A PARK has been deemed 'the bee's knees' after winning a prestigious award.

Cliffe Castle in Keighley was recognised at the Defra-backed Bees Needs Awards 2024.

The Cliffe Castle Support Group (CCSG) won the award for its environmental work with partners to protect and support pollinating insects at the Bradford Council-run park.

The support group has been building on community engagement and supporting a wide variety of activities for all ages and abilities in collaboration with local organisations, volunteers, and individuals.

This has extended its community reach and increased interest and awareness of its work to enhance pollinator survival across the site.

A particular highlight the judges picked out was the work in the orchard area with Fruit Works and families and pupils from Eastwood Community School.

The orchard meadow bed’s various wildflowers have been used for April to September Flower Insect Timed Pollinator counts and Bee Identification Sessions. They have also been included in walks and talks with members of the public and local schools.

The new planting of over a dozen fruit trees of different varieties in the orchard provides extra spring feed for pollinators that will increase year on year.

The group that maintains the Rock Work has discovered it is a bee nesting site and is taking steps to ensure the nests remain untouched while they work to improve and maintain this area of the park.

Evidence from the bat walks delivered by Ian Butterfield from YORGreenCIC shows an increase in the park’s insect population, which, in tandem, with the introduction of the new no-mow regime has shown an increase in the bat population due to a greater supply of food.

Family pollinator walks through all the different areas of the park in the summer school holiday demonstrated the wide variety of habitats used by bees and provided an opportunity for supervised close-up encounters with wild bees helping to “reduce fear and stimulate curiosity".

Val Preston said: "We are delighted in winning the Bees Needs Award 2024, it is a great achievement for everyone involved at Cliffe Castle, we and our community are passionate about preserving our environment and providing a safe, clean space for pollinators and people."

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, executive member for healthy people and places said: “The activities of the Cliffe Castle Support Group has increased knowledge and interest in pollinators and has clarified the purpose of new pollinator-friendly maintenance methods, replacing complaints of untidiness with a curiosity about what they are achieving.”