In November HPCA and Civic Society volunteers combined forces to plant 1,000 spring bulbs around the Doorstep Green. We planted snowdrops, bluebells and native daffodils which we hope will self-naturalise and spread around the site. We hope that by having more late winter/early spring flowering plants around the site it will provide nectar for the first emerging insects. And make our site look and smell good! Thanks to the Civic Society for generously paying for the bulbs.

We are very sad to report the recent death of Sally Turff. She was a long-time friend and supporter of the Harding’s Pits Community Association, initially supporting her husband Roger to help set up the community group, develop a design and implementation plan and obtain funding to create the Doorstep Green.
As HPCA developed operational activities, Sally was involved in almost every aspect of the groups work for over 20 years, not least providing the lunch spread on volunteer workdays – which she continued doing until last year. Her homemade pea and ham soup was a particular favourite!
Sally was a Director of HPCA for the last 8 years and we will miss meeting in the front room at Queen Street to discuss and plan activities. HPCA certainly will not be the only group mourning the loss of Sally as she was a Town Guide, former secretary of the Civic Society and enthusiastic supporter of many other local groups and societies.
We have all lost a dear friend, colleague and committed fellow citizen who wanted the best for King’s Lynn.

It’s good to see sparrowhawks regularly visiting the Pits this winter. They are one of our more common birds of prey, but not everyone will have seen one. Their population has recovered greatly since the 1960s and 70s when they were a particular victim of agricultural pesticides and habitat loss.
Although they prey on many of our smaller birds, in general we think it is a good sign that they visit our site. It means that our establishing woodland and local bird population is now supporting a whole food chain. Winter sparrowhawks may have arrived from further north – as far away as Scandinavia.
Male birds are slate grey and noticeably smaller than the browner female birds.