Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme

Summary Report for Year 1

(October 2006 to September 2007)

Working together to conserve and celebrate the heritage of the northern scarp of the Blackdown Hills AONB

Gavi n Sa unders – Project Manager T : 01823 680846 M: 07760 355009 E: gavin. sa unders@forest ry .gsi .gov.uk

c / o B l a c k d o w n H i l l s A O N B , S t I v e l H o u s e , S t a t i o n R o a d , H e m y o c k , C u l l o m p t o n , D e v o n E X 1 5 3 S J

The Forestry Commission, Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership, Natural England, Somerset County Council,

Devon County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Mid Devon District Council, South Somerset District Council,

The National Trust, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Somerset Art Week Ltd

Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 2

Neroche: An overview

The Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme

gained funding from the Heritage Lottery

Fund in 2006, and has now completed its first

year of project delivery, running from

October 2006 to September 2007. The Scheme

runs until Autumn 2009.

The LPS covers 35 square miles of the

northern part of the Blackdown Hills AONB,

spanning the border of Somerset and Devon,

close to Taunton. The area is characterised

by a low range of hills up to 275 metres, with

a pastoral landscape of small livestock farms,

and a large public forest estate.

The Scheme was awarded a total of

£1,882,000 by HLF, which taken with cash

and in-kind match funding from partners has

provided a total Landscape Partnership Fund

of £2.95 million.

The Lead Partner for the Scheme is the

Forestry Commission. The key partners

comprise the two County Councils, three

District Councils, Natural England, the

Blackdown Hills AONB, The National Trust,

the Somerset Wildlife Trust, and Somerset

Art Week Ltd.

The LPS is governed by a Partnership Board

comprising the key partners and members of

a Local Stakeholders Group.

The Local Stakeholders Group is a key

feature of the Scheme. It comprises eleven

members of the local community who were

closely involved in the design and

prioritisation of the original LPS bid. The

group now act as ambassadors for the

Scheme amongst their communities, both in

the immediate area and in the neighbouring

main towns, and remain instrumental in

monitoring and guiding projects within the

Scheme.

Delivery of the Scheme is led by a core team,

employed by the Forestry Commission and

based with the Blackdown Hills AONB

Partnership in Hemyock, within the LPS area.

The team comprises a Project Manager,

Access & Interpretation Officer, Community

History Officer, Forest Works Supervisor,

Forest Schools Officer, Administrator and a

team of three Apprentices. Some of these

staff are based for part of their time with

project partners.

The aims of the LPS are:

• To invest in the natural, built and cultural

heritage of the area

• To make the landscape more accessible to

everyone

• To improve people’s ability to sustain the

qualities of the landscape

Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 3

The LPS as a whole comprises 23 Projects, arranged under eight Programmes. These may be

summarised as follows:

PROGRAMME 1

NATURAL HERITAGE

A programme of six projects to enhance and

restore wildlife habitats across the Blackdown

Hills, at a landscape scale. The focus of this work

is the restoration of 300 hectares of plantation

forest to a diverse network of open space and

wooded pasture, grazed by a publicly-owned

herd of English Longhorn cattle.

PROGRAMME 2

BUILT & ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE

A programme of four projects focusing on the

conservation of key built heritage features in the

Neroche area. Key projects are at Castle Neroche,

an Iron-Age earthworks incorporating a Post-

Conquest Motte & Bailey Castle; and Wellington

Monument, an iconic feature of the Blackdown

Hills, managed by the National Trust

PROGRAMME 3

CULTURAL HERITAGE

A programme based around a Community

History Project, encouraging and resourcing

community groups and individuals to explore,

research, document and celebrate the history,

archaeology and landscape heritage of the

Neroche area.

PROGRAMME 4

PHYSICAL ACCESS

A programme of three projects to expand public

access to the heritage landscape, including a

major project to develop a series of long-distance

off-road ‘Herepath’ Trails for walkers and riders.

The trails will be developed to maximise access

for all users, and will be promoted as strategic

routes by the County Councils.

PROGRAMME 5

COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE

A programme of two projects to develop the

interpretation of landscape heritage, based

around the visual arts, music and storytelling, and

including a diverse annual programme of public

events. The programme includes an innovative

project to develop the use of mobile digital

interpretation.

PROGRAMME 6

OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN & ENJOY

A programme of two projects, one developing the

Forest Schools ethos as an approach to outdoor

learning amongst local schools, and one bringing

hard-to-reach audiences into countryside through

a series of ‘Health Walks’.

PROGRAMME 7

OPPORTUNITY TO BE INVOLVED

A programme of three projects encompassing the

community-based governance of the LPS,

promotion and communication, volunteering

training and activities, and planning for

maintaining the legacy of the Neroche LPS

beyond 2009.

PROGRAMME 8

PERPETUATION OF SKILLS

A programme of two projects designed to foster

the ability of the community to sustain the

qualities of the heritage landscape into the future

in a manner which supports the local economy.

The programme includes an Apprenticeship

Scheme to train three local young people for

careers in the Neroche area, and a project of offer

advice and small scale funding to land managers.

Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 4

Summary of achievements during Year 1

Overview

The Neroche Partnership began the year with

funding approval but only one member of

staff, so the early priority was to develop a

full team to begin project delivery. Alongside

this recruitment the Scheme set about

establishing a profile locally as a provider of

events, project funds and volunteering

opportunities. Thus established, project

partners have gone on during the year to

make a series of tangible and positive

changes in the landscape and for local

people, to the benefit of access, learning,

wildlife and cultural conservation. Neroche

now has a niche and a presence amongst the

community, and has directed £450,000 of

Lottery and partner funding into making a

real difference for the Blackdown Hills.

Natural Heritage

• A Forest Works Supervisor, Damian

Ward, is in post.

• Conifer crops have been harvested from

four major areas of the public forest,

totalling approximately 150 hectares.

• The first two of these areas, at Wych

Lodge and Quants, have been readied for

grazing management through ground

clearance and perimeter fencing.

• An initial herd of 20 English Longhorn

cattle have been acquired by local farmer

Chris Salisbury, who has been contracted

to manage the grazing herd.

• A 40 hectare unit of open space and wood

pasture at Wych Lodge has been subject

to grazing by the Longhorn herd over the

summer months, encouraging the spread

of grassy vegetation.

• Plans have been drawn up for an

innovative woodchip corral to house

cattle over the winter months outside the

forest – this will be constructed in 2008.

• The first season of management of

Somerset Wildlife Trust nature reserves

in the Scheme area has been completed.

Built and Archaeological Heritage

• A new management plan for Castle

Neroche Scheduled Ancient Monument is

in preparation, and the SAM has been

subject to extensive vegetation clearance.

• Wychwood Lake has been drained and

work is underway to restore the lake to

its original size.

Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 5

Cultural Heritage

• A Community History Officer, Tanya

James, is in post.

• A new local history group has been

established covering the eastern parishes

of the Scheme area.

• Three local history events have been held,

including a successful guided walk at

Castle Neroche.

• A suite of local history projects are

underway or in preparation, including

restoring the remains of a nineteenth

century Somersetshire Militia

encampment on Leigh Hill, exploring the

history of the Neroche deer parks, and

developing a buildings survey pack to

help local residents find out more about

the history of their houses.

• An oral history recording project has

begun by capturing the memories of the

last resident of the now-abandoned farm

at Britty.

Physical Access

• An Access & Interpretation Officer, James

Maben, is in post.

• The first long-distance off-road Herepath

Trail, covering 20 km around Staple

Fitzpaine, is under development, with

strong support having been gained from

riders, walkers and local residents.

• Contractors are undertaking a series of

major upgrades to previously impassable

bridleways along the length of the 20km

Herepath route.

• A new car park has been established at

Staple Hill, and the existing car park

extended at Castle Neroche.

Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 6

Collective Knowledge

• A Lead Artist (Michael Fairfax), Graphic

Designer (Dane Watkins) and Arts

Coordinator (Sally Clark) have been

engaged, working with Somerset Art

Week Ltd.

• Three ‘Touching the Seasons’ art-in-the-

landscape events have been held.

• A public trial of an innovative mobile

digital interpretation package has been

carried out, focused on Thurlbear Wood.

• A large mobile Camera Obscura has been

built as a tool for landscape heritage

interpretation at public events.

• Musical and storytelling commissions

have been invited for Year 2.

• A public open day has been held in the

forest jointly with the Blackdown Hills

AONB.

• Neroche has had a strong presence at the

South West Woodfair in Taunton, and the

Honiton Show.

Opportunity to Learn and Enjoy

• A Forest Schools Officer, Clare Neenan, is

in post.

• Ten local schools have signed up to send

teaching staff on Level 3 Forest School

Practitioner training.

• A full set of Forest School equipment has

been acquired.

Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 7

• A series of Forest School taster sessions,

delivered on school grounds, are

underway.

• A series of Health Walks for adults with

learning disabilities has been carried out

in the forest by Somerset Activity and

Sports Partnership.

Opportunity to be Involved

• A Project Manager, Gavin Saunders, and

Administrative Officer, Sam Winzer, are

in post.

• A newly-designed Neroche Website has

been developed and is live.

• A Neroche brochure and events

programme was distributed in the

Blackdown Hills free newspaper to 10,000

readers.

• Regular articles and news items have

been submitted to parish magazines and

other local outlets.

• The LPS Board and Local Stakeholders

Group have continued to meet quarterly.

• The Neroche Scheme has hosted a visit

from the UK Forestry Commissioners.

• A volunteers database has been

established, and two volunteer training

events – in coppicing and in veteran tree

recording – have been held, with support

from the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Perpetuation of Skills

• A team of three Neroche Apprentices

(Chris Hill, Dan Starkiss and Stuart

Birkhill) are in post.

• The Apprentices have undertaken formal

training in forestry equipment use, taster

placements with partner organisations,

and a programme of on-the-job training

with FC staff in the forest, facilitated by

Ambios Ltd.

• Advice to private landowners is being

delivered by FWAG and the Wildlife

Trust, to develop a dialogue with land

managers about future potential for

shared landscape-scale grazing.

Major activities in Year 1

Forest grazing Site 1 at Wych Lodge

Forest grazing Site 2 at Quants

Major harvesting site at Staple Common/Ruttersleigh

Vegetation clearance at Castle Neroche

Community History sites, events and groups

Locations making up 5km of upgrades along

Staple Fitzpaine Herepath

New and extended car parks

Locations of Touching the Seasons art events

Location for digital interpretation trial

Schools signed up for Forest School training

Neroche staff team base

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