Save the date - our Family Nature Day is this July!Taking place on Sunday 27th July 2025, 10:30 am - 3:00 pm, meeting at the Wildlife Discovery Area, Marina Drive, Shireoaks
Activities include:
- Bug hotel building
- Pond dipping
- Butterfly & dragonfly counts
- Narrowboat trips along Chesterfield Canal
Funded by Asda Foundation this will be bookable for schools and community groups to use.
Wildlife on my doorstep
Summer is normally a time of year for the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green volunteers to sit back and enjoy the wildlife around us. But this year we are hosting our very first Family Nature Day on the Wildlife Discovery Area, Marina Drive, Shireoaks on Sunday 27th July from 10.30am – 3.00pm.
With Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, The National Trust, British Dragon fly Society, Chesterfield Canal Trust, Nottinghamshire Bat Group and Nottinghamshire Amphibian and Reptile Group, we will host a day of activities for you to learn wonderful new things about the wildlife and nature on your doorstep including pond dipping, butterfly counts and nature hunts.
Pop along and get involved, there is something for everyone of all ages to get involved. You don't need to be an expert but if you’ve counted birds or butterflies in your garden or local greenspace then you probably are! Enthusiasm and curiosity really are all you need!
We will also officially be opening our bird hide, funded by Asda Foundation which will be bookable for schools and community groups to use it.
Getting involved in nature identification is a fantastic way to explore nature on your doorstep
There are many ways we can all ‘do our bit’ for the environment, from recycling our bottles and cans, to caring for a local beauty spot so why not try monitoring wildlife and recording what you see. It benefits both you and nature.
You don’t need any special equipment, and data can be submitted in apps such as iRecord or Seek by iNaturalist to help identify the plants and animals all around you see and earn badges for seeing different types of birds, amphibians, plants, and fungi and participate in monthly observation challenges.
We are starting to build a picture of the plants, insects and birds we have on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green, and it would be great to have you contribute to this.
8 ways you can get involved
Here are some simple ways you can start:
Spend an hour on the Wildlife Discovery Area or in your garden and identify and record the different species of birds that you see. All the tools you need to learn how to identify and record the birds are provided, so why not try it next time?
Butterfly Conservation Big Butterfly Count
Spend just 15 minutes in a sunny spot watching and identifying butterflies, using a downloadable chart provided by the Butterfly Conservation. You then log your findings on their app. The Coronation Meadow is a great spot for this in the summer months.
Ever wondered how a noisy road might affect the way insects communicate? Pick an area beside the road and record audio for 5 minutes. Then write down any insects that you observe.
Use the digital splatometer to count the squashed bugs on your number plate before and after a journey!
Ensuring hedgehogs can pass freely through your garden is one of the most important things you can do to help them, so why not work with your neighbours to create a hedgehog highway then record it on this map?
Log plants with the National Plant Monitoring Scheme
Don’t let plants be left behind, they are the foundation of all our ecosystems. Record the plants you see in a 1km square on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green and record the species you see in the app.
Take a walk around the Woodlands and Coachwood Green once a month and record online which bumblebees you see.
Help map amphibian activity across the UK. It’s easy to take part in the PondNet Spawn Survey and help them, have a look in the pond on the Wildlife Discovery Area and log any sightings of Common Frog and Common Toad spawn
And finally, come along to our family nature day to learn more about any of these.
Volunteering Opportunities
With warmer and longer days, summer is a perfect time to try volunteering with Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green. Enjoy nature in all its glory and make an enormous difference for wildlife by helping us care for the site and wildlife on our doorstep. You don’t have to make a huge commitment – start small by joining a one-off event. Or take on a regular role to help with monitoring wildlife and much more.
Get involved today and make a difference, you never know where your volunteering might take you!
Keep up to date with the latest news and activities from the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green by following us on Facebook @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen
You can also sign up to receive our newsletter for more details on our events and activities Woodlands and Coachwood Green Newsletter or simply email us at infowoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com
Enjoy the nature on your doorstep on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green
Spring is in the air!
Spring is a fantastic time to explore the Woodlands and Coachwood Green as nature bounces back to life and shows off all its new colours and textures. New leaves stretch out among the trees on the Woodlands and the new woodland created on Coachwood Green and vibrant wildflowers start to carpet the Coronation Meadow whilst the air is filled with the sound of buzzing and birdsong.
It can be an excellent reminder of what we can do to help the diverse wildlife around us both at home and in our community. You can help the wildlife during your visit to the Woodlands and Coachwood Green including ground nesting birds and precious flowers, with simple actions like sticking to paths and taking your litter home.
We can all make a difference for wildlife so here’s some things the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green will be doing, which you join in with or do at home. We have been fortunate to receive a small amount of funding from the Asda Foundation to support our activities on the Wildlife Discovery Area.
Make a wildlife pond.
A pond can make a world of difference for wildlife – it can be an essential drinking and bathing spot for birds, bats, dragonflies and mammals. It doesn’t need be big or over-complicated –as long as animals can get in and out safely.
The wildlife pond on the Wildlife Discovery Area is evolving naturally, with the grasses and reeds from wind
pollination. We will be cutting back the growth on the island before the nesting season and planting some insect pollinator marginal plants to attract the bees, butterflies and dragonflies.
Swans, Heron, Moorhen have all be spotted on the pond and you may have also noticed the Bat boxes we have put up, which Men in Sheds, a local Workshop charity made. Snails are also in pond filtering the water and keeping it clean.
We are planning to hold a citizen science and nature identification workshop in the summer which hopefully will include some pond dipping so we can start to find out what species we have in the pond.
Plant a Tree
Trees have immense benefits for wildlife; leaves, flowers, bark and branches are home to a whole host of species. Planting a single tree will make a difference - insects will feed on the leaves and pollen, and birds will eat those insects and may build their nests among the foliage.
The Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green have planted 8 standard trees on the Wildlife Discovery Site this tree planting season.
Build a log pile
You can boost biodiversity with a log pile. Placed in a quiet, shady area, the nooks and crannies provide smaller species with refuge from hot spring and summer sunshine as well as a safe spot to hibernate when winter comes. Packed with woodlice, spiders, beetles and centipedes, it will prove an irresistible hunting ground for hedgehogs, frogs, toads, shrews and birds too.
On the Wildlife Discovery Area we have two mounds which provide refuge for amphibians to bask and log piles. As we coppice the Woodlands we will build more log piles on the Wildlife Discovery Area, anyone is welcome to come along and help make them.
Plant wildlife-friendly flowers
A wildflower mix can attract bees, butterflies, ladybirds and more which are essential to our ecosystem and food production.
Native Wildflower seeds are Easy to grow and maintain, they can be scattered anywhere. We are lucky to have the only Coronation Wildflower Meadow in the county on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green.
The Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green will be wildflower seeding the borders on the car park.
Hang up bird feeders
Many people recognise that feeding birds in the spring is equally as important as feeding in the winter. Extra food can help restore birds to good condition for breeding and provide energy to mate, nest and raise chicks, especially if the weather is cold or wet. We will be hanging our feeders made for us by Men in Sheds and we are planning to have an opening event of the Bird Hide, if you are a community group or a keen wildlife spotter who would like to use the Bird Hide please contact infowoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com
And finally, Volunteer
With warmer and longer days, spring is a perfect time to try volunteering with Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green. Enjoy nature in all its glory and make an enormous difference for wildlife by helping us care for the site and wildlife on our doorstep. You don’t have to make a huge commitment – start small by joining a one-off event. Or take on a regular role to help with monitoring wildlife and much more.
Enjoy the wildlife in the Woodlands and Coachwood Green 
Great British Spring Clean Up Litter Pick – 29th & 30th March 10:30am -1.30pm
The Friends are once again doing the Great British Spring Clean Up, join in for an hour it’s always fun and time well spent. Meet in the Marina Drive car park for a 10,30am start, all kit will be supplied.
If you are new to the village and may not know who we are or how you can get involved. We are a group of volunteers, formed in November 2011, who support Nottinghamshire County Council in managing the Woodlands and Coachwood Green as a local green space, the former Shireoaks Colliery site. Anyone is welcome to join the Friends group and there are a variety of ways in which you can get involved including;
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We've recently had some bat boxes put up, we're so excited to be able to observe more bats in our woodlands.
Make sure you check them out when you next visit and share your photos with us!
Thank you to local charity, Men in Sheds, Worksop for making them for us.
Taking time to reflect on Summer and Autumn, the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green have been busy. We started the Summer with our first nature identification event held in collaboration with the National Trust, as part of the Big Help Out Volunteers week, where volunteers recorded sightings of wildflowers, butterflies and birds. Using apps like ‘irecord’ we are able to build up a database of our local nature as well as contribute to wider national surveys. We hope to be able to build on this and run more nature identification days.
We held our Annual General Meeting in June with a guest speaker from the Beeston Wildlife Trust who talked to us about wildlife gardening highlighting things we can do in our gardens to be more nature friendly, from wildlife ponds, log piles and species of plants to grow. We are sad to see the departure of John Rogers who stepped down as our Treasurer after being in the role since the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green began in 2011 and we thank John for his valuable contribution for over a decade and wish him and his family well.
In September we invited the Nottinghamshire Bat Group for a bat walk and talk around the Woodlands and along the canal, we were all excited to set off with detectors to listen and see the bats, of which there were many at dusk over the water. If there is interest, we will certainly look to do this again.
Our monthly task days on site started back up again after the summer break and we have spent the autumn pruning and cutting back the summer growth as well as the regular litter picking. Our monthly task days on site take place on the third Saturday of each month.
Following the vandalism to the Viewpoint sculpture, we have successfully crowdfunded around £1300 to contribute towards a new one. We have engaged the original community artist who worked with us on the first project and we are currently looking for match funding and hoping we can kick this project off in 2025.
And finally, we are really pleased to have received a Wilder Nottinghamshire award from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust recognising our positive active for nature and the environment. This really boosted our volunteers knowing what they are doing is recognised by the wider community. We couldn’t do what we do without our amazing team of volunteers.
Let us know what kind of activities you would like to take part in next year as we are currently planning, such as community litter picking, building log piles and wildlife havens, expert walk and talks, nature identification.
We have many volunteering roles ranging from practical onsite work to treasurer or helping organise community events. Feel free to contact us if you think you can contribute.
As the days grow shorter and colder, you might normally expect activity on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green to go into hibernation, but the winter season is just as busy. As you take a walk around the Woodlands here are a few things for you to look out for.
By December, most deciduous trees have lost their leaves, so take time to check out their bark such as the papery white silver birches and bright berries of holly and Rowan.
These winter berries are a fabulous supply of food for wildlife in winter.
Credit: Woodland Trust
Our native wild primrose is common and widespread across the UK.
Keep an eye out for wild primroses on the Woodlands with their delicate yellow blooms appearing in woods and hedgerows in December.
You should be able to hear birds defending their territory such as the Robin, this little bird is one of the few you can hear year-round as it sings to defend its winter territory and start wooing a mate ready for spring.
For those who are new to the village and may not know who we are or how you can get involved.
We are a group of volunteers, formed in November 2011, who support Nottinghamshire County Council in managing the Woodlands and Coachwood Green as a local green space, the former Shireoaks Colliery site. Anyone is welcome to join the Friends group and there are a variety of ways in which you can get involved.
Volunteering roles available on Bassetlaw Volunteer Community Service (BVCS) website
Many members of the Friends group often attend our regular monthly task days on the third weekend of the month on the site. If you'd like to get involved in helping, then we would love to hear from you – everyone is welcome.
Email: Infowoodlandsandandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen
We are delighted to announce that we have been selected to receive an award in the Wilder Nottingham Awards, Wilder Community category!
You can read about the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust awards here: www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/news/wilder-nottinghamshire-awards-2024-winners-announced
In November the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust presented us with our certificate:
We have a wide range of volunteering opportunities to support the local community and look after our local nature!
Head to the BCVS website to find out more about our opportunities:
Do you have an interest in the natural environment, want to get out into the great outdoors and don’t mind getting your hands dirty? We need volunteers to join our conservation work on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green that offers you the chance to try your hand at a wide variety of tasks and helping to maintain the site. Activities range from scrub clearance, tree planting, hedge laying, pruning through to repairing signs, cleaning and maintaining nesting boxes, litter picking - all depending on the season.
Practical conservation volunteers meet on a monthly work day to carry out a wide range of tasks on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green. Volunteers help conserve, enhance and maintain the habitats of the site by supporting the Site Management Plan and assisting Nottinghamshire County Council with the practical management of the site with varied tasks. You will be working as part of a fantastic team of volunteers of diverse ages and backgrounds who come together to work towards improving the environment, either through organised events such as tree planting or through regular monthly workdays.
Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green are an established Community Group based at Shireoaks, that works to develop, maintain and enhance the former Shireoaks Colliery now known as Woodlands and Coach Wood Green. We do this in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council and we have recently leased an area which is being developed as a Wildlife Discovery Area, to create a place where people can visit to learn about the habitats and species.
We are solely funded by grant funding and we have an exciting opportunity for a volunteer to support with fundraising, This primarily involves:
1. Researching grant-making organisations
2. Contribute to bid writing for grant/trust applications
3. Outreach to community funds and trusts
4. Develop and broaden corporate support where applicable
5. Bringing new and innovative ideas for fundraising to the group
We would like to find volunteers to help with our community event planning, organising and delivering. We normally hold a monthly conversation volunteer day on site and have a small budget to provide community events to engage local schools, community groups and the community as a whole in nature.
We are looking for a volunteer to help with:
Supporting the development and delivery of a programme of activities to be delivered during the year;
Co-ordinating events, including - promotion and advertising, inviting community groups and local schools, ensuring all event equipment and material for the event are available, arranging any outside help as needed;
Ensuring events are inclusive to all members of the community.
The Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green is a volunteer group who helps maintain and enhance biodiversity and nature on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green. We are currently looking for a volunteer Treasurer to join our management committee along with the Chair person and the Secretary. We hold an annual general meeting and meet two other times a year remotely. As a committee there will also be email and whatsapp correspondence. As a voluntary treasurer you will be responsible for these kinds of tasks:
Preparing a financial summary for the Annual General Meeting of the group.
Keeping an ongoing record of all group income/expenditure using a Monthly Account Spreadsheet and ensuring all expenses and invoices are paid on time.
Administering the group’s bank account, including potentially banking any cash or cheques, and acting as a card holder.
Holding all paperwork and records relevant to the group’s finances and submitting to Companies House annually
Owning the groups financial procedure in the Group Handbook and updating as required.
Facebook: @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen
Email: Infowoodlandsandandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com
The summer months are a time for us to keep conservation work to a minimum and allow nature just to get on and do its thing and we can enjoy seeing our efforts over the winter months come to life as wildflowers bloom, insects buzz and all the trees we have planted flower and fruit.
Summer on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green is a time of colour and activity, both by day and night. Dragonflies and damselflies can be seen darting across the wetlands on the Wildlife Discovery Area, while butterflies’ flit between the flowers on the Coronation Meadow. And as darkness falls bats swoop through the air and moths start the pollinator night shift
Buzzards regularly hunt for their prey over Woodlands together with Sparrow hawks and Kestrels. A Red Kite, rare for this area, has been seen. You may even spot the shy Muntjac deer at only 13kg believed to be the smallest deer in the UK, feeding on grasses, seeds, herbs and even birds’ eggs although more common sight though would be the rabbits or foxes.
If you are interested in wildlife and have a general love of nature, you may want to do something to help conserve it. And we’re inviting you to take part in a really important activity to record and share details of the wildlife you see on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green. You’d be joining thousands of volunteers across the UK, who are gathering essential information to help protect and restore nature.
Every decision that’s made about the environment – whether it’s where to create a new nature reserve, or where to build a new supermarket or housing development – depends on accessible wildlife information. By taking part in wildlife recording, you can help ensure that these important decisions are based on the best and most up-to-date information.
On Saturday 8th June as part of the Big Help Out weekend we will be partnering with the National Trust to hold a nature identification day on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green, so you can be actively involved in recording wildlife.
If you are new to recording, you may not be very confident about identifying different species, but don’t let that put you off – enthusiasm for finding out more is a great way to start. There’s a huge and welcoming community of experienced wildlife enthusiasts out there and many digital apps and resources so help is readily available. Before you know it, you’ll be hooked on recording wildlife, and knowledgeable enough to help others who are just starting out!
This is something you can then continue doing regularly on your visits to the Woodlands and Coachwood Green or do as a school visit or community group visit.
Building up this database of species are on the Woodlands and Coachwood Green will help us as a community to protect this open space for everyone to enjoy.
We look forward to everyone sharing their sightings and seeing if we have anything rare and protected on our local doorstep.
For those who are new to the village and may not know who we are or how you can get involved.
We are a group of volunteers, formed in November 2011, who support Nottinghamshire County Council in managing the Woodlands and Coachwood Green as a local green space, the former Shireoaks Colliery site. Anyone is welcome to join the Friends group and there are a variety of ways in which you can get involved.
Many members of the Friends group often attend our regular monthly workdays on the site. If you'd like to get involved in helping, then we would love to hear from you – everyone is welcome.
6th June 2024 - 80th Anniversary D-Day Beacon Lighting
8th June 2024 - Big Help Out Nature Identification Day with the National Trust
18th July 2024 - Annual General Meeting
Email: Infowoodlandsandandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen
At the time of writing this we are hopefully on the cusp of spring, but there is still a wintry chill hanging in the air. February is a busy month for the Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green as we get ready for the warmer days ahead.
With the tree planting season coming to an end we completed the UK Government Trees for Climate project on Coachwood Green and with National Nest Box Week on the 14th February, it was also a perfect time to put up our bird boxes which had been very kindly made for us by the local charity, Men in Sheds.
We are very excited to be entering the warmer months with our new Wildlife Discovery Area completed and open to the public. The wetlands, trees, native hedgerows and wildflower meadow have been created to attract a range of wildlife from birds, amphibians, and pollinators including bees and butterflies.
We would like to thank our funders, Nottinghamshire County Council Local Communities Fund, National Grid Community Matters Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund for enabling us to create this space for everyone to discover and learn about the habitats, species and birds located at the heart of the Woodlands and Coachwood Green.
Spring is a time when everything is growing and bursting into life, plants and flowers begin to grow, trees begin to bud, and the sun begins to get stronger. Birds are singing, leaves are unfolding, butterflies are starting to be seen and mammals are beginning to wake from their winter sleep. It can feel like a breath of fresh air after being cooped up indoors for the last few months. The Wildlife Discovery Area is the ideal spot to get out and enjoy it and share your wildlife sightings.
The site is available to local schools and community groups who would like to use it for forest days or outdoor nature-based learning as well as for individuals to sit and observe and we will host community events for everyone to get involved in learning about nature and wildlife on our doorstep.
On February 10th we held a community tree planting day on Coachwood Green, this site was chosen by Nottinghamshire County Council as part of the Trees for Climate programme led by England’s Community Forests and Greenwood Community Forest.
This new area of Woodland on Coachwood Green will become an open green space for the community with a heritage orchard at the entrance.
Around 100 Volunteers of all ages came out to plant 550 trees including Oak, Rowan, Field Maple, Birch Holly, Hazel, Wild Cherry, Plus 10 Fruit trees (Apple, Pear, Plum, Damson and Cherry) to create a community orchard. This was an amazing day, the weather was kind to us and many new friendships were formed. Many thanks to everyone who volunteered their time in organising the day and planting a tree or two.
At the time of writing the school planting days had not taken place, as both St Lukes in Shireoaks and Haggonfields in Rhodesia took part in the tree planting.
The new paths have been put in and the site will be maintained by Nottinghamshire County Council and remain fenced off until the trees have established, in a couple of years time this will be a great new additional green space for the local community.
For those who are new to the village and may not know who we are or how you can get involved.
We are a group of volunteers, formed in November 2011, who support Nottinghamshire County Council in managing the Woodlands and Coachwood Green as a local green space, the former Shireoaks Colliery site. Anyone is welcome to join the Friends group and there are a variety of ways in which you can get involved.
Many members of the Friends group often attend our regular monthly work days on the site. If you'd like to get involved in helping, then we would love to hear from you – everyone is welcome.
You can be a Litterhero, on the 23rd and 24th March we will be taking part in the Great British Spring Clean supported by Bassetlaw District Council. You can help make an immediate and visible difference to our local community and protect the local wildlife from harm as they can easily get caught up or injured by litter.
We shall share more details about this soon #Litterheroes2024
Email: Infowoodlandsandandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen
This year seems to have flown by, but the Friends of Woodlands have been busy as normal, maintaining the site, clearing it of litter and rubbish to the best of our abilities, as fast as we do it, it is there again.
With the help and expertise of our Chairman we have been fortunate to have obtained grants to complete the Wildlife Discovery Site, and by the time you read this newsletter it should have been completed. We have had problems on the way, quite a bit of vandalism, extremely wet weather and long delivery on materials and equipment, but we have not been deterred.
We have erected fencing, planted 8 specimen standard trees, spread flower seeds throughout the site, not sure if the wet weather will affect germination of the seed, cleared the excessive reed growth out of the pond, and installed 2 new benches. Now the area is complete.
Men in Sheds a voluntary organisation in Worksop have been busy making us bat, bird boxes and feeding stations all to be erected in the New Year in readiness for the breeding season. We had a highly successful turnout of volunteers’ adults and children to help plant the hedging around the site and school children from Haggonfields School came to site to plant tree saplings, all the saplings, not disturbed, appear to be growing well. As you have no doubt seen new gates have been installed at the entrance of the site and we have installed sign boards. We think a worthwhile project for all to enjoy, we hope that friends and families will come along use it to sit and observe the wildlife and its surroundings. We now need to improve the biodiversity. For this we will be looking to volunteers building log piles, rubble piles, planting reeds, and improving the pond edges.
The next venture which was fully detailed in the last issue of the newsletter is on Coach Wood Green {formerly the pony field} where we have been selected for the Trees for Climate programme led by England’s Community Forests and Greenwood Community Forest. We feel it is an honour for Shireoaks to be chosen for this prestigious project and The Friends of Woodlands and Coachwood Green are happy to support this to develop more woodlands and open green space for the community to enjoy.
The project hosted by Nottinghamshire County Council who are delivering the programme across the county, more information can be found: https://www.greenwoodforest.org.uk/helping-greenwood-to-grow/grow-your-roots
We expect this project to commence at the end of November if you would like to be part of these projects as an individual, family, community group please contact us.
Contact Details
Email: Infowoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen@gmail.com
Follow us on Facebook: @friendsofwoodlandsandcoachwoodgreen