hard work our volunteers have put in over the last few years.

Back by Popular Demand

That's Sunday 30th June.

,registration form below click on image and save then print

FOSSILBLITZ

HERB WALK

HERB WALK

in GROVE WOOD and WICKHAM GLEN

Sunday 26th May at 3 pm
with Ruth Baker, local Herbalist

Come and find out about the medicinal plants growing in the wood and nearby.
 Places limited - Booking essential.
Meet at Snuff Mills car park café, River View, in Stapleton
 £2 per adult, children under fifteen free.
For more information and to book and pay, contact Chris Williams at chrisvinecottage@yahoo.com
Tel 9650156 or Mobile 07796 268170
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Sunday, 26^th May was a perfect day for a walk through the undergrowth of Grove Wood led by herbalist Ruth Baker.  Local people enjoyed the sunny afternoon and learned about a number of medicinal plants growing in various parts of the woodland.  The group later visited Wickham Glen. 

Laundry Field Update

A final legal offer to register a portion of the Laundry Field as a Town and Village Green was received on Monday afternoon from the Homes and Communities Agency regarding Laundry Field. (outlined in red on plan above of the indicative development of the Blackberry Hill Hospital Scheme)
After discussing at length that night with our legal counsel a decision has been made to accept the offer. This has been an incredibly hard decision to make and has not been taken lightly and has caused much heartache and discussion.
As you will all be aware the scheduled independent enquiry was due to start on the 14th May and last for 3 days.

If anybody wishes to make representations they still have time and should do so by the 24th May 2013. The legal notice is below (click on image to enlarge)

Vote needed

Dear Supporter,

following my last email asking for supporters to attend the extra ordinary meeting last night i attach the two options that our supporters were asked to vote on. (on a wet cold night with little notice we still managed to have about 40 people attend!)

Option A
is to continue with the Town and Village green application as shown on the left side

this is the boundary plan of the area of land known as Laundry field that the group submitted an application to register the land as a Town and Village Green.

Option B
is to withdraw the application and to proceed with the offer by the HCA (the owners) to ask Bristol City Council to register the land marked in a red line as shown on the right side of picture

(This plan also show the housing that will subject to planning approval be built on the laundry field)

Could you please reply to this email indicating which option you wish the group to proceed with

Simply state I support Option A or Option B and add your name to the email.

Votes will only be taken upto 10am on Monday 12th April as we need to submit documents if option A is supported.

please email...snuffmills@hotmail.co.uk......



Many thanks for your support

Mark Logan
Chair

Extraordinary Meeting 7pm Thursday 11th

Due to the upcoming Town And Village Green Enquiry for Laundry Field and recent discussions with the HCA/Curo and Linden Homes (the Landowners/developers) we are holding an Extraordinary Meeting at 7pm The Baptist Church Hall, Broom Hill Thursday 11th April,

The purpose of the meeting is to look at  the groups options, do we proceed, modify or withdraw our application.

I think it very important that you all have a chance to have your say and to keep you all  up to speed on whats been happening.

A vote will be taken at the meeting but if you cant make it I will be sending an update after the meeting and will be asking those that did not attend to vote by email.

Please find time to attend on Thursday evening if you can and all will be explained

many thanks and hope to see you there

Mark Logan
Chair

Easter Egg Hunt

 SNUFF MILLS ACTION GROUP

EASTER EGG HUNT

MONDAY 1^ST APRIL AT 11:00

MEET AT THE ENTRANCE TO GROVE WOOD

(on the main road by the bridge)

All are welcome but intended mainly
for accompanied 5-12 yr olds
 (See photos of the event in the Facebook link on the right panel.)

Fun With A Mini Digger

Well we eventually got round to having another go at the bit round the back of the Mill this morning.
But we had to bring in the BIG GUNS to help, big thank you to Jon Kitching and Blake Knowlson for Bristol City Council Landscapes Team who came with their mini digger and in a few hours have done what would have taken most of the year to do!

HAVE YOUR SAY ON BLACKBERRY HILL AND LAUNDRY FIELD,

The HCA is holding an enquiry by design event starting this friday. Drop in and give your views on how the hospital site could be redeveloped and how you think laundry field should be included in this. As you are aware we currently have a Town and Village Green application on Laundry field so please make it clear if you wish the field to remain as a field. You can suggest what would be acceptable should the town and village green application be unsuccessful but please emphasis that point, we do not want to portray that we are supporting the development of Laundry field.

The event is being held at the Vassall Center, Gill avenue, Fishponds

It is really important that as many local people attend and share their views so that our voice can be heard

Final call for witness statements

The Laundry Field sub-group would also welcome more witness statements about the TVG application as we'll be submitting our evidence in a few weeks. We're asking anyone who's not written their statement yet to send it in via email if possible of us by the Easter weekend, you can also drop it in at Vine Cottage, Manor Road, Fishponds

Parking charges proposal

The council is proposing to charge for parking at Snuff Mills and Oldbury Court.  This is likely to cause all kinds of problems for local residents, as well as penalising park users who don't have much choice about using the car park - people who stop for lunch breaks during the day, those with small children, dogs, etc etc etc.  If you would like to object to the proposal, there's an online petition here:
http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/petition/2152

High Water in the Frome

This video was filmed along the Frome during the heavy rains of December 2012

Good News for a New Year!

Snuff Mills Action Group welcomes the decision in the Cardiff Justice Centre today

A judge at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre has quashed a renewed application by land owners for a Judicial Review of Bristol City Council’s decision to register land known as Grove Wood in Stapleton, Bristol as a Village Green.  His Honour Judge A J Seys Llewellyn QC heard the points raised by self-styled Lady Katrina Jafari and Lord Houshang Jafari on behalf of their claimant companies, Rhino Group Ltd and Kingdom of Najafabad Ltd.  After considering these in the context of legal precedents and an independent Inspector’s recommendation for Village Green status, the judge ruled in favour of Bristol City Council.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Its has been a whole year since i last visited you.

Its a bit wetter than last year! I hope your all dry and have a great Xmas