The Steering Group of the Friends Of Silverdale Community Post Office (FOSCPO) is delighted to report that, after encountering considerable bureaucratic and other hurdles, and with commendable persistence, it is almost certain that the Silverdale Post Office will be reopening in the new year with the current Pharmacy moving across Emesgate Lane to join it. Dates remain to be fixed. The old pharmacy premises will then be available for the Community Shop project.
We hope soon to set up a Design Group to decide how the proposed Community Shop might look. We are seeking volunteers who are creative, or artistic, or who have experience in retail or marketing, or are just curious. For further information visit the FOSCPO website.
Source: David Fitch, FOSCPO Newsletter
After a wonderful Summer of swift parties in Silverdale, the last ones finally left on 10th August. Hopefully they will have successfully made their incredibly long journey of around 7,000 miles back to the Congo Basin in west central Africa. I find it totally staggering that once the young swifts leave the nest, they must undertake this journey within days and remain airborne for around three years, until they are ready to breed.
Lots of people have commented on how much they enjoyed watching big groups of swifts whizzing and screaming over their heads at various locations around Silverdale this year. The swifts really did put on some fantastic displays and were the sound of Summer on those glorious warm, long evenings we all enjoyed in July. I certainly found it impossible not to smile at their sheer exuberance!
It’s wonderful to report that Silverdale had 35 nests in use this year, which is very much down to their human hosts welcoming them back and safeguarding the site at their home. This is vitally important as they return to the same site every year, and as they are quite a long-lived bird, that can be for many years. Sadly, in the UK we are inadvertently removing nest sites at an alarming rate as buildings are renovated or demolished, resulting in more than 60% of nest sites being lost to swifts since 1995. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if here in Silverdale we could buck that trend, by not only safeguarding those nest sites we know about but also by putting up swift boxes, to encourage more breeding pairs to make Silverdale their home and put on even bigger and better aerial displays for us all to enjoy in the future. Swifts are a very quiet and clean bird, leaving no mess, and can in fact go completely undetected by their hosts, so won’t cause problems wherever they make their home.
If you think you might be interested in putting up swift boxes at your property, then please get in touch with me sheila.spencer2@btinternet.com.
Thanks again to Jarrod Sneyd for allowing me to use another of his fantastic swift photos.
Source: Sheila Spencer
Local police have recently received a number of reports of people going door to door (cold calling) in the Silverdale area.
These males were trying to obtain work in the local area and residents were concerned they may be trying to scam vulnerable people.
Police advice is not to use any cold callers and to use traders who they know or come recommended by family or friends. We advise that you obtain three quotes from trusted traders and obtain an itemised bill which shows the total price of the agreed work to be completed, cost of materials and labour charges. This should hopefully get you a competitive quotation and allow you to obtain advice from three different people to establish exactly what is required.
Please look out for vulnerable neighbours or family and pass them this advice.
Source: Liz Unsworth, Silverdale Parish Council
The arrival of good weather brought our swifts out in force to entertain us in large groups of screaming parties over The Lots, in the centre of the village and at the bottom of Shore Road. If you have been lucky enough to see and hear one of these groups, then I am sure you will agree that they certainly know how to party!
If you haven’t yet experienced the joy of having a large group of swifts screaming over your head, at speeds that can exceed 60mph, then over the next couple of weeks, try to make time to go out to one of those locations on a warm, calm evening and look up and you might be lucky enough to see and hear them before they leave, which is usually by the end of July, to fly over 6,000 miles back to Africa. Unbelievably, once the young swift leaves the nest for the first time, it will not return to it, but instead must also make the journey to Africa, without any help from its parents, and it then won’t land again for two to three years, when it is ready to breed and take up its own nest site!!
If you have nesting swifts at your house, you will hopefully have seen lots of activity over the past week, with the adults going in to feed their chicks, and groups of juveniles who will be ready to breed next year whizzing and screaming around, looking for potential nest sites. My breeding pairs are still staying out late on these lovely, warm evenings, often not finally returning until after 10pm, so it’s worth keeping a late evening look out!
These endangered birds really are the sound of Summer, so let’s enjoy their glorious company for a couple more weeks.
Many thanks to Jarrod Sneyd for allowing me to use his fantastic photos of swifts over these last three articles.
Source: Sheila Spencer (sheila.spencer2@btinternet.com)
After a worrying couple of weeks, when it looked as if the cold winds and rain had driven our swifts away (by the way, I found them en-masse feeding over Leighton Moss), the return of good weather saw them back in force.
Hopefully over the past couple of weeks you will all have been treated to the sight and sound of screaming parties of swifts whizzing over Silverdale and feel that summer has finally arrived!
If you have nest sites, and your pairs have been successful in breeding, they should by now be feeding their young, so you should see a lot more activity around the nest, with the adults going in to feed their young. I am very fortunate that all 3 of my nest sites appear to have been successful, so there is a lot of activity with the parents going in to feed throughout the daytime and evening. The long days seem to be encouraging late nights, and it is well after 10pm when they finally settle down for the night, giving me lots of opportunities to watch them! The adults are being joined by groups of juveniles as well, having fun screaming about but also looking out for future nest sites, so it has been very entertaining.
If you have a nest site but haven’t yet managed to catch sight of them using it, now is a good time to watch out for them. If they are rearing young you should see a lot more activity. If you think you may have swifts using your house for the first time I would love to hear from you, or if I can offer any advice, please contact me me.
Source: Sheila Spencer, sheila.spencer2@btinternet.com
The annual general meeting of the Landscape Trust, the registered charity whose volunteers are dedicated to conserving, restoring and enhancing the natural beauty of Arnside, Silverdale and the surrounding areas, is being held on Wednesday, July 15, at 7.30pm at the Heron Theatre, Beetham. It will be followed by a talk by John Lamb, of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside titled “Lancashire: A journey into the wild.” It is open to the public.
Meanwhile, the Landscape Trust is holding an exhibition of photographs at the Holt, Leighton Moss, as part of the Silverdale and Arnside Arts Festival during the weekend of June 27 and 28.
For more information about the Landscape Trust, go to landscapetrust.org.uk
Source: Roger Borrell, Landscape Trust
After a slow start, probably because of the cold weather, we should now all be seeing swifts whizzing and screaming over our heads, particularly in the evening, but they can turn up at other times of day too.
I have taken on the role of co-ordinating the Silverdale swifts in the Community group this year so have been particularly eagle eyed watching for their return and was rewarded last night when I saw that all three of the nesting sites on our house at the bottom of Shore Road, were now occupied by pairs of swifts. It is very encouraging that several other people who are also ‘swift hosts’, have been in touch to say that their swifts have also taken up residence for the Summer!
If you are one of the fortunate people whose house has been chosen by this amazing bird as its’ summer home, but haven’t seen yours return yet, keep your eyes peeled over the next few days, and you will hopefully see them taking up residence.
Two of my pairs didn’t enter the nests until about 9.30pm, so it’s worth keeping a look out later into the evening.
If you think you might have swifts nesting, but haven’t previously had your site recorded, then I would love to hear from you, and if I can offer any advice about how we can help this wonderful bird, or carry out house renovations in a way that is sympathetic to them, then please get in touch with me.
Source: Sheila Spencer, sheila.spencer2@btinternet.com
Silverdale Events / Silverdale Village Website has a need for additional volunteers to be News and Event Editors.
As well as maintaining the website’s news and events listings, the role includes handling the village website email and monitoring noticeboards, Facebook and other sites for News and Events. In the future it could also include maintaining the online Village Directory and other website content.
Training and technical support will be available but it is necessary to be computer literate. Access to a PC or Mac is required to perform the role.
If you are interested in volunteering please contact us using our online form or email.
Source: David Crowe, Silverdale Events & Silverdale Village Website
Researchers at Lancaster University are looking for older adults (60-85 years old), who have received their hearing aids within the past 6 weeks, to take part in our current project. You must be a fluent English speaker, without any neurological, psychiatric or language disorders. You must also not have any implanted non-removable metal near your head. Recruitment is ongoing, so if you are fitted with hearing aids in the near future, please get in touch if you are interested in participating.
- Our research aims to find out whether we can boost brain activity so that adapting to hearing aids is faster and more effective.
- We will use brain stimulation to increase brain activity in people who have recently received hearing aids.
- We will use brain scans to understand how brain structure and function have been affected by the brain stimulation. We will use computer tasks to record people’s ability to hear and recognise speech after the brain stimulation.
- We will also study whether brain stimulation has provided wider benefits, such as improvements in thinking skills and mental wellbeing.
If you have recently received hearing aids and are interested in taking part, please email Dr Jess Pepper for more information: j.l.pepper@lancaster.ac.uk. Thank you!
Source: Dr Jess Pepper, Senior Research Associate, Department of Psychology, Lancaster University
Last year’s Silverdale Local Housing Needs Survey revealed a need for at least 20 affordable homes. After looking at various options within the village, the Parish Council approached the owners of the Woodlands Hotel and a field adjoining the estate to agree to investigate the feasibility of building affordable homes of various sizes and tenures on some of the land. In addition a key element of the project will be to protect the existing pub. Other components could be new community facilities on the ground floor, new uses for the upper floor, refurbishments of other buildings on the site, renovating the original pleasure gardens, other public open space, community allotments, reviving the Woodlands Rural Centre and/or other outdoor activities.
The Parish Council and the Lune Valley Community Land Trust have appointed Halsall Lloyd Partnership to produce a Masterplan which will look at all aspects of the site, consult with the community, and provide an outline of what is possible.
Further details are available on the Silverdale Parish Council website.
Source: Silverdale Parish Council Website
The public can now submit video footage of obstructive or dangerous parking in Silverdale directly to Lancashire Constabulary. This link gives further details. Click the “Respond to the appeal” button at the bottom of the page to proceed with a submission.
Source: Silverdale Parish Council Minutes
From 5 February 2026 – 26 March 2026 the government is running a consultation on local government reorganisation in Lancashire, as required to by law. You may respond by completing the online survey. Paper copies are also available in council town halls/civic centre buildings.
Lancaster City Council proposes a 4 unitary model while Lancashire County Council proposes a 2 unitary model. There are also proposals for 3 and 5 unitary models.
Further details at https://lancashirelgr.co.uk/say-1
Source: Website https://lancashirelgr.co.uk/
We are a tool sharing group for the Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape. Our aspiration is to build a community of generously minded and trustworthy people to share things we have and don’t use regularly, or don’t have and need irregularly. Full details at https://www.arnside-silverdale.org.uk/projects/bittern-sharing-community
Source: Arnside and Silverdale National Landscape website
The Morecambe Bay Partnership, is inviting people from all around the Bay to share their views about the future of Morecambe Bay.
They’d love you to think far ahead – to 2050 and beyond – and hear about your concerns, priorities, hopes and aspirations for your local place and wider Bay area, along with thoughts about our Bay’s changing nature, climate, and coastline.
For further details see https://www.morecambebay.org.uk/what-we-do/stories/whats-your-view. The survey is open until the end of February.
Source: Morecambe Bay Partnership Website
Are you a budding photographer or do you just love recording Morecambe Bay’s coastline when you’re out and about?
To mark ‘Morecambe Bay Day’ in 2025 and to celebrate our amazing coastline, The Morecambe Bay Partnership have launched a competition to showcase the beauty and diversity of Morecambe Bay and the talents of you, our supporters.
We know many of you capture the Bay through photographs so we’re inviting competition entries that show your best images of Morecambe Bay and everything it has to offer.
From all the entries we receive, 12 winning images will be selected and published in a fundraising calendar (published, summer 2026).
Full details at link expired.
Entries close at 4pm on Friday 20th February 2026.
Source: Morecambe Bay Partnership
