Local Producer Donates Funds to Raise Awareness of one of Bowland's Special Habitats

15th September 2021

Through funds raised from sales of Goosnargh Gin's 'Hay Time', a re-wild the child project was able to secure educational resources to support visits for youngsters to learn about the special hay meadows in the Forest of Bowland National Landscape.

Goosnargh GinHay Time is just one of Goosnargh Gin’s creations which are distilled in small batches in their bespoke copper still Bea in the shadow of Beacon Fell. The company uses local, organic and sustainably grown botanicals to produce a limited number of their unique distillation, the fourth ‘Chapter’ in their range of gins, from Bowland's Coronation Meadows.

The wildflower-rich Coronation Meadows are located at Bell Sykes Farm in Slaidburn and they act as a living seedbank – one of the last unimproved flower-rich grasslands in this part of Lancashire. Peter Blackwell, the farmer at Bell Sykes Farm lets the grasses grow much longer before cutting and bailing, so that the seeds can develop and then be used to regenerate wildflower meadows elsewhere.

During 2020, for every bottle of Hay Time gin sold, Goosnargh Gin donated £5 to Champion Bowland.  Owners Richard and Rachel Trenchard were keen to support a project in the Forest of Bowland that would provide educational visits for youngsters to learn about the importance of protecting these wonderful habitats.

Chair of Champion Bowland Mike Pugh said: 'We were delighted to receive £600 from Goosnargh Gin, with a particular focus on supporting an educational project within the Forest of Bowland, linked to the hay meadows.  Working with the National Landscape, we were able to find the ideal project to support these aims. Located at the Gathering Fields - a site already working in partnership with the National Landscape to restore their own hay meadows – is the project 'Re-wild the child'.

Re-wild the child, based at the Gathering Fields near Abbeystead, is a grass roots project in its early stages, raising funds and awareness for the rewilding of a wildflower meadow and providing opportunities for educational visits. Supporting small groups and charities that would not normally be able to access our beautiful countryside.

Gathering Fields - Re-wild the child projectHelen Leece, owner of the Gathering Fields said: 'We started working in 2019 with the National Landscape's Hay Time Rescue Project, continuing in 2021 through the Green Recovery Fund delivered by Plantlife's Meadow Makers project, restoring our 4-acre meadow, adding seed and plug plants. The transformation to date has been wonderful to see.  During the early summer months our hay meadow is a beautiful sight and is alive with the buzz of bees and insects, and we wanted to be able to open-up opportunities for young people to explore this wonderful habitat.  Our educational visits include discovering the healthy benefits on our wellbeing through nature-based activities, nutritional cooking, crafts, movement and plant identification.  The donation from Goosgnargh Gin through 'Hay Time' sales, has enabled us to purchase some useful resources to support the activities during these visits'. 

Carol Edmondson, Hay Time Project Officer for the National Landscape said: 'This type of partnership approach is at the centre of how we deliver projects across Bowland. It's fantastic to see it all tying together, from the restoration work here at the Gathering Fields and at Bells Sykes Farm, to increasing opportunities for the public, then linking that through to the National Landscape's tourism work and a local business with sustainable values being inspired to put something back.'

For further information about Bowland's Hay Time Project visit: https://www.forestofbowland.com/Hay-Time-Project and the charity Champion Bowland visit: http://www.championbowland.org/

To find out more about the Re-wild the Child project at the Gathering Fields visit: https://www.northernapproach.co.uk/

And for details of Goosgnargh Gin's Hay time bottling visit: https://goosnarghgin.co.uk/


Bowland Dark Skies Festival 2024

- 21st December 2023

Traditional Boundaries Training

- 21st November 2023

All-Terrain Wheelchair Demo Day

- 20th September 2023

Tramper Taster Day

- 22nd August 2023

Pendle Peat & Pie Challenge

- 26th April 2023

New Bowland Visitor Guide

- 20th February 2023

The Festival Continues!

- 10th October 2022

Hay Time Gets Creative!

- 3rd August 2022

REBELLION IN THE FOREST

- 20th July 2022

Langden Intake Gravel

- 1st July 2022

Meadow Art Workshops

- 23rd May 2022

Discovering Wonderful Waxcaps

- 9th September 2021

Tramper Taster Day

- 8th September 2021

Visiting Bowland

- 14th June 2021

Name that Bee!

- 13th April 2021

Meadow Makers Project

- 8th April 2021

Festival Bowland 2021 is here!

- 6th January 2021

COVID-19 Update

- 5th January 2021

Covid-19 Update

- 31st December 2020

Green Recovery Challenge Fund

- 10th December 2020

Bringing Home the Turf

- 7th December 2020

Let's Support Local This Christmas

- 26th November 2020

Photo Competition Winners

- 18th November 2020

COVID-19 Update 05.11.2020

- 5th November 2020

Best of Bowland Photo Competition

- 12th October 2020

New Discover Bowland website

- 29th September 2020

Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoety

- 26th August 2020

Festival Events Go Virtual

- 10th August 2020

Days to Remember

- 31st July 2020

Coronavirus Update

- 6th June 2020

COVID-19 Update

- 20th March 2020

Hay Time Rescue - Project Summary

- 11th February 2020

Bowland Dark Skies Festival

- 6th January 2020

What is Bowland Without its Trees?

- 3rd September 2019

Postcards for Kindness

- 4th July 2019

Meadows to Morris Dancing

- 10th June 2019

Tramper Taster Day

- 15th May 2019

Half a Kilometre of Hedge

- 24th January 2019

Wildflower meadow rescue mission

- 17th October 2018

Traditional Boundaries Training

- 20th September 2018

National Landscape Family's Week

- 13th September 2018

Bowland Heads Back to the Stone Age

- 12th September 2018

Bowland by Night

- 3rd September 2018

Meadow Magic

- 18th June 2018

June is Blooming!

- 15th May 2018

Bowland Wader Project Newsletter

- 22nd February 2018

Outstanding Week 2017

- 5th September 2017

Festival Bowland Fun in Autumn

- 22nd August 2017

Summer in Bowland

- 26th June 2017

Winter Hedge Laying Workshops

- 29th November 2016