All you ever wanted to know about our village of Gayton, Northamptonshire.
The History of Gayton Millennium Spinney
*** Work in Progress ***
The planning of the Millennium Spinney was all done by Garry Keal, PC Chairman, Rod Poxon, Deputy Chair and Rita Poxon, Chair of the Gayton Millennium Planning Committee.
On 4th December 1999 several Gayton villagers gathered on a cold crisp morning to plant out a mixture of oak, ash, hazel & maple with a mixed hedge of hawthorn, blackthorn, crab apple & dogwood in a half-acre of land bequeathed to the Parish Council – and our Gayton Millennium Spinney was created. The trees were planted at a high density to encourage straight growth and allow for any that did not make it; however, thanks to the hard work of all the villagers the majority of the trees have now made it to 25 years of age. The trees are now quite overcrowded, they are competing for space to grow to their full potential, and the canopy is far too dense. Some thinning is required to encourage healthy tree growth & ensure the trees have sufficient space, light, & nutrients to grow and develop a better shape & are more resilient; thinning will also create openings in the canopy to allow more light in and encourage a greater diversity of plants to grow & flourish.
This month, December 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the planting of Gayton Millennium Spinney by a work party of volunteers. Walking through the Spinney a few days ago we thought back to that day and the tiny saplings that we planted in neat straight rows and just look how high they are today! It occurred to us that it would be interesting to feature some “then and now” pictures in the Gayton News. So, we trawled through all our photo albums and came up with a selection of pictures showing the Spinney in all seasons and the various stages of growth from the planting to the present. The picture of the actual planting is taken from Rita Poxon’s excellent book ‘Glimpses of Gayton’.
We also looked through our old copies of the Gayton News, to see what was written about it at the time. Here are a couple of quotes:
Parish Council report December 1999 – “On the subject of the Millennium, we are now in the final stages of completing the agreement for the transfer of the land on the corner of Back Lane and Blisworth Road. By the time you read this, the trees should have been planted…”
Editorial Spring 2000 – “our new spinney is beginning to show signs of life. There are leaves on the young trees and in recent weeks they have had plenty of rain to help them become established.”
Some years later, in January 2010, another village work party went into the spinney with saws and pruners and did a good job of thinning and tidying. That was 10 years ago and very little has been done since. Another major exercise is much overdue – not just thinning and pruning but the removal of several trees. It’s looking a bit sad now, overgrown and neglected.
We recently posted some of our pictures on the Gayton Facebook page and were pleased to receive several comments including one who wrote that she did not realize these trees were planted for the Millennium. That is not surprising, because there is nothing to indicate that this anonymous clump of trees on the corner of Blisworth Road and Back Lane is Gayton’s Millennium Spinney. We wonder how many other Gayton residents are unaware of its significance. At the very least we should have a name board on the gate and preferably an information board, similar to the one at the entrance to Tiffield’s Pocket Park.
The Millennium Spinney is a valuable village asset and after all the work that went into creating it 20 years ago, we really should be doing more to look after it and make it an attractive place for Gaytonians to walk and relax.
Barry Steer
Much has happened to our Millennium Spinney since I wrote in the December issue about how sad, overgrown and neglected it was looking. Take a walk round there and see for yourselves. I’m sure you’ll all agree it looks so much better and it’s so much easier now to walk around. What has been done since December is only the first stage of a major renovation project which was proposed to the Parish Council by John Upson. Work started in December and most of the pruning and thinning work was done by John himself. Then a series of work parties took place and all the debris was collected and burnt by an enthusiastic group of volunteers. As I write there is still more clearing up to do and once this phase has been completed, a clear path will be established around the edge, more seating will be added and a striking and informative two sided sign board will be erected at the entrance.
We should not forget how the Millennium Spinney came about. It was planted by a large group of Gaytonians on the 4th December 1999. On that cold crisp morning, 630 saplings were planted, a mixture of oak, ash, hazel and maple, plus a mixed hedge of hawthorn, blackthorn, crab apple and dogwood along the boundary fence. The idea of creating a spinney came from the people of Gayton, responding to a questionnaire from the village’s Millennium Committee, chaired by Rita Poxon, seeking ideas about how the village should celebrate and commemorate this significant milestone. The project was managed by Rod Poxon and Garry Keal, chair and deputy chair of the Parish Council. The half acre plot was donated by Peggy Hawley to Gayton Parish Council. The trees were sourced at no cost (thanks to a County Council grant), and the layout planned in minute detail.
The saplings were left to establish and in January 2010, another village working party carried out much needed pruning and thinning.
For most of the Spinney’s existence, local farmer Clive Wakelin worked tirelessly, mowing the grass and cutting the hedge. Otherwise, after the 2010 pruning, the Spinney was left to its own devices, becoming very overgrown and sadly neglected. Therefore, John’s ambitious regeneration project is very timely and should be welcomed by all.
The vision for the Millennium Spinney’s future is to make it a place for people and nature. To attract more wildlife, there will be bug hotels, bird boxes, log piles and plantings of wild flowers and spring bulbs. The centre of the Spinney will be left undisturbed to encourage possible fungi, moss and lichen. Thus transformed, the Spinney will be a peaceful haven where Gaytonians of all ages can walk, relax, restore and reconnect with nature.
Since I wrote this article a couple of weeks ago, much has changed. The whole country has been instructed to stay at home due to the Coronovirus pandemic and of course the Spinney work programme will be suspended until normality is restored.
Barry Steer
In the last issue of the Gayton News, I wrote about the planned restoration of the Millennium Spinney, the work that had been done between December and February and the further improvements that were planned. Shortly after I wrote that article a large spanner was thrown into the works, in the form of the Coronovirus lockdown. All activity was suspended and nothing was done for several weeks. Work resumed around the end of May led by John Upson and a small group of volunteers, respecting social distancing of course.
Several work sessions have been organised during June with a larger group of volunteers and the ‘Chain Gang’ in particular, have toiled away heroically, pruning, strimming, clearing away the undergrowth and disposing of the debris. Piles of wood chips have been deposited by local tree surgeon Colin Ellis, and the volunteers, using barrows, shovels and rakes, have spread them along two sides of the perimeter, the back and the Blisworth Road edge. So, there is now a clear easy to walk path all the way round. Two new bench seats have been installed – generously donated by John and Diane Upson – along with several tree trunk seats. A mechanical digger, supplied by Martin Church has dug out the overgrown hedge along the Back Lane and Blisworth Road perimeter and the freshly cleared ground has been prepared for the sowing of wild flowers and planting of bulbs. Martin has also installed two new gate posts and will refit the gate. New fencing is being ordered to close the gap between the gate posts and hedge, so the whole entrance area will have been renovated. Next to the seats, a framework for a den or playhouse has been nailed to the trees and there are piles of pruned branches for children to use as building material.
An imposing two-sided signboard has been erected at the entrance. The front panel features a beautiful original painting of a woodland scene by Gayton artist Judy Hamilton. The back panel tells the story of the Millennium Spinney from conception in 1999 to restoration in 2020. It was designed by Jenny Chapman (née Steer) using words and pictures supplied and mostly taken by myself over 20 years – the two 1999 planting pictures were taken by Rod Poxon and the final February 2020 one by Manja Ronne. The board itself is a splendid piece of carpentry designed and built by Dave Roe. A brilliant team effort and a stunning result. Pictures do not do it justice. It needs to be seen and examined up close.
There is still more to be done, but in the meantime it’s good to note that more Gaytonians of all ages are visiting the Spinney and using it as a place to walk, relax and play – just as was intended by the Millennium Committee that conceived the idea of the Spinney at the end of the last century.
Barry Steer
There has been much activity in the Spinney through the autumn and the improvements programme has continued apace. Clive skilfully manoeuvred his tractor-mounted hedge-cutter along the boundary hedges and the volunteer workers kept the pallet bins full with the results of their pruning and ground clearance.
Rebecca Wheeler and daughter Arabella organised a Halloween Pumpkin Hunt for the village children. It helped make up for the lack of ‘trick and treats’.
As if by magic, fairy doors appeared on some trees, with the help of the school children. There are several of these brightly decorated doors throughout the Spinney. Try opening them, to see what’s inside!
Dave Roe has made several nesting boxes. They were painted by the children and fixed high up in the trees by John. There are 8 in all. Let’s hope they are all occupied next spring.
John Upson commissioned an impressive Bug Hotel. The school children are fascinated and we’ll all be interested to see how it’s received by the insect world. Will they move in? Will they rate it 5 Star accommodation !
Clive applies the annual autumn trim to the border hedges. Glenyss Woodcock organised a programme of wild flower and bulb planting. All purchases were sourced in the UK and generously paid for by John Upson.
Glenyss and husband Bob along with Barbara Kelso have planted 600 English bluebells in the Spinney using an ingenious hole making tool (see below) and 100 more have been potted up by volunteers, for planting next spring.
In addition 100 primrose plugs have been potted by volunteers for spring time planting. The team have also moved some native UK wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) from Glenyss and Bob’s garden to along the hedge bottom bordering Back Lane.
All this hard work will pay off in due course, with wonderful springtime displays of native woodland plants. But we will have to be patient and not expect immediate results!
Barry Steer