Coleorton Parish

Coleorton Parish in Leicestershire includes the villages of Coleorton, Coleorton Moor, Church Town and Farm Town
as well as parts of Peggs Green, Griffydam and Lount

Heritage Wardens

Coleorton Parish have two Heritage Wardens - John MacDonald and Rob Oldham. John is involved with various projects with the Swannington Heritage Trust and will work with the Council on the future plans for Coleorton Wood.

Rob Oldham is a retired academic, previously based at De Montfort University in Leicester, where he worked in ecology, especially in respect of amphibians. He continues to study amphibians in Coleorton, especially the common toad and the crested newt. He served as secretary of the Coleorton Millennium Committee and is interested in developing a trail in the parish building on the Mining Heritage Trail, incorporating historical and natural history features. email Rob Oldham.

John Macdonald has recently retired from running his own consultancy business, where he was involved in the food manufacturing industry. John and his family have lived in Coleorton for nearly 20 years. A keen genealogist, John likes to research into the history and heritage of family members to understand “what life was like when they were alive”. John is a member of the RSPB and has always had a keen interest in natural history and the countryside. email heritagewarden@coleorton.org.uk

The Heritage Wardens work closely with The Coleorton Heritage Group (Coleorton 2000 Committeee) and The Coleorton & New Lount Volunteer Group.

About Heritage Wardens in Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Council’s Community Heritage Initiative (CHI) project works with communities to encourage people to record and celebrate the biodiversity and natural heritage of their local area. They run a Heritage Warden Network made up of volunteers who monitor and conserve the natural heritage of Leicestershire’s countryside and landscape.

A Heritage Warden might gather information from local people about areas of the environment that are important to them, co-ordinate the mapping of different wildlife habitats and heritage features, act as a voice on heritage protection in each parish, liaise and network with various interested groups and bodies, bring a natural heritage slant to Village Appraisals or Village Design Statements, be a source of information and assist with community education in natural heritage issues.

Wardens have access to:

comprehensive training via the Natural History and Heritage Information Sessions programme monthly newsletters informing them of current surveys, relevant training courses and opportunities for funding
the opportunity to borrow field equipment
records about their parish held in the Leicestershire Biological Records Centre at Holly Hayes

To find out more about the Community Heritage Initiative and the Heritage Warden Network, visit the web site: http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/community/history_heritage/hne_team/celebrating_wildlife.htm

or contact the Parish Council.