ADDINGHAM Environment Group’s annual Environment Weekend made a big splash as the event marked six years of the organisation raising awareness of green issues through four key themes of Wildlife, Sustainable Water, Zero Waste and Zero Carbon.

The weekend, on June 18/19, was held in Church Field, Addingham, thanks to St Peter’s Church. The beautiful backdrop of the managed wildflower meadow welcomed visitors to a host of stalls, displays, demonstrations and activities.

The weekend was also marked by the opening of Church Orchard to visitors. The orchard was created by Derek and Anne Law from derelict land over 30 years ago and is now a mature orchard with a 100 trees of traditional varieties of apples, pears and plums. Volunteers welcomed over 150 visitors across the footbridge and Derek was present to explain the history of the orchard and how it is managed today.

The Water theme focussed mainly on Town Beck. A series of gazebos positioned along the banks of the beck were used to host different displays.

Among the activities, Malcolm Secrett demonstrated the use of light microscopy to show the range of algae and other micro-organisms growing on stones in the beck and Steve Cheetham, Tom Raper and Rachel Huxha took kick samples from the beck to show the range of riverflies, especially mayflies, living in the beck.

Jack Greenhalgh (Bristol University) captured both adult and juvenile signal crayfish from the beck and from the River Wharfe and described how DNA analysis of the water is used to detect their presence. Jon Grey (Wild Trout Trust and Lancaster University) demonstrated how electro-fishing methods are used to catch fish and showed visitors trout, bullhead and minnow specimens caught using the methods in the beck.

Simon Johnson brought a series of precision instruments to show how the Environment Agency measure river levels and river flow in the Wharfe and in Town Beck to generate data needed to forecast flood events and provide alerts to local communities at risk of flooding.

The Wildlife marquee included a comprehensive display by Jan Hindle and Anne Hodgson on wildlife friendly gardening and illustrated the work being carried out by the AEG in the village on wildflowers, bees, butterflies, swifts, bats and hedgehogs.

Guest projects on show in the Wildlife marquee included the Yorkshire Rewilding Network showcased by Jeff and Debbie Davitt and the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust’s Bee Together project directed by Catherine Mercer.

In the Water marquee there was a display by Charlotte Simons and Fern Wilkinson of the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT) on the use of DNA to identify invertebrates and other aquatic species in the River Wharfe and a display by David Damant, Martin Robertshaw and Mark Wilkins of the Ilkley Clean River Group describing the campaign to reduce the frequency of untreated sewage discharges into the river from Yorkshire Water’s sewage treatment plant in Ilkley.

The Zero Waste marquee housed a poster display designed by Ian Benson describing how the different kinds of waste received by Bradford Council are recycled or disposed and he organised a competition challenging visitors to place correctly a range of different waste items into different bins. Placing waste items into correct bins is one of the best ways of improving our waste recycling rates. Edith Grooby of Bradford Council kindly provided a recycling bin for display purposes.

The Zero Carbon marquee hosted a poster display of the work done by the group and compiled by John Sykes on home energy efficiency and fuel poverty. The thermal imaging camera used by AEG volunteers David Bartlett and Ian Viner in village homes last winter and the home energy efficiency equipment box put together by Glen Thistlethwaite were also on display.

Activities for children were organised by Pam Morgan, Peter Miller and Debs Griffiths. Children chose from a range of environmentally themed activities. They dissected owl pellets to find out what the owls had been eating and discovered a range of small mammal bones and even a tiny skull. There was a great range of things to make and colour and many children followed a sticker quiz round the various marquees and gazebos.

Children from Addingham Primary School also contributed to the event by presenting a display of work from the school’s Science Week, a week each year that AEG helps to organise and teach.

Artist James McKay first attended the Environment Weekend in 2019 when he painted his vision of Addingham in 2069, a wonderfully optimistic view of the future that assumed a successful adaptation of society to a warmer world. This year he returned to paint another view of the future but this time documenting some of things that might be needed by 2030. He incorporated suggestions from visitors as they watched him paint. It includes solar panels on the Church roof.

The event benefitted from a wide range of helpers and sponsors. We would like to thank Mark Cannon and St Peter’s Church for use of the Church Hall and hosting the event in Church Field, Dave Thompson and Totally Locally Addingham for marquees, Liz and David White from Bracken Ghyll Golf Club and several residents for gazebos, Paul and Maz Jennings from Addingham Scouts for the barbecue, Richard Hunter Rowe, Gethyn Williams and the Addingham Beer Festival Committee for the beer bar, Wharfedale Ice Cream, The Memorial Hall and Methodist Church for tables, Mick Greenword for transporting tables, Mike Enever for transporting marquees, Sue Ross for poster display boards, Kevin Grosvenor for transporting poster boards, Bradford Council for wastebins and recycling material, Sarah Mayo and the Sandwich Shop for sandwiches and Harry Jeavons and Don Barrett for photography.

A very special thanks are due to almost 100 volunteers who were responsible variously for welcoming visitors, marshalling, helping to set up and take down marquees and serving refreshments.

For more information about the Addingham Environment Group visit https://addinghamenvironmentgroup.org.uk/ or email aeg@addingham.info