About Bythams Spinney
An amazing adventure playground for all ages, open all year round, and all for free (though contributions are always welcome! ). Run by volunteers.
Bythams Spinney Description
The Bythams Spinney is situated west of the B1176 road to Creeton, on the edge of the village of Little Bytham, Lincolnshire NG33 4PX. The site covers an area of approximately 5. 5 acres and provides a combination of open and woodland space for the pleasure of local people. It is managed by a local charity: The Bythams Woodland Trust.
Admission is FREE, dawn until dusk, 365 days a year (but we always welcome donations, eg by text to
To donate £1, text CVVN001 to 70201
To donate £3, text CVVN001 to 70331
To donate £5, text CVVN001 to 70970
To donate £10, text CVVN001 to 70191
or go to http://easydonate.org/CVVN001
Over the last few years, within what was, in 2000, an overgrown wilderness, glades have been cleared and new native trees and shrubs planted. The site boundary has been fenced and native hedgerows planted. Environmentally-sympathetic play equipment has been installed, including a zip-wire, slides, swings, see-saw, scramble nets and a fenced-off toddler area with playhouse. We have established a living roof and rainwater harvesting system, planted a heritage orchard and created a sensory garden.
The Meadow
The former arable field adjoining the Spinney to the north also belongs to the BWT and part of it is available for overflow parking. The rest is being managed to encourage a diversity of plants (much as an old-fashioned hay meadow would have been), to bring in a greater range of insects and other invertebrates, which will in turn encourage a greater range of birds and other wildlife. Users of the Spinney are also allowed free access to the Meadow.
Please note there are NO Toilet facilities at the spinney,
History
The Spinney Project was originally conceived by Patrick Candler as a play space linked with the local Bythams Primary School. A bid was submitted, with the backing of the Parish Council, to the Millennium Commission who were keen to fund local projects that demonstrated the involvement of young people and the local community. As it was a rural project it scored "bonus points" with the Commission who decided to awarded the Project a grant.
The first task was to create a new car park and an access road from the B1176. A path was then constructed around the site allowing access for wheelchair users and prams, push-chairs and buggies. Picnic areas were established and rubbish bins installed.
Play equipment was professionally installed by contractors in several phases as grants became available and funds allowed. Apart from that, all work on the site has been done by small groups of local volunteers who have been working on the site at weekends since the early spring of 2003, gradually turning the area into a valuable resource for the local community and school. We always welcome new volunteers!
Reviews
Due to Storm Ciara coming though over next couple days we suggest you Don’t visit the spinney until winds have past on Tuesday late afternoon due to risk of falling tress & branches.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Come and take a look at the new Spinney website that we have been working on for last month or so at
http://bythamspinney.co.uk/
There is loads of info such as
... - how the spinney was setup back in early 2000's - directions to the site - our supporting organisations - sets of photos at various times - how you can support the spinney - links to google feedback and where you can give feedback too.
Take a look, sure your be impressed.
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Tesco's Bags of Help.... can you support the spinney...
The Spinney is one of three causes nominated at the following Tesco stores.
Bourne superstore - PE10 9LS... Bourne Express - PE10 9AQ Spalding Matmore - PE11 2PN
Between Jan and 31st March 2020 if we receive the most blue tokens we will be awarded £2k, 2nd - £1k or 3rd - £500.
This spring we need to spend over £1k bark chipping for under play equipment plus pay our annual £1k insurance.
If you are not close to these stores there are a number of other ways to support the spinney listed on our website http://bythamspinney.co.uk/
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message to dog owners who are most welcome to use the spinney BUT please clear up after your dogs.
Please no hanging your poo bags in the trees, today a bag was found hanging in a tree right next to children's play equipment or leaving a pile next to the bins. There are plenty of bins around the site to drop Poo bags into...
Thanks for your cooperation..🐕
Today a bank card was found at the spinney in the name of Mrs F H Ives.
Please IM us back if you have lost your bank card. Thanks.
Last work session at the Spinney before Christmas with mulled wine and mince pies (thanks Patrick!). An opportunity to reflect on another great year of outdoor fun. Don’t forget that the site is open every day of the year - a perfect location to walk off festive excesses. Happy Christmas everyone!
Today we accepted a cheque on behalf of the Spinney for a whopping £2,887 from the Co Op Community Fund.
Thanks to people who shopped at either the Colsterworth or Corby Glen stores and nominated the Spinney.
We have also been selected for 2019 / 20, so please support us by:
... If you are already a Co Op member, please choose to support The Spinney by clicking on
https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/3139 1
and click 'Sign in'
or click become a member link and choose the Spinney.
Many thanks again from the team at the Spinney
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Tree Dressing 23rd November - to be rescheduled to spring 2020...
Unfortunately, due to the rain last night and also rain predicted for all day Saturday we had reluctantly decided to postpone the Tree dressing event and will look to reschedule in early part of 2020.
The spinney site is very wet, muddy and will not be a positive experience..
... Please circulate the update
Please watch out on facebook and we will re post the rescheduled date.
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Excellent News for the Spinney
As previously posted on Facebook, for the past year the Spinney has been one of the three local charities supported by the Co-Op Community Fund, and simply by shopping in the Corby Glen and Colsterworth shops and buying Co-Op own brand products, this has generated a whopping £2887 for the Spinney !!!! So thanks to everyone who has supported us in this way.
Even more good news is that The Spinney has reapplied to their Community Fund and we h...ave been accepted again for the period November 2019 – October 2020.
And there is another way you can help, even if you do not shop locally. Anyone who becomes a member of the Co-Op can nominate 1% of their Co-Op branded spending to support The Spinney. This means that wherever you may live and shop in a Co-Op store, you can help The Spinney.
If you are already a Co Op member, please choose to support The Spinney by clicking on https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/3139 1 and click 'Sign in'
If you are not yet a Co Op member, please join by clicking on the above link and choosing 'become a Co-Op member'. This will cost you £1, but once you are a member, you will get 5% cashback on your Co-Op spending at any store or Co-Op service.
Then, once you have nominated The Spinney and purchase any Co-Op branded items from any UK store, 1% of your spend will benefit The Spinney.
For more details on the Co-Op membership and the Co-Op Community fund please click https://www.coop.co.uk/membership
If you enjoy The Spinney and would like to support us, this is an excellent way and you also get 5% cashback for yourself as well. So a win- win for all.
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Gorgeous morning at the Spinney today and a great work session in advance of next week’s Tree Dressing Day. Superb bunch of volunteers, especially the Bourne Grammar DofE crew, which helped us to get loads done and the site is now looking really good. Fire pit cleaned out and marshmallows ready for toasting. Now just keep your 🤞for good weather. See you then!
‘TREE DRESSING DAY’ on SATURDAY NOVEMBER 23rd
Come and help us decorate a wood in time for Christmas! Most of you will have helped decorate your own tree at home, but have you ever wondered what it would be like to... decorate a whole wood, dressing hundreds of trees? Well, now you can - as on Saturday November 23rd, we will be holding our sixth annual ‘Tree Dressing Day’ from 11.00am – 2.30pm, at The Spinney in Little Bytham (NG33 4PX)
Following the great success of previous Tree Dressing Days, when hundreds of adults and children have taken part, we have decided to do it again, only this time we want it to be bigger and better with lots more going on.
There is no charge to attend: all you need to do is turn up, make some decorations and hang them from the tree of your choice. We provide, free, all the materials you need - fruit, clay, etc, so you can be as creative as you can and have fun at the same time. The activities will be led by local Environmental Artist, Jo Schofield, who will have some other surprises up her sleeve.
We will also be selling hot refreshments – tea, coffee, soup, mulled wine, cakes and all sorts of goodies - courtesy of the Friends of the Bythams School (FOBS), and if it gets a bit cold, we will have a camp-fire to warm you up, so you can toast marshmallows, chestnuts or whatever your fancy may be! But this is not all that is happening….
We are teaming up with Stamford Community Orchard Group (SCOG), who are bringing their apple press and childrens’ activities. They will give advice on skills and activities such as Grafting, Pruning and Wassailing. So bring along some apples -even windfalls - and containers for the juice!
We will also be celebrating the Charter for Trees, Woods and People, as our contribution to a wonderful national campaign led by the Woodland Trust to commemorate 800 years of the original Charter of the Forest and to promote the importance of trees and woodlands in improving our quality of life.
To brighten the day you can dance among the trees led by the band Tourdion, while Rutland's Men in Sheds will demonstrate their woodworking skills. And as an added extra, The Exotic Pet Refuge will be showing their range of animals.
So come along and really ‘run wild in the woods’ for a great day out!
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remember its the Castle Bytham bonfire & fireworks tomorrow as per the poster..
Co Op Local Community Fund Closes on Sat 26th Oct.
For the past year The Spinney has been one of three chosen charities for the Co Op Community Fund at the Colsterworth or Corby Glen stores.
1% of any Co Op branded items or a third of the 5p plastic bag goes to one of three charities, the spinney being one for this year. If you are a Co Op member you can still nominate the spinney especially if you have not nominated your charity this year!!. If you shop at other local Co Op... stores you can nominate the Spinney to raise funds to keep the spinney running.....
We have received the following message from Co Op.....
With just over 2 weeks until this round of the Local Community Fund closes on Saturday 26 October, we wanted to let you know there’s still time to encourage members to choose you as their cause.
We know causes have been working hard to raise their profile over the past year with our members, there’s still £5,254.60 available in your community which members haven't allocated to a cause yet. We hope you take this final opportunity to promote your cause on social media by sharing the link below amongst your supporters. After all, the more members that choose your cause, the more funding your project will receive.
https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/3085 3
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Tree dressing 2019 poster is out..
Why not come and join us in Saturday 23rd November between 11am and 2:30pm...
Castle Bytham bonfire and firework display on Sunday 3rd November ...
it's always a great display and the food & bar are excellent....
Well, it takes more than a bit of rain to dampen the spirits of the resilient band of helpers at the Spinney. Just a quick tidy up this morning to make it ready to receive the next load of visitors. Don’t forget, the Spinney is FREE to use at any time (although donations towards the upkeep are appreciated) and new recruits to our band of merry assistants are always welcome. Happy Saturday.
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