The Brighten Up Great Ayton (BUG) group work with Great Ayton Parish Council to help realise the vision outlined in the village Plan for Pollinators. Following a discussion with Great Ayton Parish Council and Climate Action Stokesley and Villages (CASaV) steering group, the Brighten Up Great Ayton group has become a sub-group of CASaV to help formalise its status. The group was re-launched in April 2026 to hopefully attract a few more volunteers. The re-launch will include a ‘Spring Clean’ of the Village Hall garden.
We aim to look after the planting at Chapel Steps, the Cook Family Memorial Garden, the Village Hall garden and the tubs at the GPs Surgery.
July update
Running Brighten Up Great Ayton group
I’d like to introduce Sarah Marsden, whom some of you have met at the Yatton House Community Garden and the Village Hall tidy up. Sarah has agreed to help me run the Brighten Up Great Ayton group, which is great news. We are hoping that we will now be able to promote the work of the group a bit more and attract some more volunteers.
Sarah and I have met with Cllrs James Healy Dufosse-Belton and David Mason from Great Ayton Parish Council’s Open Spaces group to discuss the next steps for our work in the village. We will be drawing up a plan and will share it once finalised.
If anyone else would like to help run the group and/or help develop the plan please get in touch.
Yatton House Community Garden working party – Tuesday 14th July, 1:30 – 3:30pm
Come and see all the summer flowers at Yatton House Community Garden in all their glory and help keep the garden looking beautiful at our monthly garden working party.
Himalyan Balsam pulling – Wednesday 15th July, 7:30 – 8:30pm, meet in Waterfall Park
Climate Action Stokesley and Villages group, working with Tees Rivers Trust, have set up a project to control the invasive species Himalayan balsam which is destroying biodiversity on the river Leven and tributaries from its source in Kildale to Crathorne. People are already working to reduce the extent of balsam on the river but there are significant areas of balsam for example between Great Ayton and Stokesley that need to be worked on. Sarah and I have made a start on the patch in the Floodplain Meadow.
Come next Wednesday to find out more and help pull balsam. We are meeting in Waterfall Park to clear any that is safe to reach there and then will move on to the Floodplain Meadow to hopefully finish clearing the balsam there. I have attached information about Himalyan Balsam, what to wear when pulling balsam and also the risk assessment which has been produced in conjunction with Tees Rivers Trust. Let us know if you are likely to join us in case plans need to change due to weather.
Village Hall
Work continues to keep on top of the Village Hall garden. Thank you Sue for pruning the roses and tying them back up and to Sarah for clearing the weeds in front of the wall. I’ve pruned the dogwood border hedge and also cut down the area along the left hand side of the Village Hall to keep the fire escape clear. Any thoughts on what plants might work there or do we continue to keep it a bit wilder than the front border?
Cook Family Memorial Garden
At the working party we held at the Village Hall garden in April we discussed having a working party at the Cook Memorial Garden to tidy things up and see what planting might need adding.
If you would like to help let us know which of the following can you make:
- Monday 20th July – afternoon
- Tuesday 21st July – afternoon
- Wednesday 22nd July – afternoon or evening
Hope to see you at one of the sessions above.
Biodiversity
Bird Song
The theme for this year’s Floodplain Meadow walk was Bird Song on Sunday 24th May.
There was a great turnout for our annual walk round Great Ayton’s Floodplain Meadow with 30 people coming to learn how to identify birds from their song. The theme this year was ‘bird song’ to tie in with BTO’s Birds in Greenspaces project.
A big thank you to Ali McGee from Teesmouth Bird Club who helped us explore bird song e.g. the difference between a Blackbird and a Black Cap, both of which we heard during the walk.
We all went away with a better understanding of what to listen out for and how best to use the app ‘Merlin’. The photo shows people using both their ears and the app. We also undertook a survey of birds seen and heard as part of the British Trust for Ornithology’s Greenspace project.
Butterflies
Following last year’s walk round the Floodplain Meadow, at the recommendation of Martin Partridge from Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire branch, Caryn has started using the irecord Butterflies app. Trying to use it raised a couple of questions:
Is it helpful for the data to record every time I see a butterfly or is it just the first time in a particular place?
Does this data inform the picture in Yorkshire or do I need to submit the data another way?
Martin replied:
“I always record each sighting if it’s a few mins apart in the same location I tend not to as it’s likely to be the same one.
This app is our primary source of data now as it is easily retrieved by the county recorders. This data informs the Yorkshire Butterfly Atlas as well as the Annual Reports.”
Water quality – Great UK WaterBlitz
Here are the results from the water testing in the River Leven, from the Floodplain Meadow bank on Saturday 25th April:
“Your results
Nitrates: 0.2-0.5 (mg/L)
Phosphates: 0.02-0.05 (mg/L)
Feedback: Your dataset indicates that this waterbody has a very good ecological status. Nutrient concentrations are low. These values are expected to vary throughout the year as a result of weather patterns and changes in land use.”
Caryn said that “We haven’t had any significant rain for a while so I’m not sure if this is a typical representation of the levels of nitrates and phosphates. You can view a map showing the results of the testing that took place”
Designed by children from Marwood CoE Infant School
Areas around the village
Thank you to those that are keeping an eye on the different areas around the village.
Climate Action Stokesley and Villages group held a successful a visit to the floodplain meadow in Great Ayton to count butterflies on 31st July 2025. Dr Martin Partridge (Yorkshire Branch Chair of Butterfly Conservation) gave a guided tour. The group were helped to identify a range of species not only by their appearance but also by their behaviour and typical habitats. Species spotted included the white letter hairstreak butterfly, only very recently recorded locally for the first time. Martin also shared a range of resources including identification guides, a recording app and the importance of conserving and protecting these fascinating wildlife nature/butterflies
The group also runs the Seed Share box in the Discovery Centre.
New volunteers always welcome.
For more information phone Angela Taylor on 01642 724401, email Caryn Loftus or follow Brighten Up Great Ayton on Instagram.
The work of the Brighten Up Great Ayton group within the village is complemented by:
- the Bug Trail managed by Climate Action Stokesley and Villages group;
- the work of the Friends of Great Ayton Station to create a wildlife friendly station area;
- Christ Church’s work on improving the biodiversity of All Saints churchyard;
- the development of the Yatton House Community Garden and
- the creation of a floodplain meadow by the Parish Council
Background to Improving Great Ayton for People and Wildlife
Following the work in Waterfall Park in Great Ayton in 2018, Moor Sustainable CIC worked with Great Ayton Parish Council and the Brighten Up Great Ayton group to improve planting in some of the public areas of the village to make it more attractive to people and wildlife.
The first phase ran from January – June 2019, funded by North Yorkshire County Council’s Stronger Communities Programme with support from Great Ayton Parish Council and the Brighten Up Great Ayton group, with:
- A launch walk around the village, leading to a plan for the village identifying a planting scheme which is resilient to climate change, including where and what to plant to benefit pollinators and look attractive, that is easy to maintain for a group of volunteers;
- Training for those involved in the Brighten Up Great Ayton group and those that offered to help maintain Waterfall Park related to the role of bees in pollinating and how to maintain public planting;
- Equipment for volunteers;
- Bulbs, plants and seeds that are attractive to pollinators;
As a result:
- Wildflower seeds provided by Grow Wild have been sown in the Village Hall garden, up the side of Chapel Steps and in Waterfall Park.
- The Brighten Up Great Ayton group helped plant the new Cook Family Memorial Garden.
Cook Cottage Memorial Garden Planting
- An area of grass in the cemetery has been left uncut so that already existing wildflowers (oxeye daisy, common sorrel, bulbous buttercup, cat’s-ear) can flower and their seed be collected to use elsewhere in the village. Leaving the grass longer and letting it flower will enable identification of what grass species are growing here.
- Broadacres Housing Association donated funds for trees and plants for the small grass area at the end of Beech Close. Staff volunteers helped plant five fruit trees and a 25-metre wildflower edge. The trees chosen for the mini-orchard were a mixture of heritage varieties (Bramley and Ribston Pippin apples plus Victoria plum) and modern varieties (Core Blimey and Scrumptious apples) to cope with a changing climate.
- The fruit is available for anyone to pick and any excess apples will be turned into apple juice as part of a community apple pressing. Broadacres will help maintain the new mini-orchard.
- A grant was given, from North Yorkshire County Council’s Locality Fund, to provide seating and planting for a community garden at the Village Hall which will be maintained by the Brighten Up Great Ayton group.
Phase 2 is now complete with additional planting up the side of Chapel Steps and also in the grounds at the back of the Discovery Centre.
Bug Trail
Following on from the above work, Moor Sustainable CIC received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for an exciting Bug Trail Project, creating a rubbings trail along the High Street in Great Ayton. An activity booklet and leaflet is available from the Tourist Information section of The Discovery Centre and the Bug Trail app is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Further information can be found on the Bug Trail profile page on Visit Great Ayton. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on the story of Great Ayton’s High Street through the eyes of pollinators from the earliest records to planting for the future. The Bug Trail is now managed by CASaV.
Images and information provided by Caryn Loftus of Brighten Up Great Ayton