It’s been lovely to see Spring arrive with some warmer weather, the trees getting greener and blossom coming out, particularly on the fruit trees in the orchard. The wet March has meant that the wetland pond has been an attractive venue for frogs and toads to spawn again this year.There remain some tadpoles in the pond, but I received reports of some people collecting the frogs pawn and even taking it away in trugs! Frogs,Toads and Newts are protected species and frog or toad spawn should not be removed from the pond. The purpose of the pond is to improve the biodiversity of the area and last year I saw many children enjoying the sight of the many tadpoles turning into small frogs. So please help us by not removing any frogspawn or tadpoles in future years.

All of the apple trees we planted last year have survived the winter and we added to the orchard by planting 6 pear trees, 2 crab apple trees and a mulberry tree. Natural Kirklees have recently awarded a grant for us to construct a bee bank for solitary bees adjacent to the orchard and that project will commence during the summer. Other work that has been undertaken by our volunteers has been sowing some more wildflower seed around the pond and on bare ground, including molehills. We have planted some oak trees donated to us, undertaken hedge maintenance and refurbishment of the benches, and cleaned out bird boxes ready for the nesting season. We also helped Friends of Honley Library by undertaking some clearance work on their gardens. New notice boards, provided by Allsops, have been erected at the entrances to Magdale Fields from Coach Lane and from Magdale.These will be used to provide information about the area and promote Village Trust activities. A Tree Safety Survey will be undertaken in the next few months thanks to a grant provided by Holme Valley Parish Council, and this may lead to some additional work being required on the trees on Magdale. We understand the attraction of Magdale for cyclists, particularly mountain bikers, but the paths running through the fields and woods are footpaths and there are signs erected by the Trust and Kirklees that say that cycling is not permitted. We’d be grateful if all cyclists could adhere to this requirement. Thanks to all of the volunteers for their work on Magdale.