Colourful wild flowers in Brickfields Daisyfield site with Dream in the background

I don’t think walking in the woods can be at all considered strange but should be encouraged for the health benefits alone. We’re blessed in the Sutton, Clock Face and Bold districts in having wonderful woodlands and green space that are so well cared for by Mersey Forest, the Forestry Commission and St.Helens Council. Although presently populated in the main by dog-walkers, they can have enormous health benefits for all. I don’t just mean the well-documented physical benefits of exercise but I can testify how walking in green space improves mental health and overall well-being enormously. I have a stress-related condition and I’ve learnt that walking in woodlands is much more beneficial to me than taking medication. As the Time To Change organisation puts it:

  We all know that exercise is good for our physical health helping to combat problems such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer and high blood pressure, but what about our mental health? Research shows that by exercising in the outdoors and preferably in a green space is more beneficial to us than when we exercise indoors or in urban areas. This is because as humans we have naturally evolved positive feelings towards nature and the outdoors.  

A farm at an entrance to Eggerslack Woods, near Grange-over-Sands has an honesty box for eggs
while back in St.Helens, vandals have recently taken a chunk out of a novel Brickfields bench

Although our woodlands are not as extensive as Eggerslack, in many ways they are nicer as the Cumbrian wood is a bit gloomy as some daylight is blocked out by overhanging trees. The woodland sites that we have in the Sutton district are more open and display some wonderfully colourful wildflowers. Plus there are additional items of interest, such as at Griffin Wood where the remarkable sculpture trail has been installed.

There are in fact six sites in the Sutton Manor / Clock Face district that are very closely connected and which make for a great combined walk. Last year I received an email from James Murphy with 'Sutton Manor and Clockface Park a little gem!’ in the message's subject line. James wrote that he was soon to complete his 100th walk around Merseyside and had recently visited St.Helens to walk here:

  I have just discovered Sutton Manor and Clockface Park as far as Maypole Wood. I am very, very impressed. These are more connected than I first imagined. Perhaps, more could be made of this. I had imagined walking through roads or through an industrial landscape. I now know that this is not the case and was very pleased to go from one to the other so seamlessly.  

Information board with the history of Sutton Manor Colliery on one side and the Dream story on
the other - it was stolen in October but has now been replaced (picture taken Dec. 20th, 2009)

As reported in this blog post, a number of superb heritage benches were installed on the Manor in the early summer, made by Wilkinson Welding of Sutton Oak Drive. They'd been designed by Sutton Manor Primary schoolchildren, who'd worked with artist Bernadette Hughes and the Shining Lights Heritage Group. A heritage art trail was all set to follow during the summer but was suddenly postponed. Accusations were then made that the Forestry Commission, who manage the woodland, were refusing to allow its installation because they considered the artwork to be too representative of the site's past.

So I asked the FC for a statement on their position and on November 13th they reaffirmed their commitment to the heritage project but added that the question of responsibility for ongoing maintenance had to be addressed and its precise location agreed, prior to it being installed. The Forestry Commission also said that they were concerned about "rushing into installation" in an unplanned way. I was surprised by this comment, as the artwork was made three years ago and is, I understand, beginning to rack up storage costs.

The FC added that Dream had had such a dramatic impact that they were taking a fresh look at how they manage the whole site, so that they can sustain it as a high quality visitor destination. As they're responsible for much good work in Sutton, there is, I think, no reason to believe otherwise and let's hope that the heritage art trail will be installed on site a.s.a.p.

In November, Marian White of the Shining Lights Heritage Group received a nomination in 'The Unseen Hero' category in the 2009 St.Helens Tourism and Leisure Awards. During the same month, Sutton Manor primary school, who are attached to the Shining Lights centre, received an International School Award for their sterling efforts. Congratulations to both.

The glass effect bricks in Brickfields' countryside–style 'kissing' entrance gates are made out of a resin brick format with designs by local children and residents guided by artist Steve Des Landes

Just down the road from the Manor site, the redevelopment and extension of Brickfields woodland was completed in the Spring at a cost of £2.1m, roughly the same as Dream. As least most of the work has been done, as I understand that the landfill operations of Cory Lord St.Helens to the north-west of the site will be integrated into the scheme at some point.

Brickfields has been touted as a new community woodland which is a little misleading, as the main site between Chester Lane, Walkers Lane and Lea Green Road has existed for some years. However, the Forestry Commission have made considerable improvements to it and a new, smaller, woodland has been created on a second site between Chester Lane and Clock Face Road. Whilst walking in the woodland earlier this year, it dawned on me that a loop involving Brickfields, King George V Playing Fields, Sutton Manor Woodland / Dream, Clock Face Colliery Country Park and Sutton Mill Dam had now been created by the new initiative.

Photographs of the ice rink as part of Sutton Village Christmas organised by Sutton Smile!
Pictures sourced from Sutton Smile! website - contact me if you require a photographer credit

Sutton Village Church in Herbert Street appear to be prime movers in this initiative. Hopefully, we'll hear of similar exciting events taking place at other churches in Sutton next year under the Sutton Smile! umbrella. Coffee mornings and rummage sales have their place, of course, but hold little interest for young people. Am I right in thinking that the former independent Methodists are now the only church in Sutton to have a web presence? Since St.Anne & Blessed Dominic's website went offline earlier this year, I think that is an accurate statement and doesn't reflect well on the other Sutton churches who need to move with the times.

Sutton Beauty uncovers evidence of supersized moles at the Brickfields site!
11,000 tonnes of earth have been moved onto the site (photographed 15th March '08)

In May more mature trees will be planted in Brickfields, so that we won’t have to wait too long for a decent sized woodland when the work is completed early next year. A central avenue of English oaks is to be created along with some cherry trees and pines in order to provide variation for folk like me who tend to wander from one area of woodlands to another!

Simon Brown is the Works Supervisor for the Forestry Commission in the North West and says:

 It’s a real pleasure watching the site changing on an almost daily basis. When we’ve finished local people are going to be really pleased with the results. There will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to enjoy the outdoors, whether it’s walking the dog, cycling or running. The project also includes a 20-year management plan so people can be confident that this new woodland will be kept in good condition.

The latter is especially good news as it’s so easy for sites to deteriorate and become dumping grounds. Sutton Mill Dam is an unfortunate example. However, the Forestry Commission and their chums at Mersey Forest do have a good track record for keeping sites they manage in good nick. Completion of the project, by the way, is expected to be in March 2009. Sutton Beauty will be updating with regular progress reports.

CLICK AN IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW

Brickfields Community Woodland - Sutton Manor - St.Helens - Sutton Beauty

An artist's impression of the project - click for a larger view and an aerial photograph of the Brickfields site as it is now

As there's been some misinformed criticism of the funding for the Manor's Big Art Project, it's worth mentioning the sources for Brickfields. The North West Development Agency are providing £2.1 million of regeneration funding to transform the site, with cash also coming Biffaward, a multi-million pound environment fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. An additional £302,976 has been awarded through the Integrated Countryside and Environment Plan (ICEP), which is an Objective One Project part funded by the European Union. The good folks at Mersey Forest are working to deliver ICEP through Community Forestry.   

The work on the site was scheduled to begin on Monday but will no doubt commence when planning permission comes through. When completed the stakeholders envisage Brickfields becoming a valuable area of green space for Sutton locals and visitors to enjoy. This website will be keenly monitoring the project's progress.

Looking out to the northwest of the site and the Cory Lord St.Helens landfill

The landfill site at Cory Lord St.Helens is expected to come into the scheme once filling operations end later this year. I wonder if the rocks in the centre of the site - which I so often repose on - will remain? There’s no mention of these but benches will be provided for weary folk like me to rest on. The work will start on the 26th October 2007 and run to the beginning of March 2008.

It's almost 18 months since soil sampling notices first appeared on the site and a lot of work has clearly been done in the meantime. The proposals look tremendous and with the newly created woodland at Sutton Manor (plus forthcoming Big Art Project) just across the way, it sounds like another welcome improvement to our environment in Sutton.

There should be many more trees soon in Brickfields