This section of the website showcases what the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership have achieved with the help of the National Lottery Heritage Funding it received between 2015-2022. The grid below shows a small selection of the completed projects, and you can explore all projects via the “Our Projects” section. Search the “Resources” section for written resources that were produced between 2015-2022.
With the appointment of a Partnership Coordinator in March 2022 to ensure the Partnership remained active after the NLHF programme, work began delivering new projects under the Forward Plan. These included creating a drone film that celebrated the landscape and its history and a leaflet designed to make Greensand Country more accessible to groups that has previously had less exposure to the area.
The Forward Plan gave the Partnership its vision beyond the NLHF programme. Such was the strength of the Partnership, that the maintenance of exisiting projects was secured in kind by partners. The GCLP was therefore the first landscape partnership to develop a core team after the NLHF programme. The Forward Plan became the basis for how the partnership would operate in 2022 onwards.
May 2021 saw the culmination of our community art projects that celebrated the rich biodiversity and heritage of Greensand Country. Hosted at the Swiss Garden, Shuttleworth, the interactive art produced by Emily Tracey continues to be exhibited across Greensand Country, giving everyone the chance to appreciate it.
The first Greensand Country branded waymarking was installed. The three Destination Plus routes, promoted with Central Bedfordshire Council, targeted new developments and provided easy and interesting routes to explore the area. Other routes, including extensions and linkages to the Greensand Ridge Walk, historic parkland walks, and more local walks soon followed.
The Greensand Country website was launched as a centre point to hold, gather and distribute information about the area. The website promotes, educates and informs as well as providing an invaluable resource centre for charter members.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec vehicula risus maximus semper euismod. Vivamus tempus orci vel nisi vulputate, a finibus erat vulputate. Nunc maximus, ipsum eu tempus luctus, magna neque dictum enim, ut interdum felis nibh sit amet arcu.
Greensand Country made its mark across the landscape, with new gateway signage at the entrances to towns and villages. The signs, which sit beneath existing ‘welcome to…’ posts help residents and visitors to become better connected with the local landscape, wildlife, heritage and culture. An initial 15 town and parish councils across Greensand Country demonstrated they are proud to be in this area with new gateways in October 2019, with a total of 50 planned overall.
In order to increase engagement and encourage cross-promotion of Greensand Country, the partnership introduced a Charter scheme, a support network for businesses and organisations. By signing up to our Charter, businesses can enjoy the benefits of being a part of wider network that works together to support one another and the overall success of the local area.
Four apprentices were supported at organisations across Greensand Country, including the Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth, Clophill Heritage Trust, the Forest of Marston Vale, and with Tim Buckingham. This gave the Partnership the oppurtunity to upskill young people with knowledge on heritage and rural management, whilst also boosting their confidence, wellbeing, and employment prospects.
The Greensand Country Landscape Partnership launched its annual festival in May 2018, with a wide variety of events across Greensand Country over a long weekend. Events ranged from folk singers, local history exhibitions, guided walks, and wildlife workshops. The festival continues to be a key date in the Greensand Country calendar to this day.
November 2017 saw the first conference organised. Initially under the ‘Delving into History’ theme, the first year’s theme was ‘Woodland Archeology’. Subsequent years focused on ‘Monastic Heritage’ and ‘Resilient Habitats in Greensand Country’. The latter helped to shape how the GCLP would play an active role in future landscape recovery.
Having launched larger scale projects with partners earlier in the year, the GCLP launched four third party grant schemes. These allowed smaller community organisations, historic parkland owners, and heritage experts to apply for project funding. These helped to kickstart projects such as habitat enhancement, sandstone structure repairs, historic parkland tree planting and fencing, and heritage skill projects to raise awareness of our unique area.
A diverse array of organisations, some national bodies and some more local, joined forces within the Landscape Partnership to support the delivery of a wide project portfolio supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and many diverse sources of match funding.
Planning began on a wide portfolio of projects including major habitat restoration works with partners at the RSPB, the Wildlife Trust, and The Greensand Turst, community-based history and art projects, promoted routes to reveal Greensand Country, and heritage skills projects.
In Summer 2015, preparations began to assess the condition of the Greensand Country area as a landscape in decline. This would help to strategically target future projects and ensure landscape level recovery. These extensive surveys included the historic environment, our impressive historic parkland, unique sandstone structures, and the overall landscape character.
The idea of a partnership based in and around the Greensand Ridge was first formed in discussions between Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity and The Greensand Trust.
