Friends of the Valley and Little Dene Park invite you to help with work for the wildflower meadow.
Like to help create a wildflower meadow?
Well come along and join us in sowing wild flower seeds along the banks of the Valley on Sunday 6 May 2018.
All welcome – families, children, students – anyone interested in nature.
Equipment provided but strong shoes will be required.
Meet at 10am on the Valley, Lodore Road.
The Friends of the Valley and Little Dene (FOVALD) was established to manage, maintain and protect the open spaces in High West Jesmond known as The Valley and Little Dene.
The Blue House Working Group recently made recommendations to Newcastle City Council about the Blue House Roundabout and a public meeting was arranged on 12 March 2018 so that local residents could hear more from the working group.
John Dales, Independent Chair of Blue House Working Group, invited local residents and other stakeholders to a meeting to find out more about the Group’s recommendations about the Blue House junction and the principles that underpin them.
Residents filled the senior school hall at Newcastle School for Boys – photo courtesy Katie Dickinson from Twitter @KatieJDickinson
There was a packed room in the senior school hall at Newcastle School for Boys on The Grove, Gosforth for the meeting which started at 6.30pm.
John Dales introduced the proposals and other members of the Working Group explained how they had been involved with the process of developing the recommendations.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for some questions from the audience, which were responded to by members of the Blue House Working Group and a representative from Newcastle City Council, Graham Grant who is Head of Transport Investment with the Council.
Representatives at the meeting
A number of community groups were represented at the meeting who spoke including:
Nick Moore, Chair, High West Jesmond Residents Association
Veronica Stoner, Chair, West Gosforth Residents Association
Tony Waterson, Chair, Jesmond Residents Association
Peter MacDonald, Space for Gosforth
Sally Watson, Newcastle Cycling Campaign
Andrew Lambert, Gosforth Traffic
Speakers also included two of our local councillors:
Stella Postlethwaite, Cllr North Jesmond (Lab)
Nick Cott, Cllr West Gosforth (Lib Dem)
Recommendations made to the Council
Current view of Blue House Roundabout, High West Jesmond – from Google Maps
John Dales explained that the working group had made recommendations to the Council.
It was noted that traffic flows at the Blue House Roundabout in 2016 were 10% lower than they had been in 2008 and that this equated to approximately 400 less peak hour vehicles.
Drawing A – proposed by the Blue House Working Group
Drawing A sets out the scope of change recommended at the Blue House junction in the immediate future. This involves limited work.
Drawing B – proposed by the Blue House Working Group
Drawing B sets out how this could be further built upon in the future to increase traffic capacity if this was required. This is more major work, a bigger roundabout and demolition of the Blue House itself.
Council not able to respond to recommendations before purdah starts
The audience was interested in knowing what the next steps would be and when Newcastle City Council would respond to the recommendations it had received from the Blue House Working Group. And when Newcastle CityCouncil would publish its revised plans for the roundabout.
Graham Grant, Head of Transport Investment at Newcastle City Council said that Newcastle City Council would not be able to respond within the next two weeks and then, after 27 March 2018, the ‘purdah’ rules on the run up to the local government elections on 3 May 2018 would prevent the council from making an announcement until after the elections.
This means that local residents will not know the council plans as they go to the polls to elect their local councillors.
Following changes to the ward boundaries in Newcastle upon Tyne the local government election on 3 May will be an ‘all-out’ election with every seat being contested at the same time, rather than the normal third of the seats being up for election. All 78 seats will be up for re-election with electors voting for up to 3 candidates.
Residents were shown recommendation Drawing A – for potential development at Blue House Roundabout – photo courtesy Oliver Ross Assogna from Twitter @OliverR_Assogna
Council to undertake work
Graham Grant explained that the council was undertaking work following receipt of the recommendations from the Blue House Working Group.
He also noted that the council was keen to keep the Blue House Working Group involved as the council develops its plans.
Graham announced that the council’s work would include:
Reviewing detailed plans;
undertaking a ‘micro simulation’ model;
undertaking modelling using air quality software;
sharing the results of work with the Blue House Working Group;
discussing matters with the Stewards’ Committee of the Freeman of the City of Newcastle;
discussing with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (North East LEP) how criteria for funding can be used; and
considering the impact of changes in the public’s travel behaviour.
Graham Grant also committed that representatives from the Blue House Working Group would be invited to meetings with both the North East LEP and the Steward’s Committee.
Questions from audience
Following questions from the audience about openness and transparency, Graham Grant also noted that he was more than happy to give access to the council’s modelling information so that those who were interested would have the opportunity to study the details.
A member of the Blue House Working Group noted that they had challenged some of the outputs from earlier data models as not making sense and when the Council reviewed these again different results were obtained. John Dales acknowledged that traffic models were always challenging.
Another audience member asked why comments/questions previously left on the Blue House Working Group website had not been responded as not responding did not fulfil the definition of engagement.
Whilst the Blue House Working Group website had been set up by Newcastle City Council and Open Labs at Newcastle University, a volunteer member of the Blue House Working Group offered an apology that the resources had not been deployed to respond to comments that had been left.
Going forwards, anyone who wishes to receive future updates from the council was asked to leave their email address with Ali Lamb. The council plans to send an update email within the next 2 weeks.
As well as local residents and stakeholders the meeting was also attended by reporters from the Newcastle Chronicle and Jesmond Local. The meeting closed at 8.30pm.
Newcastle City Council are to hold feedback sessions regarding the creation of Newcastle Parks Trust.
In November 2017, after research, discussion and consultation, Newcastle City Council’s Cabinet approved the proposal for Newcastle’s parks and allotments to be managed by a new charitable company (with ownership staying with the City) supported by the National Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund.
Recruitment of Chair and Trustees
The next stage of this project is the recruitment of the inaugural
Chair and a Board of Trustees (all voluntary roles).
The posts can be found listed with Guardian Jobs Online: https://goo.gl/TPjr3e (closes 12 February 2018).
Feedback sessions to residents planned
The Council would also like to feedback to the public, in person, at 4
locations around the City to explain what the council’s Cabinet has decided and what will happen next.
The sessions will be on:-
Sat 10 Feb 2018 – 12pm – 1pm – Jesmond Dene Visitor Centre
Mon 12 Feb 2018 – 7pm – 8pm – Nunsmoor Centre
Tue 13 Feb 2018 – 7pm – 8pm – Civic Centre Armstrong Room
Sat 24 Feb 2018 – 12pm – 1pm – Civic Centre Collingwood Suite
Friends of the Valley and Little Dene Annual Report
2017 Committee Annual Report
Although 2017 was a dormant year in terms of organised events on the Valley, it did prove to be significant for two contrasting reasons.
Thank you Warwick
The first was, sadly, losing Warwick Ogden. From his family home he had overlooked the Valley since the early 1970’s and soon became the “guardian” of what was a rather neglected open space.
The Valley, High West Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne – mid 1960’s
He witnessed and contributed to the renaissance of the Valley from being a sparsely surrounded field in the years following the Council’s 1960’s tipping contract, to the beautiful open space that it now is.
He was one of our founder members. So we owe a big thank you to Warwick for all his efforts over 45 years.
The Valley, High West Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne in 2016
Lending a Hand
The second is that FOVALD members spread their wings during 2017.
As well as looking after the Valley surrounds and the Little Dene, a sub-group was formed, Lending a Hand, to do the landscape maintenance work in HWJ that the City Council has stopped doing, mainly on Moorfield, Little Moor and Freeman’s Park (which we now know as Litle Dene Park)).
The group meets once a week and started in early March.
By December, over 1 km of footpaths had been edged; approx 140 barrow/bag loads of leaves collected; and lots of trees & shrubs pruned.
One of the aims is to recycle all compostable material.
FOVALD adopts further park
Freeman’s Park is Town Moor land and the quality of our work persuaded the City’s Freemen to agree to FOVALD adopting the park on a similar basis to the adoption agreement that we have with the City Council for the Valley.
This means that we have responsibility for looking after all of the open spaces that abut HWJ to the north and west, i.e. the Valley, Little Dene and Freeman Park.
All lie within the City’s defined “wildlife corridor”, so we have the opportunity to introduce changes that will not only benefit and enhance the landscape but also wildlife.
So a big thank you to all residents who have contributed.
Little Moor path – the start of work by FOVALD’s Lending a Hand group, High West Jesmond, Newcastle upon TyneLittle Moor path – nearly finished! Work undertaken by FOVALD’s Lending a Hand group, High West Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne
The Landscape
There was little change to report regarding the Valley’s trees & shrubs.
The ash trees have not succumbed to “die-back” and even the old lilac on the north side, which predated the 1962 “levelling contract”, continued to bloom.
It was good to see “Joanna’s” cherry tree, on Lodore Road next to the garage, starting to make a significant contribution!
Two pear trees and another apple were planted close to an existing apple tree in the north-east corner, close to the blackberry patch – perhaps the start of a “community orchard”?
There are 2-3 trees in Little Dene that are overhanging Lodore Road that will probably need intervention during 2018.
More work was undertaken keeping weeds at bay and it is good to see that the hollies & hazels planted 5 years ago are gradually starting to form an understorey.
A lot of shrub pruning and tree “crown lifting” was carried out on Freeman’s Park, to improve visibility both within and alongside the space and to improve the structure of the plants.
A landscape action plan was produced for 2018 which received approval from the Freemen. This includes the further pruning of trees & shrubs bordering Little Dene flats, which will be the subject of consultation.
A disappointment was the loss of a substantial part of a beautiful “choisya” bush through vandalism. We are hopeful it can be nurtured back to prime condition.
Wildlife
During last winter, bird feeders were placed on the Valley close to the Little Dene.
They have attracted a variety of birds. The most notable seen on the Valley being a woodcock, a bullfinch and a lesser spotted woodpecker.
A recent bird survey in Jesmond Dene also recorded sightings of bullfinches and the lesser spotted woodpecker, plus many species that were recorded in the 2016 FOVALD survey.
This is good news in that it is evidence of the wildlife link between Jesmond Dene and the Valley & the Little Dene.
Grey squirrels continue to occupy the trees in our area.
However, it is also interesting to note that otters have recently been seen in the Dene beside Fisherman’s Lodge.
Several years ago, footprints were seen in the mud beside the culvert entrance in Little Dene and it was suspected, at that time, that the prints may have been an otter’s. Another possible wildlife corridor link!
Use of the Valley and Freeman’s Park
Without doubt, the most popular use of the Valley in 2017 was dog walking and adult socialising!
People walk around the Valley at all times of the day, with early mornings and lunchtimes being times when people tend to congregate, chat and network.
It has been described as an “outdoor community centre”!
The dryer summer months saw the usual ball games, picnics and “congregations” – large numbers of young people meeting on the Valley on some summer evenings.
Freeman’s Park is different. It is a place to pass through rather than a destination.
However, it is an attractive space and the 4 seats available are frequently used by residents wishing to sit and relax before continuing their journey.
It may be useful to undertake a user count during 2018.
Freeman Park (now also known as Little Dene Park) after maintenance work carried out by FOVALD, High West Jesmond, Newcastle upon TyneJoanna’s cherry tree, the Valley, High West Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne
Committee of Friends of the Valley and Little Dene
February 2018
Research published today from the charity Fields in Trust shows that living close to and visiting parks and green spaces can increase people’s wellbeing and improve their health.
With The Valley and Little Dene at the heart of High West Jesmond many in our community will agree with this statement.
The green open space of The Valley and Little Dene is widely used and valued by the local community (and you can read about the work of the Friends of the Valley and Little Dene (FOVALD) and FOVALD’s Lending a Hand group elsewhere on this website).
New Parks Action Group launched to help England’s public parks and green spaces meet the needs of communities now and in the future.
The research also highlights the importance of parks as spaces for neighbours to socialise away, helping to reduce the risk of loneliness.
Fields in Trust’s report, among others, will be fundamental to the new Parks Action Group’s work moving forward.
Parks Research
Helen Griffiths, chief executive Fields in Trust said:
“I welcome the ministers response to the CLG Parliamentary Committee and Fields in Trust’s appointment to the newly established Parks Action Group at this pivotal moment for the future of parks and green spaces.
Our ongoing research recognises how these spaces help to address significant public policy issues including health and wellbeing and community integration.
We are looking forward to furthering our work with colleagues across the sector to ensure that we value parks and green spaces and take account of the vital contribution they make to local communities.”
Graham Duxbury, chief executive of Groundwork said:
“Making sure that all communities and all sections of society are able to enjoy the benefits of good green spaces is vital. Joining a local group can help young people develop their skills and older people overcome loneliness.
Well managed green spaces can also help whole neighbourhoods cope with the costly impacts of climate change. We look forward to helping the action group unlock more practical support so that local communities and local authorities can maximise these social and economic benefits.”
Matthew Bradbury, Parks Alliance’s chief executive said:
“Having been involved in lobbying for an inquiry, The Parks Alliance wholeheartedly welcomes the publication of the minister’s response to the Local Government Select Committee inquiry into the Future of Public Parks and particularly the creation of a cross governmental and sector supported, Parks Action Group.
The Parks Alliance is very much looking forward to working with the minister, government and the wider sector to secure the future of public parks for the communities that they serve.”
Government pledge £500,000
Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones on 19 September 2017 launched a new Parks Action Group to help England’s public parks and green spaces meet the needs of communities now and in the future.
The new Parks Action Group will include experts from the world of horticulture, leisure, heritage and tourism, and will be tasked with bringing forward proposals to address some of the issues faced by public parks and other green spaces across England. To support them, government is providing £500,000 funding to kick start their work.
Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones said:
“We recognise the value of parks and green spaces to local communities – including reducing loneliness, increasing wellbeing, and revitalising town and city centres.
But we need to do more to make sure future generations are continuing to enjoy their benefits. That is why we have announced a new expert-led Parks Action Group to work closely with the sector to find the right solutions.
This latest development builds on action the government has taken to date to encourage more people to make better use of parks including:
In December 2015, the government published the “Sporting future: a new strategy for an active nation” which set out the importance of sport and physical activity. The first annual report on the implementation of “sporting future” was published with a specific focus on the themes of central government, local government and outdoor recreation.
In February 2016 the government awarded over £1 million to improve 87 small pockets of unloved, undeveloped or derelict land to transform them into 87 green spaces that the whole community can enjoy.
The government has announced that is to continue the Green Flag Awards license for making sure that Britain’s best parks and green spaces will continue to be recognised for another 5 years. For 20 years, the Green Flag Awards have been recognising the best of green outdoor spaces in the UK, for people to enjoy and setting standards for park managers across the country to try to emulate. Many parks have won the award, but winners also include more unusual spaces such as social housing developments, cemeteries, canals, and shopping centres.”
The direction of the Parks Action Group will be determined by park sector experts in co-operation with officials from a number of government departments. The Action Group will consider the recommendations from the government’s response to the report and propose new projects and actions that will help our parks and green spaces thrive.
Members of the Parks Action Group
Parks and Green Spaces Minister Marcus Jones will chair the inaugural meeting.
The members of the Parks Action Group are:
Drew Bennellick, Head of Landscape & Natural Heritage UK, Heritage Lottery Fund
Matthew Bradbury, CEO, Parks Alliance
Graham Duxbury, CEO, Groundwork
Helen Griffiths, CEO, Fields In Trust
Ian Leete, Senior Advisor on Culture, Tourism and Sport, Local Government Association
Dave Morris, Chair, National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces
Paul O’Brien, CEO, Association of Public Service Excellence
Ellie Robinson, Assistant Director, National Trust
Today we are launching our new High West Jesmond website, which aims to bring together information on several different community groups plus local information and news for residents living in High West Jesmond and for those with a connection to High West Jesmond.
A thriving urban community
Many of you will already know that High West Jesmond is a thriving urban community in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne. We are well situated between Jesmond and Gosforth – and between the Town Moor and Jesmond Dene.
Our great situation means that our residents engage easily with the wider city and its wonderful hinterland.
Community groups
You may have noticed on our home page that we have featured on 4 aspects of High West Jesmond and this website contains some information on the following groups:
HWJRA was established to support the residents of the local area: to promote the benefit of the inhabitants of High West Jesmond by working to maintain and improve the quality of life, preserve the character of the area and ensure that development does not adversely affect the local environment; and to assist residents in exercising their rights as members of the community including empowering them in dealing with statutory and other relevant authorities.
We represented High West Jesmond residents in their opposition to the original plans to build a ‘motorway style’ Blue House Roundabout on the green land of the Town Moor in 2016 and we have been actively representing residents views as a core member of the Blue House Roundabout Working Group since this was established in autumn 2016.
We have also been representing residents views on the proposal to introduce communal bins into High West Jesmond. It is fair to say that this proposal has not been popular – in fact 95% of High West Jesmond residents voted AGAINST communal bins in a recent poll.
We are also involved with work that the council has initiated for streets for people as Jesmond is one of three areas of Newcastle where this project is to operate.
We aim to continue to represent and support our community.
FOVALD was established to manage, maintain and protect the open spaces in High West Jesmond known as The Valley and Little Dene.
FOVALD has a vision for a local park that provides opportunities for local residents, including children, families, young and older people, to play, relax and socialise and also where the surrounding vegetation, including trees, shrubs and plants, and the stream, are managed and maintained to not only provide an attractive setting but also to encourage nature conservation and wildlife.
Lending a Hand to maintain our green spaces
In addition members of our community have been Lending a Hand to maintain the green spaces in High West Jesmond – a group of volunteers now meet every week and have made a real difference to the quality of live in our community. FOVALD oversees this work and we are grateful to the volunteers for their time and hard work. You can read more about the work of Lending a Hand on this website.
If you operate a business in or from High West Jesmond and you are interested in being featured on our businesses page then please get in touch with us.
Whether you operate from one of the retail outlets across High West Jesmond or your business is run from your High West Jesmond home this is your opportunity to reach your local community and set out the products or services that your provide.
We have included a number of posts on this website regarding the heritage of High West Jesmond, including memories and photographs from some of our current and former residents.
You can see these items by selecting Heritage from the Categories side bar on this webpage.
If you have any old photographs and memories relating to High West Jesmond we would love to heard from you! Please contact us via the Contact page.
New digital communications
As part of the work to create this website we have reloaded a good number of ‘back stories’ – these are things that did happen and communications and news that was circulated around our community over the past year. You can see these on our News pages.
In the past as we did not have a website to anchor our content on at the time our earlier communications were by:
hard copy newsletters/leaflets through the door;
by email for those who had signed up to distribution lists; and
via the community noticeboard outside the shops on Newlands Road.
This website now provides a further digital platform to share information with High West Jesmond residents and those with a connection to our community.
In addition you can follow us on our social media accounts.
Our social media accounts
Facebook
In addition High West Jesmond Residents’ Association (HWJRA) has a Facebook group – if you are a High West Jesmond resident you are welcome to join us at the following link – www.facebook.com/groups/HWJRA/
We are on Instagram too – and we would love you to share your photographs of High West Jesmond with us! if you are an Instagram user then our handle is @highwestjesmond and you can read our tweets on a computer at the following link – www.instagram.com/highwestjesmond/
Thanks for visting our website
Thank you for visiting our website. We hope that you found it useful finding out more about our High West Jesmond community in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Graham Grant explained that the council was undertaking work following receipt of the recommendations from the Blue House Working Group.
In November 2017, after research, discussion and consultation, Newcastle City Council’s Cabinet approved the proposal for Newcastle’s parks and allotments to be managed by a new charitable company (with ownership staying with the City) supported by the National Trust and Heritage Lottery Fund.
Welcome to High West Jesmond!
HWJRA was established to support the residents of the local area: to promote the benefit of the inhabitants of High West Jesmond by working to maintain and improve the quality of life, preserve the character of the area and ensure that development does not adversely affect the local environment; and to assist residents in exercising their rights as members of the community including empowering them in dealing with statutory and other relevant authorities.
FOVALD was established to manage, maintain and protect the open spaces in High West Jesmond known as The Valley and Little Dene.
High West Jesmond has three seperate allotment sites at:
If you operate a business in or from High West Jesmond and you are interested in being featured on our businesses page then please get in touch with us.
We will update information on our standing pages from time to time, but the best place to find out the latest information is via our 
We have included a number of posts on this website regarding the heritage of High West Jesmond, including memories and photographs from some of our current and former residents.
In addition High West Jesmond Residents’ Association (HWJRA) has a 
You can also follow us on Twitter – if you are a Twitter user then our handle is