Chippenham Civic Society held their Annual Conservation & Environment Awards in St Andrew’s Church on Tuesday 25th October 2022.
Jack Konynenburg, RIBA, President of the Civic Society, led the judging and gave a short presentation on the night detailing why the awards were made. The awards were presented by Chippenham Civic Society Chair, Mike Stone and the Mayor of Chippenham, Cllr Liz Alstrom.
We were delighted to be invited to attend the evening and honoured to receive two of the Chippenham Civic Society 2022 Conservation Awards this year.
The first was for The Arc – with the award certificate wording stating – a striking new community asset for all ages and abilities of people in Chippenham, which has made a positive contribution to the landscape. Architect: Artel 31.
Marc Allum (recent former Trustee, CBLC) and Phil Tansley (CEO, CBLC) collect the award in the above photo and in the below photo Richard Charles-Jones (Studio Director) and Elliot Noyes (Construction Director) from Artel 31, Architects for The Arc, with the Award.
The second 2022 Conservation and Environment Award was received for Westmead Open Space – transforming mixed use land into an attractive area with easy access for people of all ages and abilities.
Don Steele (Chair of Trustees, CBLC) collecting the award.
We were also thrilled to find out that the Mortimores Wood Volunteers received a 2022 Conservation and Environment Award.
The award given to the Mortimores Wood Volunteers from the Chippenham Civic Society was “for the management of this lovely piece of ancient woodland, owned by Chippenham Borough Lands Charity which we commend.”
Mortimores Wood is both a designated County Wildlife Site and Local Nature Reserve. It is a small area of Ancient woodland with a recorded history extending back over 800 years and it houses a diversity of plant and bird life only found in such old woodlands. The Wood lies just one mile from the centre of Chippenham, next to Westmead Open Space and provides a haven of tranquillity from the bustle of modern life.
Whilst Mortimores wood is owned by our charity – it is both managed and has been looked after by a wonderful team of volunteers, headed by Colin Truman and Paul Corbyn since 1994.
From L to R – Mortimores Wood Volunteers Kip D’Aucourt, Paul Corbyn, Sandy Corbyn and Colin Truman.
We are very grateful to Colin, Paul, Kit, Sandy and all the Mortimores Wood volunteers over the years, for their hard work to restore, maintain and enhance the woodland, making it such a special place to visit.
The Mortimores Wood Volunteers group are always looking for new members. Their regular work mornings take place on the second Sunday in each calendar month. If you are interested in becoming a friend of Mortimores Wood and wish to join the regular monthly work days then please email: volunteers@mortimores.org.uk.
For all general enquiries about Mortimores Wood visit the Mortimores Wood Volunteers website and/or email enquiries@mortimores.org.uk.
Thank you to Mel Barnett from Chippenham Museum for the photos.