We have a 7.5 acre site with woodlands, meadows and ponds that need constant care and attention.

No expertise needed! No experts turned away!
Please get involved - many hands make the maintenance of the site light work!
Please contact Sue Bird for further information - see Contact Us.

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS Nature Reserve Volunteer Hours top 300 - Bravo!!!!

NEXT SUNDAY WORKING PARTY will be the whole WEEKEND: Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September
POND PROJECT WEEKEND!
We are renovating the pond that was originally created for the centre in the very early days. It is now overwhelmed by brambles and yellow iris and only has water during a very wet spring. We shall be cutting back, redigging and relining.

We will be on site from 10 am until 3pm on each day. We will break between 12 noon and 1 pm for lunch - it would be helpful if you could arrive at the start of any session! Bring a picnic if you can spend the day with us. We will provide hot drinks and a slice of cake at tea time for our volunteers!

Our monthly working parties, normally on the first Sunday of each month 10 am to 12.30pm, to help us keep the Nature Reserve in good shape! We usually break for refreshments at 11.15 which some might find a better time for dropping in or dropping out! In the summer months we also have a mid-week evening.

The snake's head fritillary has been spotted again and volunteers saw a fox on Monday 26th April. The dawn chorus walk confirmed many birds making the reserve their base.
We are lucky to have some new volunteers taking up the challenge, one of whom has installed a new compost bin. This entailed an excavation into clay and brick, so it was quite a challenge! We are slowly winning the battle against encroaching grass on the South Path and the boundaries are being secured against stray dogs and others. All the planters in the front now contain herbs and will be used as a Nature Detective Sensory trail by our visiting schools.

We are only able to keep the Nature Reserve maintained thanks to many volunteer hours. It goes without saying that our fundraising targets would need to be greatly increased if the Reserve was only maintained by paid professionals so a big thank you to all our volunteers and we very much hope you will continue to support our efforts to maintain the reserve in 2010.

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Projects for this year: We must improve the hedging by the path between the nature reserve and Byng Road; this was our major project for the all day working party on 7th February and it will continue to require our attention during 2010. Another major project for spring 2010 is to clear the ponds of the weeds which build up in them and make sure that the ponds are alive and well.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2010:
Total reserve volunteering hours so far in 2010 = 311 (01/08/10)

Working Party 1st August - Hard work on site strimming, path edges and meadow scything was followed by a memorable picnic to which we invited all members and volunteers. The sun shone and the picnic was idyllic - we hope to make this an annual event. Monday evening working parties have now concluded and have been well supported by our new volunteers - thanks to all.

Working Party 4th July - Eddie led a band of our new volunteers to help clear yet another path.

Working Party 6th June - Much strimming done and what a difference it makes! All smart for the Environment Fair! Following our Introduction to Volunteering session, we welcomed new volunteers along to our Mondays in June - wonderful.

Working Party 2nd May - Was a little wet but during April we restarted Monday evening sessions - all growing well on site - and many volunteers turned out to help. Herbs have replaced most of the weeds in the plantars at the front of house - can you identify them? One of our new volunteers dug out a pit for our new injester - a form of composter that you can see near the hornbeam. A start has been made on brightening up our damaged mural.

Working Party 4th April - Easter Sunday: Being Easter Sunday, our band of volunteers was a smaller than usual, but we made up for it with our enthusiasm. The hedging was completed along the Byng Road side of the nature reserve, so that now dogs should be unable to gain entry to the site. It was so lovely being outside in the fresh air and doing something useful. Some mini-eggs came in useful as additional rewards at cuppa time!

Working Party 7th March: A sunny morning helped an enthusiastic band of volunteers. The pond area is being spruced up and some necessary pollarding took place. During March we have been able to do some pond clearance to encourage our water wildlife. We are recycling pruned wood on-site by creating dead hedges. Preparation for a new activity trail for schools began.

Hedge Project Day 7th February 2010: With the weather on our side and a mobile tower, a significant start has been made on reducing the height of the Byng Road hedge which had become a row of trees! Traditionally laid hedges were field boundaries for areas that needed to be stockproof. We do need our hedge to be dog proof so will be looking to lay it within the next few years. This is a stopgap measure to make it more manageable. You will note that trees, traditionally known as song posts, have been left through the length of the hedge. We have been recycling the prunings by creating a dead hedge around our minibeast area, putting the prickly stuff back into the bottom of the hedge so that there is only a small amount to be disposed of.
Our thanks to the hardworking team of volunteers, the canteen staff and HSS who so efficiently delivered and collected the tower.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2009:
Total reserve volunteering hours in 2009 = 302

Working Party 6th December: A wonderful morning spent in the brilliant sunshine, unbelievable after the torrential rain earlier on. The picnic area and the paths were cleared of fallen leaves which were added to the compost heaps. Beautiful dark red fungi were discovered on the picnic area and a different type near the path there. Then we went in for some punch and mince pies - scrummy. Thanks folks for a very enjoyable and productive morning!

Working Party 1st November: What a contrast - torrential rain so no outdoor work achievable, however, some building cleaning took place and some long overdue tool maintenance. The damp weather is good for fungi so keep your eyes open!

Working Party 4th October: A balmy morning, wonderful autumnal colours and much achieved. Well done and a big thank you to the WATCH children who have created a wonderful minibeast hotel on the site. A much needed tidying up and organisation of our compost area was achieved while others worked on favoured areas - brambles still appearing to be growing - we are looking forward to some bramble bashing very soon! A start has been made on Murky Pond.

Working Party 5th September: Intensive work to the West Path (edges & weeds, brambles & overhang), Weed control front of house and paths.

Monthly Working Parties and Weekly Monday evening Working Parties have been diligent in the basic maintenance jobs - keeping paths cleared, trimming fallen boughs, front of house, grass cutting - essential but non-glamorous management that makes the nature reserve accessible to our human visitors and always needs doing!

Working Party 28th February: A four hour session to make a real difference to our pond area in creating more light. We also have constructed a magnificent log pile close by the pond area - sinking the logs into the ground - to create an environment for minibeasts and hopefully stag beetles.

Working Party 1st February: Tackling the blackthorn along North Path grown too close to the path - still more work needed - and then it snowed! One snowdrop in bloom spotted.

Youth Volunteering Project 31st January: Organised as part of vinvolved - an enthusiastic group of young people gave up their Saturday to help with our reserve maintenance. We were lucky with a dry but cold day. Our thanks to this hard working team who have made a significant difference by clearing around our pond area, clearing the picnic area and also had time to work on the South Path. Path edges have been discovered and the areas tackled are going to make summer maintenance so much easier. [See www.vinspired.com or email e.walpole@btcv.org.uk to find out more about this local group]

Working Party 4th January - A small band but more clearing of the path beyond One Acre Paddock. Morning marred by discovering broken windows.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2008

Total reserve volunteering hours for 2008 = 366 - brilliant!

Last of 2008 - 7th December - and a stalwart team headed off in the heavy frost down to the Big Oak in order to clear the undergrowth, hopefully to encourage dormant bluebells originally planted in this area.

Working Party 19th November - some hard work clearing leaves off the path in preparation for Tree Dressing Day.

Working Party 2nd November - much damage to trees had been caused by the mid-week SNOW but despite a drizzly feel to the morning, many volunteers arrived and got cracking on the clearance and we managed some scheduled work too! The bluebells by one acre paddock now have plenty of light!

Working Party 5th October - rained off but snowdrop planting along the East Path took place that afternoon. The High Nectar bed - the sedum is a brilliant splash of colour at the moment and the angelica plants thriving - tidied up and agrimony plants added.

Working Party 7th September - Rediscovering an old pond to be brought back to use for next year and finding a volunteer who rose to the challenge of de-weeding the front patio - and enjoyed it!

Working Party 6th July - Our volunteers between them gave us over 100 volunteering hours in June and I think those visiting our Environment Day appreciated all their hard work.

Working Party 1st June - Both strimmers in action clearing the path edges back. High Nectar Bed eventually dry enough to allow planting up. Warm spells mixed with heavy rain have made the vegetation very luxuriant. We welcomed two young helpers today who worked hard and enjoyed biscuits at break time! The following Monday another band of volunteers worked hard to chip out old putty and replace broken panes - hard work and we are very grateful to he who got us organised, measured up and purchased the glass. It was good to have some positives in a weekend marred by other incidents.

Working Party 4th May - Bank Holiday weekend but lovely weather. Work to the front of house and on paths. The bluebells are up. The extension to the High Nectar Bed still under water. Grass growing fast and weekly working parties now necessary.

Working Party 6th April - Snow - a repair to broken fence but otherwise this working party was just a lovely photo opportunity - soon to be online! We reconvened on 13th April to carry on with the spring chores. Grass is now being mown.

Working Party 2nd March. Mother's Day - a clash of commitments! Work is continuing on extending the high nectar bed which will be planted up soon. The hawthorn is in bloom, leaves awakening, frog spawn spotted (but not in the ponds we use for dipping - how clever of the frogs to avoid the busy water!!). Bluebell leaves are in evidence near our Bluebell Path which we recently cleared of some brambles - some more clearance needed!

Working Party 3rd February. What a perfect (but very cold) morning and what an amazing turnout of volunteers - lovely to have some young volunteers along too. Work continued on the pond areas and in creating a lighter space (good for the ponds) we improve visibility of a wider area (good for supervising teachers!) and we are rediscovering another pond in this area. Pruning work and clearing of the path edges continue. We welcomed (and thank) Derek Warren and Robert Husband of the local RSPB group who advised about the positioning of bird boxes and where we could do more! On our Dawn Chorus walk we shall pay special attention to our boxes in the hopes that they have been adopted as homes for 2008!

Additional Working Party Sunday 13th January. Despite the very grey skies, the very wet ground (the rugby was cancelled!) an enthusiastic band - plus yet another new volunteer - helped to create more light between the pond areas for ecological and safety reasons, built a deadhedge in that area too, tidied up the compost and worked on expansion of the High Nectar Bed.

Working Party Sunday 6th January. A glorious sunny morning but due to administrative slothe no reminder sent out, however we welcome one new volunteer and managed to set off down the East Path, clearing soggy leaves and taking vegetation back to one metre.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2007:

We are only able to keep the Nature Reserve maintained thanks to many volunteer hours. It goes without saying that our fundraising targets would need to be greatly increased if the Reserve was only maintained by paid professionals so a big thank you to all our volunteers and we so hope you will continue to support our efforts to maintain the reserve in 2008.

It is no mean achievement to keep the 7.5 acre site accessible - mowing, path maintenance, dealing with fallen trees, scrub clearance, bramble control, etc - and this year we have also opened up the Bluebell Path, rediscovered the Wriggly Tree Trail and with the help of the Watch Club, we have made a start at creating a High Nectar bed, to encourage bees, butterflies and insects plus a few plants for the birds!

Working Party Sunday 7th January. Too wet underfoot for anything more than an cursory check.

Working Party Sunday 4th February.
Many hands making light work on this wonderful warm and sunny morning. A willow tree with multiple trunks had fallen across our newly created bluebell path to prove a sinking heart moment but was efficiently disposed of in little under and hour by three valiant volunteers, ax and saws! The blackthorn hedge towering across the North Path has to be tamed and another team spent their morning with the thorns! We are rediscovering our green tree trail. We are battling the brambles to manageable borders. Many birds chorused as we worked, there was a woodpecker very busy somewhere in earshot and we think we spotted a snipe overhead.

Working Party Sunday 4th March.
A morning for the stoic! Very wet underfoot and many seasonal ponds appearing around the site. A start was made on preparing a bed for High Nectar planting. General tidy up of front of house, one acre paddock and path work. Bluebell leaves peeping up.

Working Party Sunday 1st April.
Glorious morning and much achieved! Mower's first outing. WATCH club had started to plant out our new high nectar bed with combination of donation plants and wildflower plugs (BCTV) and we finished it off and had our first bee visitor before we left! Two explorers armed with secateurs had great success in rediscovering the tree trail. Marginal planting of damp loving wildflowers at the back of Murky and Skater Ponds. Section of dead hedging around minibeast area.

Working Party Sunday 5th May (Bank Holiday).
The tree trail is emerging. The Walnut tree now stands proud of the brambles.

Working Party Sunday 3rd June.
The Willow Contorta had lost a limb - over the path of course. A limb from an oak on the alottments had fallen and pushed forward a blackthorn tree over the North Path. Good progress made up from the South West corner, cutting back to the buffer 3' mark and extracting brambles from the trees in this Jubilee Arboretum. Unfortunately a lot of the one acre paddock fencing has been broken. Wriggly Tree Trail now ready for visitors!

Working Party Sunday 1st July.
The wet weather of this June has encouraged much bramble growth, usually over the paths! Despite the increase in the number of children visiting the site, we are still having a struggle with weeds in the paths. However, being so well constructed when they were originally laid, we are hoping the perimeter path is suitable now for wheelchair users. The herb and flower plantars at the front of the building have looked splendid this summer.

Working Party Sunday 5th August.
A frustrating session as our machinery let us down. Brambles still growing vigourously as is the grass.

Working Party Sunday 2nd September.
Much achieved by four hard working volunteers who worked non-stop through the morning as the kitchen was out of action. Grass still growing - 4,000 litres cut!

Working Party Sunday 7th October.
Leaves added to the mini-beast area. Much clipping back of brambles. Tidy up front of house. Distraction of the Big Draw!

Working Party Sunday 4th November.
An all day happening. We have cleared a greensward at the North East corner of the site. This will allow a basking area for insects and reptiles with medium height scrub not far away for shelter. There is a small bench strategically placed for quiet observation of birds. Paths were swept of leaves. The mini-beast area was tidied up - removal of brambles, addition of more leaves, continuation of the the dead hedge boundary. The High Nectar Bed cleared of the invasive grass and an extension to it cut back and will now be covered until spring when we will plant more. (For successful cultivation of wildflowers, the grasses need to be cleared to keep down competition!) The mower has been used, hopefully for the last time this year.