We are pleased to invite all our kind donors to attend Fox Meadow's official opening ceremony on Sunday 6th July from 3pm -4pm. Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Margaret Parker will officiate and there will be some activities and cold drinks and biscuits. Activities include face paiting, a wildflower quiz and a photography competition.

The Parish Council and Cheshire West & Chester Council have now finalised the licence arrangements that transfer responsibility for the land at Fox Cover to Guilden Sutton Parish Council for 15 years. This involves all the land from Fox Cover to the top of the steps on both sides of the footpath. The funds raised had been held by Spacehive but were then transferred to GSPC who will keep the money for exclusive use of the wildflower meadow project. Due to the delay in finalising the licence we were fortunate to secure help from others sources to do the initial work, so there will be some revisions to the original planned expenditure. Initial sowing took place in the autumn of 2022 and produced a range of flowers and grasses. We invited suggestions for a name for the garden and a ballot took place. The name 'Fox Meadow' was most popular. We spent £200 on seeds and bulbs. Beavers used their skills and imagination to create a bug hotel. No doubt the insects have been glad of somewhere dry to shelter in the rain. We took advice from CW&C's officers regarding the planting and cutting and as a result revised our plans. Different paths will be cut through the flowers and grasses to provide interest but we will not be laying a permanent surfaced path. About 2 metres of grass around the perimeter of the garden will be cut as part of the parish's grounds maintenance contract and to maintain access for neighbouring properties to their hedges and fences. This will be funded from the money donated to the project. Tom Jennings and Tim Price ,whose homes border the garden, regularly undertake routine tasks, cutting the paths and reseeding where necessary. Many many thanks to them. A noticeboard has been ordered. We'll be removing the 'No Ball Games' sign but the noticeboard itself will have a poster reminding people of the behaviour expected in the garden. There'll be information about the plants that are growing in the garden and the insects to look out for as well as details of any activities taking place. We're currently trying to convene a meeting when all committee members can be involved. We need to choose the style of planter and the seat. Like the noticeboard, all these 'street furniture' items will be made from recycled materials so will require minimal maintenance. We'll also be considering a small event to celebrate the garden and officially open it, probably next spring when the flowers start to appear again. We're monitoring which flowers are growing best and which might need a but more help. We know the poppies and cornflowers were popular in 2023 but not many appeared this year so we'll be planting more. We're also monitoring the damper areas of the garden and will try to find natural ways to tackle the worst parts. We still have two bird-boxes to install if we can find a suitable spot. Overall, our aim is to help pollinators, to provide a tranquil area for local residents to enjoy and help people of all ages to learn about nature. Many thanks to all who have helped both practically and through donating. The committee will continue to meet to oversee the project and make sure it is an asset for the local area. Thanks to all involved..

A quick bulletin to let you know what's happening. Flowers are now starting to appear and the cornflowers are looking really good. We planted four different seed mixtures so that different areas of the garden will flower at different times.. We don't know why CW&C workers ploughed up part of the garden last week but thankfully one of our committee was on hand to halt the work. The Parish Council has made good progress on the lease and we hope it will be signed in June.. Then the money will be released by Spacehive and we will get on with the herb planters, noticeboard, and paths through the flowers. Elsewhere some wildflower seeds have been planted by Beavers on the path from Hilltop to the village hall. Thank you to them and everyone who supports the project. You can contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions and we hope to have our own Facebook page soon.

The Wildflower Team will meet on 19th April. Most of the seeds and bulbs planted last year have taken. More seeds have been sown to fill the gaps. Spacehive have been looking after the money donated and the funds will be released when the lease is signed which we hope will be in May. We're just waiting for CW&C to confirm that the Parish Council won't have to take on responsibility for the steps from Church Lane. We're currently getting revised prices for a noticeboard, herb beds, a mower, a small fruit tree, and some seating as prices have increased through inflation. Fortunately we saved some money on the paths so will have enough to complete the project. We're hoping Beavers will take responsibility for one of the herb beds. Any other groups or individuals interested in joining the volunteers please let us know. Email [email protected].

Our committee has grown and now includes - Tim Price and Tom Jennings from properties bordering the garden, along with other Guilden Sutton residents Robin Norrie, Eileen Fantom, Vivian Downing, Gary Chidlow, plus four parish councillors Mel Littlewood, Trisha Paterson, Sue Proctor and Sue Ringstead. The project was discussed at an Open Forum before the September Parish Council Meeting at which members gave their support for the proposal. CW&C are finalising the lease before it is sent to the Parish Council for their consideration and approval. The Parish would be taking over responsibility for the land , with the Wildflower Committee carrying out the tasks of planting and maintenance, so it will be important to consider all the implications. In the meantime CW&C have given conditional approval for work to start. As we are only scraping off the top surface and planting seeds, in the unlikely event that the lease is not agreed it would be a simple matter to return the land to its original state. Spacehive are holding the money that was pledged until such time as the lease is signed so in order for the work to start before the ground is too cold for planting, money raised through the Cinema Club has been donated for the ground preparation and purchase of wildflower seeds, bulbs and rhizomes. Special thanks to everyone who ran and supported the cinema club raising funds for the local community. Thanks to this extra money and some refinements to the plans which will reduce costs, we expect to be able to hold a reasonable sum for ongoing maintenance. None of the money for the creation of the garden has come from the Parish Precept. We hope that the top surface will be scraped in the next week and the soil removed so that seed sowing can start. Committee members will have a trial run and local residents of all ages will then be invited to join in on the weekend of 22nd and 23rd October. Do come along if you can, anytime between 10.30am and 3 pm. Wear wellies or boots for stamping seeds in and please bring a rake and a spade if you have them. We wouldn't have got to this stage without the help of a lot of people so special mentions to ward councillors Margaret Parker and Graham Heatley who have offered useful advice, questioned us where necessary and supported our funding bid, Selina Simpson and Roger Goulding from CW&C, to Spacehive, everyone who made pledges and to past and present members of the committee some of whom were out this week clearing nettles and dock leaves and planting 100 wood anemones, and 50 celandines and a small clump of wild garlic.We have about 300 more bulbs for planting this month including bluebells, snowdrops, daffodils, and winter aconite. The garden itself will have four areas each with a different seed mix so together with the bulbs there should be variety of natural flowers from January through to next autumn. A dedicated email address has been set up to answer any queries guildensuttonwildflower@gmail,com. Thank you again for your support and interest.

Our crowd-funding ends in a few days and as we've reached our target your pledges will now be collected automatically after 21st July. The Project Team will be meeting during August to review all the comments we collected on 30th June and we hope to report back to the Parish Council and the community early in September. Thanks to everyone who came along on 30th June and gave us their views, questions, concerns, ideas and support and to all those who helped in providing information. We're gathering more advice from experts to make sure we do the best we can, We'll be revising the plans, updating the work programme and reviewing the budget. We'll keep you posted.

Members of the team would like to hear your ideas for the garden. We will be at Guilden Sutton Village Hall on Thursday 30th June at 8pm..Please come along if you can and help us create a better amenity area with wildflowers, bird boxes, and bug hotels.