Knowsley Online

The pitter patter of tiny hooves at Knowsley Safari

The arrival of spring means visitors to Knowsley Safari will be hearing the pitter-patter of tiny hooves as they drive around the park.

As the mornings lighten and the weather gets warmer, the Safari’s eland and Père David’s deer herds are celebrating new arrivals.

In the first couple of weeks, the Père David’s fawns remain hidden from view, with visits from their mothers for feeding. After this, they start to graze with the herd at three weeks old. The eland calves can often be spotted surrounded by the wildebeest as they become quite fond and protective of the newborns in their early stages!

Once they find their feet visitors will see these playful creatures jumping and bouncing around as they play together - a sight not to be missed!

 Eveline de Wolf, Head of Animal Collection, at Knowsley Safari, says: “Spring kicks off a whole new type of animal care for us as we begin to see much more activity from our animals. It’s a really exciting time for us and the visitors, and especially exciting to see how some of our animals form bonds with the offspring of other species!”

 

Shakespeare theatre given the go ahead

A proposal to create a new Shakespeare North Playhouse and education centre in Prescot, has last night (21 April, 2016) been given the go ahead by Knowsley Council’s Planning Committee.

 

Councillors voted unanimously in support of this major development which is set to attract thousands of national and international visitors and students to the town and the City Region. 

It means that Prescot will once again have a Playhouse at its heart – an echo of Elizabethan times when it was the only English town outside of London to have a purpose-built indoor playhouse.

Peter Scott, Chair of the Shakespeare North Charitable Trust, said: “We are thrilled that the plans have been approved. This is a really important milestone for us and brings our dream of creating a fantastic theatre and education centre here in Knowsley a step closer to becoming a reality.”

“Our vision all along has been to create somewhere in the North of England where Shakespeare’s work can be studied and enjoyed for generations to come– creating something of a triangle between The Globe and Stratford, both of which are synonymous with his work. With Knowsley’s existing links to Shakespeare it is fitting that the ‘triangle’ be completed with a development here.”

Take a selfie for Shakespeare!

Join in the fun at Knowsley Libraries this week and take your Shakespeare Selfie ahead of the Bard’s anniversary celebrations.

This weekend marks 400 years since William Shakespeare’s death and events will be taking place around the globe to commemorate the work of the greatest ever English language playwright.

You can get into the spirit in any Knowsley library by taking and sharing your Shakespeare Selfie. Simply print or write out your favourite Shakespeare quote (the libraries have lots of choices to get you started) – take a selfie of you holding it and share it with friends on social media using the hashtag #Shakespeare16.

Make it even more fun by choosing from a selection of Shakespeare props available at the libraries – and on Knowsley’s mobile library – to help make your selfie stand out!

Keep an eye on the Knowsley Library Service Facebook Page, where the best selfies of the week will be posted on Saturday to mark Shakespeare’s 400^th anniversary.

Pictured top :- Shakespeare Selfies – Dave Birchall, Louise Murphy and Jan Moore from Knowsley library service take their Shakespeare selfie.

and Shakepeare Selfies  - Carol Cherpeau and Gerry Williams from Knowsley Library service do their Shakespeare Selfie

Arts Festival Draws on Local Talent of All Ages

The Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts, now in its 12^th year, continues its long tradition of showcasing talented writers, singers, artists and musicians of all ages from the local community.

Evelyn Community Primary School once again hosts the Young Instrumentalist of Prescot competition (Wednesday 22 June), inviting primary and secondary students to compete for the Reverend David Rose Trophy, named for the much-loved Prescot clergyman and businessman, who passed away in 2013.

Children from across the region will recite their own verse and that of others at St Mary & St Paul’s Primary’s Schools’ Poetry Showcase (Monday 20 June).

And for those youngsters who are more at home with a brush or pencil in hand, a festival-long exhibition at Prescot Parish Church will display a stunning range of artwork from local schools.

There’s still time for people to get involved. Do sing you a soprano, alto, tenor or bass? The Prescot Festival Chorus invites choral singers to join it for a performance of Mozart’s renowned Requiem, conducted by James Luxton of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (Saturday 18 June). This annual ‘Come & Sing’ event has attracted over 100 singers in past years.

Prescot Cables 1 - Ossett Town 3

SATURDAY 9^TH April 2016 - EVO-STIK DIVISION ONE NORTH

 Ossett Town completed a comfortable victory over Prescot Cables at Hope Street in a game which they dominated from start to finish.  Cables were without their leading goal scorer and talisman Rob Doran who was missing through injury and they failed to penetrate the Ossett defence until the closing minutes of the game.

Ossett kicked off playing towards the Hope Street End, and they launched a long ball forward straight from the kick off which was headed back by Shane Glean safely into the hands of Marcus Burgess.  Ossett had the ball in the net on 2 minutes, when after Burgess had parried Mackie’s shot, Alex Petersen was on hand to prod home the rebound but he was adjudged to have been off side.

Marcus Burgess took the free kick which was over hit and carried straight through to his opposite number in the Ossett goal Chris Backhouse.  Ossett were soon back on the attack winning a corner when Mackie was tackled by Joe Herbert.  Steve Ridley took the corner which was headed over by Isaac Assenso.

Both teams struggled to pass the ball accurately in the opening stages of the game as the pitch was heavy under foot due to recent rainfall and was heavily sanded in several places.  Sanchez Payne tried a speculative long range effort from 30 yards for Ossett which was comfortably taken by Marcus Burgess on 10 minutes. 

Jonah O’Reilly played a fine ball down the left side to put James Edgar clear but he was adjudged offside.  Cables worked a nice move down the left side with Duke playing the ball to Edgar who passed to Bram Johnstone on the left  whose low cross flashed just past the far post.

Ossett were becoming frustrated by several off side decisions being given against them, and Anthony Mackie was spoken to by the referee for verbal abuse.  On 25 minutes Ossett took the lead when Danny Frost’s shot rebounded off the inside of the far post into the path of Anthony Mackie who slotted home from close range.  Ossett looked to increase their lead and piled the pressure on the Cables defence.  They won two corners in quick succession, but the Cables defence stood firm clearing on both occasions.

Get out in the garden for Knowsley’s 18th annual Flower Show

Keen gardeners and novices alike are already beginning to look ahead to this year’s Knowsley Flower Show – the biggest free horticultural show of its kind in the North West.

Taking place on Sunday 7 August from 11am – 5pm at Court Hey Park and the National Wildflower Centre, Huyton, there are over 100 classes to enter your best fruit, vegetables and plants in, whether you are an established entrant or a complete newcomer.

Now is the time to get out in the garden and make preparations for your potentially winning produce – so take a look at the categories for this year, which include nine especially for novices and nine for children, and take your pick.

2016 is the Year of the English Garden, which has inspired the theme of this year’s show. It will also celebrate the 300^th anniversary of the birth of Capability Brown, a landscape gardener who revolutionised the design of English gardens. Show organisers are delighted that 2016’s sponsor is Green Thumb Lawn Treatments.

Expect plenty of quintessentially English entries in this year’s stunning floral marquee, full of colour and rich scents evoking the smell of the very best English gardens, past and present.

And you needn’t worry if growing isn’t your thing, as there’ll be something for everyone at this year’s free family event, as always.

With a packed programme of entertainment throughout the day you can choose from falconry displays, guided walks, a woodworker, craft demonstrations, dog obedience, arts workshops and circus skills. A large craft marquee will feature in the show along with many trade stands ranging from garden centres to conservatories. Foodies will love the large farmers market selling lots of locally produced tempting treats.

And if you are inspired to get green fingered in your garden you’ll also be spoilt for choice with plants, bulbs and seeds at fantastic prices to give your very own English Garden a kick-start. If you are in need of gardening advice and guidance why not pop along to the show’s very own Gardener’s Question Time and get some help from the experts.

This year’s show is the 18^th annual event and is expected to draw in a crowd of more than 20,000 visitors from near and far. Details of a free park and ride service will be available nearer the date.

 So get Sunday 7 August in your diary and look forward to another fantastic family day out!

Knowsley Safari Scholarship

Local children get the chance to turn their classrooms wild

Knowsley Safari’s Learning and Discovery team is offering schools in the Merseyside area the opportunity to win a really wild scholarship.

New for 2016, the safari scholarships will offer schools the opportunity to bring a taste of wildlife into the classroom and include curriculum based learning, interactive demonstrations, all teamed with live animals and bio-artefacts.

Nikki Mallott, Learning and Discovery Manager, says: “This is a great opportunity for schools to bring the curriculum to life for their students, helping them learn in an interactive and fun way. The live animals and artefacts really help to excite both the children and the teachers!”

To enter, school staff need to write to 200 words about why their school should receive the prize to [email protected]. For more information visit: http://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk/outreach-scholarship

Road deaths and injuries down 16% in Knowsley thanks to road safety education

The number of people being killed or seriously injured on Knowsley’s roads is down 16% since 2010.

Figures from Merseyside Police, compiled for the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership, show this significant reduction in road casualty figures for Knowsley between 2010 and 2015. 

The success is thought to be in part down to a programme of education and training developed by Knowsley Council to help keep our children and young people, their teachers, parents and guardians safe on the roads.

As part of the education programme, Knowsley teenagers recently enjoyed performances of Tiny Giants, a thought-provoking play, which tackled the important issue of pedestrian safety amongst teenagers.

Produced by local theatre company, Time, the play was performed to year 9 pupils at all Knowsley’s secondary schools and set out clearly the potential consequences that distractions such as mobile phones or wearing headphones can have whilst being out and about.

Val Burke, Pastoral Assistant for Year 8 and 9 at Knowsley Park, said: “The performance was really good and put across the road safety awareness in a brilliant way.  The pupils enjoyed it and were quite emotional at the end, so hopefully this brought home the importance of road safety.”

In addition, the council’s parking enforcement programme has helped to improve road safety outside schools, improve the flow of traffic in town centres and support resident parking schemes. It hopes to prevent the inconsiderate and dangerous parking to increase the overall safety for pedestrians and other drivers.

During 2015 the council invested £430,000 into local road safety schemes and remains committed to reducing injuries on our roads. Recently, a new pedestrian crossing opened on Cronton Road, Huyton. It provides local residents with a safe and easy way to cross this busy main road.

Lisa Harris, Knowsley’s Assistant Executive Director for Regeneration and Housing said: “We take road safety very seriously in Knowsley. We are very pleased that the investment we have made into education, enforcement and engineering has had such a positive impact on the reduction of the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.

“However, one person killed or injured is one too many and we will continue to improve Knowsley’s roads network and road safety in the borough.”

Pictured: Children in Knowsley taking part in road safety training.