The great wall of Watergrove

The Green Volunteers with their finished dry stone wall.

Rochdale Council’s Green Volunteers have been keeping countryside traditions alive by perfecting the art of dry stone walling at Watergrove Reservoir in Wardle.

A team of 10 Green Volunteers attended a course in the traditional countryside management technique of dry stone walling with master craftsman of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain, Peter Walker.

The experience sees another addition to the Green Volunteers’ ever expanding list of countryside volunteering capabilities.

Dry stone walls are a habitat for a diverse mix of wildlife and are synonymous with the rural landscape. Building and repairing dry stone walls is complex, but a well constructed wall will last more than a hundred years.

Ian Trickett, the council’s Green Volunteer Coordinator, explained: “Dry stone walling is great fun and it makes you proud to know you are keeping a tradition alive. There’ll be more countryside voluntary opportunities like this one, so if you’ve got some time to spare, fancy meeting new people and putting something back into your local community we’d love to hear from you.”

The Green Volunteers are officially amongst the top seven in the UK for voluntary sector partnership working after being short listed for the Best Partnership Working (Public/Voluntary) award from the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) last September.

Councillor Wera Hobhouse, cabinet member for environment and sustainability at Rochdale Council, added: “I’ve taken part in many Green Volunteer projects and I’ve always come back feeling fresh and invigorated.

“Being a Green Volunteer isn’t just about going out and improving the countryside, but it’s about having fun, making new friends and making a real difference to our local surroundings – and feeling great about it!”

The Green Volunteers work in partnership with other voluntary sector organisations such as ‘friends’ groups and other environmental and volunteer groups to share resources and work programmes.

The Green Volunteers were established in summer 2007 to broaden opportunities for environmental volunteering in the Rochdale borough. With a team of over 70 people, they have undertaken some highly significant countryside improvement works - including opening up previously overgrown footpaths, managing woodland, eradicating invasive weeds and supporting a healthy amble walks programme to help people on the road to steady exercise.

If you’d like to become a Green Volunteer, contact Green Volunteer Coordinator Ian Trickett:

Telephone: 01706 922073

Email: ian.trickett@rochdale.gov.uk