We have an expanded newsletter this quarter - in more ways than one. It's doubled in content because it contains reports on some of the work done
recently and an article on Duncton Hanger from Matt Cooper.
Further articles are always welcome. If you'd like to appear in print, either post
a copy to Jim Noble or email it to pulboroughcg@bigfoot.com
It's doubled in size because I haven't got a big enough stapler to keep it at A5!
This may be the last newsletter that you receive. From now on, only members who are up to date with their subs will receive a printed copy. I will, however,
be adding the newsletter to the website at www.pulboroughcg.freeuk.com.
If this means you, contact Gerald Batt the treasurer and pay him. We value your attendance at meetings, but if you can't manage that, we still need your
money.
Roy Wilshaw is now Pulborough's official pond warden. Southern Water is funding the Pond Warden scheme which is being supervised by BTCV.
Do you have a favourite footpath? Would you like to monitor it and report back on its condition and work that needs doing? Please let us know.
Meetings haven't been overcrowded of late. Too wet? Too cold? Too busy? Too boring? This is your conservation group. If you'd like it to be doing something different or differently, please let us know. Better yet, come along to the next general meeting and tell us.
Apart from routine winter maintenance we have cleared the watercourse and planted 25kg of daffodil bulbs near the footbridge.
Our next tasks include re-surfacing the footpaths with shredded wood, bonfires to clear old fallen branches and fly tipped garden rubbish, and work on the creation of a small reed bed. We would also welcome any gifts of nest boxes - the gradual loss of old trees during winter storms is reducing the number of natural sites for hole-nesting birds.
Since December 2000 we have had four working sessions on the site. To date we have cleared a large amount of general rubbish from the area, removed some branches from some trees to create easier access to the whole area, widened and cleared the 'stream' to improve drainage, and cut down a large area of bramble and tall vegetation. There has been a big improvement in such a short time and a big 'thank you' to the volunteers who have worked so hard to make this possible. At present Snowdrops are in flower and daffodils are beginning to appear on the slope.
Future work sessions are planned at the rate of approximately two per month. The dates of these are listed in the calendar of events. During these sessions we will be working to keep the bramble and other tall vegetation under control as things begin to grow, maintain and possibly improve the drainage, prune some branches from some trees, saw up fallen branches and create wildlife-friendly log-piles and have bonfires to clear the cut bramble etc.
If you decide to come and lend a hand wear wellingtons or other waterproof footwear as the site is very wet and bring suitable hand tools if possible. Spades, forks, rakes, bow saws, secateurs and stout gloves have all been used to good effect! We can promise you a good work-out and it is much cheaper than going to the Gym!
I would like someone who is good with a camera to volunteer to keep a photographic record of the site, so that we can see how it has developed.
I would also like to keep an ongoing annual record of the plants and animals living on or visiting the site, so if there is anyone out there who is interested in doing butterfly, insect, bird, mammal or plant surveys please get in touch with me. Help can be given to anyone wanting to have a go, enthusiasm is the most important thing!
For further information about the Rivermead Project please contact Roy Wilshaw
For some time the stretch of pavement from the West Chiltington turning to the White Horse has been very overgrown and in some places completely obliterated.
A small team of volunteers cleared this entire stretch on Sunday the 11th of Feb.
Although not necessarily the type of conservation work we were expecting to do, it is nevertheless very satisfying to identify a problem path and deal with it straight away. No doubt the walk into Pulborough will now be a lot easier for a significant number of people every day.
I have just finished my third 2-month stint of the past year digging out brambles from the open patches of my wood at the top of Duncton Hanger.
Why bother? I am sure that most people I come across haven't the foggiest notion, and certainly the Rambling crocodiles are much more concerned with sound of their own voices than management of the land they are marching through.
There are lots of reasons why I bother. For a start, it is very unlikely that anyone else is going to: this bit of woodland and Down was originally mostly hazel coppice (for hurdles and stakes) and the last bit of attention was to clear fell part about 35 years ago and leave it to naturally regenerate. The coppice had not been touched for at least the same time. The last owner probably bought it for tax reasons and went bankrupt at about the time of the Storm, which mangled a good proportion of the mature trees near the top of the ridge: I expect there are still TPOs for these!
It took about 3 years to clear the debris, after which the coppice has been regenerated. Deer are a problem here if you want to grow trees, as they chew them off or use them as rubbing posts for their antlers, so you have to use tree shelters. They rub these off as well, and stakes do not go into solid chalk far enough. They also like browsing upon freshly regenerating coppice, so I have experimented with various methods of slowing this down. Regrettably, they do not eat much bramble, which enjoys growing where trees have been and is much more vigorous than anything else, so that is why I am digging it out, and cutting it before it seeds.
So far, I have spent about 30 years doing some sort of conservation work, initially as a student in the Conservation Corps (early BTCV) in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk and then at the Chalk Pits Museum. What I can do now is to follow a project for a sensible period of time and appreciate the difference. I can also alter the management of various parts when there is a problem and not be greatly worried about a conflict of interests, as this is an SSSI and in an AONB. I can use some of the wood for burning, carving or turning. I rent a workshop at the bottom of the hill and have a garden for the summer. And the view from the top is wonderful.
That's mostly why I bother
