AN area of a Radnorshire village taken over by a community group and turned into a wildlife paradise has helped change the face of the village.

The Knucklas Castle Community Land Project has been described as a “massive community success” after the group recently gained full ownership of Knucklas Castle Hill following 14 years of fundraising.

After buying the 21-acre site in 2008 at auction for around £85,000, it has been turned into a natural sanctuary, where the group has planted an orchard and a woodland pasture, among other things.

The Knucklas Castle Community Land Project has around 2-300 shareholders, all of whom have helped shape the site into what it has become today.

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County Times: A display in the village encapsulates what the project has been all about A display in the village encapsulates what the project has been all about (Image: None)

Lottie O’Leary, a stone carver who has lived in Knucklas for 30 years and been one of the driving forces behind the project, said: “The land was going up for auction so we needed the money quick, we needed to know the community was behind us.

“We had a public meeting and lots of people thought it was a great idea. We bought it at auction in November 2008 and then set up as a community interest company.

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“The last 14 years has been about repaying that amount and being patient. We’ve sold shares, so as more is paid the project owns more of the hill. We have between 200 and 300 shareholders, and we’ve done everything from selling jam, making bags, hosting a burns night and festivals.”

Lottie added: “We’ve done lots of work on the hill. We ploughed some allotments, we now have over 30, and that’s been really popular.

“We can control the grazing now and it’s so beautiful up there. There are wild flowers, grass, woodland pastures, and the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust have done a lot with us, in terms of habitats and installing a borehole.

“The orchard was planted in 2010 and we now have over 80 tress, with all kinds of fruit, from apples, pears and nuts.

“It has taken a while to establish it but we had a good crop last year, producing 300 bottles of juice which we’ve sold in Knighton. We also sell plants and food, like jams, eggs and beans.

County Times: A forest school will be held once a month A forest school will be held once a month (Image: None)

“It’s been a massive community success and has helped change the face of the village. There is always one bit of the site that someone is using, whether it’s one of the allotments or someone doing a bird survey.”

Although the debt is finally paid, the work doesn’t stop, according to Lottie.

“We will have to keep raising money to renew footpaths, carry out tree work and fencing, Cadw has provided us with a grant to refence it, but the nice thing is now we can think more long term,” she said.

“We held our first forest school on a recent weekend so that is going to be held on the last Saturday of every month from now on. Kids made bow and arrows.

“We would like to run more nature courses, such as foraging. Also, the castle part of the site has not had much work done to it, they’re just earthworks, so doing something there is on the agenda.”

For more information on the project, visit https://knucklascastle.org.uk/.

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