The Woodland Trust is planning to plant a huge forest of 50 million trees around major cities right across the north of England.
The North of England is home to around 13 million people, but this beautiful part of the country that us Mancunians call home has just 7.6% of woodland cover – which is significantly lower than the England average – and this is why the trust wants to transform the landscape of the area for years to come.
The Woodland Trust is working together with City of Trees Manchester, The Mersey Forest, White Rose Forest, HEYwoods, and the Community Forest Trust to drive forward this government-backed initiative.
Stretching from Liverpool across to Hull, with the M62 as its spine, The Northern Forest will comprise of 50 million trees planted over 25 years.
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Spanning over 120 miles across the cities of Bradford, Salford, Hull, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, The Northern Forest – which is already currently in progress – will help provide natural flood management, boost wildlife habitat for woodland birds and bats, and protect ancient woodland areas and iconic species – such as the red squirrel.
It will also improve health and wellbeing by providing a tranquil space for millions of people living in the area, and will generate more than £2 billion for the country’s economy.
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The Northern Forest will both “accelerate the creation of new woodland” and “support sustainable management” of the existing woods right across the area.
According to the Woodland Trust, many more trees, woods and forests will deliver a better environment for all by “improving air quality in our towns and cities, mitigating flood risk in key catchments, supporting the rural economy though tourism, recreation and timber production, connecting people with nature, and helping to deliver improvements to health and wellbeing through welcoming and accessible local green spaces”.
City of Trees is one of the Community Forests, and is the Greater Manchester part of The Northern Forest.
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There are plenty of ways that those with a green thumb or an interest in eco matters can get involved too, and as the Woodland Trust says: “we can’t create a new Northern Forest without you”.
If you’re a landowner interested in helping grow The Northern Forest, you can apply for subsidised trees or a grant for planting. If you’re keen to provide additional investment to The Northern Forest scheme, to ensure a project of this scale receives continuous funding and meets the target of 50 million trees planted over the next 25 years, you can apply to become a Woodland Trust Partner, and if you’re looking to help grow The Northern Forest, the Woodland Trust and Community Forests will be hosting regular public tree planting events that you can be involved in.
You can find out more information about The Northern Foresthere.
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Liam Gallagher apologises on Noel’s behalf for brother’s ‘p*ss poor’ Joy Division cover
Emily Sergeant
Liam Gallagher has issued an apology “on behalf of [his] family” for his brother’s cover of a song by another legendary Manchester band.
Stop the presses, breaking news – the Gallagher brothers are slagging each other off again.
In what will be a shock to absolutely no one, Liam Gallagher has hopped onto his favourite social media platform Twitter once again this week to take another unprovoked aim at his beloved older brother – and this time, call him out for his recent cover of the iconic 1980 hit ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by fellow Manchester band Joy Division.
Noel Gallagher recently performed a rendition of the Joy Division classic on BBC Radio 2 as part of the radio station’s popular Piano Room series, and was accompanied by his band, High Flying Birds, for the track, alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra.
The former Oasis co-lead vocalist and guitarist explained that he had chosen to cover the song as he would often play “this version of it at home down the years”.
But Noel did reveal to host Vernon Kay that he was cautious about doing so, and went on to express some initial trepidation about performing his rendition and putting it out into the world, mainly because “it’s such an iconic song, and being from Manchester… well, this is going to be tricky.”
The 56-year-old admitted he kept asking himself “How can I get away with that?”
He continued: “But now I’ve got my own studio, I went and did a little demo of it and I was like ‘you know what? I think I might be able to pull this off.”
One person who clearly didn’t think Noel could “pull this off” was his brother Liam, though.
Reacting to the cover in typical Liam Gallagher fashion, the former Oasis frontman wrote in a now-viral tweet yesterday evening: “I must once again apologise on behalf of my family for r kid’s p*ss poor and damn rite blasphemous version of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart.
“Tut f***ing tut SORRY.”
I must once again apologise on behalf of my family for Rkids piss poor and damn rite blasphemous version of joy division’s love will tear us apart tut fucking tut SORRY
And unfortunately for Noel, the comments underneath BBC Radio 2’s post of a snippet of the cover on its official Instagram account appears to show that a fair few others agree with Liam on this one.
“If you wanna win a race, choose NG as a competitor. The only one that’s been able to destroy Oasis, his band, the music. Terrible cover,” one person wrote.
“That’s a terrible terrible cover,” another person simply stated.
A third wrote in the comments: “Kinda sounds boring doesn’t it? I love Noel, but this cover ain’t it chief,” while a fourth added: “I hope he realise by himself that this is one of his worst covers ever,” and another, at least politely, claimed it was: “Definitely a bit different to the original.”
Of course, there are two sides to every story though, and there’s also plenty of positive comments and reactions under the video too to balance out the less-than-favourable takes.
So for now, this exchange will just get added to the seemingly never-ending Gallagher row saga.
Featured Image – BBC
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Chester Zoo calls for runners to take on new charity 10k to help ‘save endangered animals’
Emily Sergeant
Chester Zoo is calling for thousands of runners to take on a charity 10k through the zoo’s grounds in a bid to help save one of its many endangered species.
The UK’s biggest charity zoo is looking for 2,500 runners of all abilities to sign up for its brand-new ‘Run for Nature‘ later this year – which begins inside the zoo’s 128-acre grounds, and sees participants race past the elephant, giant otter, and giraffe habitats, all before heading out and around the wider countryside estate.
As well as the 10k route, there’s also a special one-mile ‘zoom’ fun run around the zoo, which is perfect for energetic kids under 12.
All runners will get a medal when they cross the finish line, and there’ll even be some exciting prizes up for grabs for those who raise the most money.
Chester Zoo calls for runners to take on new charity 10k through its grounds and beyond / Credit: Chester Zoo
Taking place on Sunday 24 September, all funds raised from the run will go towards the Chester Zoo’s ongoing and extremely-important efforts to find a vaccine for a deadly virus that threatens endangered elephant populations all across the world – which is known as Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV).
Scientists at the zoo are currently in the middle of the world’s first vaccine pilot study to fight the virus, and hope that proceeds raised from the upcoming events can help “create a future where Asian elephants survive and thrive.”
“We’re so excited to be able to offer places for 2,500 fundraisers to run our first ever 10k Run for Nature later this year,” explained Hannah Wright, Fundraising Lead at Chester Zoo.
Runners will raise money to help the zoo’s efforts to save endangered Asian elephants / Credit: Chester Zoo
“As a charity, fundraising is at the core of this event, but we also hope that it’s a great fun event that the whole family can get involved in – whether running, supporting or sponsoring.
“All participants will be receive a sustainable medal and top fundraisers will have the opportunity to win a variety of prizes, which include annual memberships, animal experiences, and meal vouchers for our gastro pub, The Oakfield, as well as a selection of animal adoptions.”
Emily Sergeant -
18th January 2021 
