Improvements to Community Orchard in East Cleveland Providing Respite During Coronavirus Pandemic

The Friends of Skelton Community Orchard (FOSCO) in East Cleveland have outlined plans for improvements to what they say is a valuable public facility at this stressful time.

Geoff Clark from the community involvement group says: “The orchard has become a very popular place for people to stroll. One of the paths in particular is showing signs of wear and tear due to heavy footfall and we needed to act to ensure visitors can continue to enjoy this facility.”

To ensure continued access the group are preparing to replace the present supports with heavy duty scaffolding boards held in place by some forty steel rods to strengthen and support the path up the small hillside. The rods were formerly used as tunnel supports at Boulby mine and have been cut to size by the fabricator on site.

This is not the first time ICL Boulby has chipped in to help a community project in Skelton: “Last spring we were proud to be associated with the unveiling of a statue of three ironstone miners symbolising the spirit of East Cleveland,” said ICL Boulby General Manager and Vice President Andrew Fulton. “When we were approached about assisting this new project we didn’t hesitate. We are firmly committed to supporting all the local communities in our area. It is an important part of the companies’ strategy,” he added.

In the meantime Geoff Clark added: “We want to take this opportunity to remind the locals that this is a facility for all to enjoy. At the moment, during this pandemic, what better place to visit than a garden? Especially for those who may not have any outside space of their own.”