Fowlmead Country Park
Encyclopedia
Fowlmead Country Park is near Deal
, in Kent
, England.
Colliery, one of the largest collieries in Kent. The colliery opened in 1924-30 and closed in 1989. The spoil tip, was located to the north east of the former colliery.
The original area (before the spoil tip) was known as Foulmead Marsh and the community (with help from Dover District Council) choose the name of the new park to be - Fowlmead (Fowl – bird, Mead - meadow).
Fowlmead Country Park and Nature Reserve
was developed under the management of the South East England Development Agency
(SEEDA) with £18.8 million funding from English Partnerships
, as part of the National Coalfields Programme(NCP).
It opened in May 2007 by Sir David Bellamy
, in associasion with Sport England
.
The new Visitor Centre has been part funded by SEEDA and Sport England.
The surface material of the entire park (shale
from the colliery) was mixed with recycled green waste and fertiliser to create a rich topsoil and 130,000 shrubs and trees have been planted.
There is already an abundance of wildlife (including Short-eared Owl
, Marsh Harrier
, Kingfisher
and various species of dragonflies ), which can be seen within the park's developing natural habitats, (beyond the cyclists middle section) including a lake.
, cycling
, fossil
hunting, duathlon
(running and cycling), orienteering
and geocaching
.
Families can also enjoy the new play area (close to the visitor centre and car park) and kids/teenagers can have fun on the specialised BMX
tracks.
The park also has a smooth 3.5km tarmac road race/time trial cycle circuit which can be divided into a 1.5km circuit, a two kilometre circuit or the full 3.5km circuit. The circuit is six metres wide and eight metres wide on its finishing straight. British Cycling
, the UK's national governing body for cycling have described the circuit as among the best outdoor tarmac road cycle circuits in the UK. There is also a long mountain biking track around the park. Various cycling competitions have been held at the country park including a Guiness Book of Records record attempt twenty-four hour Mobility Scooter Endurance Challenge by the Red Wheelies (Mobility Scooter Formation Team). They completed 77 laps (154 miles), smashing the previous record of 88 miles.
power station when the coal fired plant was decommissioned.
Each of Kent’s mining communities (Betteshanger, Chislet
, Snowdown
and Tilmanstone
), each had their own recommendations for a new site for the statue, but these were ignored and eventually it was resited outside the National Coal Board
’s office in Dover
, which is where it has remained ever since. The Coal Board Offices eventually closed down in 1987, leaving the Statue isolated on the seafront in Dover. In 2001, Dover District Council launched the Coalfields Heritage Initiative Kent (CHIK) project.
Which was to record and preserve the Mining Heritage of Kent. Which included the creation of the Miner's Way Trail (a 30 mile cycle-route linking all the coal mining villages in East Kent)
In September 2006, the Move The Miner Campaign was started.
The campaign committee then decided between Aylesham
Village Square (another former Mining community) or on the A258 at the entrance to Fowlmead Country Park.
The new park on the coal field spoil heap was chosen as the winner.
The next stage was to obtain planning permission and persuade everyone to agree to the new site.
On Thursday 29 July 2010 saw the statue move.
The campaign group then were granted £5000 funding from The Coalfields Regeneration Trust for seating, information boards and the plinth around the statute.
The park then held the Kent Miners Festival, which took place over the Sunday and Monday of the bank holiday weekend, August 29-30 2010. The event was so popular, there was calls to become an annual event, 2011's is being held in Aylesham.
Deal
Deal may refer to:Places* Deal, Kent, a town in Kent, England* Deal, New Jersey, a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States* Deal Island * Deal, a village in Câlnic Commune, Alba County, RomaniaAs a surname...
, in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England.
History
This 365 acres (1,477,103.9 m²) park is situated on the site of a former spoil tip of the former BetteshangerBetteshanger
Betteshanger is a village near Deal in East Kent, England. It gave its name to the largest of the four chief collieries of the Kent coalfield.-Before the coal mine:...
Colliery, one of the largest collieries in Kent. The colliery opened in 1924-30 and closed in 1989. The spoil tip, was located to the north east of the former colliery.
The original area (before the spoil tip) was known as Foulmead Marsh and the community (with help from Dover District Council) choose the name of the new park to be - Fowlmead (Fowl – bird, Mead - meadow).
Fowlmead Country Park and Nature Reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
was developed under the management of the South East England Development Agency
South East England Development Agency
SEEDA, more officially the South East England Development Agency, is one of a number of regional development agencies in England. It was set up as a non-departmental public body in 1999 to promote the region and to enable a number of more difficult regeneration projects which otherwise might not...
(SEEDA) with £18.8 million funding from English Partnerships
English Partnerships
English Partnerships was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by Regional Development Agencies on a regional level...
, as part of the National Coalfields Programme(NCP).
It opened in May 2007 by Sir David Bellamy
David Bellamy
David James Bellamy OBE is a British author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner and botanist. He has lived in County Durham since 1960.-Career:...
, in associasion with Sport England
Sport England
Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
The new Visitor Centre has been part funded by SEEDA and Sport England.
The surface material of the entire park (shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
from the colliery) was mixed with recycled green waste and fertiliser to create a rich topsoil and 130,000 shrubs and trees have been planted.
There is already an abundance of wildlife (including Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
The Short-eared Owl is a species of typical owl . In Scotland this species of owl is often referred to as a cataface, grass owl or short-horned hootlet. Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may...
, Marsh Harrier
Marsh harrier
The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds...
, Kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
and various species of dragonflies ), which can be seen within the park's developing natural habitats, (beyond the cyclists middle section) including a lake.
Activities
The park provides many activities including walkingWalking
Walking is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step...
, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
hunting, duathlon
Duathlon
Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format bearing some resemblance to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally....
(running and cycling), orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...
and geocaching
Geocaching
Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world....
.
Families can also enjoy the new play area (close to the visitor centre and car park) and kids/teenagers can have fun on the specialised BMX
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
tracks.
The park also has a smooth 3.5km tarmac road race/time trial cycle circuit which can be divided into a 1.5km circuit, a two kilometre circuit or the full 3.5km circuit. The circuit is six metres wide and eight metres wide on its finishing straight. British Cycling
British Cycling
British Cycling is the national governing body for cycle racing in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man...
, the UK's national governing body for cycling have described the circuit as among the best outdoor tarmac road cycle circuits in the UK. There is also a long mountain biking track around the park. Various cycling competitions have been held at the country park including a Guiness Book of Records record attempt twenty-four hour Mobility Scooter Endurance Challenge by the Red Wheelies (Mobility Scooter Formation Team). They completed 77 laps (154 miles), smashing the previous record of 88 miles.
Waiting Miner Campaign
The park also became a major battle scene over a statue of a miner. The "Waiting Miner" statue was commissioned by the Central Electricity Generating Board and was moved from its original site (outside RichboroughRichborough
Richborough is a settlement north of Sandwich on the east coast of the county of Kent, England. Richborough lies close to the Isle of Thanet....
power station when the coal fired plant was decommissioned.
Each of Kent’s mining communities (Betteshanger, Chislet
Chislet
Chislet is a sprawling rural parish in the northeast of the English county of Kent between the city of Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet. It is also the name of a village within the parish....
, Snowdown
Snowdown
Snowdown is a village near Dover in Kent, England. It was the location of one of the four chief collieries of the Kent coalfield....
and Tilmanstone
Tilmanstone
Tilmanstone is a small village in Kent, in the South East of England, near Eastry a much bigger and more developed area. Tilmanstone has no schools, few shops and a church and town hall. The population of Tilmanstone often work for the nearby companies, such as Pfizer or Tilmanstone Salads, or in...
), each had their own recommendations for a new site for the statue, but these were ignored and eventually it was resited outside the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
’s office in Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, which is where it has remained ever since. The Coal Board Offices eventually closed down in 1987, leaving the Statue isolated on the seafront in Dover. In 2001, Dover District Council launched the Coalfields Heritage Initiative Kent (CHIK) project.
Which was to record and preserve the Mining Heritage of Kent. Which included the creation of the Miner's Way Trail (a 30 mile cycle-route linking all the coal mining villages in East Kent)
In September 2006, the Move The Miner Campaign was started.
The campaign committee then decided between Aylesham
Aylesham
Aylesham is a village and civil parish near the cathedral town of Canterbury. Aylesham has its administrative and political seat in the Dover district of Kent in England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 3,884....
Village Square (another former Mining community) or on the A258 at the entrance to Fowlmead Country Park.
The new park on the coal field spoil heap was chosen as the winner.
The next stage was to obtain planning permission and persuade everyone to agree to the new site.
On Thursday 29 July 2010 saw the statue move.
The campaign group then were granted £5000 funding from The Coalfields Regeneration Trust for seating, information boards and the plinth around the statute.
The park then held the Kent Miners Festival, which took place over the Sunday and Monday of the bank holiday weekend, August 29-30 2010. The event was so popular, there was calls to become an annual event, 2011's is being held in Aylesham.