Located near Bingley in West Yorkshire, St Ives Estate is a country park of 500 acres belonging to Bradford Metropolitan District Council with Public access to a large part of the area. The Estate is the former country home of the Ferrand family who sold the estate to Bingley Urban district Council in 1928 (see History section). Bingley UDC became part of Bradford in 1974, when the number of local authorities was reduced. The Estate has a large childrens' play area, plenty of scope for walkers and a cafe. The Friends of St Ives (also known as FOSI) is a group promoting activities on the Estate, whilst conserving the traditions. See 'Who are we section'. The Estate is used for a diverse range of activities from golf, archery, bird watching and horse riding to angling on Coppice pond, to name only five.

Want to know who we are? Click Here to find out.

Why not become a member and join in the fun. Click Here to download a membership form.

Kaths page of bluebell pictures has been extended to include some of this years shots. Click here

Some of the repairs to the herb garden walls are now quite urgent.

Some years ago a group of chain saw wood carvers carved timbers into statues and forms. These were displayed at various points round the estate but are now starting to deteriorate with age and rot. Shortly after they were made David Dufton made a photographic record of them. These pictures have been scanned and appear on a page devoted to the subject. Click here to jump to the page or use the main menu.




On Sunday 28^th of April, Mark Doveston lead one of his bird spotting walks round the Estate. The morning started with sunshine, a few white clouds and a strong wind but ended with a an overcast sky and a wind that felt very chill. Unfortunately the strong wind kept many of the birds under cover but despite this we still saw or heard thirty species in addition to all the usual crows etc. We even saw and heard a cuckoo, which for many of us was the first this year. Many thanks to Mark for an excellent walk.

On a day in March when the wind was icy cold, this party called in at the visitor centre for a quick warm up.

For work on the St Ives Estate the Friends of St Ives have received an award from the Shipley Community Heroes. For their work they have received the 'Shipley Community Heroes Award 2013' making them Super Heroes. Their prizes are an engraved silver commemorative dish, a certificate and £ 200 to spend on the Estate. Our picture shows: (left to right) Pam Laking, Susan Hart, Kath Gabbitas and John Rhodes.

Getting the herb garden ready for the coming season is a very big job, so we were very pleased when students from Bradford College called in to give us some help.

For a minimum donation of £ 1- 50 you can get a quiz book from the Visitor centre. The book has pictures of gates and stiles round the estate and you can fill in where you saw them. If you really want to cheat - the answers are in the back.

If you want to meet 'Earn the churn' call in at the visitor centre. Earn is a milk churn, adapted for use as a collection box. There is a slot in the top, through which donations to the society can be made. Put in a donation and the churn speaks a thank you message. Call in and try it.

As you may have seen, the new visitor centre is now open, twice a week; the times are Wednesday and Saturday 11:00 to 15:00. However this is subject to availability of people to man the centre. If you feel that you can help here please let them know in the centre. They are always on the look out for people to share the load. Just two hours now and then is a big help.



The picture of the sink with a pump was taken in the York City Museum. The Picture of the other stone sink was taken by Kath Gabbitas in the coach house at St Ives. Looking at the coach house picture, there is a big hole at the side of the sink on the right hand side. Did this also have a pump at one time?

In days gone by, aromatic herbs were strewn on floors to help disguise some of the less savoury odours. These days, potpourri gets used in a similar manner and you can even place herbs under a mat, though modern usage is more to set a mood than overcome a pressing problem (unless you own an elderly dog). In the not too distant past much disease was thought to be passed by inhaling powerful smells which were called miasmas. This theory persisted from ancient times and in a lot of different cultures, until work on bacteria in the 19^th century and later work, mostly in the 20^th century, on viruses.

The new herb garden will have a section devoted to household herbs of the sort that were used for smell control. By placing a few of these home grown herbs in the new visitor centre, it is hoped to give an immediate impression of how rooms felt in former times.

For centuaries the Ferrand family owned St Ives and much land in the area. The way in which the the Ferrands interacted with the history of Bingley is a fascinating topic and we are pleased to refer you to a new web site by Michael Ferrand.

Has anyone any ideas as to what this might be? It is in the wall of the building adjacent to the new herb garden. Red marks round the walled up access on the right imply that it has been hot. A bread oven or forge perhaps. Clearly it is old but the relieving lintel above it does not look quite so old. Or was it still in use when the upper part of the wall and lintel were added at a later date as part of new or replacement building.

Long a popular feature of St Ives are the rhododendrons. Not a native of the UK but a species imported from the Himalayas. They are none the less a colourful sight when they are in flower. So why are they using horses to pull them out? The answer is 'phytophthora ramorum' a contagious fungal disease that has been found in some of the countries rhododendrons (and a few other types of bush). The disease is called 'sudden oak death' in America and this is the name that explains the problem. In a manner that has parallels with the way in which the outbreak of foot and mouth was tackled, ten years ago, the rhododendrons are being sacrificed before they bring about the death of our oak trees. DEFRA (Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs) are very worried that without this action, we could loose many of the oaks; trees that have taken many decades to grow.

Even without this crisis, it would have been necessary to clear some of the rhododendrons as they are a fast growing species that inhibits the growth of other plant, bird and animal populations.

For those wondering - the horse is called Nathan

Bradford Met. have been busy making a wildlife identification chart for mounting near Coppice Pond. If you would like a copy of your own, then click on this link to our download page Click Here . The file is in '.pdf' format as used by Adobe Acrobat^TM.

With help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the society has brought out a pamphlet that describes the 'Ponds and Water Gardens', both as they are now and as they were when constructed by the Ferrand family. This pamphlet is now available or you can down load a copy at this link to our download page: Click Here. The file is in '.pdf' format as used by Adobe Acrobat^TM.

For birding information look up "Bradford Ornithological Group". To see their WEB site via our links page Click Here