Come to the Save Old Park
Campaign Meeting

7.00 pm on Monday 24 March at the Friends Meeting House

This is an invitation to an open evening to hear about the Campaign to Save Old Park and to explore how individuals and groups can get involved.

The recent move by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to put its land in Old Park up for sale is causing widespread concern among local people.  In response the Friends of Old Park & Chequers Wood have initiated a campaign to save this much-loved green space for the people of Canterbury and for its wealth of wildlife.

The campaign will involve working with partners to find a way to protect the site, and raising funds.  Funds are urgently needed now for running the campaign and, in the future, may be used for the acquisition and / or the management of Old Park for conservation and public recreation purposes.

There is much to do and we need help if we are to save Old Park for future generations. So we are looking for volunteers to take action with us and be a part of this important campaign. Volunteers are needed for delivering leaflets, posting on social media, putting up posters, talking with potential donors, raising money, thanking donors, giving talks about the campaign, leading walks and other activities.

If you are interested in getting involved in these or any other ways please come along to the Campaign meeting at 7.00 pm on Monday 24 March or get in touch now on the link below.  The meeting will take place in the Friends Meeting House, 6 The Friars, Canterbury, CT1 2AS.

Packed AGM applauds new
Research on Archaeological Findings 

We are extremely grateful to Professor Alastair Key from the Archaeology Department at the University of Cambridge for giving such an inspiring talk about the international significance of Old Park’s archaeology at our AGM on 3 March. It is amazing to think that Old Park is the oldest excavatable archaeological site in Britain and one of the oldest in northern Europe!  Recent research by Alastair and his team show that some of the handaxes found are over 700,000 years old.

The meeting also provided the opportunity to formally launch our campaign to save Old Park.  The evening demonstrated the huge level of support for the Campaign, with the hall packed with people and many more standing in the hall and kitchen to hear the talk and follow the discussion.  We sincerely apologise to those who were unable to get in.

Over 200 Evidence Statements
for Our Asset of Community Value (ACV) application!

A huge thank you to everyone who submitted an evidence statement to support our application to Canterbury City Council to have Old Park registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV). We received well over 200 Statements from local residents, academics, clubs and naturalists.  We were aiming for 100 statements, so double this figure is a fantastic result.

It has been a real privilege to read all the statements and see how important Old Park is to the local community.  We have featured a number of statements on our Facebook group (Friends of Old Park & Chequers Wood) and shown the range of different ways in which people use Old Park for recreation, including for painting, as illustrated in the beautiful picture below.

We will be submitting our ACV application to Canterbury City Council this week, together with all the evidence statements and a covering letter from lawyers challenging the objections that the Ministry of Defence raised when we submitted a previous application last year. If our application is successful, it will give the community six months to raise the money to acquire the site if no other conservation organisation or public body steps up to do so in the meantime.

What to look out for in March!

This month marks the beginning of spring, and it is lovely to see the lesser celandines and wood anemones appearing in some of the wooded areas of Old Park & Chequers Wood (see photos below). Wood anemones are beautiful white and yellow star-shaped flowers which are considered to be an indicator of ancient woodland (land which has been continuously covered in woodland since 1600).

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER

We welcome contributions to this newsletter, from contributors young and old, in the form of writings, photos, pictures or whatever else you would like to add.

Please send comments and feedback to: info@canterburyoldpark.org.uk