We are pleased to announce that the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Fund, managed by Bradford District Community Fund, have awarded Friends of St Ives a sum to enable the purchase of bulbs. We will be buying some daffodils for on the top side of Coppice Pond and some snow drops for planting near Lady Blantyre's Rock. There are records that show that snow drops were planted here by the Ferrand family in 1878.

The friends of St Ives have been restoring 2 rooms in the old Coach House at St Ives for some time now for them to be used as an Information/Education Centre. We are really grateful now that volunteers from the Yorkshire Building Society have come to put the finishing touches to these rooms by painting them using appropriate heritage colours. The rooms have been the subject of extensive restoration using original methods and materials. St Ives is an Estate of great Historical interest and we want visitors who enter the Centre to get a feeling of St Ives past. The Range has also been fully restored now and was lit for the first time in 80 or 90 years today. We intend to hold cookery demonstrations and classes using the Range, (once we have learnt how to use it ourselves!), creating old Yorkshire dishes from the past. The Centre will be available for use for schools, local groups and craftspeople and the Information Centre will be open to the public with displays and exhibitions relating to the history and flora/fauna of St Ives. We really appreciate the volunteers from Yorkshire Building Society helping to finally finish creating the Centre which will be a real asset to the local community for many years to come.

Two of the Bradford Parks wardens take a short break with Storm (left).

The Council's Neighbourhood Service has changed in 2012 with new frontline services joining the team. Park Rangers, Civil Enforcement Officers and Neighbourhood Wardens have combined their skills under the single umbrella of Council Wardens. The Street Cleaning Service has also joined the Team. The new team will now be much more responsive to the needs of different neighbourhoods and will provide a better, more coordinated and flexible service.

After more than a little delay, the stove in the new visitor centre was lit for the first time on Saturday 17^th March. The picture on the left shows a passers by, Janette and her dog Cooper, admiring the stove. The picture on the right shows Storm (Kath's dog) making himself at home in front of the new fire. The stove was originally supplied by Taylor and Parsons of Bradford.

On 26^thFebruary, Susan Hart lead a walk round St. Ives. This covering the important role that the Estate played in the supply of fresh water to Bingley. The picture shows a group with some of those present.

Sunday 2^nd of October was our fungus walk. Bob Taylor led about thirty six of us through the woods collecting samples. As usual he was able to recognise, name and tell us all about almost everything we discovered. This year had seen a spell of dry weather before the walk, so some of the samples were a little dried out or smaller than usual. Despite the conditions, a large number of items were found. Of particular interest, were 'Stink Horns'. We had seen them on previous walks but this year we were lucky enough to find both as the immature 'egg' form next to the fully developed fruit. The account of this is on our wildlife page. Once again our thanks go to Bob for an excellent walk.

Why does the pump not have water in it? There are two reasons: the first is that there is an acute shortage of water from the springs on the estate. These springs supply water to the Golf Club, the Cafe, the STRI and the Nursing Home. To save water, the supply to the screw pump has had to be turned off. But why not recycle the water? A good idea but to do this the water has to be cleaned after each cycle and this would require expensive equipment and incur high running costs. The other reason is that there is a problem with sand and grit blocking the system up. The sand in the play area is a big attraction and it would be a pity to remove it just for the pump.

Unfortunately there was an accident when a trainee horse rider was injured. The Air Ambulance attended, and took the casualty to hospital where it was found that they had a broken ankle. There had been fears that the injuries might be worse. The Air Ambulance came accompanied by a film crew, making a documentary about their work.

The weather on the 6^thAugust was awful - but the show must go on. Joy Smith had planned to relate stories to the children whilst sat on the purpose made story chair, with the children seated on the wooden toad stools. That however was not to be as the rain showers were, at times, very heavy. Instead they moved across to the shelter in the play ground.

Joy did a splendid job under difficult circumstances and the event was enjoyed by all the children that came. Of the three sessions that had been planned, two went ahead. A great achievement.

Susan, our treasurer, lead a walk round the historical buildings and features of St Ives on the evening of Thursday 14^thJuly. This was a joint event with Bingley and District Historical Society and attracted about 61 interested members. The so called 'Jacobean' part of the mansion, now part of the care home, was particularly interesting. The new herb garden was also included in the tour as that too is part of the old house.

The picture shows some of the new plants that have now arrived for the herb garden. Do you recognise the stone slab behind the plants? It is the one rescued from Ireland Bridge in Bingley when it was repaired last year. A new stone facsimile now stands in its place but the old one is awaiting display in the herb garden. The slab declares that the land on which the road is built belongs to the Ferrands.

On the 1^stJuly, Ian Butterfield lead one of the ever popular bat walks. About forty or more people came and the picture above shows them striking out across the top meadow. After watching the bats at White Cote and Cross Gate, we came down to Coppice Pond to watch bats skimming across the water; collecting insects. The other picture shows a group of children at the edge of the pond, watching the bats. We were pleased to see so many young people taking an interest in the wild life.

Colin Whitfield (left of picture) took us on a very interesting walk through the woods on 10^thJune. His walk covered many aspects of the wild life and little known facts about the Estate.

21^stMay saw two events on the Estate. There was a tree planting in the new herb garden, where two trees were planted. About forty people attended and were given hospitality by Elder Homes, who had done a lot of work arranging the day.

The other event was a visit to the Estate by Brenda Graham with here husband and two local friends. Brenda who is related to the Ferrand Family through the Richardsons of Bierley Hall (Bradford) has provided this site with much of the historical data. Now living in Plymouth she called in to have a look at the home of her forebears (photograph fourth from the left). After a walk round Coppice pond the party was given refreshment by Elder Homes who made us very welcome. Brenda was able to see the heraldic bearings of her ancestors, preserved as stained glass windows in the mansion.

Michael Ferrand is a member of the family, who for many generations, lived at St Ives. Now living in France, he recently paid a visit to the Estate to look at his ancestral home. He was met by several members of the Friends group and shown inside the house by the management of Elder homes. Our picture shows Michael Ferrand (centre) with Elder homes management and a member of the Friends group (right).

Whilst on the Estate Michael visited the new herb garden and scattered some seeds (picture left). The Friends took the opportunity to quiz Michael on some of the details of his family history that will help to piece together the story of the St Ives estate.