About Us

The woods is a wild space run by volunteers for the benefit of both people and wildlife, established on a former landfill.

Thanet has 80% less tree canopy coverage than the UK average.

The Steering Group of Dane Valley Woods has been working hard to change this since its establishment in 2003.

GET INVOLVED

The aim is to involve as many people as possible through practical task days, wildlife talks and walks; as well as other events all taking place at the 12-acre site that lies next to the Dane Valley Allotments.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

We have developed a Mission Statement, to sum up in one paragraph what we are aiming to achieve:

THE HIGHLIGHTS SO FAR

Dane Valley Woods aims to be a sustainable community-owned natural wild space in the heart of Margate; encouraging positivity, and enabling public participation in creating and managing the woods for biodiversity, wildlife, learning, enjoyment, health and well-being.”

HISTORY IN DATES

Project Timeline

Some key dates in the life of the woods

Early Beginnings

Spring 2002

Local tree warden Ashly Palmer and teacher Justine Hopkins were on holiday in East Anglia and dropped into an interesting new project they had heard of called the Green Light Trust, based in Lawshall, Suffolk. They were so inspired by this visit that soon after, they spoke about it at a Thanet Green Umbrella Network meeting, and others shared their vision and enthusiasm.

Exploring Sites

29 April 2002

A gathering of these like-minded people took place to explore this vision further. Several potential sites for a community woodland were identified by Paul Verrall, Parks Officer at Thanet District Council; after a day of visits, the obvious stand-out choice was Dane Valley, Margate.

Further Planning

15 January 2003

In the lead-up to a visit from Green Light Trust (GLT) Ric Edelmann presented to the community GLT’s ‘People Planting’ scheme, as a model for our woods. 22 local people were there to hear the presentation.

Branch Established

5 February 2003

GLT returned where their Code of Practice was formally adopted; the group was constituted as a branch of the Northdown Community Association (NCA), and Sarah Dennison was elected as its first Chair, with Steve Edney and Diane Evans as Vice-Chair and Secretary respectively.

Creating Boundaries

2 March 2003

Now fully formed, the first taste of real action was to re-establish a section of hedgerow alongside the railway line, just to the south-east of the current wood boundary.

Dane Valley Woods is named

7 May 2003

Two months later, ‘Dane Valley Woods’ was agreed as the name for our project. Following the planting season, the ‘Summer Safari’ took place in August of that year to raise awareness – with bug hunts, storytelling and other woodland-related fun; from the beginning, Dane Valley Woods was to be more than just planting trees.

Partnering with schools

October 2003

Involving schools is an important part of the ‘People Planting’ scheme. We already had a connection with Northdown Primary School through Justine Hopkins; our first contact with Drapers Mills Primary School was made and there have been many subsequent events with the school, right up to the present day.

Design Day

8 November 2003

In preparation for the next winter planting season of 2003/04, plans were made for an important event – ‘Design Day’. Forty local people came for a guided walk around the land, and then back to the newly completed SureStart building for an ideas session. Everyone involved got to draw their ideas on large plans, which the Steering Group later used to create a blueprint for the woods’ development.

First tree planting

12 February 2004

Work on the design continued for the next couple of months and the first trees were planted within the actual woodland by Northdown Primary School children – the grey willow and hazel coppice, alongside the railway.

BIG Community Planting Day

28 February 2004

Forty people planted over 100 trees; more willows, holly and oaks; including eight ‘Millenium Oaks’, donated by a resident from acorns planted on New Year’s Day, 2000. This cold day in February was when a hard lesson was learnt – the land had been cleared and every tree beautifully planted and mulched. Within hours, many of the trees had been pulled out of the ground; and from this point forward, a new policy of ‘planting by stealth’ was adopted.

First Annual General Meeting (AGM)

29 June 2004

With a report on the substantial progress made in the group’s first year, and the election of a Steering Group of seven people to guide the project forward. The group set about the increasingly important task of fundraising, and came up with the idea of a triathlon with a woody twist – and became the very successful ‘Treeathlon’ event of 31 October 2004, which generated a lot of fun and eventually raised a total of £600!

Headquarters and Cycle Path Construction

Winter 2004/5

It was during the winter planting season of 2004/5 that two important events occurred; firstly, the group were offered allotment plots by Thanet District Council, which is now the home of our headquarters and storage container; and secondly, the cycle path was constructed through the woods, with funding provided by the county council and Sustrans. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication with the contractor carrying out the cycle path work, resulting in the loss of some of the Millennium Oaks; financial compensation was quickly paid but of course, the trees were irreplaceable.

A New Member of the Steering Group Joins

Spring 2005

This sequence of events led to the involvement of Steve Darling; upon hearing of the loss he came to the tree planting event to help redress the situation and was persuaded to join the Steering Group.

Our Highlights

Since 2003, we’ve been working hard to develop a woodland in Thanet and Dane Valley Woods has had a great list of successes during its development.

In 2006 the Mayor of Margate helped establish an Ash Coppice

Our Ash Coppice was planted in 2006

Over 1km of paths have been created and maintained

Fundraising events

Our ‘Treeathlon’ events got great publicity

Our supporters have hosted and organised numerous events ranging from astronomy, archaeology, bat and moth surveys, Easter egg hunts and three ‘Treeathlons’.

265* species recorded so far

*As of 2025

Including mammals, birds, moths, butterflies, and a large population of lizards and frogs.

6,450 trees will have been planted by the end of the 2025 planting season

Dane Valley Woods is home to 36 species of tree and shrub. We have also created 2 bug hotels, a lizard basking area, a flower meadow and a pond that is now home to newts, frogs and more.

Our People

Steering Committee

STEVE DARLING

Secretary

JESSICA NEWBY

Treasurer

TREVOR COOPER

Committee member

MICHAELA FLINT

Chair

Elders

There have been some people involved with Dane Valley Woods over the years who are so important that we couldn’t let them leave without honouring their contribution in some way. Thanks to their contributions and continued assistance, Dane Valley Woods is a thriving community group.

Ric Edelmann

Ric gave the group massive amounts of support through the Green Light Trust for 10 years. You can read more about Green Light Trust here.

Shala Dennison

Shala has now moved away from Thanet, but from its earliest beginnings in 2003, Shala was a leading light in the group for many years. She was involved in the creation of the ‘blueprint’ for what goes where in the woods, the first tree planting sessions, and the establishment of the storage container and the allotment headquarters.

Mark Hopkinson and Elaine Dunne

Mark and Elaine kept the group going through some tough times and helped with the rejuvenation of the group before focusing on bringing up their daughter.

Kim Conway

Massive enthusiasm and chair of the group in 2010/2011, Kim worked tirelessly to promote the group and its work.

Mike Phillips

Having initially become involved through his work with BTCV, Mike liked what he saw and became a fully fledged volunteer. He was instrumental in leading the bid for securing funds through the Big Lottery Fund, and his advice and hard work have been invaluable in taking Dane Valley Woods to the next level of its development.

Sefton Paine and Liz Parker

Sefton’s practical skills and guidance in his time as Chair, and Liz’s sterling work with Drapers Mills Primary School, have both ensured that they will be sorely missed – now that they have left to focus on their next challenge of becoming parents for the first time.

Carole Davenport and Paul Harrison

Carole and Paul joined the steering group in June 2012 and quickly became well-known as hard-working members. They established two large bug hotel structures and the hedge boundary to our allotment headquarters on their initiative and helped to establish our productive relationship with 2015/16 sponsors Looking Ahead. They were also enthusiastic fundraisers, being ever present at the group’s boot fairs and other awareness-raising events. They stood down at the 2016 AGM, and their productivity and enthusiasm have been much appreciated and will be sorely missed.

Arthur Bray

Arthur joined the Steering Group in July 2014 and established himself as a hard-working and practical member of the team, as well as having extensive experience in constitutional matters through previous involvements in committee structures. His cheerful disposition made him a popular member of the team and it was a big loss when Arthur announced that due to ill health, he was compelled to step down from duties during the 2016/17 year. His popularity in part was due to his delicious homemade muffin cakes, quickly devoured by all volunteers at the end of many a Sunday morning after working hard in the woods!

Kashmir Flint

Kashmir attended her first task day in Autumn 2011 and joined the steering group the following February. She quickly became established as the main contributor to our Facebook page, and was appointed Secretary four months later – a position she held until becoming Chair in September 2017. Kashmir next set up our YouTube channel, then an online donation page on our website, and also painted the mural on the side of our storage container. In March 2016 she was mainly responsible for an award of £12k through the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, after writing the bid and running a successful social media campaign.

In March 2018 she was jointly awarded the Dane Valley Councillors’ Citizen Award, in recognition of her voluntary work to improve the local area, before she announced that she would be stepping down in July to volunteer in Costa Rica with the Ara Project (who breed two native species of macaw for release in the wild).

In addition to all of this, she has also been responsible for poster creation, blog posts, wildlife photography and major event coordination. Her contribution to the development of Dane Valley Woods has been immense, and she has left on a high with our gratitude and best wishes for the future.

Simon Field

Simon was the Chair of Dane Valley Woods from 2018-23. He attended his first task day in January 2016 and joined the Steering Group later that year. Having moved to the area and keen to get involved in outdoor conservation work, he soon became a vital member of the team, displaying ingenuity in approaching several tasks; including assembling benches, constructing the mulch store, installing wooden sculptures and watering newly seeded wildflower meadows. A keen yachtsman and builder of radio studios, Simon is talented in many ways, and always had a wise word to say about tackling the difficulties involved in running a volunteering project. Not to mention his masterful use of puns to brighten up many a steering group meeting! Simon stepped down from the group in 2023 and was unanimously selected to become a Dane Valley Elder, in recognition of his significant contribution over seven years of involvement.

Strategic Documents

Land Management Plan
2022-2031

Work Plan
2022-2031

Constitution

CONSTITUTION CODE OF PRACTICE