Without giving it much thought, Meanwood and Headingley residents may have walked past this small patch of open land many times, on the corner of Monk Bridge Road and Mill Pond Lane.
OK, it may have had rather too much wild bramble, litter and dog poo on it, and a generally neglected air - but well hey, it's rare open land, has some nice trees on it and it borders the Meanwood beck.
OK, it may have had rather too much wild bramble, litter and dog poo on it, and a generally neglected air - but well hey, it's rare open land, has some nice trees on it and it borders the Meanwood beck.
But it could be so much more - couldn't it? "
OUR GOALS FOR MONK BRIDGE GREEN
- bring it into locally accountable ownership
- get a group of volunteers and supporters behind it
- make the place more usable and welcoming for everyone
- extend the habitat range with native hedges and wildflowers
- improve the trail surfacing and provide a local information board
Does that sound right to you? - Anything you'd like to add that's compatible? Do let us have your thoughts via our Contact page
Monk Bridge Green forms a valuable open space for the garden-less Highbury and Monk Bridge back-to-backs and is one of a chain of open spaces that make up the Meanwood Valley Green Corridor. It's also the closest green open land to Meanwood Centre.
Without a given name comes a lack of identity, ("oh you know, what's it called") so we are calling this anonymous patch of land Monk Bridge Green because it's green of course (we love that), you often have a Green in a village (and Meanwood still has a village feel don't you think?) and it's next to Monk Bridge (that most ancient bridge crossing).
With the consent of the landowners, we have been helping to look after this patch for three years now. The first bit of work has consisted of clearing accumulated litter, cutting back the brambles, mowing grass paths through and cutting back vegetation overhanging the trail path and the Monk Bridge Road footway. At our request a very large multi stemmed willow was felled as unfortunately it had become dangerous. We have also been treating a patch of Japanese Knotweed with herbicide.
The Tree Care Company
More recently we have been planting an encircling mixed native hedge and have popped in a few apple trees. Hedges are rich habitats for birds and pollinating insects and will also help to define the area and screen the Monk Bridge Road traffic. We have been re-planting the beck bank with a mix of locally native shrubs and plug planting harebells and primroses, to complement the celandine, cow parsley and wood anenome that is coming up.
Due to its lacerated budget, the Council's Parks & Countryside Service has declined to become involved with the land's future in any way. So we are currently in discussion with the owner's agent about a potential transfer of ownership to a Charitable Trust. If we are successful, the land will be dedicated as public land by a deed of dedication with the Fields in Trust national charity.