Latest news with #visitorcentre
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Volunteers to reopen closed Chesterfield Canal visitor centre
A visitor centre along Chesterfield Canal is to reopen two months after it was closed due to financial Lock Visitor Centre in Lockoford Lane recently acquired a new licence from Derbyshire County Council to resume operations and will open again on Saturday. The centre provides refreshments and information on the work and history of the canal, which stretches 46 miles from the River Trent in north Nottinghamshire to Chesterfield Canal Trust chair Peter Hardy said: "We have a dedicated group of volunteers who are going to come to our aid and man the building." Derbyshire County Council, which owns the building, announced in May it would be closing the information centre and café for financial reasons. Chesterfield Canal Trust was then successful in an application to lease the ground floor of the building to be solely run by volunteers. Mr Hardy said he was delighted to begin to get the centre back up and added: "We hope it will be successful and people will come to visit us."The centre will initially open between 10:00 to 15:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays but the trust aims for it to be open more often in future and offer more amenities.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Yahoo
Beautiful forest has views like nowhere else in Wales but there's a catch
Just a 10‑minute drive from junction 28 of the M4 is a serene trip through the heart of a forest. Cwmcarn Forest originally opened in 1972 on the site of a former coal colliery and has undergone several phases of redevelopment. There's now a visitor centre with café, shop, offices, a glamping site, lakeside landscaping, and new footpaths which were all part of a £2m investment from the Welsh Government. Since reopening in 2021 visitor numbers have surged, according to their website, with the drive being especially popular during weekends and school holidays. From superstar gigs to cosy pubs, find out What's On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here. READ MORE: I stayed at one of the most luxurious apartments in Wales with the best sea view READ MORE: Best holiday park in Wales named — it scores higher than Bluestone and Haven While driving around you get to twist through peaceful woodland, stop at one of seven car parks for panoramic views, enjoy picnic and barbecue spots, and let kids run wild in the new adventure playgrounds, sensory tunnels, woodland sculptures, and all-ability paths. But there's a crucial catch as entry is charged per vehicle which is currently £5 for motorbikes, £10 for cars, and more for larger vehicles. The full price and timing info is available on the visitor information page online. And if you're wondering why you might not have heard about it before this makes sense as it's still relatively new after the forest was closed for six years from 2015 to remove around 150,000 larch trees infected by the fungus phytophthora ramorum. This was essential to prevent the disease spreading and causing wider issues and David Letellier of NRW described it as "an environmental crisis that was very challenging to deal with but also had massive cost implications and we had to move very very fast indeed".
BBC News
03-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
National Trust withdraws plan for Morston visitor centre, Norfolk
The National Trust has withdrawn "abhorrent" proposals to create a new visitor centre which it said would increase accessibility to one of its included a welcome area with toilets and changing spaces and areas for staff at Morston Quay on the Norfolk coast near Blakeney. A number of objections including one from Morston Parish Council who called the plans "abhorrent" and "unnecessary" and believed the existing former toilet block should be kept and redeveloped and not converted into storage. "We have taken on board comments from the local community and have decided to withdraw our current planning application," the National Trust said. While a visitor centre already exists on the site, it is not accessible for everyone because it has within the plans that were submitted last July, the building would be single level to ensure it was an accessible space and would have more toilets and changing spaces. The plans also included the relocation of the car parking machine, shade for staff to minimise their time outdoors in the sun and the conversion of the existing toilet block into storage. The parish council said: "Almost everything about this proposal is abhorrent. It is the wrong building, in the wrong place for the wrong purpose. "Morston residents and Quay users have been seeking improved toilet facilities for over 20 years, but this is not the solution to their needs."We have been presented with an enormous and unnecessary new development which will fundamentally change the character of Morston Quay and seems designed to create a full-time visitor and administrative hub for the National Trust as a priority, introducing office space and adding retail space, while also providing new toilets." The parish council added that although the National Trust stated the former toilets could not be repurposed or redeveloped, the application "makes it clear" the existing building could be adapted. It believed if the building could an be reused as storage space, it could be redeveloped, enlarged and improved. The National Trust added: "We are grateful to everyone who engaged with our planning application for improved visitor facilities at Morston Quay." The heritage and conservation body said the application would be revised with the intention of resubmitting it to North Norfolk District Council by the autumn/winter. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Locals win war with National Trust by stopping 'abhorrent' building planned for internationally important nature reserve on Norfolk coast
Plans for a massive visitor centre at a popular beauty spot have been withdrawn by the National Trust after it capitulated in the face of a huge public backlash over the 'abhorrent' building. The charity had been accused of putting money over nature with the scheme at Morston Quay in north Norfolk, claiming it would provide much-needed facilities for visitors, staff and volunteers. But more than 150 formal objections were lodged over the threat it posed to 'one of the few relatively untouched places remaining along the coast'. Only three people approved. Locals argued it was intended to generate more income and act as an administrative hub by 'introducing office space and adding retail space' at the spot, which sits within Blakeney National Nature Reserve and is a vital haven for wildlife including ground-nesting birds and England's largest Grey Seal colony. One objector said: 'Morston Quay and the marshes beyond are a precious natural resource which need protection, not exploitation. 'It is wild and beautiful and should not be regarded as an opportunity for the expansion of administrative facilities or opportunities for raising funds.' Morston Parish Council also waded into the dispute, accusing the Trust of creating 'spurious' arguments in favour of the visitor centre when its aim was simply to commercialise the spot. 'There are no benefits to the residents of Morston from this plan,' it wrote. 'Almost everything about this proposal is abhorrent. It is the wrong building, in the wrong place, for the wrong purpose.' Early last year, the Trust's application for a food truck at the beauty spot was blocked by councillors who questioned why it was needed when there was already a café in the Lookout. The existing visitor centre is a modest grey and white wooden building with steps up to a viewing room topped by a weathervane. Toilet facilities are provided in two portacabins, which would have been removed under the plans for the proposed structure - a huge single-storey building made from natural wood cladding with a glass side that would be 85ft long and 27ft wide. This would house a new 'visitor welcome point' and space for 'staff and volunteer welfare', while the Lookout building would continue to offer food and drinks. But the Trust has now confirmed it has cancelled the move, with a spokesman saying: 'We are grateful to everyone who engaged with our planning application for improved visitor facilities at Morston Quay. 'We have taken on board comments from the local community and have decided to withdraw our current planning application, with the intention of resubmitting a revised application to North Norfolk District Council by the autumn or winter.' No further detail was given about the amended application but local media reported a 'well-placed source said it had abandoned the visitor centre and would now confine its proposals to upgrading toilet facilities at the site'. The trust insisted the development would have created a more pleasant experience for the 100,000 people who visit Morston Quay every year. But the parish council added in its objection: 'We have been presented with an enormous and unnecessary new development which will fundamentally change the character of Morston Quay and seems designed to create a full-time visitor and administrative hub for the National Trust as a priority, introducing office space and adding retail space, while also providing new toilets.' Matthew Rice, a Norfolk painter, designer and writer to contributes to Country Life magazine, warned the introduction of a new centre with 'delineated parking spaces' and 'bonded surfaces' would place a 'barrier' between people and the area's natural beauty. He said: 'There are no tall forests, craggy rocks or mountains to absorb the impact of new buildings or to dilute the suburbanising effect of 'bonded surfaces'. 'The whole appeal of this wild place is its lack of boundaries and its apparent unplanned layout. Imposing a one-size-fits-all National Trust solution can destroy all this at a stroke. 'The desire for neatness, street furniture and lighting in the name of safety is all around us and, if great care is not taken in delivering improvements, it can suddenly make Norfolk look like everywhere else.' Another objector to the visitor centre plan said: 'The vast majority of visitor traffic is generated by the local, family-run businesses on Blakeney Point. These families offer a fantastic welcome and expertise on the local flora, fauna and history. Other objections included: 'It promotes unnecessary overdevelopment of what is one of the few relatively untouched places remaining along the coast. 'But perhaps what is most important is the sheer contempt with which the community has been treated throughout the process. 'The Quay is not just a space from further afield but also for the local residents that live and work there.' The Trust has also faced anger from locals at nearby Brancaster, who accused it of trying to 'monetise' the harbour there with new rules and charges, including £60 fees for mooring dinghies. There has been another backlash a few miles away in Burnham Overy Staithe, near Wells, where the charity has been accused of neglecting an iconic windmill after it emerged plans to restore the building didn't include replacing the sails. West Norfolk Council has told the Trust the sails must be replaced when the work is complete. NT has faced a turbulent few years, amid complaints it adopted a 'woke' agenda by forcing staff to wear gay pride badges and listing nearly 100 properties with links to slavery and colonialism.
BBC News
31-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Bennerley Viaduct visitor centre should open by autumn
A £1.1m visitor centre being built at a historic viaduct on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border should be open this Autumn, volunteers behind the scheme have Viaduct on the River Erewash has a new visitor centre under construction as well as an accessible ramp and nature complete the visitor centre will include exhibition and educational spaces, a cafe, outdoor seating and bicycle an exact date for opening is "impossible" to set, Friends of Bennerley Viaduct chair Nick Tooley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the group is "hoping" it will be open to visitors in October. He said: "Bear with us, this project has lasted longer than it should have, there have been some technical issues we are hopefully getting around now. "We think we're on the final run and we do desperately hope we will have it open, with the help of the council, this October."He added the group had assembled a lot of archive material about the centre is at the eastern end of the 60ft (20m) tall viaduct, a Grade II* listed bridge which stretches nearly a quarter of a mile (430m) over the River Erewash between Ilkeston and Awsworth. It is known as the Iron said: "We've been speaking to people who remember going over the viaduct when it was open in the '60s, on holiday, on the trains."It actually means an awful lot to a lot of people." 'A lasting tribute' The Victorian viaduct reopened to the public as a walkway and cycle path in 2022 after being closed for 54 Borough Council leader Milan Radulovic said he hoped the visitor centre would help attract tourists to the said: "The wealth we enjoy and the standard of living were built on the backs of working-class people, and this area has a proud heritage of mining, steel work, and industrial work."This will be a lasting tribute and memorial to the sacrifices that they made for the freedoms and benefits we enjoy today."
