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Home arrow B.E.S.T. - Environmental
Bardwell Environmental Survey Team (B.E.S.T)

Report from Chris Gane. May 2008.

I am standing in the churchyard watching two volunteers hard at work on an old tree stump. The tree died some time ago and has since been felled, but now the task is to remove the very large old stump and level the ground, making it easier for cutting the grass in this part of the churchyard. Quite a lot of man-hours have already been put into this; the stump is now out of the ground and at this moment is having large pieces sawn off it, whilst the gaping hole is being filled in. The hardworking volunteers are, of course, Bob Dunsdon and Barry Felton, two members of the BEST committee.
Bob and Barry have worked extremely hard on a number of major projects and have enabled BEST to really make a difference in the churchyard. I am full of admiration and thank them most sincerely for the many practical things they do for us all. We also have a wider band of volunteers who help us on our bi-monthly work-parties and when I look round the churchyard I can see so much that has been achieved by what is a large group of people from the village. Thank you to everyone who has given us this practical help over the years that BEST has been in operation.

In 2002, as a result of the village appraisal, BEST was born. So next month, June, we celebrate our sixth birthday with a short annual meeting at the beginning of a churchyard work-party on the last Saturday in June, the 28th 10.00am – 12.noon. Do please make a note of the date now and come along to help us. There are all sorts of things to do including, we hope and weather permitting, raking in the long grass which will just have been cut that week.

BEST is at something of a cross-roads. There are a number of different directions we could take, but to grasp the opportunities before us we need more help. Please can you take on any of the following?
(a)The need to keep our churchyard in good order, as highlighted in the village appraisal, continues to be a priority. Practical work is invaluable, but we need one or two people to help organise and manage the responsibilities we have in the churchyard.

b) We have the possibility of developing some conservation areas in the village, together with DEFRA and one of our local farmers.  We need someone, or some people, who could take on a leadership role in what could be a very exciting project for the whole village.  There are some other possible projects that could come under this heading, special areas of planting for instance, all of which could attract grants.  Is this something you could do?
(c)  We have been asked to complete the County-wide Hedgerow survey in our parish.  We started preparing for this in 2003.  For various reasons it did not get off the ground. We are now being urged to have a second go at it.  It would be very worthwhile, but we do need someone to organise and manage it.  This is a very wild-life friendly project!  It would be ideal for walkers keen to explore the countryside within our parish boundary.

Regretfully, I shall have to resign from BEST, since Maureen and I are moving from Bardwell shortly.  It is such a worthwhile organisation in this village and through it we have got to know many people and made many friends.  So many people in the village have helped us and my sincere thanks to them all, and especially to our gallant committee, Ian Beyer, Bob Dunsdon, Barry Felton, Tim Cavell and Delyse Ray.  Both Maureen and I shall miss you all!
 

AGM and WORK-PARTY IN THE CHURCHYARD

Saturday 28th June 2008
10.00am – 12.00noon

To those who very kindly help on these occasions and to everyone who would like to give us a hand!

We start at 10.00am with a brief BEST Annual Meeting, in the Church Porch, with coffee, and then … down to work!

Please come along and help us clearing, tidying, levelling and working on some old graves. We hope to have the long grass cut in the preceding week so help with raking the grass will be invaluable. We shall be delighted to see you.

 

HISTORY OF B.E.S.T.

B.E.S.T. was established in 2002 as a wildlife and environmental action group for Bardwell village. Its formation was one of the outcomes of the Village Appraisal The aim is to understand the environment and wildlife and to find ways of maintaining and enhancing such features in the parish.

Everyone who lives in the parish of Bardwell is a member.

The general management of BEST is by a committee, the members of this committee are elected at the Annual General Meeting.

Committee members elected in June 2007

Chris Gane - Chairman.

Barry Felton - Treasurer and Secretary.

Ian Beyer.

Tim Cavell.

Bob Dunsdon.

Delyse Ray.

Please contact us if interested in joining the Committee or have any questions .

 

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