Session | Community

Hay Time at High Hirst Woodmeadow

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(external provider) [URL: https://www.facebook.com/HighHirstWoodmeadow/]

It's Hay Time! The most important event on High Hirst Woodmeadow’s calendar.

Each year at Hay Time, the Friends of High Hirst Woodmeadow volunteers get together to make hay the traditional way.

Enjoy an hour or so at Hebden Royd’s ‘Biodiversity Hotspot’, just on the edge of Hebden Bridge and watch traditional scything and haymaking taking place.

Weather permitting, there'll be scythers mowing in the Woodmeadow from 10am till 6pm each day from Sunday 20th July until the following Saturday, 26th July.

Trained volunteers will be on hand to explain what’s going on. If they're not too busy, visitors might even be able to join in and have go, especially with raking and turning the hay, and making hay bales towards the end of the week.

There’ll be lots to see and do, so bring friends and family - it's great fun for kids!

On Sunday, 27th we'll all be celebrating our efforts together with our traditional Hay Time tea. If you've been able to lend a hand during the week before, join us at the top of the meadow at 3pm - remember to bring your own picnic!

About the project

Hebden Royd Town Council set up the High Hirst Woodmeadow project in 2019, as a response to the climate emergency and biodiversity loss. The four acre site provides a unique habitat for a huge variety of flora and fauna - including some extremely rare species. With selective planting and careful management, the site will help to capture and store carbon and reduce the risk of flooding.

Help us celebrate all the work the HRTC, Friends of High Hirst Woodmeadow and volunteers put in helping to restore the meadow, while we make hay – hopefully in the sunshine!

Good to know

How to find us

The best way to get to us is to walk or use public transport. The 595 bus runs every hour (20mins past the hour), up from the railway station via Commercial Street. It's a five minute journey and drops you off right next to the Community Centre. Download a pdf timetable here.

For guests with limited mobility, limited parking is available on Manor Drive, Dodnaze.

We ask visitors to please not park on Sandy Gate as it restricts access for residents and through traffic.

Weather

As the old saying goes, you can only really ‘make hay while the sun shines’. The Friends of High Hirst Woodmeadow will be monitoring the weather forecast and posting on Facebook if they're not planning on going ahead with haymaking that day.

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