NEWS FROM THE WYCHWOOD JAN 2025
|
|
|
| When looking forward to the year ahead last January, we said we were intending to focus on our plans to return missing environmental ‘catalysts’ – such as water and dead wood – to Gibbets Close, whilst otherwise allowing it to slowly return to forest over time by natural succession. At that point, we had just dug some small trial pits to investigate the ground water around the site, and start to work out how best to undo the effect of some of the old agricultural drainage that leaves the land unnaturally dry.
Well, what a difference a year makes! The aerial photo above takes in the whole of Gibbets Close Hill from the east after no less than nine new wetlands were created last summer. The ‘puddles’ you can see are initial groundwater rising from the deepest areas excavated, and now six months on we have open water, and plenty of it, where the old field drains have been destroyed. Working with the Newt Conservation Partnership to plan and deliver such an ambitious, more-than-the-sum-of-the-parts project has been a pleasure and we look forward to a long-term monitoring collaboration to investigate how the return of water affects the recovery of Gibbets Close.
We have new plans for this coming year, including something ambitious at Foxburrow Wood; a new acquisition; and improving how we help our invaluable volunteers to help us. We’ll also take a moment to smell the roses as we go. I look forward to seeing what happens to all those new ponds at Gibbets when spring finds them for the first time in a month or so. It will be the beginning of an explosion of new life over the coming years, and it will be satisfying to know that we’ll have had a hand in it.
The site is evolving all the time, so if you haven’t seen it before – or even if you have – do join us to see the changing landscape when we start taking walks around again in March.
In the meantime, a happy and peaceful 2025 to all, and sincere thanks from all at WFT for your continued support for what we do.
Neil Clennell
WFT CEO |
|
| We know many of you will be keen to learn what is going to happen to the regular volunteer work parties now that our colleague Toby Swift is no longer with WFT.
Toby is a hard act to follow! It is going to take some time to find a suitable replacement. In the interim, one of our volunteers has kindly stepped in to co-ordinate things. Simon Mead, who is also a voluntary Cotswold Warden, comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
He will be organising work parties to attend to the tasks that need doing on our reserves, starting at the end of February with the installation of our long-awaited new signage at Foxburrow. There are a number of other important jobs stacking up, so we will not be short of things that need doing. We’ll be emailing all our volunteers next week with further information.
In the process of restructuring our volunteer program, we will also be sending out a questionnaire to existing volunteers, and to anyone who has expressed an interest in the past. We need to make sure we have up to date records so that we are compliant with health and safety, and insurance requirements. It would also be great to get your feedback on how things might be improved and what your interests are. Our volunteers are a dedicated lot, and have a wonderfully diverse range of skills that often go unrecognised. We’d like to give everyone the opportunity to bring their different talents – whether it be for wildlife surveying, orchard management or biodata collection!
Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be nature conservation skills. If you have some time on your hands and would like to help in other ways, we’d love to hear from you. We could always use photographers, social media experts, fundraisers and admin support.
Our new designated email for all things volunteering is volunteers@wychwoodforesttrust.co.uk – do drop us a line there if you are interested or have any questions. |
|
Dry Stone Walling Update
with Roger Newman |
|
| Following a request and support from Charlbury Town Council, the dry stone walling team has taken a short break from work at Foxburrow, to repair some walls at the Charlbury cemetery on Pound Hill. We’ve been able to work most Mondays but progress has been slow when the stones have frozen together!
On completion of this project, we will be back at Foxburrow to complete the wall at the conservation area and build a new wall to the right of the main entrance by the carpark. There’s also work in progress at Singe Wood, and rumours of more help needed for repairs at other Parishes across the Wychwood … so we are going to be busy this year!
Dry stone walling is good for the mind and body. Who needs to spend money going to a gym when you can join us for a regular full-body workout? New members are always welcome and no experience is necessary as we provide in-session support and training to beginners.
Email volunteers@wychwoodforesttrust.co.uk |
|
Hedgelaying Update
with Stuart Bridger |
|
| Work on Jubilee Way continues to progress well – we are approaching the Harvest Way junction now – with 300m being laid in total. This is despite being unable to work on a couple of occasions this season due to adverse weather. The hedge is looking very impressive, particularly when viewed from the Bladon direction as the ground rises upwards towards Cogges.
We continue to focus on developing in all aspects of the hedgelaying craft for our newer team members, and it is great to see their skills developing. This is clearly visible in the finished hedge.
The team continues to grow and we have plans to open up a new weekday working group. This will cater for those unable to make the Sunday sessions. If you are interested in joining the gang, please get in touch.
Email volunteers@wychwoodforesttrust.co.uk |
|
Flora Group Update
with Genny Early |
|
| The Wychwood Flora Group has a full range of working parties and plant surveys planned for 2025. The calendar will be posted on the WFT website shortly.
West Oxfordshire is rich in distinctive habitat types, including grasslands (lowland meadows, calcareous and acid grasslands), woodlands (including ancient woodland, lowland mixed deciduous woodland, and wet woodland), heathland, wood pasture, parkland, and traditional orchards. These are home to a diverse mix of locally distinctive flora, including valuable hay meadow and limestone grassland species in the Cotswolds and river meadowlands. Small areas of limestone grassland can be found along river and stream valleys, which support a diverse mix of invertebrates and bird life. West Oxfordshire’s calcareous grassland meadows support nationally important rare plants, including the bulk of the UK populations of downy woundwort Stachys germanica, and meadow clary Salvia pratensis.
If you are interested in helping with habitat management work in our beautiful countryside or surveying rare plants with a friendly group of all ages, then please do get in touch. New members are very welcome, and no experience is necessary – we are very happy to share our plant ID skills.
Email wychwoodfloragroup@gmail.com
(Photo above by Rob Stepney) |
|
Charlbury Year of Nature Recovery
|
|
| A big thank you to Charlbury Town Council for inviting us to the launch party of their Year of Nature Recovery. It was a really positive event with a great talk by Catriona Bass on the very successful and inspirational nature recovery network in Eynsham. So much to get excited about! WFT is delighted to be supporting this great initiative.
Email naturerecoverycharlbury@gmail.com if you’d like to know more.
There will be monthly Nature Recovery coffee catch-ups on the first Saturday of every month at the Charlbury Community Centre – an hour to chat about ideas, share progress, and swap stories about nature.
Saturday 8 February, 10.30am – 12.00pm
Help prepare the ground and plant wildflowers on the verges at Slade/Sturt Road (top of Dancers Hill). Bring gloves and a spade or fork if you can.
Thursday 20 February, 9am – 4pm
Join the Charlbury Primary School Wild Garden Work Party any time to help with digging, clearing, fence repairs, defining paths, and laying cardboard and woodchip. Tools will be provided, but please bring your own gloves if possible. (Email Chris at littlewildthings@outlook.com to let her know if you’re coming.) |
|
| Wychwood Forest Trust is delighted to be partnering with Bridewell Gardens from this year, and we are busy planning ways our two organisations can support each other and work together.
Bridewell Gardens is a mental health recovery service for West Oxfordshire, providing social and therapeutic horticulture in a working garden to adults living in Oxfordshire. Bridewell featured recently on BBC Gardeners’ World. Presenter Frances Tophill said:
“Sometimes for my job I visit gardens that really seemed to mean more than just places to grow. Sometimes gardens can have a real impact on people’s lives, and I am extraordinarily lucky to be able to see them and be a small part of those places even if only for a day. Bridewell Gardens is one such place. Filled with community, kindness, bustle but softness. Also filled with beautiful plants which is obviously an asset for any garden.”
If you’d like to visit Bridewell’s walled garden and organic vineyard and learn more about Bridewell’s inspirational work, they are throwing open their doors for a number of open days later this year:
Open Days 11am-4pm: Sunday 11th May, 15th June, 6th July, 7th September
Bridewell Gardens, The Walled Garden, Wilcote, OX7 3DT
Entrance: suggested donation £5. A pop-up café, plants, produce, organic sparkling wine from the vineyard will be for sale.
And there will be a Winter Wander from 10am to 1pm on Sunday February 16th with local author and gardener/cook, Kathy Slack. Tickets are available online or on the gate. Details of this event and all Bridewell’s 2025 events can be found here: https://www.bridewellgardens.org/events/ |
|
| Cogges Manor Farm, Church Lane, Witney is embarking on a tree planting scheme of over 100 trees and shrubs within a cleared area adjacent to the farm itself and The Blake school. This will include a variety of native species appropriate to the site’s location.
If you would like to volunteer and help with the planting on Monday 10th February at 10 am, please email your interest to Luke.Bullivant@cogges.org.uk. The meeting point is Cogges Manor farm, the Ox Byre visitor centre, OX28 3LA. Please follow signs for accessible parking and bring a spade if you have one! |
|
|
To donate £5 to the Wychwood Forest Trust text the word FOREST to 70580
|
|
|
