Our Annual General Meeting will be on Monday 11th September at The Stage, St. Augustine’s Street from 7pm. All are welcome.
Only members have voting rights at the AGM. You can become a member for just £5!
Tuesday 26th September 2023, 6.30pm
We’re thrilled to announce that our next event will be a bat walk, led by Lindsey Bilston of the Norfolk and Norwich Bat Group. This is an opportunity to discover some of the fascinating species to be found along the Marriott’s Way, using bat detectors to hear and identify these amazing creatures.
Find out more and book your place on Eventbrite.
Join us on one of our monthly litter picks around Train Wood and along the Marriott’s Way!
Gloves and litter pickers will be provided, and all are very welcome (well-behaved dogs included!). Sturdy footwear recommended.
We meet at the entrance to the Marriott’s Way by the Barn Road roundabout at 10.30, and head off down the path and around the wood from there.
There’s no pressure to stay for the whole two hours. We welcome whatever time you can give!
We look forward to seeing you!
Dates for the diary
All litter picks start at 10.30am and run until approximately 12.30pm. Find out more on our Facebook.
🌳 Join us on Sunday 5th March for a spring clean in Train Wood and along the Marriott’s Way! 🧹
🍃 We’ll meet at the entrance to the Marriott’s Way by the Barn Road roundabout at 10.30am, and head off down the path and around the wood from there.
🧤 Gloves and litter pickers will be provided, and all are very welcome (well-behaved dogs included!). Sturdy footwear recommended.
There’s no pressure to stay for the whole two hours. We welcome whatever time you can give!
We look forward to seeing you!
If you’d like to RSVP on Facebook, please follow this link.
We are delighted to announce that we’ve recently been awarded a grant of £1,221 from the Norfolk Community Foundation’s Greening Our Communities fund. This money will help us to continue protecting the unique environment of Train Wood, with an emphasis on improving the woodland for wildlife.
Over the next year, we plan to resume regular litter picks, support habitat management, install bird and bat boxes, and create a programme of community-focused events, including led walks and biodiversity recording.
Since the pandemic hit, many of us have been more grateful than ever for the green space and natural escape provided by Train Wood and the Marriott’s Way. With this in mind, it feels like an opportune moment to start thinking about – and acting on – ways to celebrate, enhance, and share the wonders of Train Wood, including by strengthening the friends group itself. We hope to build membership and support, as well as to strengthen our relationships with some of the many remarkable community groups working throughout Norfolk and beyond.
If you are interested in getting involved, please get in touch! We would love to hear your ideas for the future of Train Wood, and always warmly welcome new members.
Click here for more information on the Greening Our Communities fund or the Norfolk Community Foundation.
This policy regarding rough sleeping in Train Wood has been discussed and agreed by the committee, with informal advice from local agencies. We are seeking input to its development and welcome thoughts from users, which can be emailed to our secretary Susan Cubbage via susannette12@gmail.com. The policy will be finalised by 20.02.19 but will be kept under review and can thereafter be amended by discussion through committee.
Context: Friends of Train Wood and Marriott’s Way, a constituted community group, recognises that there has been a steep increase in homelessness and rough sleeping which has led to an increasing amount of people seeking to live for short amounts of time in the wood. Some have told us that they have taken refuge there as they feel safer there than sleeping exposed in the city. We recognise that they are a range of people, some vulnerable adults facing complex problems and it is not their choice to sleep rough. Some seem to suffer from alcohol and/or drug dependency, are not able to manage their condition and are in need of help.
Issues: Litter including alcohol cans and used syringes and paraphernalia in the wood; although not all rough sleepers are drug or alcohol users and much is not from rough sleepers. Encampments are sometimes abandoned derelict and include a range of large and small items which are unsightly and too large to remove at litter picks – these we ask the council fly tipping team to remove.
Policy: As a group we all aim to look after Train Wood and Marriott’s Way, and make sure it can be used by the public in a safe way whilst also being supportive and humane to all. We seek to achieve these aims by working with those using the wood including those living in it. We:
November 2018
Young FONCs fan Sam Anderson was presented with a special picture
Preparations for Norwich’s first major Bioblitz are gathering pace.
The station is starting to emerge, piece by piece, from its blanket of nettles, brambles and earth.
That’s thanks to five hours from the Friends Of Norwich City Station team last Saturday afternoon, dodging showers, handing out leaflets for the event and chatting to the public. The team revealed the area around the platform by clearing nettles, cleaning the brickwork up on the wall, and uncovering some of the coaling stage with its crane mounting. Its outside facing wall is now almost complete, and further excavations here will produce significant results.
Two special visitors also popped by. Young Sam Anderson, who made such a touching and informative film about the railway heritage was presented with a special photo by the FONCS team.
John Batley, of FONCs, said: “The fact the lad had watched our videos and copied them was extremely touching and I hope he can take away his visit and encourage others of his generation.”
Sophie Cabot of Norfolk County Council, the newly appointed Marriott’s Way heritage trail officer, also came along to say hello.
This weekend there is a litter pick planned on Saturday 20th from 10am to 12noon. Gloves and litterpickers provided, all welcome to help spruce up the wood ready for next weekend:the Bioblitz on May 27th. If you would like to help out at the Bioblitz, do get in touch.
Looking good: the platform after FONCs had finished
On a sunny May day Train Wood looks more beautiful than ever, and young Sam Anderson sets out with his dad to discover where Norwich City Station once stood. On the way they discover the remains of engine sheds, coal sheds…and even where a train fell off the bridge on a hot summers day into the river…
Thanks to Friends of Norwich City Station for the photographs, and inspiring this wonderful trip. Looking forward to the next episode about Hellesdon Station.
Poster for BioBlitz
This time four years ago, Train Wood was up for sale by Norfolk County Council – on an auction list – and its future looked bleak.
But a hard fought campaign and the determination of the many who love Norwich’s wonderful secret riverbank woodland – and the fantastic Marriott’s Way – saved it for the public. Now it looks set to have its most exciting event ever in May.
Railway heritage and natural history, as well as refreshments, activities for children and more are going to be on offer. With the help of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the event will reveal railway history and record the many species on site. All sorts of experts will be coming along and the site will finally be officially recorded as the precious place that it is. Come along, and bring your friends. If you would like to be involved in helping on the day, please get in touch! Let’s celebrate, and make sure together that it will always be a people’s wood.
Walks and talks on offer
