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UPDATE – RIDLINGTON PLAYING FIELD – QUESTIONNAIRE

I refer to the update sent to you on October 16th regarding the Playing Field including an important opportunity for you to help decide it’s future.

We hope you will complete as much of the questionnaire as you can. Your opinions and ideas are really important! Thank you.

Please click on the links below:-

Word Format – Questionnaire final

PDF Format – Questionnaire – Playing Field

Ruth Lees

Please note:- 
This questionnaire has been re-sent to you in a different format – a Word document.

For those of you who may not have Word but still wish to complete the document, please feel free to print the version in PDF and drop it into either Ruth Lees’ or Suzanne Baines. Thank you.

Apologies for the inconvenience in not attaching the two links together at the same time. Jackie

 

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AN UPDATE ON THE RIDLINGTON PLAYING FIELD

Please find below an update from The Trustees of the Charity – Ridlington Playing Field

You will no doubt be aware, The Playing Field and the Children’s Play Area have been closed to much activity this Summer. This is all due to the Covid19 pandemic, but most especially because the Trustees do not feel confident to safely operate the facility within the current regulations and guidelines.

As a result, you will have noticed, especially those of you who walk your dogs through or past the Playing Field regularly, that the grass has been allowed to grow during the summer.  We have had it cropped for hay during this period and it has also been mown a few times since.

Whether you enjoy walking, playing football and cricket or using the play equipment, our Playing Field is a wonderful space that was gifted to the village many years ago.  It is also a haven for insects and wildlife.

Despite all the difficulties we are presently living under, it is the Trustees intention to bring the Playing Field and Children’s Play Area back into full use as soon as we feel able to.

We are currently planning for how this amenity can best provide for all future requirements of those in our community that may wish to use it.

We have a brilliant opportunity right now to add to Ridlington’s heritage and come together as a village community. Let us look after the Playing Field and invest in some new equipment that could benefit so many of us across all age groups.

Therefore, YOUR opinion is really important.

There are various funding sources that we can approach to help us. Of course, we also need to continue to raise some money ourselves.

The Playing Field Charity has been very fortunate indeed to receive some money from the government via Rutland County Council during the Covid19 pandemic. This will help support our ongoing and future work including the regular maintenance required, particularly since we have had to cancel all our fundraising events.

As a first step we need to know your opinion and views on how you may be able to help. For example the equipment you would like to see being used. Therefore we have created a questionnaire which you can access by clicking on the following link… Questionnaire – Playing Field

Please complete as much of the attached questionnaire as you can and return it by October 31st to Suzanne Baines (ideally by email) who has volunteered to lead this project.

 

Thank you!
The Playing Field Trustees
October 2020

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Planting of Saplings in the Ridlington Playing Field

Native Tree Saplings

The Woodland Trust has kindly donated 3 tree varieties to the Ridlington Playing Field. We were given 5 of each of Crab apple, Rowan and Hazel.

Luckily just before the national lockdown in the UK, Mike, Mariane, Ruth and Chris planted 15 samplings at the back of the Playing Field in the area that, you may have already noticed, has been temporarily cordoned off. A big Thank You to Mariane for organising the receipt of these young samplings.

A few snippets of information on the trees in case you did not already know.

Crab apple, Malus sylvestris
Crab apple is a wild ancestor of the cultivated apple with sweetly scented, pink–white blossom in spring. The fruits make a rich amber-coloured crab apple jelly.  Wildlife loves it; the flowers are a good source of early pollen and nectar for insects, particularly bees. Birds like fieldfare, song thrush, blackbird and redwing enjoy the fruits, as do some mammals.

Hazel, Corylus avellana
In spring, hazel is laden with lovely “lambs tail” catkins and in autumn it produces delicious nuts. The hazel dormouse eats the caterpillars it finds on the leaves and the nuts to fatten up for winter. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, jays and native mammals all love eating the hazelnuts too.

Rowan, Sorbus aucuparia
Are a wildlife magnet and a pretty tree in all seasons. Rowan leaves turn a lovely burnt red in autumn. In spring it produces clusters of creamy-white flowers followed by vibrant, orange-red berries in autumn. It’s bitter, raw berries are rich in vitamin C and can be made into a delicious jelly for meats and cheeses. Its other common name is mountain ash. Here too the flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators, while blackbirds, thrushes, redstart and redwing eat the berries.

Should you wish to find out more,  you can browse the Woodland Trust’s website using the following link. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/03/british-trees-to-plant-in-your-garden/

All in all we continue to encourage wildlife to flourish and hope that everyone who uses the Playing Field also will get some pleasure and enjoyment from them.

The photos show the planting party at the beginning of March 2020 and the growth of the samplings so far (May 6th).  We will continue to keep you updated as to their progress.

 

 

 

 

The Playing Field Planters

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Ridlington Playing Field

 

The Trustees of the Ridlington Playing Field have had to take the decision to lock the main gate to the playing field in order to manage the risk of vehicles accessing the field to dump waste now that the Council tips are closed.

We have also placed signage at the entrances to the field to remind people of the government guidance on social distancing and the closure of the children’s play area.

Keep safe

Ruth Lees
Chairman

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Closure of the Children’s Play Area – Ridlington Playing Fields

This is an important advice to all members of the Public.

The Trustees of the Playing Fields would like to advise that as a result of our recent health and safety assessment of the Ridlington Playing Fields conducted by the Trustees, we have taken the decision to close the ‘Children’s Play Area’ until further notice.

This is because some of the timber framing is now in very poor condition and represents a  danger to safety. Also the junior swings unfortunately need to be dismantled as they also are no longer fit for purpose.

Decisions need to be taken on the way forward for this area and it is proposed this matter will be a key part of our deliberations at our next Trustee meeting in January 2020, after which we will update you on future plans and proposed projects.

In the meantime, given the danger to safety that all this equipment currently presents, you will see that we have temporarily fenced off the entire play area so that access is prevented for the immediate future.

Please do not hesitate to contact me, should you have any questions regarding this closure.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Ruth Lees
Chairman of the Trustees
Tel.: 01572 821440