IF you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise.

For a new learning centre for schools - the Woods Fold Experience - is being created in Withnell by North West Water.

And Chorley primary school children are being offered an exciting insight into the woodlands - complete with model animals.

The £42,000 centre at NWW's Woods Fold Estate, Dole Lane, Withnell, is linked to the national curriculum.

It will help pupils up to the age of 11 to learn about woodland and moorland environments and the creatures living there.

They can also study aquatic life in a pond fed by a recyclable waterfall.

Along a mile-and-a-half of woodland trail are trees in all the growing stages, from seedlings to mature specimens.

Squatting in the undergrowth will be model animals, including weasels, badgers, deer and hedgehogs, sculpted from wood.

A bird hide, play area and picnic lunch tables are provided and visits will end in the Woods Fold Sawmill.

There, NWW is installing a see-through viewing platform above the machinery, enclosed and soundproofed for safety reasons.

Pupils will see timber products being made from sustainable woodland resources and make simple bird boxes or feeders to take back to school.

Partnership Link, a government agency funded by local councils, is inviting teachers to devise lessons that fit the national curriculum around the facilities provided.

Education authorities are said to be initially enthusiastic but a full procedure has still to be agreed.

Woods Fold manager Neville Kidd (pictured), said: "We hope to be ready for the first visits before the summer term ends.

"We want this to be a long and fruitful partnership that provides an enjoyable education experience for youngsters who are our future customers.

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