VOLUNTEERS clearing land ready for a school outdoor learning centre thought they might come across slow worms or small mammals but were not expecting an old piano.

The workers preparing ground for Rowdeford Outdoor Learning Centre had to dig the ground by hand under conditions of the planning application to protect wildlife.

But among the items they found in the undergrowth was the innards of a long abandoned grand piano.

A grant of £15,000 from The Hills Group and Touchstone Residential allowed work on the project to start during the school holidays.

But this did not cover the additional cost of £9,000 of the required hand digging so volunteers from Lloyds Bank, Royal Wootton Bassett School and the local community got stuck in.

Rosie Berry, secretary of the Rowdeford Charity Trust and one of the volunteers, said: "We still have to raise in excess of £300,000 to enable the full works of creating our Outdoor Learning Centre but these works will open up the area for the children to use.

"The Trust is extremely grateful to everyone who turned out to help, we all had a great time and in the process began transforming the site."

Rowdeford School in Rowde near Devizes is a school for pupils with complex learning difficulties, and the Rowdeford Charity Trust wish to restore and extend the old kennels within the woodland adjoining the school providing an innovative outdoor learning space.

The Outdoor Learning Centre will be a purpose built complex to create a place that will involve the community, visiting schools and offer training.

Planning permission for the centre was granted last September. The school set about fund raising to restore the old barn, which was once part of the school’s farm, and to put up a new building to make an outdoor teaching area where subjects such as horticulture and forestry can be taught.

Headteacher Ingrid Sidmouth said at the time: "It is massively exciting for us. It will benefit all of our pupils plus another 30 or so children from other mainstream secondary schools in the area. Our children often have communication problems and this sort of learning is very important to them.

"We already have a number of animals which are very popular and we teach a number of outdoor subjects but the new centre will allow us to expand and do more. "