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.

Laundry Field latest

The Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership have sent us this information to reassure everyone about some works that will take place on their land.

"Over the course of the next 4-6 weeks there will be contractors, equipment and potentially machinery on the site to excavate and lay a footpath. The footpath itself will be 1 meter in width and made of concrete and is essential to allow our staff to carry out their security functions and ensure the integrity of the perimeter fence. We will try and avoid the need for these contractors to cross over or work on the current field, however I have asked the Homes & Communities Agency for permission to do this if required which they have agreed.

I am confident that these works will not have any major effect upon the local environment and can assure you that the current vegetated bank will remain in place to shield the unit in the same manner as it is now."

So if you see work happening in the unit or on the edge of Laundry Field, it is not a serious threat to the field or a prelude to anything sinister.

Grove Wood Town Green Application submitted

We submitted our application for Grove Wood to become a Town or Village Green to Bristol City Council on 26 November. The Council have now acknowledged receipt of the application and we expect it to be considered some time next year.

We had over 100 people send us evidence about their use of Grove Wood for legal sports and past-times, dating back to the 1920s. Activities included walking, orienteering, rambling, bird watching, but our favourite was the person that used the woods for ferret walking!

If the application is successful it will mean that Grove Wood will be free for people to enjoy for all time. It would also make it impossible for public access to be restricted in any way and make it practically impossible to put any form of development on the land.

We will post more information about this application in due course, but for now, can we just say a big thank you to everyone who provided us with the vital evidence we needed to make such a strong case for this.

Laundry Field update

The Homes and Communities Agency have been in touch with us with some news about Laundry Field and the Blackberry Hill Hospital site.

They tells us that they have ecological, topographical, tree and landscape surveys planned which they will share with us. They are also arranging for temporary security fencing and partial boarding of some of the buildings to be installed around the built estate only. This will not in anyway affect the fields, and is purely to protect the buildings and to prevent vandalism. They are making sure they do not require Listed Building or Conservation Consent before they do this. They are also looking in to the costs of demolishing the 1960’s (former care centre) buildings, but will let us know if they decide to do this.

North Bristol Trust have exercised their right to remain in occupancy in various parts of the built estate, so they are expected to be there for the foreseeable future, and certainly well into next year. The Memorial Garden close to the Care Centre Buildings remains the responsibility of North Bristol Trust so it will be their responsibility to manage the relocation of sentimental artefacts. And they are looking in to the listed status of some of the buildings, but this is nothing terribly detailed, and this is work in progress.

They have had strong and unsolicited interest from a range of developers, but have committed to nothing, at this stage. They cannot rule out the outright sale of the site yet, though they would prefer a development partner. This means someone who can work with the HCA, BCC and the local community to develop proposals. The HCA have been looking in to promoting a high quality innovative environmental standards for the site, as a requirement of any redevelopment, which could be really exciting.

The HCA are committed to working with the community if they go for this option, but they are anxious for us to be aware they cannot as yet rule out passing the site on to a developer and they will let us know if this becomes the prefered option.

Let's hope they are able to stick with their ideas of a really exciting partnership that could make the best of the site.

Snuff Millions celebration

We gathered in the garden on 27th November to celebrate being the top runners up for the People's Millions.

Peter Rowell from ITV came along and presented us with a big cheque and we enjoyed a well earned glass of champagne.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this happen.

Cabin moved and now vandalised

The container that is (now) illegally placed in Grove Wood has recently been broken into and we have heard reports of drug dealing and even a mugging in the area around it. There is also a great deal of rubbish being strewn all over the entrance area. The owner has done nothing to clean up any of this or secure his container [the container window has now been repaired and is secure again for the time being]. We understand that Bristol City Council are going ahead with proceedings against him for refusing to comply with the removal order. That order was served on him on September 24th and should have seen the container removed by October 22nd.
Photos taken from: http://destructionofgrovewood.blogspot.com/
You can read more about Grove Wood on that site.

Previously:

The ugly cabin that has been such an eyesore in Grove Wood has been moved.

It was here just this morning, but now it has gone. But don't get too excited. It is now further in the woods and has been rotated around by 90 degrees.

I'm not sure this is what the Council meant when they served a notice to remove the cabin. You were meant to remove it from the woods Mr Jafari, not move it further in.

Snuff Mills wins People's Millions

What a 48 hours we have had.

After all the emailing, leafleting, door-knocking, speaking at local schools and much more, the Emersons Green Memorial Skate Park received more calls than Snuff Mills on Tuesday, so it was announced on ITV last night that they would receive the People's Millions grant. While we were pleased for Jamie's Dad who had put so much effort in to fund-raising for the skate park, we were of course terribly disappointed that Snuff Mills was not going to get the funds from the People's Millions and many of us drowned our sorrows in the local pub.

So, imagine how we felt when the BIG lottery people called today to say that we had scored more votes than any of the other runner up projects and that we would be getting the grant after all!

All of us in Snuff Mills Action Group are over the moon and we will do our best to use the money to ensure Snuff Mills can be enjoyed by EVERYONE.

THANK YOU if you called to support the project, distributed leaflets, put up posters and pestered your friends and family to call. We could not have done this without you.

Special thanks also to our TV stars - Ivor and his son Matt, Chris, Audrey and her friend, Chris and Beau the barn owl and the many children and helpers who turned out to help make the film.

As Chair of the Action Group, I'd like to personally thank Andrew who had the idea to apply to the People's Millions in the first place and helped put the bid together, Martyn who designed a brilliant leaflet to promote the project and Andy for endless laminating.

Best wishes and thank you

Steve Micklewright
Chairman
Snuff Mills Action Group

Snuff Millions

We are delighted to announce that Snuff Mills will be put to the public vote on 24th November as part of the BIG lottery fund's People's Millions. We need you to watch the ITV West news on 24th November and pick up the phone and vote so nearly £50,000 can be spent on improving our valley.

Thank you for voting the lines are now closed.

Visit our special Snuff Millions blog to find out more: http://snuffmillions.blogspot.com/


To register for email updates, send an email to: snuffmills@hotmail.co.uk with register in the title