Shaping the Future of Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue!
Earlier this year, the Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust (CYTAT) received some fantastic news: a generous £114,600 grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund! This amazing funding means we can keep the Avenue looking spectacular for years to come. With this long-term security, we’ve been able to focus on how we can best care for this very special place.
We’ve always wanted to get more local people involved in the hands-on care of these magnificent trees, so we started chatting with topiary experts to get their advice on how to restore those “yew-nique” designs and keep the trees healthy.
Our External National Heritage Lottery Evaluator, Graham Hackett (Osprey Delivers) stated, “Maintaining awareness and longevity in the protection and preservation of such heritage assets is critical, not only for the community but also for the nation. Considering Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue’s individual status within the UK heritage scene”
A Cut Above the Rest: Our Topiary Workshop
We did it! On Saturday, September 20th, we held two topiary training workshops, and they were a huge success. Twenty-five enthusiastic people came from Clipsham, Castle Bytham, and even further afield. Our expert tutors, Darren Lerigo from Modern Mint and Chris Poole (the former Chairman of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society), were absolutely brilliant.
‘It was great for Darren and me, as part of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society (UK), to assist in bringing back clarity and finesse to some of the designs in the avenue’s yew trees” (Chris Poole)
Both workshops were fantastic—the content was excellent, and everyone was really engaged. We got to see some high-quality shears and secateurs, and even better, we learned how to properly clean and sharpen our own tools. That was a real eye-opener for many of us!
Then, Darren and Chris led us to the yew trees themselves, sharing their topiary techniques and tips. Before we knew it, we were each assigned a tree and got to work clipping away!
The sessions were so enjoyable and informative, with lots of great questions and answers flowing between the tutors and participants. It was a lot of fun, and we all learned so much! The best part? We now have many more local people with the skills and knowledge to help secure even greater community involvement with the Avenue.
Patrick Candler, Chairman of Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust, said, ‘The topiary training event was a brilliant success all round. Both workshops were fully engaging, fun, and informative,where all participants learnt a lot and were able to get a real handle on what it takes to topiary. This is a real positive first for Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust, and it would be great to do it again next year.’
New Designs and Future Plans
As an extra treat, on the Friday before the workshops, Darren and Chris also got creative, crafting some brand new designs—including the National Lottery Heritage Fund logo!—and helping to refresh existing designs so they’re even clearer and more defined for visitors to enjoy. We were also delighted to have Graham Hackett, our National Lottery External Evaluator from Osprey Delivers, join us for the day to document the event.
We’re thrilled to have a growing community of people dedicated to preserving the beauty of the Avenue. If you want to know more or add your name to our list for future workshops, please email us at info@yewtreeavenue.co.uk. We will be running more sessions! Chris and Darren left us with, “Hopefully, we have also imparted the knowledge needed to get volunteers involved in the future care of this one-of-a-kind historic site.‘
https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/
#EBTSUK #ModernMint #NHLF #Topiary #YewTrees #CommunityEngagement #Communityinvolvement
