| HERITAGE
WOODS NEWS
Scroll through this page or click on the links below for recent
news about the progress of the Fuelling a Revolution programme,
including events already held. This page is updated regularly so
don't forget to come back soon!
TREES
OF STEEL THEATRE PROJECT FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS
Script
now available
Children from more than 30 schools across the South Yorkshire Forest
have recently been learning about their local environment, as the
'Trees of Steel' theatre project toured the area as part of the
Heritage Lottery Funded 'Fuelling a Revolution' programme.
'Trees of Steel' uses drama,
music and song, to teach pupils aged between 7 and 11, about the
history and value of the South Yorkshire Forest¹s 35 Heritage
Woodlands. The show, which features a talking tree, woodpeckers
and multicoloured squirrels, provides an entertaining and informative
experience for its young audience. In particular it highlights the
way in which charcoal produced from the trees growing in the woodlands
played a vital role in the development of South Yorkshire¹s
world famous iron and steel industry.
For those schools
and groups that are interested in putting on thier own performance
of Trees of Steel the script of the producion can
be obtained from the Education Officer, Peter Machan. Please ring
0114 2571199 or e-mail peter.machan@syforest.co.uk
FUELLING
A REVOLUTION WEBSITE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The Fuelling a Revolution website has been recognised nationally
as a valuable educational resource by the National Grid for Learning
and the Virtual Teachers Centre. In order to meet the criteria for
the accreditation, the site had to pass a battery of technical and
content checks as well as being reviewed by panels of teachers in
those National Curriculum subjects covered by the site.
One of the reasons
the site has been so popular is due to the quality and detailed
information found there about South Yorkshire Forest's woodlands.
Users of the site have downloaded over ten thousand pages from the
website, mostly from the UK, but the site has also received visits
from more than 20 other countries around the world, including Japan
and Singapore, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa
and Tanzania!
For more information on the website, contact South Yorkshire Forest
Partnership on 0114 257 1199 or e-mail team@syforest.co.uk
SHEFFIELD WOODLAND DETECTIVES
This summer saw the launch of a 'Big Book' designed both to provide
children with an understanding of Sheffield's rich woodland heritage
and to help teachers in fulfilling the requirements of the National
Literacy Strategy.
Written by
local experts Joan and Mel Jones, and with illustrations by Bob
Warburton, Sheffield Woodland Detectives gives a fascinating insight
the history of ancient woodlands, why they are still here, what
they were used for and what wildlife you might see in them today.
It does this through the story of a visit to Woolley
Wood by a local man and his grandchildren. On the way the
children discover an abundance of information about the history
of the wood and find that they too live near the Heritage Woodlands
of Wheata Wood, Roe
Woods, Bowden Housteads
Wood and the Gleadless
Valley.
Big Books
are an important tool in the delivery of the Literacy Hour in primary
schools. As their name suggests, they are A2 or A3 sized books,
the text of which is large enough to be read by a whole class at
a time and which, as a result, can be used as a basis for a week's
literacy work.
The book,
which was launched in Woolley Wood in May, has been well received
by children and teachers. To obtain a copy, contact Jon Dallow or
Glyn Hooper of Sheffield's Heritage Woodland Team on 0114 2736199.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
DISCOVERIES IN SHEFFIELD'S HERITAGE WOODLANDS
Surveys carried out as part of the Fuelling a Revolution programme
in Sheffield by the Northern Archaeological Associates and the South
Yorkshire Archaeology Service have identified over 350 sites of
interest where only 22 were previously known! A wide range of features
has been recorded, including medieval boundaries around Rollestone
Wood and internal divisions within coppice compartments at Tinsley
Park and Woolley Wood. Many of the features relate specifically
to woodland industries, such as charcoal-making platforms and the
whitecoal pits used to make the fuel for lead smelting. There is
also plenty of evidence of coal and ironstone extraction throughout
many of the woods as well as sandstone quarrying at Bowden Housteads
Wood.
The survey has helped to enforce the concept of the woods as 'working
woodlands' that supported the local economy and industrial growth
of Sheffield and will be used in interpretation materials produced
for the woodlands. Knowledge of the woodlands' history helps the
Heritage Woodlands team to plan its future management.
For more information contact the Sheffield Heritage Woodlands
team on 0114 273 6199
INNOVATIVE
PROJECT PUTS ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION ON THE WEB
The South Yorkshire Forest Partnership has been given the green light
to establish an innovative and interactive one-stop-shop website for
environmental information that will help online learning, with the
award of £125,000 from the New Opportunities Fund, a lottery 'good
cause' distributor.
When it is launched, greensites.co.uk
will provide all the people of the region with fast, unrestricted
and easy access to information about natural heritage, environmental
learning and countryside recreation, in a fun and easily accessible
format, making it relevant to their daily living. greensites.co.uk
will give people of all ages an opportunity to increase their knowledge
and understanding of environmental issues and of South Yorkshire's
countryside at their convenience, at their own pace and in a place
easily accessible to them.
The South Yorkshire Forest Partnership is one of 150 UK national
and local organisations each benefiting from a £50 million programme
creating a 'communities bank' of Internet learning resources announced
by the New Opportunities Fund.
Richard Walker, Director of the South Yorkshire Forest Partnership
said, "This award shows the New Opportunities Fund's confidence
in the South Yorkshire Forest Partnership and will open up a gold-mine
of environmental information. Many millions of people will not just
have access to knowledge at their fingertips but the one-stop-shop
web portal will contribute to lifelong learning by enabling people
to develop valuable IT skills and by providing information that
will give people the confidence to visit sites, learning about their
local countryside through direct experience. It will also contribute
to community development by encouraging people to share experiences
through the website."
Topics covered by greensites.co.uk
will include, Where to go, who's who, get involved, wildlife, a
teacher's centre and environmental & outdoor events. The website
will be launched later in 2002.
For more information about the South Yorkshire Forest or about
greensites.co.uk,
please contact David Heath on 0114 257-1199 (david.heath@syforest.co.uk).
 
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