The Tesco Swift Tower, Crumlin, Northern Ireland

Contributed by Brian Cahalane

We asked Brian if he would write a piece about how he went about the Swift Tower in Crumlin, telling us of the challenges and successes along the way - here it is:

The Crumlin Tower is erected

I wrote to Sir Terence Leahy, CEO of Tesco PLC. explaining the plight of the swift throughout the British Isles and to ask if he would consider the erection of a Swift Tower at Tesco's new store which was due to open in my home town, Crumlin Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Only a short time elapsed when I was delighted to receive a letter from Sir Terence, who was sympathetic to my proposals.

Discussions began with Mr Lewis Carlish (Property Services Store Manager) who was extremely helpful from the start, and Mr Gerard Crosbie the store manager. A few concerns such as height of the tower and materials were quickly resolved and so the project began.

Cambridge Swift tower erection!

The Cambridge City Council Swift Tower support structure has arrived on site ready for erection.

Cambridge Swift Tower - steelwork

Contributed by Guy Belcher

More progress - this is a picture of the steel framework which will hold 221 boxes, about 100 available for Swifts and 10 for bats.

The steel framework is now being sent to Corby for galvanizing.

Cambridge Swift Tower Progress

Another step forwards, the foundations are now covered up.

Breaking News: Cambridge Swift Tower breaks ground

The foundations of the Cambridge Swift Tower are in: 3 piles supporting a triangle of reinforced concrete beams, now waiting for the supporting structure.

A Swift Tower is Created

When we received pictures from Edward Mayer of a Swift Tower erected in Andover, based on some concepts that have been displayed on Edward's website that we had put together some time ago, we felt extremely gratified, and indeed proud, that someone had gone to the trouble of realising our dreams. As a result we invited Terry Verney to give us an account of what he and his team had been up to:

"Back in the autumn of 2010 the chief executive of the Hawk Conservancy Trust asked me to think Swift Towers. Not wishing to appear ignorant of the subject I did some research on the internet having been given the website swift-conservation.org. I was hoping to find drawings giving sizes of the tower but was disappointed to find a concept drawing only. Reading further on I found the recommended size of a nest chamber and the entrance hole size.

Cambridge City Council Swift Tower

Contributed by Guy Belcher, Nature Conservation Projects Officer for Cambridge City Council.

In the UK, housing developers make contributions to a fund, known as Section 106 funds, for the purposes of financing urban art.  Cambridge City Council came up with the brilliant idea of making an allocation to build a Swift Tower on Logan's Meadow Nature Reserve (Pye Fen) which would be not only an attractive piece of static urban art, but also a dynamic piece of living kinetic art as the Swifts display in the summer with their spectacular screaming flypasts. Andrew Merritt, an upcoming young London artist was commissioned to produce a range of designs, one of which, inspired by the African sun, was chosen by a committee of local councillors and Swift experts Jake Allsop and Dick Newell.