In July 2020 former Milford resident and parent of pupils at Milford School, Kate Tuck, called for volunteers to clear two allotments (and eventually a third) to create a “green space” for the children of the Milford Primary School to use. At the time the school only had a tarmac playground. A large number of volunteers, parents and pupils of the school but also other Milford residents, worked incredibly hard over the past 5 years and transformed the area into a beautiful space packed with things to encourage children (and adults!) to play outdoors and learn about the natural world. It has also encouraged community cohesion through the volunteer sessions and community events now held on it. Volunteers work on the Greenspace every Monday morning all year round, and many weekends. During term time there is a weekly Forest School for Milford School, and a weekly session for a special needs school in Derby (Maple View), but the site is open at all times for local children to use. There is a Chicken Group that organises a rota of parents and children to look after the chickens. Four formal community events are organised each year on the Greenspace now too. See the Greenspace website for more details on how the site has evolved since July 2020.
It has been quite a while since our last report (July 2024) but the Greenspace is still going strong. It is worth commenting that there is no road access to the Greenspace and every single item on it has had to be carried by hand to the site by the volunteers, up three flights of steps! In November 2024 a large batch of free pallets was delivered nearby and carried onto site.
Moving pallets to site
Pile of pallets moved to site
These were used to create three new larger and improved compost bins and a more vigorous composting regime enforced. We also created a new fourth bin to store excess chipped bark for the paths.
New compost bins made from pallets
All the compost heaps were turned in November and 20 barrows of compost extracted. This was put on a new vegetable bed we created below the fruit trees (we now have 4, including the three existing raised beds.) This was to satisfy the Bridge View Allotments committee, who said in their last inspection that they’d like to see more of the Greenspace land growing crops.
Compost bin completely emptied
New vegetable bed below fruit trees plus compost
On the request of the children, the pallets were also used to create a “troll bridge” over the periodic stream that runs though the site in wet weather. Rocks and stones were collected from the site to raise the level of the bridge and approaching paths, and banisters added by parent carpenter Ben Rogers.
Troll Bridge in place
Path raised up to Troll Bridge level
Troll Bridge complete
In November our Chair Kate Tuck left Milford for Ambergate and to concentrate on running The Shining Cliff Hostel. It was her vision that started the Greenspace and her ideas and enthusiasm kept us going. We will ensure her creation is safe in our hands! Kate has been replaced as chair by Suzie Goodburn.
In the autumn, there was a severe problem with rats on site so a £360 grant was successfully applied for from Foundation Derbyshire to have them professionally removed by local pest controller Craig Tooby. Measures were then put in place to discourage rats from returning, such as rat-proof chicken food storage bins, rat-proof chicken feed dispensers and the banning of kitchen waste being dumped on the compost heaps. The bait boxes only needed to be refilled once and at present there are no rats on site.
Another potentially unsavoury task was to empty the composting toilet, which after 5 years was finally full. In January we decided to put the compost under the heap behind the toilet. The heap was moved to the other heaps or burnt but then digging a suitably big hole underneath proved very difficult due to the large volume of rocks and roots. It was finally achieved and the compost from the toilet was transferred. We were expecting the worst, but the compost didn’t smell and was completely decomposed.
