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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

River Holme Connections

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River Holme Connections

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A charity to improve the River Holme and it's tributaries from Holme Village to Huddersfield Town.

River Holme Connections is a charity formed by a group of dedicated volunteers who are passionate about the River Holme, it's ecology, heritage and people. Whether you're an individual, business, community group or school, we want you to join our ambition to improve the whole river catchment from Holme village to Huddersfield Town. Follow us on Facebook and help us work towards a cleaner, greener river system: a place to relax and enjoy, connect moorland and countryside to town and improve the quality of life for residents and visitors to this iconic part of West Yorkshire.

03/11/2026

THANK YOU to the One Community Foundation for supporting us in 2026 with a grant of £5,000 from the Thornton Family Fund.
This funding supported our volunteering programme, allowing us to buy new tools and equipment for our practical conservation volunteers as well as contributing to our charity insurance costs and equipment servicing.

30/10/2026

This week was a busy one for our staff and volunteers.

On Wednesday we were at South Crossland cemetery, working alongside a fantastic group of Parish church volunteers. We cut back and cleared ground to create bare soil patches and sowed wildflower seed to start creating new meadow areas.

On Thursday, our hard-working volunteers delivered some TLC to a hedge which we planted a couple of years ago at Oldfield Farm. This involves weeding inside the tree spirals where needed, replacing any broken spirals or canes and any dead hedging plants. Our background soundtrack was the braying of the donkeys in the field next to us, happily munching on fermented c***r apples!!

On Friday, with help from our brilliant volunteers, we cut back around the pond area in Honley Old Woods to open up footpaths and remove some of the encroaching brambles. This stops the brambles from growing over areas where orchids will appear in spring.

28/10/2026

🛍️ Shop online. 🌳 Support nature.

We're now on easyfundraising! Every time you shop with one of 8,000+ retailers, you can raise FREE donations for River Holme Connections at no extra cost to you.

Whether you're booking a holiday, starting your Christmas shopping, or getting a takeaway for tea, your purchases could help support our work along the River Holme and its wider catchment area.

👉 Join here: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/river-holme-connections

23/10/2026

This week has been all about footpaths! Our volunteers joined us for two tasks to cutback and tidy important riverside paths in Lockwood and Meltham.

In Lockwood, we began a cutback along 772m of footpath, collecting 11 bags of rubbish along the way. We will be returning in a few weeks for a mega cutback, where we will be clearing away the buildup of detritus to widen the footpath back to it's original glory.

At Meltham we cleared 557m of footpath, and worked on weeding the seating area at the top of the grounds. This is another site we plan on returning to to continue our bramble removal, replant with some native flora, and top up some of the stone around the benches.

Both of these footpaths feature in some of our free walking maps, including;

Lockwood Spa - a 2.5 mile walk boasting riverside views. Did you know that Lockwood Spa gets it's name from the old mineral and sulphurous spring spa, which opened in the mid 1800's. https://www.riverholmeconnections.org/explore/lockwood-spa-walk/

Meltham Pleasure Grounds - a 2.5 mile walk that rises above the valley. Meltham Pleasure Ground was created in 1858 as a recreational spot for the almost 2000 mill workers at Meltham Mills. You can still see remnants of this history in it's rockeries, millpond, and disused historic ornamental waterfall.
https://www.riverholmeconnections.org/explore/meltham-pleasure-ground-mill-town-and-moorland/

Thank you to everyone who has been out to help!

21/10/2026

Nature Notice!

This time, some mammal footage from one of our volunteer’s camera traps:

Top: Mouse stashing food in its burrow– Possibly a wood mouse due to its bounding gait, long tail and large ears. These solitary creatures live in burrows and do not hibernate; to survive the cold they sometimes nest communally in winter!

Bottom left: Badger bathing – Badgers display some interesting reproductive traits; being able to undergo ‘embryonic diapause’ or delayed development of eggs, so all young are born in January-March the next year. Another is ‘superfetation’; the ability to release more eggs after one is fertilized – it’s suggested this allows multiple males to occupy a sett without competition, as each one thinks they fathered the cubs.

Bottom right: Roe buck passing – Roe deer are identified by their short antlers, white lips and (not visible here) white rump. This is likely only a young buck since its antlers are so simple.

16/10/2026

On Thursday, our amazing volunteers got stuck in to clean the river and surrounding land at Sands Recreation Ground in Holmfirth.

With one team working in the river and others covering the surrounding area, we collected and removed more than 20 bags of rubbish in just two and a half hours. Alongside the litter, volunteers also pulled out rusty metal, old drainpipes, shopping baskets, an old trolley, multiple traffic cones and a bike!

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, we've helped protect wildlife from harm, prevent litter from polluting our rivers and green spaces, and create cleaner, more welcoming areas that everyone can enjoy.

Fancy joining in? Email [email protected] if you're interested. It's a great way to get outdoors, meet new people, support your local environment and have some fun along the way!

13/10/2026

Don't forget, it is the Action for Nature Day at Greenhead Park on Sunday, from 11:30pm - 4pm!

Suitable for all ages, come along to discover how you can play your part in creating a wilder Yorkshire. There are loads of brilliant stalls, interesting talks and hands-on workshops planned - have a look at the flyers for more information and timings. Oh, and its all completely free!

See you there! 🐸🌳💚

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Kirklees Environmental Projects In Kirklees Marsden Moor NT Canal & River Trust Greenhead Park

10/10/2026

🍄 Happy UK Fungus Day! 🍄

Today we're celebrating the incredible world of fungi.

Neither plants nor animals, fungi are a fascinating and hugely diverse group of organisms, ranging from microscopic single cells to complex multicellular networks.

The mushrooms we see above ground are just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath our feet lies a vast network of thread-like structures called mycelium. Some fungal networks are enormous. One example, Armillaria ostoyae in Oregon, is estimated to cover more than 2,400 acres!

Fungi play a vital role in keeping our ecosystems healthy. They recycle nutrients, improve soil health, support plant growth, and help store carbon, making them an important ally in tackling climate change.

Next time you spot a mushroom, take a moment to appreciate the hidden underground world working hard beneath your feet! 🍄✨

And, if you spot any mushrooms across the Holme Valley this weekend, tag us in your finds! We love to see what is growing locally!

09/10/2026

This week volunteers joined us on our final spiral sorting session of the year, where spirals were organised into bags of 700 ready to be collected. This was hard work with with lots of heavy lifting, so it's great to have finally completed it. We'll be glad to see them sent off for recycling.

On Friday we spent what seemed to be the only wet part of the day at Meltham Pleasure Ground, where we ventured into the old millpond for some vegetation management. This task involved cutting back encroaching brambles to reveal the ground flora of the millpond, so we could dig out and dispose of any American Skunk Cabbage. American Skunk Cabbage is an invasive plant which if left untreated can create a monoculture, out competing our native plants by over shading them.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who chose to come and help us out this week with some tough (and muddy!) tasks.

03/10/2026

Join us for an evening of photography discussion, including tips on composition, colour, landscapes, wildlife and macro photography. This talk is open to anyone that is interested in learning how to take better photos, you do not need an expensive camera to attend, a phone camera is fine!

This event is FREE to attend - please note that space is limited. To book your space head to https://www.riverholmeconnections.org/event/take-better-photographs-an-evening-with-michael-forster-jones/

Address

Honley

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

01484 661756

Website

http://Riverholmeconnections.org/

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