Reconnecting Grantham to its historic landscape
Londonthorpe Woods and Bellmount
Bellmount and Londonthorpe Woods once formed part of the 17th century Brownlow Estate around Belton House, but over time this historic landscape became fragmented. The Woodland Trust and National Trust, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, have worked together to connect these two sites for people to explore and enjoy.
Our vision for the project
Our vision was to unite this historic landscape to the east of Belton House, making it accessible to a wider range of people and providing benefits including improved biodiversity, health and wellbeing, learning and skills. Our hope was that this amazing landscape would become a much loved community resource, benefitting the lives of local people and wildlife.
To achieve this, we have:
- developed an understanding and appreciation of the heritage of Londonthorpe Woods and Bellmount, and the role of trees and woodland in the landscape
- created a Londonthorpe 'gateway', with interpretation, joint access and promotion between the sites
- promoted and improved access, reaching out to diversify the user base at Londonthorpe Woods and Bellmount
- promoted the sites for healthy, active, informal countryside recreation
- encouraged local community involvement in the long-term care of both sites through practical training and the creation of a joint volunteering programme
- undertaken a programme of conservation work to restore and enhance habitats for wildlife, restoring built heritage features and establishing a programme of long-term ecological monitoring.
See how the project is progressing
We began the Reconnecting Grantham project in 2020, and after four incredible years, we're excited to share the progress with you!
We're at Londonthorpe woods this morning and I'd like to tell you about a project that we're working on here. The project is called Reconnecting Grantham to its historic landscape and it's a partnership project between the Woodland Trust and the National Trust at Belton House. And the project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The reconnecting Grantham part of the project is all about reconnecting the landscape, creating a beautiful seamless visitor experience where people can explore the site as a whole rather than in two parts and then also reconnecting Grantham reconnecting the site with the town. So, when we first started the project we found that a lot of people in Grantham didn't even know the site existed and we've been working hard during the project to encourage people from the town to get out to site and enjoy this beautiful green space.
So, I'm here at Londonthorpe car park and this is the new car park that we created just over a year ago. This new car park has a total capacity of about 40 spaces but the really exciting thing about it it does have this this overflow section of the car park that we have closed for most of the time but we do open it up for community groups to use which allows us to sort of engage with a wider audience really rather than just the local dog walkers coming here. We can also invite school groups here for instance. At the moment we're in our outdoor classroom. We've got a lovely circular bench that sits a class of about 30 children. As part of the car park renovation, we were able to install some compost toilets because the lack of facilities was a major barrier to schools coming to the site.
Schools are starting to come to the site using it regularly they start in the classroom and then venture out onto the site to explore and another thing that they'll be able to do soon is a bit of pond dipping. We're planning to install a pond dipping platform which will just add another layer of interest and excitement for the children when they come to site.
I'm walking along our new 1.2km easy access track. This runs in a loop all the way from the car park, you can use it all the way through the year. The other thing we're finding with the track and one of our objectives was to bring new people to the wood and this track is helping us to achieve that by allowing disabled people to access the wood. It's allowing parents with younger children in buggies and pushchairs to also come here. One of the other tracks that we've created at the wood here is this new cycleway. So, this is a a new surface track that runs for approximately a kilometre. It fulfils one of our other important objectives of the project which is about green travel. It provides an off-road accessible route from the edge of Grantham to the wood.
As part of the project we've been able to offer an amazing training program for a number of 18 to 30 year olds focused on unemployed youth. So, we call it the woodland skills training week and we run a week in November and another one in February each year. Where we gather about 10 or 12 unemployed youngsters and we teach them skills like tree planting, thinning, hedge laying all sorts of different activities that they learn and it's been a brilliant opportunity for them because this industry is notoriously difficult to get into without any experience. Working with the job centre locally and the young people's learning provision has really allowed us to reach that audience in a way that we wouldn't normally be able to.
The tower that you can see behind me is called Belmont Tower and it's a really well-known feature that you can see from the centre of Grantham lot of people are very interested in it. And as part of the project we have been able to work with the National Trust and open the tower on a regular basis. So, once a month we have an open day led by our volunteers and they allow people to go up into the tower and look at the really beautiful views from that special place.
Our main aims for the completion of this project are to promote it as as much as possible within the local community. Community engagement is really important to us and we want as many people as possible to see what Londonthorpe has to offer. We also want to make sure that the Belmont Tower is restored. That we provide the new National Trust car park and also to make sure that the World War II firing range is restored back to its former glory. Our National Trust partnership is really important to us and it's something that we want to ensure continues after this project has ended. We've achieved a huge amount here at Londonthorpe but we still have a slight funding gap to be able to finish everything that we would like to.
If you think that you might be able to help us close that Gap please do get in contact with us.
Helping nature thrive
Restoring Belton’s Eastern Avenue
This historic avenue of veteran trees has been professionally surveyed and is being managed and restored according to guidance from expert surveyors and consultation with stakeholders. This work will prolong the life of these ecologically valuable trees.
Monitoring wildlife
Our team of wildlife monitor volunteers are surveying the project site to record biodiversity. They survey butterflies, birds and waxcap fungi. An ecologist has also carried out bat and bird surveys and has assessed all ponds for the presence of great crested newts. While none have been found so far, we hope that will change now that the pond at Five Gates Wood has been renovated.
Habitat conservation
Several activities are in place for habitat conservation including conservation grazing on parts of the site. Grazing areas are fenced in such a way that walkers still have substantial access to the site even if they do not want to interact with the cattle. With the help of local schools and volunteers, new tree planting has taken place along the boundary with the industrial area to create a screen.
Trails and outdoor classrooms
A children's trail (updated seasonally) and a tree identification trail have been installed. Two dedicated outdoor classroom areas are available for use by local schools and forest school groups. At Five Gates Wood a pond dipping platform has been installed, and at Alma Park and Five Gates Wood a natural seating area has been created.
Improving health and wellbeing
Guided walks
We hold regular, volunteer-led guided walks across the sites. These cover themes such as the history of the site as well as ecology and conservation.
Waymarked trails
Several routes planned of varying distances and across different areas of the site are available. Orientation panels show estimated walking time along with the distance of each route. Alongside these waymarked routes we offer self-led guided walks using an online app - just search Londonthorpe Woods and Bellmount in the App Store or Google Play.
Cycle route
We have installed a cycle track that runs from Alma Park Industrial Estate to the Londonthorpe car park. This route effectively links the site to Grantham town centre. We are currently in discussion with Sustrans to extend their route no. 15 to include this new section.
The route allows visitors to get to the Londonthorpe car park, park up their bikes and explore the site on foot.
Easy access trail
Woodlands are not always accessible to people with limited mobility or those that use buggies and mobility scooters. We have created a level, easily accessible circular route within the main Londonthorpe Woods site in order to open the site to more users.
Nature Detectives trail
Enjoy the children’s nature activity trail at Londonthorpe Woods, with new activities every season! The activities run along the easy access trail short loop, making them great for all the family.
Tree ID trail
Learn about different trees at Londonthorpe Woods and Alma Park with the tree ID trail. Find out what individual species look like and how to identify them using branches, leaves, flowers and even their fruit.
Bringing history to life
Interpretation
Londonthorpe Woods and Bellmount have an astonishing history that very few people are aware of. We have created interpretation to tell the stories of past users of these historic sites.
Restoration of historic features
Structural surveys have taken place at Bellmount Tower, at the water tower that sits below it, and at the brick shooting range at Alma Park. These together with the 30-yard machine gun range at Alma Park have been restored, and interpretation now explains their history.
Access to Bellmount Tower
Bellmount Tower is a well known landmark in Grantham. We are now able to open the tower to the people of Grantham on a regular basis.
Although Bellmount Tower can be seen from Belton House, it is not accessible through the deer sanctuary and the gate at Five Gates Lane. We host regular guided walks to facilitate this access.
National Heritage Open Days
As part of the Heritage Open Days events, we host tours to Bellmount Tower and guided walks to showcase the other historic infrastructure on the site (at Alma Park). Grantham Dramatic Society dress in period costume and assist with the guided walks and tours of the tower and bring the site's history to life.
Other activities
Off-site activity
As part of the plans for the restoration for Belton’s Eastern Avenue, a small tree nursery has been set up near the Rangers’ office at Belton House. This is used for our youth skills training program and for volunteer engagement and training.
In March 2022 we hosted the first 'Ride to the Woods' event in collaboration with Wyndham Park, guiding local residents from the centre of Grantham to Londonthorpe car park along our newly installed cycle path. This has now become an annual event.
Improved car parks
Londonthorpe car park has been upgraded and has become the welcome gateway to the site. It has increased slightly in size and has two disabled bays. An overflow car park is available for use by visiting groups or for small events. Improvements include a pedestrian gate alongside the bus layby to allow children to alight directly into the safety of the woods.
Toilet facilities
The lack of toilets on site prevented some groups from using the woods. We have installed compost toilets as part of the car park design. Daily opening and closing, servicing and cleaning of toilets are managed by the facilities team at Belton House.
Volunteer opportunities
A number of volunteer opportunities are available.
Skills training
A week-long programme has been attended by 39 unemployed young people. We partnered with the Grantham and Sleaford Job Centres and YPLP, providing training sessions twice per year for unemployed 18–30-year-olds.
Project costs
Delivering our partnership vision cost £1.2m over 4.5 years. We are grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for funding just under half this amount which was a fantastic kick-start to the project. FCC Community Fund contributed £76,000 towards the new cycle route.
For further information or to give us your feedback or comments, please email our community development officer at reconnectinggrantham@woodlandtrust.org.uk.