Blackburn Community

• Blackburn BL7 0NF
• Car park facility available
• Hawthorn

This site was opened in May 2007 and is a short walk away from the Turton & Entwistle Reservoir. The approach to the planting site runs through some beautiful established woodland areas. Accessed off Greens Arms Road (B6391), which runs from the main Blackburn/Bolton Road (A666) and through the West Pennine Moors.

The site itself has many established trees and the memorial forest planting area will add value to the landscape of the surrounding area. This is a very popular site for walkers and cyclist. There is an established communal footpath throughout the whole of the area, which joins up with many other interesting woodland routes in the vicinity, some of which lead around the reservoirs seen in the distance. Regardless of weather conditions, this site gives a magnificent alpine forest atmosphere.

Life for a Life planting areas are natural environments where we encourage wildlife and plantlife to flourish, as such additional items should not be added to the tree or the space around it, especially as they can cause damage to the tree. Please be aware that any prohibited items left on or around memorial trees will be removed. 

Although this site is now full to the planting of new memorial trees, if you have an existing memorial tree dedicated you can still upgrade memorial plaques, add additional ashes to a memorial tree, order memorial keepsakes etc.

What happens in the future?

Now that this memorial forest is closed to new tree planting you will see slight changes in the way we manage the site. The aim is to create a forest that will mature over time and become a local amenity for both visitors and wildlife. Therefore, the management regime will move to one which is more sympathetic to the environment. In practical terms, this will mean a gradual reduction in grass cutting as the tree canopy closes to help promote a richer diversity of wildflowers and other ground flora.

All the memorial trees are guaranteed for 25 years and any tree which has unfortunately not established itself successfully will be replaced from a selected mixture of 'understory' species consisting of either Hazel, Hawthorn or Holly that will help diversify the woodland creating an even better home for nature.

Furthermore, as the memorial trees grow they will be 'crown-lifted' which involves removing the lower limbs of the trees to help maintain access as the trees continue to mature and allow air and light to pass through. Eventually, the plaque in front of the trees will be removed as the site transitions from a formalised memorial woodland into the memorial forest we all want it to become. At this point a new sign will be erected that will let people know how the forest was established and what the trees represent.