Volunteers and school children in a north Cumbrian town enjoyed a day in the sun as they planted more than 1,000 wildflowers on Wednesday. 

Over the course of a few hours 1,500 wildflower plugs were planted by residents and volunteers from Brampton Green and Wild and year three pupils from Brampton Primary School with support from Cumbria Wildlife Trust and Fibrus.

The planting session took place to support the creation of a wildflower meadow in Brampton's Irthing Park which volunteers hope bloom in spring and summer 2025. 

Volunteers were able to enjoy a picnic in the park too.

Anna Brooks, a Brampton Primary School teacher, said: “The children have had a wonderful time planting within the community and it fits in perfectly with our plants topic later on in the year.”

The meadow initiative, led by members of Brampton Green and Wild, is a collaboration between local residents, Cumberland Council, and Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Get Cumbria Buzzing, Not Buffering project which has been funded by Fibrus broadband.

They were planting a selection of native wildflowers grown at Gosling Sike by Cumbria Wildlife Trust which included red clover, ragged robin, sneezewort, red campion, knapweed, water avens, greater birdsfoot trefoil and oxeye daisy.

Volunteers anticipate that at first they might just see yellow rattle come through as well as a few of the wildflowers planted on Wednesday with more plants grown from seed popping up in the following year.

Lisa Bennington, the volunteer who kickstarted the project, said: "I think we’ve lost the ability to have areas like this for children to come and experience.

"This initiative will allow children to do bug hunts, look at the flowers and learn about the environment, all while encouraging pollinators.

"We’d love for people in Brampton to see the benefits of this project, in helping children learn and for creating habitats for the bugs and insects."

They have already scattered seeds in the area which includes a wide variety of native Cumbria wildflowers.

It will eventually be teeming with wildlife and insects which children will be able to learn about and identify.