Believe it or not – this was Swaddywell Pit back in the nineties! Now we are inviting you to step back in time to 1999 and hear the story of how Langdyke came about at the first of our In Conversation with … events of 2021.
At that time Swaddywell Pit – now a thriving nature reserve – was being used without planning permission as a track to race Volkswagens around.
This is how the Evening Telegraph reported the pit’s use …

At that time four local residents – Rick Keymer, Mick Beeson, Chris Topper and Stuart Irons – decided to form Langdyke with the intention of starting the long-term reversal of years of environmental decline by acquiring and managing land for nature.
All four of them are still with the Trust today – some twenty or so years later.
On Wednesday, January 20 our popular online chat session returns with one of them talking about those early years and how the Trust has developed.

Rick Keymer will be joined by the Trust’s current chair Richard Astle as they chat about the progress of Langdyke, where it is at today and what the future holds for nature.
You can join that session which starts at 7.30pm by clicking here .
Alternatively you can copy this link into your web browser https://zoom.us/j/96578575557?pwd=dzFPQjFIY3RqaGFUU1puMGFsYzdFdz09
Please note that the link will not work until the event starts on January 20.
Another old image shows these workers at a lime kiln which was on the original site.
