All who value the green space of the Yare Valley are welcome to come along to the Yare Valley Society AGM and presentation on progressing the UEA Boardwalk on Wednesday 17th June 2026 at 7.30pm at the Cringleford Sports Pavilion.
The AGM will be held first, and usually takes about 30 minutes. Papers for the AGM are here.
Last year at the AGM, Tom Everett, the UEA Landscape Manager gave a very well-received talk. This year he is joined by the UEA Boardwalk Team, Justine Mann and Orla Condra. Together they will be telling us how installing the Boardwalk might be expected to progress. They will welcome your ideas and suggestions to guide the project.
YVS partnered with the UEA in bids to finance the Boardwalk, and the committee appreciated working with the UEA team and for their exceptional effort in preparing and assembling the extensive documentation. See our post below on the 7th May.
Another full progamme this month, with quite a lot of attention going to the Wensum River Valley. Mark Webster writes:
“…We are all about the flowers this month, protecting newly seeded wildflower areas by removing more aggressive weeds, controlling bracken to enable a much wider range of heathland plants to thrive, and (of course) visiting lots of beautiful riverside sites, many that the public don’t get to see, to remove the dreaded Himalayan Balsam from the Wensum catchment before it can affect the Broads. We really do get to see some of the loveliest parts of Norfolk from the upper tributaries to almost the heart of Norwich.
So I hope you can send us more people soon, as we go Way Upstream into the Heart Of Darkness Hellesdon and beyond…”
Mark’s full letter, and the June programme is here.
Firstly though, a big thank you for the generosity of all who have contributed to the fund to replace the University of East Anglia (UEA) Boardwalk, exceeding the target of £5,000. The UEA/YVS bids for additional funding would not have been viable without your clear signal of strong community support.
Added to this is now £260,899 of funding from the Greater Norwich Growth Board. Taken together with funds from other sources, the total now covers the estimated cost of replacement of £439,708. Work on the new boardwalk will begin in Autumn 2026 to a timetable that will minimise the disturbance to wildlife. Completion is due in Spring 2027. See the UEA press release for more detail.
The UEA and Yare Valley Society (YVS) are also seeking funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for a “UEA Boardwalk Community Engagement Project”. The Project is a partnership between the YVS and UEA. It will give opportunities for people to say what they expect for the boardwalk, and their views and ideas for a launch event, for creating signage and interpretation panels, and for guiding promotional and educational materials.
The old boardwalkThe UEA team: Justine and Orla
The YVS committee was thrilled to work with a great UEA team. YVS and UEA worked in close cooperation to seek funds from the Greater Norwich Growth Board and the National Lottery Fund. Regular meetings and correspondence took place, and the YVS committee expresses its gratitude to the UEA team, Justine Mann and Orla Condra for their exceptional effort in preparing and assembling the extensive documentation.
Members of the YVS team, the UEA team, UEA Estate team, the Fringe Project, and Eaton Residents Association on site. Photo courtesy of UEA
All are welcome to join in the conservation activities. This monthly the activities include dealing with invasive plants such as yellow archangel, and in the Yare Valley at Bluebell woods next to Eaton Park, giving some tlc to some recently planted trees. Mark Webster’s full letter and programme are here.
On the 25 to 26th April Norwich Community Gardens Festival will celebrate and make better known the work of many volunteers who give time to caring for green spaces around the City. You can come along and support the volunteers in a range of activities across the City. Included is an opportunity to meet volunteers at Danby Wood in the Yare Valley between 9am and 3pm on Sunday 26th.
Other attractions are a Norwich Tales and Trails Puzzle Walk, a bike ride, a herb propagation workshop and a children’s Spotting and Activity Sheet.
The Yare Valley Meadow Makers will hold their AGM Meeting at Warwick Arms Public House (upstairs room) on Wednesday the 15th of April 7:30-9:30pm.
The YVMM continue to extend their activities. Amongst the past year achievements were
An interpretation/notice board erected at the top of UEA Broad Hay meadow,
Received a Norfolk Biodiversity award in the spaces for nature and wellbeing category.
Over 5kg of wildflower seeds sown on the UEA Broad hay meadow
Further planting on Strawberry field to better establish yellow rattle.
Trial sowing of wildflower seed on the old donkey sanctuary to see how this might develop.
Planting of 165 native trees on the UEA meadows to help provide better support for wildflowers in times of drought.
Amongst the activities proposed for next year are botanical surveys, more tree planting, Yellow rattle and Red Bartsia seed collection, and a review of the old donkey sanctuary.
The Agenda for the AGM is here, and the Annual Report for 2025-2026 is here.
Mark Webster of the Conservation Volunteers writes:
“Not sure if it’s Spring or not yet? The weather is variable but we will be staying out all month, although we do have our semi-indoor Jolly Trips this month too: these are our much-loved and much-anticipated ‘works outings’ where we go to places chosen by some of our regular volunteers for a work-free day out. These ‘thank you’ days are open to all existing volunteers (including Easton students) although if any day is oversubscribed then preference will be given to those who have done the most task days with us already. Please do ask any eligible people to book for these days as soon as you can by contacting me ( 07740 899 691 / mark.webster@tcv.org.uk ) or telling their leader during a task day.
There are still some actual practical tasks to do as well though, including wildflower planting at two new Broadland sites, removing invasive species (no, not balsam yet!) and various jobs to keep pathways open across Norfolk so that people can get into their local green spaces even when the weeds start to grow up!
Whether volunteers are joining us at Sainsburys in Norwich or on-site, please can I suggest that you ask them to leave enough time to get to the meeting point BEFORE the minibus arrives. We usually have to get on to the work area as soon as we do arrive, and we don’t want them to miss their chance to join us. At some sites it can be difficult to find us once we have left the meeting point, but if they are lost or running late they can call or text (or whatsapp) 07740 899 691. I will see if I can direct them on to where the team are – or get someone to come and find them (if we can do this without disrupting the rest of the team too much). It is also worth noting that parking can sometimes be extremely limited near to where we are actually working, hence the need for a meeting point with spaces, but perhaps some distance from where we are working.”
Volunteers from the Yare Valley Meadow Makers (YVMM) have in recent years put a lot of effort in improving the meadowland at UEA. With trees from the Woodland Trust, they and the UEA Biodiversity Heroes are taking another step to improve the ecology of the meadows. The trees will add to those already planted in February this year.
Matt Tomlinson of the YVMM writes:
“We have 105 wildlife focused native trees coming from the Woodland Trust and need your help to plant them on the UEA Meadows. The trees will give more shade (better able to cope with droughts), increased habitat diversity and link together the wooded habitats on campus and lake sides. As well as providing an excellent habitat in their own right. In the future they will be coppiced to create valuable scrub habitat.
Species include 15 x silver birch, 15 x hazel, 15 x hawthorn, 15 x rowan, 15 x English oak, 30 x blackthorn”
Join the work party at UEA Meadows on Saturday March 7th 10-12 am
Meet at the same place as in February, at the new sign on the UEA meadows (Bluebell Road entrance near North Park Avenue) What3words ///free.doctor.blocks
The Conservation Volunteers are looking forward to Spring with their activities this month. The hedge cutting season will end shortly to avoid the main bird nesting season from March to August, but hedge planting will continue apace. There are plenty of other conservation activities as well. If you would like to give your support the monthly programme from Mark Webster is here.
“I am particularly excited to announce the long-awaited start of the Leaky Dams project in the Tas Valley, where we will be making and installing natural flood defences, using trees sourced from the immediate area to create barriers to slow down floodwaters in a measured way. There’s also more chances to learn the ancient craft of hedge laying at Easton College, restoring a historic pond to how it was in the 1930s (we have the photographic proof of that!) and plenty of hedge and fruit tree planting – including a new community orchard in Cringleford, and new and old sites to see across Broadland. Plus there’s another chance to see the epic Blickling Hall estate.”
