We are the Forest Town Nature Conservation Group (FTNCG), a volunteer-led charity run by Mansfield residents. We started as a local ‘friends group’ for the whole of Forest Town in 2011 and became registered charity no 1157957 in 2014 when the community supported us to buy Spa Ponds Nature Reserve.
Spa Ponds, also known locally as ‘Gara Ponds’, is a site owned and managed by our group. It can be accessed from the south via the Clipstone Drive entrance in Forest Town, opposite the White Gates Pub. It can also be accessed from Mansfield Woodhouse via Spa Lane and Packman’s Bridge.
Funded by the Sherwood Landscape Partnership’s M2M Project (supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund).
Events and Volunteering Opportunities
Weather permitting, forthcoming Spa Ponds Volunteer Work Sessions (starting at 10 am) include:
- Saturday 14th October (weather permitting)
- Wednesday 18th October (weather permitting)
- Wednesday 8th November (weather permitting)
- Saturday 11th November (weather permitting)
For work sessions we meet at the Clipstone Drive entrance to the Spa Ponds site. We have kindly received permission from the Whitegates Hotel pub (2 Clipstone Road East, NG19 0HS) for volunteers to be able to use their car park for our work sessions.