THE wheels on the bus went round and round for one lower school when two of the town’s bus company’s supplied transport for out-of-the-classroom green ventures.
Just to add to their experience London Midland railway company also chipped in with free travel for the four and five year old pupils at Leedon Lower School in Highfield Road, Leighton.
The children enjoyed two days of learning to save the planet and having fun at the same time. Thanks to the bus and train companies and Friends of the Earth representatives Daphne Walker, Neil Tidey and Victoria Harvey, southern resident forum Helen Fletcher, and community priest Paul Niemic, the children planted wild flowers for the bee population at the new Billington Park community orchard. They planted primroses, knapweed, wild campion and oxeyes daisies to give the bees food throughout the year so they are ready to help pollinate the newly planted apple trees. The children learned how bee numbers have declined in the last 20 years and how they play a vital role in the production of our fresh food.
They also learned about green heating generated from locally grown willow trees and how to save on pollution by leaving the car at home and taking public transport instead.
The children had also drawn pictures of bees which Mayor Gordon Perham, a represenative from South Beds Friends of the Earth and London Midland chose eight top pictures to be displayed at Leighton Buzzard station. Their reward was a train trip to Berkhamsted castle.
For some it was their first ever trip on an Arriva and Grant Palmer bus, even a train, as they learned of CO2 effects on the environment and how taking these forms of transport can help to reduce it by taking cars off the road.
Friends of the Earth representative Victoria Harvey said: “Leedon Lower School is fantastic in all the work they do on saving the planet, growing food, keeping goats and chickens, etc. This is a fantastic project as they are taking this experience outside the school into everyday life and into their home community. They are showing us all that being green can be great fun as they plant wildflowers and take day trips to public transport. We are so grateful to Grant Palmer, Arriva, London Midland, Off the Rails. LB and the Town Council without whose generosity it would have been impossible to organise this.”
Linsey Frostick of Arriva said: “We were delighted to be able to help transport the children to the station and introduce them to bus travel. The 70 service is a great link and we hope the children enjoyed their bus journey, we hope to see them on board with their mums and dads soon!”
Grant Palmer was equally supportive. A rep said: “We always wish to help the community of Leighton Buzzard where we can.”
In all, the lesson for the day was about sustainable transport, sustainable energy for homes, looking after biodiversity especially bees, and local food - the whole green agenda in one morning.
The community orchard’s key to success is for locals to water the newly planted trees. The children at Leedon hope they have sown the seeds to help maintain the watering.
>>Winners of the bees drawing competition were: Neve Babhan, Bailey Carroll, Jacob Hamilton-Crickmay, Alicja Gajewska, Elizabeth Joy, Alfie Lockhart, Harry Bartram, and Ella Lord.
