Children have worked with a Carlisle community group and others to celebrate their local park’s wildlife and history.
The city’s Hammond’s Pond now has new interpretation boards, thanks to the combined effort of a community group, the council, a local artist, a wildlife charity and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Existing interpretation boards had, during recent years, become tired and defaced by vandalism.
Volunteers at The Friends of Hammond’s Pond had been discussing the possibility of installing new boards and were keen to see the involvement of local young people in the project.
Conversations over two years ago with Colin Glover, the then leader of Carlisle City Council and Currock and Upperby councillor, led to Ruth Alcroft, of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, getting involved. Ruth was working on Nextdoor Nature, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which aimed to support communities to engage with nature on their doorstep.
Ruth got in touch with St Margaret Mary School who suggested their year six pupils could help research the nature and wildlife that lived in an around Hammonds Pond, resulting in a class visit to the site and an array of fact files and illustrations.
Ruth, now volunteer manager for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “It all came together very quickly. The students had finished their SATs and had the capacity to do the research we needed.
“With their teachers, they visited the park and made really detailed sketches of the insects, plants and animals they observed. From there, they created a beautiful range of work covering the variety of wildlife, from bees and bullfinches, to spiders and swans.
“Their work was absolutely stunning, so good that the managers of the park café offered to display it for us during the last summer break.
“It’s wonderful that Sophie Feinhols, local artist at Little Stringers Design Studio, was inspired by the children’s work and has now brought it into her own work so beautifully in her design of these new information boards.
“I’m delighted that all of this work will be on display, showcasing the local wildlife and history here at Hammond’s Pond.”
