By the middle of October we would normally expect the colder weather to have taken over however we had some lovely bright sunny days. On one particularly nice day in I went for a walk on the Duke of York Gardens and was treated to a beautiful and tranquil scene.

There was no litter to speak of and families were using the park as they should be, children were playing and feeding the ducks, although all the waterfowl have left the island for some reason they are still plenty left who consider the Bully and River Freshney their home. The reason why they have moved from the island is unclear but I have heard reports that a fox has been spotted on the island, I reported this to NELC’s wildlife officer who said that they didn’t have the resources to try and trap the Fox, however it would be likely to move away of it’s own accord eventually.

While I was walking through the park, I noticed a Squirrel. Nearby a young girl of 3 or 4 was feeding the ducks with her father and I pointed out the squirrel to them, the little girl was so excited as she ran after the squirrel who seemed to be playing chase with the little girl, her laughs and giggles were so sweet as she chased the furry fellow, after a few moments he’d soon had enough and darted up the nearest tree to safety.

The river was looking clean and healthy, most of the blanket weed had gone and there was no sign of litter, all of the bins were emptied and the whole area looked as pleasant as I have seen it in a long time. The only thing marring an otherwise idyllic scene was the damage done to the grass and verges by official vehicles, this is something that I have expressed my concern about on numerous occasions to the local authorities and I will continue to do so!

I have had a few problems with my camera so I decided to take some photos on my camera phone, although the quality isn’t as good they still show how much improved the park and river is looking. The Police, Community Wardens and new PCSO’s started high visibility patrolling during the summer, also the benches have been removed where a lot of vandalism and trouble occurred and since then we have not seen the same scale of problems as we have had in the past.

NELC are aware of the lack of resources on the park and they intend to resolve the issues working in partnership with the Friends of the Freshney and the local community. Many people have voiced their concerns at meetings held locally and plans are being put together to enhance and improve the park and river.

The River Freshney already has an area of Special Scientific Interest due to the rare Great Crested Newt residing along its banks; also Kingfishers have been spotted as well as the elusive Water Voles which are currently Brittan’s most endangered mammals. We also have Sparrow Hawks nesting nearby; they regularly visit my garden to devour their poor unfortunate prey.

There is such richness and variety of wildlife and habitats that we are truly fortunate to have this great natural resource on our doorsteps and anything that we can do to improve and enhance this has to be good for our area.

For further information on how you can help the Friends of the Freshney and the local environment, please email friends.freshney@ntlworld.com