Latest news
The Tractor Barn near the Church Landway was officially opened at 11.00 on Saturday 10th April by Lieutenant Colonel Simon Hulme, MBE, RE, Commanding Officer of 36 Engineer Regiment, Invicta Park, Maidstone, and County Councillor Paul Carter. In glorious sunshine everyone enjoyed refreshments and an excellent display of photographs put together by Chris Street.
Newsletter extracts
(updated April 2010 after newsletter No.18 was delivered to Friends of BWT)Phase Two work on the Tractor Barn was achieved by BWT volunteers supported by local professionals and trades people. It involved a lot of trench digging to connect to external services, plus internal finishing and decoration, and Dave Johnson and his team have worked wonders to be ready for the opening.
October 2009: Congratulations were passed on to all hardworking volunteers when BWT won the Outdoor Recreation section of the 2009 Biffawards, and then went forward to win outright Best Entry for all categories! BWT Treasurer Bernard Head and his wife Helen collected the two awards in Harrogate on 8th October, and reported that "the enormous volunteer effort in the Trust, together with the Community involvement and access for all, were the reasons that we were chosen as the overall winner." See the Biffaward website for a photo of Bernard and Helen receiving the trophies.
October 2009: Deputy Chairman, Peter Willson was appointed Honorary Life President in recognition of the enormous contribution he has made to the Trust, and the largest tree in Barn Meadow now boasts a plaque which was unveiled on 5th October.
September 2009: The 6th Annual General Meeting took place on 24th at the Tennis Club with an impressive turnout of BWT Friends. The Chairman paid tribute to Frank Manning, a very active member of the management committee, who died in 2008 and will be remembered by the children's maze built by volunteers who included Frank's family. Sharon Bayne described the Three Year maintenance plan and planting regimes. It was reported that the Trust's finances were healthy, thanks to careful use of resources.
July 2009: The Adventure Playground for children aged 4 to 12 was built by Bearsted Parish Council on land leased from BWT.
June 2009: The BWT children's maze was constructed in memory of BWT committee member Frank Manning, who died last November. Photographs can be seen here.
March 2009: The Tractor Barn was finished, despite bad weather, on time. BWT is very grateful to 20 Field Squadron of 36 Field Regiment, Royal Engineers, and also to our own BWT volunteer project manager Dave Johnson, who worked almost full time on the project for about six months!
March 2009: Paths were laid near Gore Cottage and in the ancient wood by a team from HSBC as part of their charity support, for which BWT is most grateful!
November 2008: BWT gained its 1,000th Friend
September 2008: the 5th Annual General MeetingBearsted Tennis Club kindly provided the venue once again for our AGM on 25th September. Over 60 Friends heard reports on the year's activities from the committee, and watched a very interesting presentation on countryside management by expert Sharon Bayne. The existing six members of the committee were re-elected together with their co-opted colleagues Chris Street, Dave Johnson and Jo Tuck. Plans for the new tractor barn and play zone were discussed, and the meeting concluded with a question and answer session. During the session it was suggested that funds might be raised for the tractor barn by a village appeal. The committee had been reluctant to to consider another request to Friends following the very successful bridge appeal in 2007, but almost all present supported the idea.
July 2008: The opening of the new paths was attended by over 200 people. Cloudy skies opened up to a beautiful afternoon enjoyed by children, parents, grandparents and dogs alike! Sadly Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, who was due to perform the ceremony, was too ill to attend, but Paul Carter, Leader of Kent County Council, and Mid-Kent MP Hugh Robertson spoke of their admiration for the work that had gone into the project, and Pauline Moore cut the official ribbon. After the ceremony everyone walked the new paths before returning to the tents for light refreshments.
May 2008: Eight weeks of path building were successfully completed by our contractors Pearl, supervised by volunteers Dave Johnson, Dave Ward and Jeff Winn, while John Monk has been busy installing new kissing gates and improving fencing. Many thanks to all of them! Photographs can be found here.
March 2008: A Conservation Lesson led by Peter Willson, Dave Johnson, Dave Ward and Jeff Winn, was enjoyed by nearly 90 children from Thurnham Infants School. BWT look forward to welcoming further visits in the near future.
November 2007: People's Millions Competition see our Supporters/Grants page, and photos here.
