Upcoming Events
Activity morning in the Tame Valley
Saturday 25 July 10.30-12.30
Birds of prey displays
Story walks
Invertebrate encounters
Please join Friends of the Tame Valley and Tameside’s People 4 Wildlife for a morning of activities in the Tame Valley.
The walk and flight displays are repeated, so visitors can enjoy both sessions.
Programme
10.30-12.30 Invertebrate encounters all morning – come and see what creatures live in the River Tame
10.45-11.15 Story walk – join us for a walk in the woodland, hearing stories told by our walk leader Anna
10.45-11.15 Birds of prey flight display and talk about wildlife – Tameside’s People 4 Wildlife
11.15-11.30 Meet the animals – Tameside’s People 4 Wildlife
11.30-12.00 Story walk – join us for a walk in the woodland, hearing stories told by our walk leader Anna
11.30-12.00 Birds of prey flight display and talk about wildlife – Tameside’s People 4 Wildlife
12.00-12.30 Meet the animals – Tameside’s People 4 Wildlife
Refreshments on sale all morning
Location: Bailey Bridge, Tame Valley https://what3words.com/eager.alien.album
How to get there:
From St Anne’s Road entrance, Satnav: M34 3UB https://what3words.com/films.duck.label go in through the entrance, turn right and follow the path down the hill until you reach Bailey Bridge (5-minute walk)
From Dunkirk Lane car park, Satnav SK14 4PL https://w3w.co/game.image.newest follow the path down the hill towards the river, then turn right along the river until you reach Bailey Bridge (5-minute walk)
From Hyde Road, Satnav: SK14 2DE https://w3w.co/again.hosts.discouraged use the entrance to the Valley next to Riverside Care Home, and follow the river path under the motorway, continuing with the river on your left until you reach Bailey Bridge (14-minute walk)
From Audenshaw, enter Jet Amber Fields at Broomstair Road, Shepley Wood Park, or any of the entrances from the streets off Sandbrook Way, join the main path along the edge of the woods with houses on your right, and when you reach the field near to St Anne’s Road, turn left with the field hedge on your left and walk down the hill to reach Bailey Bridge (up to a 20-minute walk depending on entry point)
Previous Events
Help us build Dead Hedges and Habitats
Our next event is on Sunday 26 April 10.30-12, meeting at St Anne’s Road entrance. We’ll be working in the woods around Jet Amber, to build dead hedges and brash piles from all the fallen branches and twigs. These encourage insects, small mammals such as hedgehogs, and frogs and toads to take up residence, as well as providing nesting sites for small birds like wrens.
All are welcome, and we’ll provide gloves, but if you have a dibber, a mallet or any garden canes you don’t need, please bring them along. Otherwise just bring yourself, your friends and family and dress for the spring weather – and some mud!
To see the benefits of simply piling up dead wood, David Attenborough’s Secret Garden series features wildlife attracted by a log pile in the first episode, at 21:50.
Evening walks programme 2026
We’re going to be doing monthly evening walks from May to September, as they went down well last year. Join us on a ramble in the valley, followed by a social in a local pub. We’ll announce dates during the month ahead of each walk, so keep an eye on our Facebook page and website.
We’ll be starting on Tuesday 19 May, meeting at 7pm at the front of the Lowes Arms, 301 Hyde Road, Denton M34 3FF, for a walk around Whittles Meadows.
The Great British Spring Clean event
Friday 27th March 9.30-12.30
Litter pick alongside our partner Suez.
Saturday 28th March 10.30-12
All equipment will be provided, please dress for the weather on the day.
Turns out 2026 didn’t get the memo about taking it easy 
. We’ve been busy in the Valley — planting things, planning things, doing things, and generally refusing to sit still while making the Valley better for people and wildlife 
. Want to know what we’ve been up to? Got opinions? Excellent. Come along to our AGM on 22 February and help shape what 2026 looks like. Bonus points if you join us for a cheeky litter pick beforehand. Fresh air, good deeds, and that unbeatable “I did a good thing today” feeling 
. You know the drill, read the details on the left – see you at either, or both .
Litter pick – Saturday 31st January 2026
There’s a lot of rubbish at the north end of Jet Amber and in Shepley Wood, so we’re going to concentrate on collecting this in our January session. Some of our intrepid volunteers will be removing debris from the river, so we’ll need to get this back to the collection point. Wheelbarrows or sturdy trollies would be welcome!
Meet at the barrier at the bottom of Broomstair Road, M34 5DW at 10.30am.
What3Words location: https://w3w.co/elite.flag.
Dress for the weather, and gloves, bags and litter pickers will be provided.
Wildflower Meadow Preparation
Earlier this year we received a grant from Tameside Council to support our activities in the Valley, with some of that money we have bought wildflower seeds.
We now need volunteers to help prep the ground so we can sow the seeds before the winter. Believe it or not this is the best time of year to plant them!
Details of the session are on the poster to the left, please meet us at the entrance to the Valley on St. Anne’s Road or at the W3W location. See you there 
Invertebrate encounters
Join Friends of the Tame Valley this August for our popular Invertebrate Encounters, led by our River Guardians, who pioneered this hands-on activity in the summer of 2023.
The encounter offers an incredible opportunity to discover the hidden world of river insects living right here in the Tame Valley.
Suitable for curious explorers of all ages, both children and adults have enjoyed our previous events.
Come and see what lurks beneath the surface of the River Tame.
Bailey Bridge
Wednesday 6th August 25 (10.30am – 2.00pm) WHAT3WORDS ///eager.alien.album
Whittles Meadows
Wednesday 13th August 25 (10.30am – 2pm) WHAT3WORDS ///spoken.sadly.loving
Join us for our Volunteers Week events.
Tuesday 3rd June at 7pm The Lowe’s Arms. 
Saturday 7th June MEGA Balsam bashAll equipment will be provided, please wear sturdy footwear. And be prepared to get a little muddy!
Sunday 8th June Litter pick
Come and see us in Victoria Park, where we will be supporting the carnival with our fantastic River Invertebrates Experience.
Help us celebrate 3 years of Friends of the Tame Valley with a litter pick to spruce up Jet Amber Fields. Meet at 10.30am at Dunkirk Lane car park.
Afterwards, from noon, we will be meeting at the Lowes Arms, (301 Hyde Road, Denton, M34 3FF) for a quick AGM where some of our committee members and volunteers will be on hand to discuss the work we do in the valley.
For more details email web.fotv@gmail.com
We’re cordially inviting Friends to a Coronation clean-up in Jet Amber Fields on Monday 8 May at 10:30am.
Date for your diary!
The Big Balsam Bash is two weeks of intense action spearheaded by Groundwork where communities come together to tackle Himalayan Balsam, an invasive species causing unrest to our native plants and wildlife.
Friends of the Tame Valley have organised two events as part of the Big Balsam Bash. Join us on Saturday 9th and Saturday 16th July. Both events start at 10am and we will be meeting at the St Anne’s Road Entrance to Jet Amber Fields (Denton, Manchester M34 3DY)
Also please feel free to do some Balsam Bashing while you are out and about in the Tame Valley. Send us some pictures no matter how much you are able to do. For more information and balsam bashing guide see https://www.groundwork.org.uk/bigbalsambash2022/