Fabrication at Brampton Halt

I had hoped to make some up-cycled china delights on the station platform at Brampton Halt during the Jubilee Weekend 

but the rain put paid to that idea, instead I decided that simple fabric corsages would be easy for all ages and skills, quick and would use some of the many scraps of vintage fabric I have been gifted from  friends and friends mums!

I reasoned that if my kit was small and portable I could easily set up shop inside the train and catch participants as they waited for the journey to begin.

This approach worked well 

and soon children, parents and grandparents 

were working together

in spite of some initial shyness.

It was lovely to see people sharing and enjoying a such simple but pleasurable activity 

whilst the lush, damp Northamptonshire countryside rattled by.

I also spent some time in the Buffet car and met people who had travelled from Scotland to spend some time at the station. You can see some of the creators, creations and sterling NLR volunteers showing off their up-cycled finery!

I couldn't resist adding this picture of one of the NLR team tucking into a feast known as The Engineers Special - it seemed to have every element of a tradition English breakfast barring the egg!

Planting a Jubilee Wood

Back To Book were awarded a pack of 420 trees of plant along the Brampton Valley Way in November. Originally we had hoped to plant the trees on the site of the Old Keepers Cottage and chose the Wild Harvest pack with the hopes of creating an edible landmark. After several conversations with Ranger Chris Howe this was changed to an All Year Colour pack and due to the quantity of trees, they have been spread out along the Valley Way. Because timings were tight  and the trees needed to be planted, none of the members of Back To Books were able to help with the planting. The trees were planted by the Scouts under Chris's expert guidance and are hopefully thriving.

However all was not lost with regards to Jubilee planting opportunities as Carole Miles, as part of Beanfield Artists, had applied for another Community Tree Pack which she had originally planned to plant during a proposed project near Weldon. The funding for this project was never secured, the project was unable to go ahead and Carole was left with trees but no planting space! During a chance conversation with Rosalind Stoddart FRSA, Independent Cultural Engineer the subject of trees came up. Ros was planning to plant trees in the field behind the Water Tower in Brigstock, over coffee and much excitement, the trees found their new home!  

Rosalind Stoddart FRSA, Independent Cultural Engineer

www.rosalindstoddart.co.uk/

More good fortune followed as lovely Back To Books member and Nursery Manager for AES Europe Ann Leonard, along with Proprietor - Mr Robert Cockroft and Operations Manager - Mr Anthony McKenna  -  donated the stakes and mesh to protect the young trees.

Ann Leonard

ES Europe Website

aeseurope.co.uk/

This happy set of circumstances led to a wonderful Jubilee Woods Tree Planting Day on Saturday February 18th and many members of Back To Books were on hand to plant the trees. We planted 106 trrees, 105 hawthorn, hazel, silver birch, rowan, wild cherry, dogwood and one walnut tree. There was also a special tree grown from a seed from one of the Royal Estates. It was a wild, windy, wonderful day of poems, planting, stories and cake, a fantastic way to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and to help make a new woodland around an existing oak tree. Carole & Ros would like to thank everyone who came and helped to make it such a special day!

To celebrate the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth ll's 2012 Diamond Jubilee, the Woodland Trust is helping millions of people across the UK to come together to plant 6 million trees. There is still time to apply for a Community Planting pack and you can find out how at the Jubilee Woods Website