News and Archives – Friends of Whirlow Brook Park

On 14 November we were awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service for 2025. This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE. We are one of 231 local charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups across the UK to receive the prestigious award this year.

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service aims to recognise outstanding work by local volunteer groups to support their communities. It was created in 2002 to celebrate Her Late Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee and was continued following the accession of His Majesty The King. 2025 marks the third year of The King’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Recipients are announced annually on 14th November. Representatives of the Friends of Whirlow Brook Park will receive the award crystal and certificate from Dame Hilary Chapman, Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, in February 2026. In addition, two volunteers from the Friends of Whirlow Brook Park will attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in May and June 2026, along with other recipients of this year’s award.

Shelagh Woolliscroft, our Chair, said: “We are absolutely thrilled and honoured to have been selected for the King’s Voluntary Service Award. It is a testament to the hard work of all our dedicated volunteers who are helping to restore
this beautiful park for the benefit of the local community.”

Cafe now open!

Great news! The cafe opened on 21 August 2023 under the name The Shelter. The current opening hours are 9:00am to 4:00pm Monday to Friday and 9:00am to 7:00pm Saturday and Sunday.

Here is a link to the August edition of the City Council’s Sheff News, where it provided the lead story which included the following quotation from our Chair Shelagh Woolliscroft on our behalf. “We’re delighted that the café is open, and hope everyone will support this exciting new venture. There’s lots happening in the park every month, organised by the Friends group. We hope that it will attract a lot more visitors to come and enjoy this lovely park. It makes our job, as volunteers, even more satisfying seeing more people in the park.”

The December issue of the Newsletter reported that work had started in October on the conversion of the old bus shelter and toilets in the park, into a café and that there would be three modular units with glass bi-fold doors positioned alongside the existing bus shelter. The second modular unit was delivered yesterday and the third may well be there by now.

Flood Alleviation in the Limb Valley (29 September 2021, updated August 2022)

Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust are leading a partnership project with the Environment Agency and Sheffield City Council to develop and deliver an integrated programme of nature-based solutions, designed to reduce the flow of floodwater and provide wider environmental benefits in the Limb Brook catchment area. Roy Mosley, Head of Conservation & Land Management for the Trust, spoke on this in a public talk on Tuesday 28 September 2021 as part of an event that also included our General Meeting.

This work is now progressing well. More information on this project is now available at https://www.wildsheffield.com/discover/nature-based-solutions/limb-brook/. Information on the wider “source to sea” scheme of which the project is part can be found in the Environment Agency press release of March 2020.

Cafe (16 December 2021)

On Thursday 9 December, in the Sheffield Telegraph, Sheffield City Council posted an Open Space Notice giving notice that it proposes to “dispose of an area of land which consists or forms part of an area of deemed open space”. This notice caused much consternation and confusion. The confusion extended to our understanding of which area of land was involved. It is not the compound referred to in our previous posting here but the derelict toilet block and the area next to it. The Council has issued the following apology and clarification on its Facebook page:

We wanted to provide you with an update following the Public Open Space Notice that was displayed in the Sheffield Telegraph last week, regarding Whirlow Brook Hall. The notice, which referred to the ‘disposal’ of Whirlow Brook Hall, was incorrect and misleading and has understandably caused some real worry and concern over the last few days, which we are very sorry for.

To clarify, no land at the Hall is being sold – the proposal refers to the derelict toilet block and the area next to it, on the driveway, being developed and leased. The term ‘disposal’ has to be used in the legal notice due to the proposed length of lease (over 7 years) but does not mean the land is being sold.

The notice was to inform the public of our proposal to offer a lease for the development of a café and toilet facility, which we have been working with the Friends of Whirlow Brook Park on for a number of years. A consultation on the plans has been extended until 20th January, to give everyone the opportunity to share their views via the Sheffield City Council website. The plans will be made available online later this week. We are once again sorry for the unnecessary confusion and worry this has caused. We are really excited about this fantastic opportunity to enhance the facilities in this wonderful park, and look forward to sharing more positive news with you on this as it develops.

The plans and related documents are now available at the Sheffield City Council website.

Update on Felling of larch trees (5 November 2021) Further to the item below dated 10 August 2021, we have been informed by the Council that this work is now scheduled for mid-November. To quote their message:

Please note that this year’s programme of forestry work is scheduled to start from mid November 2021. Following a Statutory Plant Health notice issued by the Forestry Commission the Council will need to fell all the diseased Japanese larch from the above infected area (Rough Standhills, Limb Valley). Regrettably several other trees will need removing as they will have been left unsafe and not windfirm (i.e., they would be at risk of blowing over) following the removal of the Japanese larch. The attached plan identifies the extent of the planned clear-fell and felled areas of the predominantly coniferous timber plantation at Rough Standhills. The clear-fell area is scheduled to be restocked during the 2022-23 planting season.

Site information signs have been posted on site since early summer and further warning signs will be in place during working hours. The harvesting work in area “A” should be completed by the end of December 2021 and felling in area “B” by the end of February 2022, weather permitting.

The areas referred to as A and B can be seen on the map below. More detail can now be found on the Council’s web page on the project or in the Council’s document that appears below the map and includes answers to 20 “Frequently Asked Questions”. To navigate through the document click on a page and use the arrows at the bottom left corner.

As you may be aware, the Council will also shortly be beginning work on the removal of Ash Dieback affected trees in various nearby locations including Ecclesall Woods.

RoughStandhills

Felling of larch trees (10 August 2021)

At a meeting with Sheffield City Council, the Forestry Commission and the Woodland Trust on 9 August, we were informed about the serious issue regarding diseased Japanese larch trees in the Limb Valley. Following the Forestry Commission’s aerial survey in the spring of 2021, ramorum disease has been found in these trees. This disease is caused by infected spores entering the tree through the needles and the spores can be carried by moisture in the air. Nearby trees and woodland can then easily become infected. All the larches in the Rough Standhills planation, and about 50 larches in Bole Hill on the other side of Limb Brook, are to be felled. Sweet chestnut trees and rhododendrons are susceptible to ramorum and will also have to be cleared, as will those Corsican pines that are adjudged to be unable to withstand strong winds after the removal of neighbouring larches. This work is expected to be done in October and November 2021. As a consequence there will be temporary closure of some of the footpaths in the Limb Valley. The cleared area is to be regenerated as mixed broadleaf woodland and, to protect the new growth, will need, initially, to be fenced off.