| Latest News
Newsletters can be viewed as Adobe PDF files by selecting from the drop-down menu below:
(N.B. These files will launch in a new window.)
Carol singing around streets of Fairfield on Christmas Eve
Meet at Edenbreck cottage (formerly the white farmhouse) at 5pm. Torches/lanterns useful, song sheets provided. Children, family, friends, neighbours welcome. Always enjoyable, eagerly anticipated by the neighbourhood and a good fund raiser!
(No carol singing in St Nicolas Arcade this year)
Wassailing In Fairfield Millennium Orchard, Saturday January 14th 2012, 3pm – 5pm
Come and join us in this traditional celebration of Old Twelfth Night.
Bring drums, pots and pans to bang and clatter as we process through
the trees. Both young and old are invited to come dressed as the Oak
King or the Apple Queen - we will draw lots to choose the sovereigns
of the orchard. Traditional offerings of toast and cider to the trees.
Passing of the Wassail Cup. Bonfire. Traditional Wassailing songs
taught and performed. Suggested donation £1 per person. John O'Gaunt
Morris. And this year we *absolutely will not* cancel whatever the
weather!
The orchard is ten minutes walk from Lancaster's railway station (at the end of Sunnyside Lane).
View Map
Any questions, just ask!
Apple Day, In the Orchard: Saturday 24th September, 2 – 5pm.
Cakes & drinks, Wandering Minstrels, 'Longest Peel Competition', demonstration of wood carving, Workspace's woodturning stall, Tasting Garden apples on sale and for tasting, Insect/pollinators recognition photos and Story Time (3.30). Children's crafts and apple games by the oak tree in the grass circle (2 - 3.30).
Competitions:
Adults - apple pie baking - bring to apple tent before 2.30pm
13 & under - pasty baking - bring to apple tent before 2.30pm
(Names on the bottom of the, preferably foil, plate - for judging at 3pm, they will then be auctioned off for the Orchard Upkeep Fund)
Children - Decorate an apple and bring it along to the children’s area for exhibition, no prize.
Help needed:
If you can help with any of the below please let Ruth know which jobs/time slots you can do, thank you (63157, ruth_haigh AT sky DOT com)
- Transport marquees, tables, urn etc to orchard & set up. Meet 2 Edenbreck at 10.30am (up the lane immediately to the right of the path to the orchard). If you have a trolley or wheelbarrow to cart the items there it would be a great help. Also to dismantle and return at 5pm.
- Loan of gazebos
- Donations of cakes, buns, etc (appley theme appreciated but not necessary) for refreshments. Please take to Ruth (1 Redvers St) before event or take along during afternoon, thanks.
- Donations of local jams, chutneys etc to sell. Please take to Ruth before event or take along during afternoon, thanks.
- Overseeing ‘Apple Table’ including 'Longest Peel Competition', apple tasting and selling apples; 2 to 3 and 4 to 4.30
- With children’s crafts & games & eg apple bobbing and William Tell; if you can help from 2 to 3.30 please contact Tony Finn on 36426 or ajea DOT finn AT tiscali.co.uk
STOP PRESS - Fairfield Association and others put in tender to extend the FAUNA nature reserve!!!
Copy of the press release dated 5th September 2011
A consortium of community-minded individuals and groups groups (including the Fairfield Association, the local charity which has been running a funding campaign for some time) have today submitted a tender to buy the fields for sale between Aldcliffe Road and the new FAUNA nature reserve. The purpose of the bid is to protect an important natural amenity which many local people enjoy and to extend the nature reserve which the Fairfield Association is currently creating nearby.
FAUNA and Fields fund organizer, Mick Short, said:
“More than 200 people from across Lancaster and beyond have contributed to our fund-raising effort, showing just how important this taste of the country so close to the centre of Lancaster is. Lancaster has a unique asset here which large numbers of Lancaster folk want to protect and improve. It is good for Lancaster, visitors to the City and Lancastrians of all human, animal and plant varieties. We have recently bought one small parcel of land in the middle of the land we are now bidding for, and to protect the rest too is a prize that many local people are working hard to achieve.”
It is still not too late to contribute to the fund. Contact Mick Short: Whitegates, Sunnyside Close, Lancaster LA1 5NH; telephone Lancaster 63890; email: m DOT short AT lancaster DOT ac DOT uk
STOP PRESS - Holiday fun in the Orchard with Forest Schools
The Orchard, Wednesday 3rd and Wednesday 10th August, 1 - 4 pm
Come and join us for exploration, games, trails etc. For more information see posters in the Orchard and playground.
STOP PRESS - FAUNA: YES! WE HAVE THE LEASE!
FAUNA (Fairfield Association Urban Nature Area)
Further details of the current proposals can be viewed on the FAUNA page.
We have the lease from the City Council!
We have planted some hedges,
pruned trees and built new fencing
to keep the cattle out of the new
wildflower hay meadow we will
create over the summer. Autumn
will see the creation of the main
footpath, ponds and bird scrapes.
COMPETITION: We need a
new name for FAUNA and also
suggestions of names for the
various fields inside the nature
reserve. Winners to be declared at
the Loxams’ Open Garden. More
details online or from Oliver:
381880, o DOT fulton AT lancaster DOT ac DOT uk
Kwik Cricket - Match Report 2011
A great day had by all! Game ended Foxes 295, Flyers 304. Flyers have taken a 2-1 lead in the series after a pulsating finish under the hot Lancaster sunshine. For the Foxes, Ellie Bulman batted bravely and Reuben Orr bowled his heart out. The Flyers had Phil Barker in top batting form whilst Ian and Rosie Reader survived the last perilous over to win the game! Great stuff and thanks very much to all those who organised, played & baked for the event. In addition over £170 was raised for funds.
Easter Egg Hunt 2011
The Easter Egg Hunt was hugely
popular again this year. The
bonnets are increasingly creative
and egg decorating was a popular
activity! Special thanks to the Dallas
Road school children for the
decorative eggs and to everyone
who helped with the event and
provided cakes – not a crumb left!
 Apple Day 2010
What a Pippin of an Apple Day!
On Saturday 25 September the Fairfield Association held its most ambitious Apple Day celebrations to date.
The traditional Fairfield Orchard Apple Day opened with the unveiling of the Orchard’s new information boards and a tour of the Orchard. During a wonderfully sunny afternoon, graced with Rob Bulman and Dik Bakker’s accordion music, there were lots of apple-related games for children (including an apple search led by Professor Clueless), woodcraft demonstrations and stalls selling woodcraft and apples from both the Orchard and the Storey Tasting Garden.
Helen Hicks, this year’s Apple Day organiser said: “We had a wonderful day, with more people coming than ever before. We made more funds for looking after the Orchard than ever too – more than £500, which is just as well, as we have to spend £600 on a new mower engine. We made some money for the Storey Institute too, selling some of their apples for them. Donations from local people were even more generous than ever. So we think they approve of the work we are doing.
In the past, almost all the apples have been picked before Apple Day, but this year we have had a bumper crop and people have waited until the apples were riper before picking them. So there were still plenty of apples on the trees, which has made Apple Day even more special”.
The Orchard celebrations were followed by an Apple Day evening concert in the Ashton Memorial, in aid of the Fairfield Association’s FAUNA and Fields fund-raising campaign. Songs and poems with apple and nature themes were performed by Lucy Crispin and Margaret Pattinson (sopranos), Ian Pattinson (piano) and Awena Carter (reader). The performers donated their efforts to the campaign, and the post-concert buffet was provided by Fairfield Association members and friends. Booths (Scotforth) provided discounted wine and free loan of glasses for the event and Lancaster City Council offered a reduced rate for the hire of the Memorial.
Oliver Fulton, who organised the concert, said:
“This is the first time we have run a concert, so we were a bit nervous about how many people would come. Even with all the support we received, we still needed to sell more than 40 tickets to break even. In the event, more than 80 people came and we have had lots of very positive comments about the entertainments and what a delightful evening it has been.
“The occasion also allowed us to update people from outside Fairfield on how the FAUNA and Fields campaign is going. We have already raised more than £52,000, and the concert has added at least £400 to that total. It is wonderful when we can raise money and give people a good time while doing it, too.”
Anti-social behaviour
The play area and the Orchard continue to be immensely popular and successful. Unfortunately, from time to time groups of underage drinkers (mainly from outside the Fairfield area) congregate in the area because they have been moved on from elsewhere. The Association takes seriously all incidents of anti-social behaviour, bullying or anything else, and works closely with schools and the police to make sure that the play area and the Orchard continue to be accessible and friendly places for everyone to meet and enjoy themselves.
The whole of Fairfield is now an Alcohol-Free Zone.
i) if you see young people drinking, particularly in the early evening, if you see anybody vandalising the area or any other anti-social behaviour, please ring the police on 0845 125 35 45. If you would prefer not to draw attention to yourself by a visit from the police, simply say so when you make the call.
ii) If you see empty bottles on the Green, please put them in the bin.
iii) Please support the efforts of the police, by attending the monthly PACT meetings and making your experiences and views known. Our Police Community Safety Officer, Cath Griffiths, can be contacted directly on Lancaster (01524) 596514.
Please report damage to the play equipment to Henry Hicks: (01524) 65179.
Keeping Up our Numbers…
We have raised a lot of money to provide the play area and Millennium Orchard. But we still need your support if we are to build on our successes. In particular we need more members. Coming up on this site will be a downloadable membership form and a new scheme to pay subscriptions by standing order. In the meantime, to join the Association please contact our Membership Secretary - see the Contact Us page.
The Fairfield Association raises funds to protect and preserve your local environment. To find out more, take a look at the rest of the website and our notice board at the Sibsey Street end of Fairfield Green (the children's playground).
|
