The first lockdown began a year ago this month and it’s been a troubling twelve-month to put it mildly. Fortunately, the national vaccine rollout continues apace and optimism abounds. We are delighted to be re-launching two Support Groups in early March - our Allotment Group in Harrogate and our Nature Force group in Wakefield. More groups will follow at the end of March. See page two for details.

Confused by the new rules for enjoying the outdoors this month? In a nutshell, from 8

th March you can enjoy exercise

and recreation outdoors with your own household or one other person, which can include “coffee on a bench”.

On 29th March the ‘Rule of Six’ returns.

Six people from different households or any number from two households can go outdoors. By the end of March, organised outdoor sport & leisure reopens too!

Please also remember that we are keeping up with members through phone calls, newsletters, updates and helping with shopping or advice. Do ring us if you need a chat or some help:

01423 507227 or 07875 288605 (Harrogate) or

07426 716677 (Wakefield)

Hocus Pocus! Crocus Focus

What a difference a few weeks make!We planted thousands of crocus bulbs on Harrogate’s West Park Stray last autumn. Cop a load of ‘em now!

OPEN COUNTRY NEWSLETTER

Lockdown Special No. 12

March 2021 Open Country is a charitable organisation

(1107331) which enables anyone with a

disability to access the countryside, through

the provision of outdoor activities and

information.

Our virtual programme

Covid-19 turned the world on its head and changed the way we work. We still have the following Zoom-based activities every week for people who are unable to get outside. There are often spaces available so get in touch if you want to join in the fun! You’ll be very welcome. Don’t forget that all our Zooms are

completely free.

Stop Press! There are still plenty of

spaces on our Wednesday Spin Classes

Wakefield:

Monday - *Boogie Bounce 12.15pm

Wednesday -*Combat Class12.15pm

- On tha bike (spinning) 5.30-6.30pm

- Quizzy Rascals (quiz) 7-9.30 pm

Friday - Wild Things (nature study)

Either 10.00-noon (Beginners class)

or 1.30pm-3.30pm (Intermediate class)

- *Yoga 10.00am

(*with our partners at Vibe Fitness).

Harrogate:

Monday - ‘A nice cup of tea & a sit down’

(French Fancy-based fun) 11.30-12.30

Monday - Capoeira (Brazilian martial

arts) 5.30-6.45pm

Thursday - Ripon Tandems Chinwag

Friday - Wild Things (nature study)

10.30am-11.30pm

More good news - our website has freely downloadable ’Countryside Directories’ and ‘Breakfree’ packs giving lots of ideas for accessible walks, many of which are right on your doorstep. Check them out on the ‘Access Info’ section.

Our face-to-face Restart dates

This is our provisional plan for restarting face-to-face activities Obviously all dates depend on government announcements and further pandemic developments.

Zoom activities will continue for now but may be scaled back as funding ends and our oudoor work takes precedence.

2nd

March - Restart two Support Groups - Harrogate Allotment and Thornes Park Wildflower Project

29th

March - Restart Covid-19 face-to-face activities, following the Rule of Six:

Tuesday

Nature & Natterers

Wednesday

Picnic in the Park

Wetherby Group Thursday

Harrogate Walking Group

Wakefield Wild Walkers Wetherby Group

Friday

Friday Harrogate Nature Force

Harrogate Wild Things

5th

April - roll out volunteer training, in particular to tandem volunteers

3rd

May - Tandems commence May - we’ll hopefully be able to welcome some more people on our activities 21

st June - Fill up all activity groups if

the Rule of Six ends Weekend and carers groups start. Date to be confirmed

August/September - Residentials restart once all adults vaccinated

Page 2

Help with Harrogate’s Beech Grove cycling consultation

If you are a cyclist, things are finally moving in Harrogate and a whole raft of pro-cycling projects are bubbling under. Amongst other schemes, Beech Grove has recently been traffic-calmed by making it ‘access only’ for vehicles and we’d love it if you would support the scheme. We believe the project is sensible, but some people will always be against changes that make it safe to get around by bike. It's vital to tell North Yorkshire County Council that you support the changes - otherwise all the hard work to get this far could be wasted.

The changes to Beech Grove are on a six-month trial basis and the more support we can give it the better. You can find more information on the scheme and the link that you will need to respond via harrogatecycleaction.org.uk/beech-grove/

The deadline for comments is 14th

August 2021 - but you could send a quick email now and a follow-up later.

The mower the merrier

We are delighted to take charge of our second BCS autoscythe (also called a reciprocating mower). We will now be able to have a mower based down in Wakefield too. The funders were the CLA Charitable Trust, the Duke of Devonshire Charitable Trust and the Greenhall Foundation. We thank them very much.

Our BCS machines are invaluable in helping us to manage local wildflower meadows and churchyards. We usually mow the wildlife areas in late summer once the flowers have set the seed. By raking off all the mowing cuttings we gradually reduce the fertility of the area, keeping rank vegetation in check and letting the wildflowers flourish. Simples!

Page 3

Wild about Wakefield News

Whilst our Thornes Park office is shut, please send mail to the Harrogate Head Office. We expect to have a greater presence in Thornes Park very soon, as lockdown conditions start to ease off.

A Growing Partnership

This month we are helping over twenty farmers across Northern England to green their farms by supplying them with native trees and homegrown wildflower plug plants. Through our growing partnership with Arla Dairies, we have managed to send ‘conservation packages’ containing tree whips, guards, canes and wildflower plug plants to farms up in Northumberland, right down to ones in South Derbyshire! These packages, which will mostly get delivered by the Arla milk lorry drivers whilst doing their usual daily visits, will help farmers to continue making their local countryside wildlife-friendly. This project is another way Open Country is contributing to a greener future.

Page 4

Spring has sprung - Boinnng!

There’s so much to explore and to discover in nature over these next few months and our ‘Spring Nature Activities Pack‘ will help you to get involved in wildlife in your own homes, gardens and local parks. It’s full of information and activities like nature art, star gazing and mammal footprints. Most of the ideas in this pack can be done at home or in a small back garden or yard, with some activities perfect for when restrictions ease and we can travel a bit further. As well as the ideas in this guide, you may have your own suggestions. If so, let us know. Download it for free from the ‘News’ section of our web site and print off as many pages as you like!

Wakefield Advisory Group

Our Advisory Groups are a great way for those who use our service to feed in to the organisation. The Wakefield Advisory Group has it’s next Zoom meeting on Thursday 11

th March, 6-8

pm. The ‘Special Item’ is: ‘Our Road to Recovery’. Tell us know if you are interested and we will send you a link.

Thornes Park Wildflower Project

Our wildflower project restarted this week as, under government guidance, it is a Support Group. Only a few months in, we are already growing over 5,000 plants to plant out on local nature areas.

Thanks to the Turner family for their wonderful homemade tables for the polytunnel project and for the picnic bench donation from Becky Turner’s garden. Here we see Dave Turner modeling his latest tabular creation.

Below: Another great wildlife drawing by Wakefield’s very own Chrissie Brighton

Page 5

Our hell-raisin’ Draisin

We are delighted to have finally ordered our second Draisin Plus electric-assist wheelchair tandem. This one will be based in Wakefield and will allow our members who use wheelchairs to enjoy our tandem rides as well.

They're back!

Wakefield Cathedral’s peregrines have just flown in for another breeding season and will hopefully rear a brood. Follow their progress on

wakefieldperegrines.com/webcams/

Top 8 Quirky Fundraising Ideas

Last year, when many funding streams closed to us, we were indebted to lots of friends for fundraising for Open Country. Anyone fancy taking up the baton this year? The quirkier your fundraising idea is, the more likely you are to engage with people! Here’s eight ideas for starters and don’t worry, we’ve got lots more where they came from! They can mostly be undertaken using Zoom or social media. Thanks in advance - it is good to have friends like you.

Remote fun run Attendees donate or ask for sponsors beforehand, then run the race at a time of their own choosing, so you don’t need to worry about people gathering in large groups or logistical issues such as arranging road closures for the event. They can share their time and route via an app like Strava.

Daily exercise challenge Get people to participate in a sponsored exercise challenge, building on what they did the day before e.g. on day one of the month, they do five push-ups, rising to 100 by the end of the month. This is very sharable and people will be proud to track their progress on social media.

Cook-book party Part pot luck/part book club, choose a cookery book and get everyone to cook one dish from it. Discuss what you liked and disliked about the book while enjoying each other’s dishes. Everyone pays a membership fee to raise funds.

Page 6

Seedling sale Raising houseplants from seed is extremely rewarding and has proven to be a popular pastime during lockdown. Set up a plant sale, selling cuttings from your favourite plants to raise money for Open Country.

Watch party Use the built-in watch-a-long functions of streaming sites to sit down and watch a movie together, then get guests to donate the price of a cinema ticket. As a bonus, add a fancy dress competition based on the film with a prize for the best (and worst) costume.

Online cook-along Teach a live cooking class on one of the many hosting platforms that people can join straight from their kitchen. Either send them the ingredients or a shopping list in advance. At the end, everyone can sit and enjoy their meals together – virtually, of course.

Online car boot sale Ask people to donate clothes they don’t wear and sell them on a site like Vinted, Depop, or Facebook Marketplace. Or auction them off using your own social media profiles.

World record attempt Check the Guinness World Records and find one that could be do-able. How about most socks put on a foot in 30 seconds or the farthest distance to blow a pea? Ask attendees to record their attempt at getting their name in the book and others to bet on who will get closest to, or even beat, the record.

Rays of Sunshine

Open Country stalwarts Mike & Stella Ray are moving to Scarborough because Tate House is being redeveloped. They asked us to say goodbye to everyone who knows them as they will have left by the time we all meet again. Tata to you two too, take care and keep in touch!

Access for all news: Scotton Banks Woods path work

Why not check out the newly-surfaced tracks at Scotton Banks Woods, on the Knaresborough - Ripley Road? As the name suggests, the woods are hilly but the main track, though 1:8 in places, would be accessible to someone with a powered scooter and nerves of steel!

Other tracks are as steep as 1:4 but the surfaces are good and give you a chance to see the Iron Age hill fort called Gates Hill Camp and also the River Nidd. There are benches throughout and one blue badge parking spot. Sadly there is a height barrier in the car park, making it impossible to visit in a minibus.

Start from the Woodland Trust car park on Ripley Road between Scotton and Knaresborough. Grid ref: SE330584

Page 7

Allotment news

Our allotment group is meeting again every Tuesday. We have a busy year ahead and the first job is to replace all our raised beds and fence posts which, after ten years, are very rotten indeed.

Out - Pandemic, In - Tandemic

After a whole season off, our five tandem groups will start up again in early May - government guidance permitting. We feel it is harder to socially distance with these groups, so all front and rear riders need to have received both phases of the vaccine before rejoining the groups. Please tell us if you will qualify to ride by May. Other riders can then rejoin as they get the vaccine. We had a thorough Health & Safety audit last year and there are some changes to the usual documentation that we send out each year. We’ll be sending this to all our volunteers in early April. We’ll be holding a Zoom session to go through all the paperwork at Tuesday 13

th April, 7-9 pm. Please

attend and then return the paperwork to us as soon as you can.

Audio walks - talk the walk!

The fun just won’t stop. Our latest walks include one around the Esholt Sewage treatment works, so don’t sit down to listen to it with a full bladder! There’s also a slightly more savoury saunter around Burley Moorside. Check the whole collection out on: http://www.opencountry.org.uk/audio-walks/

Page 8

Build a ‘toad abode’

Spring is in the air, frogspawn will soon grace our ponds and it’ll be hard to be oblivious of things amphibious. Why not make a toad abode in your garden where frogs, toads and newts can hide away from predators like cats and hedgehogs?

There are lots of designs on the internet but here is a simple one made out of broken plant pots. Don’t forget to pile soil on top to keep it cool inside - if frogs get baked in the sun they might, err, croak.

Our Head Office address is:

Open Country, Community House

46 East Parade, Harrogate, HG1 5LT.

Temporary Office Tel: 07875 288605

(07426 716677 - Wakefield)

Email: info@opencountry.org.uk

wakefield@opencountry.org.uk

www.opencountry.org.uk

Complaint? Our confidential trustees’ email

address is opencountrytrustees@gmail.com

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Please email info@opencountry.org.uk if you would prefer to receive our newsletter electronically or if you want to be taken off our mailing list.

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