Breaking News
Newsletter for Breaking New Ground Landscape Partnership Scheme
October 2015
A newsflash for project partners and participants with news items , project updates,
special features and forthcoming events.
Brecks Building Skills
Projects Round-up
Are you interested in learning how to look
after heritage buildings? Then come along to
a series of inspiring day schools organised
and delivered by Orchard Barn CIC.
Topping Out
Ceremony
To celebrate the
completion of last year’s
beautiful bench/shelter
at West Stow, a topping
out ceremony was held,
as well as an official
opening by BNG Chairman Lisa Chambers.
Following last year’s very successful Brecks
Building Skills workshops, a second series
will be taking place over this winter, starting
on the 17th October at West Stow AngloSaxon Village
You can learn how to use traditional mortars,
make wooden frames and shingles, get stuck
in mixing renders out of earth, clay and lime
or find out how to use earth as a building
material. Each workshop costs just £5 per
person!
Booking for the six workshops has now
opened, so to find out more and book your
place, visit www.tinyurl.com/bbsworkshops
Sandlines
This project has now
finished and was
rounded off with a
poetry reading evening
at Brandon Country
Park and the production
of a poetry pamphlet
(see inside for more)
Reed Fen Lodge dig
The Breckland Society
carried out an
archaeological dig to
look for the site of Reed
Fen Lodge, and
excitingly they have
discovered the remains
of the building!
Wildlife Recorders of Tomorrow
Norfolk’s Environmental Records Centre (Norfolk
Biodiversity Information Service - NBIS) is looking
for new volunteers to help record the distinctive
biodiversity of Brecks, which studies have already
shown is a nationally and internationally important
hotspot for rarities. To find out more, please
register your interest by emailing
nbis@norfolk.gov.uk
www.breakingnewground.org.uk
Project Focus
A6 (4) Perfect Peace: Brecks Short Film
moved to a house in Thetford. The second day
This month we’ve been really excited to be involved included filming at Thetford Warren Lodge
and a Croxton pig farm with the support
in the pre-production and production of “Perfect
of local farmers. In the evening of the
Peace” a short film set in the Brecks. Members of
second day and for the whole of the
the community have also been involved in the
planning and organisation of the project with special third day, filming took place at Brandon
roles allocated for volunteers. Filming locations were Country Park. Much of the land is an area of
all within the Brecks, and costumes and props were
obtained from members of the community, local
government bodies and industries.
A three day shoot was held 23-25 September with a
number of young people shadowing the crew and
learning about the film production process. The
most respected production company in the area Ember films - were enlisted to help us capture the
landscape, and the history of the area. The Ember
production team work all over the world and
produce wildlife documentaries for BBC.
The shoot was due to last from 8am-8pm on each
day but over ran due to the creativity of the team
and more exciting methods of filming available due
to the amount of kit that Ember brought with
them. The first day was filmed on Forestry
Commission land and supported by a local business
who use the land – Combat
Paintball. Filming then
outstanding natural beauty and of historical
importance; these elements were referred to in the
actual script.
Ten local volunteers have been involved on the
project, including two of the actors A local resident
of Brandon loaned her Land Rover for the
shoot. The owners of Croxton farm loaned their
land and came along. Two young women worked as
part of the crew on a voluntary basis, helping in the
shoot activities and make up. One worked in the art
department and built a life size model of the actor
and a local man was responsible for catering. We
hope to be releasing the film for everyone to see in
Spring next year, so we will keep you posted with
any updates!
Project Focus
Sandlines Poetry Evening Brandon Country Park
Participants of the Sandlines poetry workshops gathered at Brandon Country Park on the evening
of the 18th September. They performed the wonderful poetry they had written and celebrated
the hard work put in by all involved. A pamphlet of poetry has been produced which will soon be available
for everyone to download from our website.
Upcoming Events:
Introduction to Plants—Barnham Cross Common—3rd Oct 10:30–12:30
BioBlitz Wildlife Survey—Brandon Country Park—11th Oct10:00–15:00
People’s History of Thetford Forest Norfolk Records Office Visit—16th Oct
14:00-16:00
Mortar The Point (Brecks Building Skills)—West Stow—17th Oct 10:00-16:00
Wild Activities at High Lodge Forest Centre—27th and 29th Oct 11:00-15:00
Find out more and book at http://www.breakingnewground.org.uk/events
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Picture
of the
Month
Filming
“Perfect
Peace”
Please help raise awareness of the
BNG scheme and all the projects by
liking us on Facebook and following us
on Twitter & now Instagram !
What the Brecks Means to Me...
I used to drive up and down the A14 between Newmarket and Bury, and along the A11 to
Norwich, oblivious to the world going on beyond the twisted Scots Pines edging the roads.
After six years working here, I have discovered some of the secretive, fascinating world I’d
been missing. To me now the Brecks is both the broad landscape of heaths and busy
agricultural fields and the fascinating species that inhabit these places. I love the heaths,
which reflect the changing of seasons with their changing colours. I find myself on hands
and knees looking at tiny Breck flowers, often miniature to cope with the Brecks poor soil;
dry, cold climate and to beat the teeth of grazing animals. I catch my breath at the stunning
blue of a miniature Breckland speedwell flower, or the exquisite colouring of eyebright seen
through my hand lens.
Then there are stone curlews, which I spend my time
working with. With their long yellow legs, knobbly knees
and large yellow eyes, they creep across the flinty
ground doing their best not to be seen. On the farms
and heaths on which they nest, I see them as ‘my’ birds.
I want to know what they are about, I want to know
whether their eggs are hatched and if their chicks are
fledged. I am delighted when chicks I have colour ringed
return safely to breed themselves. I grin as I pass a
field, knowing that a pair of these birds are in there,
guarding eggs, bringing up young. I love it too when
people come to Cavenham Heath in late August and
September to see these birds as they gather before flying off for the winter. I delight in
people’s excitement at seeing them and we share the thrill of hearing their weird calls as
they fly off at dusk to feed. (I’m also glad people will go to Weeting Heath, which Norfolk
Wildlife Trust has set up so people can see stone-curlews during the summer, to avoid
disturbing them elsewhere.)
My grandfather farmed in the Fens. As a small child I stood by him as he hoed rows of
onions or beet by hand. The Brecks to me now is also the people I have come to know who
are rooted here: farmers who are glad to know how ‘their’ birds are doing, the tractor driver
who laughingly flaps his arms at me like a bird as he passes me, the gamekeeper who
breaks off his lunch break to pull my vehicle out of a muddy hole!
Out here in the Brecks my soul has space to breathe, to delight, to wonder – and to just be.
Jo Jones, Stone Curlew Field Worker Volunteer (RSPB), Wings over the Brecks Project
Get your project noticed!
“The experience was fantastic. I’ve learned so much from
everyone involved and it was invaluable. I now have
photos for my website and enjoyed the chance to get
some hands on work experience.”
Liane Day, Volunteer Make-Up Artist , Perfect Peace film
If there is something that you
would like included in the next
newsletter, please send details
to Amy and Martina by 23rd
October
BNG.Admin@suffolk.gov.uk
Breaking New Ground
c/o Visitor Centre, Brandon Country Park, Bury Road, Brandon, Suffolk, IP27 0SU
01842 815465 e: bng.admin@suffolk.gov.uk
t: @TheBrecksBNG
f: TheBrecksBNG. w: www.breakingnewground.org.uk