07/10/2026
So anyway, this is happening 😬
I’ve been dying to share one of our recent side projects with someone, so now we’ve got the green light, I thought who better than our 10,000-strong loyal follower base to quietly confide in. Strictly between you and me, you understand… 🤫😉
As some of you may know, I’m heavily involved with the village Parish Council and, as anyone who’s paid even half an ounce of attention to The Royal over the last decade can testify, I LOVE a project. The more ambitious, the better!
I signed up to make a positive contribution to the village and offer some of my commercial skill sets for ‘the greater good’ (for the Hot Fuzz fans amongst you 😆).
Anyway, for the past couple of months we’ve been working our socks off with the Thwaite Brow Woods Conservation Group to put together plans to give one of our favourite spots in the village a serious bit of love. The Conservation Project is a group of volunteers who have worked tirelessly for decades to maintain the woods. It’s a real labour of love, and they’re always looking for new volunteers (hint hint 😉).
For those who don’t know, Thwaite Brow is the big woods on the hill a little behind-ish The Royal. We’ve always loved spending time up there walking the dogs, so although I’m not originally from the village, I’ve always had a soft spot for it 😬
I can’t tell you everything just yet, but we’ve now secured funding to start making a BIG difference to the woods. It’s packed full of history, stories and wildlife, and our new interpretation scheme aims to make much more of that — turning the woods into something of an outdoor classroom for nature lovers, families and local schools.
What started as a couple of low-key information boards has, predictably, snowballed rather quickly… I have a habit of doing that, soz 😆🤷♂️
Anyway, watch this space 😀