TWELVE new poems which were written specially to celebrate National Meadows Day in early July, all took inspiration from Lancashire’s very own Coronation Meadows

During the month of June, writer and tutor, Maureen Fenton, teamed up with the Forest of Bowland AONB to encourage poets, both practised and new, to discover Lancashire’s Coronation Meadows, and to use this inspiration to pen poems on a nature-filled theme.

Guided by Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust’s Meadow Makers project officer, Carol Edmondson, those who could, first enjoyed a walk around Bell Sykes Farm in Slaidburn.

Farmer Peter Blackwell spoke about the traditional methods he uses to manage this suite of meadows, which have been designated as SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest).

The meadows at Bell Sykes were chosen as the county’s Coronation Meadows because of their species diversity and public access. Green hay harvested from these meadows has been used to restore over 50 hectares of meadow, both here and in other parts of Bowland.

Two online workshops followed, where local poet, Philip Burton, talked about the writing processes behind some of the poems in his latest collection, Gaia Warnings. Tutor Maureen then helped people refine first drafts.

All twelve poems are available on the Forest of Bowland AONB website at the following link https://www.forestofbowland.com/wildflower-way-words

Poem titles and authors are as follows:

Return to the Meadow, Gail Barton

The Runner, Gillian Beattie

MeadowSweet, “The Lovers”, Susan Bourne

The Shortcut, Philip Burton

Morning on the Meadows, Maureen Fenton

I Dreamed, and Where Timothy, Sue Marsden

Coronation Meadows: Flower spotting, Rosemary Moore

Let Me Dream, Jenny Palmer

Geese over Bowland, Stef Portersmith

Mapping the Meadow, Alice Uren

Hay Time, Kathryn Whittaker