Severn Valley Country Park in Alveley and Highley, managed by Shropshire Council, has been recognised by the Green Flag Award Scheme as one of the very best in the world.

The park is among a record-breaking 1,883 UK parks and green spaces that will today receive a prestigious Green Flag Award, the mark of a quality park or green space.

This international award, now into its third decade, is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.

This is the record-breaking 15th year in a row that Severn Valley Country Park has been awarded the Green Flag. Staff at the park offer a varied programme of events, a busy school visits programme and organise twice-weekly volunteer days. The cafe at the park offers fresh coffee, ice creams, hot and cold food and panoramic views down the valley.

Councillor Tina Woodward (local member for Alveley and Claverley) said,

“We are absolutely delighted to receive a Green Flag Award for the 15th year in a row. We know how much quality green spaces matter to residents and visitors, and this award celebrates the dedication that goes into maintaining Severn Valley Country Park to such a high standard.”

Councillor Dave Tremellen (local member for Highley) said,

“Last year an incredible 15,000 volunteer hours went into managing the parks and open spaces in south Shropshire and ensuring that they are attractive places for people and wildlife. Shropshire Council really appreciate the hard work and dedication of our volunteer teams.”

Councillor Lezley Picton (cabinet member for Culture and Leisure) said,

“Severn Valley Country Park is one of our flagship country parks and an important tourist destination in the county. I would urge as many people as possible to take advantage of this wonderful asset, both for its natural beauty and for the benefits to individual health.”

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme, with more Green Flags awarded this year than last year.”

“Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. We are proud to have so many wonderful green spaces in the UK for people to enjoy, and hope that next year, we award even more flags.”  

As we head to the winter season, our opening days and time Severn Valley Country Parks opening times will be changing.

For the October Half Term holidays, the visitor centre and café will be open everyday from Wednesday 24th October to Sunday 4th November from 11am-5pm.

After half term, the visitor centre and café will be opening weekends only from 11am - 4pm. This starts on 10th & 11th November.

The toilets will continue to open daily from 9am-4pm and the main car park at Alveley will also be open 9am-4pm.

In addition, nearly 40% of the letters sent out this year were to landowners/farmers who had not been highlighted on previous years campaigns and were totally new.

The spread of complaints by area was as follows: -

12% Bridgnorth

18% South Shropshire

20% Oswestry

30% North Shropshire

20% Shrewsbury and Atcham

As in previous years the main areas affected by Ploughing and Cropping were in the North and Oswestry Areas.

Inspections carried out by officers following these initial letters revealed that:

12% of the routes reported had no crops

16% had non-active reinstatement

12% had been partially reinstated

22% had been reinstated

22% had not been reinstated

The remaining 16% were not inspected.  An additional fourteen letters were sent out in May, nine in June and nine in July as a result of reports of ploughing and cropping and non-reinstatement.

From the inspections an additional 24 letters were sent out.

Overall the campaign resulted in 58% of the issues being resolved and the routes reinstated; 5% being partially resolved but with very strong advisory letters for future years compliance; 34% of the issues having some action but insufficient time to resolve, this was mainly due to a large influx of additional complaints which meant that the focus on the initial issues could not be maintained.  Only two legal orders got served which resulted in compliance.

The Mapping and Enforcement Team take ploughing and cropping issues seriously because landowners who fail to comply with their responsibilities can seriously affect the accessibility of the ROW network.  Into the future the team plan to serve notice immediately on persistent offenders and will also regard the Shropshire Way as a key priority to keep open and available.

If you need to report an issue on a Right of Way in Shropshire click here

Shropshire Council Countryside Rangers were delighted to start a new Dormouse Project, thanks to Tesco’s little bags of help. The People's Trust for Endangered Species set up the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme in order to record population trends of the hazel dormouse across the country. Shropshire Dormouse Group (an informal branch of the Shropshire Mammal Group) carry out monthly nest box checks under license on registered sites across Shropshire, and supply this information to the PTES in line with this scheme. However! This new project is a collaboration of the Shropshire Dormouse Group and Shropshire Council, coming together to protect and record Dormice.

Dormouse footprint tunnels are a new upcoming technique for monitoring Dormice. This new practice, shows a good indictors of Dormice but also minimises disturbance when collecting species records. Penny Wellman, Assistant Country Park Support Officer and placement student at Shropshire Council, is trialling whether footprint tunnels are more effective than recording Dormice using nest boxes. 

With the help of four volunteers they were able to put up the tunnels and will be checking the tunnels once every two weeks for evidence of Dormice, by identifying footprints. This project is the first of its kind in Shropshire and will be a valuable project for the future of Dormouse Conservation.

If you go down to the woods today…

…you’re not in for such a big surprise…yet…but Shropshire Council volunteers from the Corbet Wood and Ellesmere groups along with parents of children that attend Clive primary school have been very busy working in the wood to create an area for a forest school which is to be called ‘Clive Woodland School’

The children from Clive C of E Primary School have previously had to travel in a bus to get to their forest school and the headteacher who’s just retired, Mary Lucas, has wanted to create a site within walking distance of the school for many years and we are all so pleased that her wish has come true.

A meeting between the school, Shropshire Council’s Outdoor Partnerships and local volunteers took place at Corbet Wood to explore potential areas that could be used and to plan a programme of works.

The site was then cleared of scrub and the hedges and trees were cut back to allow more light into the main area. Dead hedging has been placed around some sides to define a boundary for the children and areas for storytelling and fires have been created with seats made out of logs from the wood.

A shelter is in the process of being built utilising timber and stone from the site – watch this space. Instrumental in all of this is a key volunteer for Corbet wood called Rob Smith who invests a lot of his own time, effort and imagination into the wood and we are grateful for all the hard work he has put into the site over the years and into this new venture.

Rob was on hand for the official opening of the woodland school on the 17th of July and he cut the ribbon with Mary Lucas. The children had all walked from the school for the occasion and it was wonderful to see and hear them all explore the area before we sat down to eat our lunch there with hot dogs provided by the school. Just the walk to the new woodland school is an adventure for the children with the school’s budget and the environment all benefitting from not having to use a bus.

Some of the children using the new woodland school in Corbet Wood may very well be future volunteers for the site.

The LEADER Programme is a funding stream that was introduced at the start of 2016.  It will bring a €2.54 million investment into Southern Shropshire, with the overall purpose of improving the economic wellbeing of the area through sustainable development, drawing on the area’s environmental and cultural assets and qualities.

To date 47 projects have been approved with a total grant allocation of £ 1,052,944.  The 47 projects are forecast to create 33.25 new jobs.

The Programme recently part-funded the development of a new café, plant sale area and local produce store, known as The Larch Barn at Landscape Plants (Cleobury) Ltd – a family-run business in Cleobury Mortimer selling trees and shrubs to landscape contractors.  As a result of the grant funding, 4 jobs will be created and the business will grow.

To find out more about the Southern Shropshire LEADER Programme or to discuss a potential project idea, please contact the LEADER Programme Manager at Shropshire Council on 01743 254796, email:  SouthernShropshireLeader@shropshire.gov.uk or for further information visit

www.shropshire.gov.uk/funding-opportunities/leader-programme-funding

Shropshire Council owns and manages some of Shropshire’s most iconic, accessible and interesting countryside sites and the extensive network of footpaths, bridleways and other Rights of Way, providing so many beautiful places to walk, cycle, ride and enjoy the great outdoors.  Government funding for Country Parks, Heritage Sites and Rights of Way management has recently halved and is under further pressure over the next few years. In response, Shropshire Council has put an ambitious plan together to raise income to help ensure that the future of these wonderful sites, and one of the largest Rights of Way networks in the UK, is safeguarded for everyone’s enjoyment.

You can join Shropshire’s Great Outdoors for just £3/month.  To find out more, how to join and the benefits of joining just click on the image.