wild derbyshire autumn 2014

DerwentWISE - the journey begins

Wild DerbyshireThe magazine of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Autumn 2014

Protecting wildlife, Restoring landscapes, Inspiring people www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk

Plus The latest news from Wildlife Trusts around the UK

Skills for Wildlife - nurturing new talent

Take the mammal challengeCelebrate with us at Carsington

Derbyshire Wildlife TrustRegistered Charity Number 222212Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is a company registered in England and Wales, company number 715675

Chair: Tony HamsChief Executive: Jo SmithDirector of Living Landscapes: Matthew Croney

East Mill, Bridge Foot, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 1XH.Tel: 01773 881188 Fax: 01773 821826E-mail: [email protected]

HR & Administration Manager: Stephanie KershawAdministration Officer: Alison MosleyReceptionist/Administration Officer: Elizabeth Woodward

Finance Manager: Slava HaynesFinance Officer: Linda Taylor

Conservation Manager: Tim BirchConservation Technical Assistant: Ann HallDerwentWISE Scheme Manager: Tania PellsDerwentWISE Finance and Administration Officer: Nadine StephensonDerwentWISE Community Engagement Officer - Cultural Heritage: Annice FullerDerwentWISE Community Engagement Officer - Natural Heritage: Dave SavageSenior Local Wildlife Sites Officer: Kieron HustonLocal Wildlife Sites Officer: Teresa HughesLocal Wildlife Sites Officer (Planning): Trevor TaylorSenior People Engagement Officer: Louise ValantinePeople Engagement Officer: Diane GouldLEMUR Project Placement: Oliver FouldsProtected Species Monitoring Assistant: Kay Thompson

Marketing and Fundraising Manager: Jane ProctorCorporate and Community Relations Officer: Ruth LongFunding Development Officer: Peter LeeEnquiries Officer: Nick Brown

Membership Services Manager: Ellen FineranMembership Officer: Sue CrookesMembership Sales Officer: Alex PilkingtonWildlife Supporter Officers: Martin Mullis; Tom Adams; Liz Oldring: Pat Dwolitka

Reserves Manager: Richard SpowageReserves Officers: Julia Gow; Kate Lemon; Sam WillisMidweek Volunteer Team Leader: Paul Harasimow

The Whistlestop CentreOld Railway Station, Matlock Bath, DE4 3PTTel: 01629 580958

Wild DerbyshirePublished by Derbyshire Wildlife TrustEdited by Heather TurleyCopyright Derbyshire Wildlife Trust 2014Designed by The Message

2 DERBYSHIRE NEWS AUTUMN 2014 AUTUMN 2014 DERBYSHIRE NEWS 3

From the Chief ExecutiveI am very pleased to be introducing you to this edition of Wild Derbyshire, my first since becoming CEO. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to make a difference in such a stunning county.

However, the role is not without its challenges. The current economic climate means wildlife moves further and further down the list of priorities for decision makers and yet the pressures on our wildlife increase. This comes despite the fact that the benefits of wildlife rich landscapes are well documented. For example, peatland restoration in our uplands can reduce flooding, capture carbon and improve water quality, saving £billions.

Luckily, many people in Derbyshire do care about wildlife and their local environment – and this passion has not dampened by the poor state of the economy. Far from it. There are many heartening examples of local people standing up for local wildlife and wild spaces. For example, the response to the Trust’s appeal to support an alternative approach to a devastating badger cull was overwhelming. Our badger vaccination programme is now up and running and going extremely well. In addition, there was an amazing

local response to the proposals for a cycle track on the Sanctuary Nature Reserve in Derby; a local nature reserve now saved from inappropriate development thanks to an unprecedented number of people working collectively and effectively to stand up for wildlife.

We also need to raise awareness of the benefits of a wildlife rich landscape through skills training projects like Skills for Wildlife; landscape scale projects like DerwentWISE and outdoor classrooms like the one at Carsington Water. That way more people will stand up for wildlife, and we will inspire the next generation of decision makers to develop an appreciation of the benefits of landscapes rich in wildlife.

It is more important that ever that the Trust and our supporters stand up for wildlife and encourage decision makers to choose wildlife friendly solutions. With a strong and ever growing voice we can make a difference.

Jo Smith

ContentsDerbyshire news 4

Badger Vaccination 8

Discovering Mammals at Carsington Water 10

Flora of Derbyshire 13

DerwentWISE 14

Uplands 16

Out and About 18

A Year in the Life of the Midweek Team 20

Wildlife Travel 22

Skills for Wildlife: Nurturing New Talent 24

Book Review 26

My Week: Membership Recruiter Martin Mullis 27

Remember a Charity Week 28

Funding News 30

Jill Leheup 32

UK news 33

A large print (text only) version of Wild Derbyshire is available on request.

This free talk will be followed by refreshments and then

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s AGM

For more details contact the Trust on 01773 881188

St Joseph’s Church HallButterley HillRipleyDE5 3LW

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust presents

Derbyshire Ramblings Walking in Circles Down the Derwent ValleyAn illustrated talk by Ashley Franklin

Wednesday 29th October

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Employees from Carillion Rail in Derby have been helping us carry out habitat management work at Woodside Nature Reserve.Twenty-five members of staff joined forces with our volunteers as part of the company’s Give and Gain Day. They helped clear scrub from one of the reserve’s fields, home to a variety of butterfly and moth species, including the rare dingy skipper moth.This is the second work day that Carillion staff have taken part in on a Trust nature reserve. In September they helped clear non-native rhododendron from Lea Wood. Reserves Officer Kate Lemon explains: “The help from Carillion was invaluable – we completed our task in half the time it would normally take us

with our own volunteers. Having extra manpower was so helpful – and Carillion also helped secure donations of tools and equipment from its own suppliers, which we have been able to keep, and came up with a generous cash donation too.”James Steele from Carillion Rail said: “Becoming a corporate sponsor with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has enabled the rail team to fulfil its community engagement requirements by undertaking a number of exciting projects. We have built a strong

relationship with the reserve officers and have been able to support them over and above what has been asked for. Our new values “We care, We achieve together, We improve, We deliver” have helped local communities in providing them with nature reserves to enjoy for years to come. We are busy planning more exciting projects throughout 2014 and look forward to joining the reserve team back at Lea Wood in September.”Carillion Rail is one of our 30 corporate supporters. Turn to page 31 for a full list.

DERBYSHIRE NEWS

Wild Fun for All at Woodside

New LEMUR takes over

Marketing and Fundraising Manager Jane Proctor (left) with Maria Cade from The Veolia Environmental Trust and one of the Mapperley Primary School pupils.


Earlier this summer we officially opened the new Wild Barn and Education Garden at Woodside Nature Reserve.The facility was funded by The Veolia Environmental Trust through the Landfill Communities Fund. A covered seating area provides shelter and somewhere for groups to meet, while the garden features mini-habitats found on the surrounding nature reserve. There are two raised ponds suitable for dipping, a wildflower meadow for sweeping, wildlife hotels where various small creatures can find refuge, a

woodland and a log pile. In the barn, an information board points out some of the wildlife to be found in the garden. The launch event was attended by pupils from Mapperley Primary School. The wildlife garden was created by a team of volunteers, led by Conservation Farming Officer Matt Johnson. It is open for everyone to use – schools can book a visit by contacting the Trust on 01773 881188.The reserve is on land next to Shipley Country Park. To visit, park at Mapperley Reservoir car park (pay and display) and

walk past Mapperley Wood. A path to the left takes you towards the barn and garden. Along the way you may also spy the sheep and cattle in the field – the reserve is managed through conservation grazing with Highland cattle and Jacob sheep. We have recently received a £10,000 grant from Biffa Award through the Landfill Communities Fund for additional fencing and a cattle corral at the reserve, to help us with livestock management. You can find out more about the reserve and the farming enterprise on our website.

I’m Oli Foulds, the new LEMUR trainee for

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. If you haven’t

heard of the LEMUR Project then I should

first explain that the Trust is not preparing

me for a life of tree-leaping in Madagascar.

LEMUR stands for Learning Environments

in Marine, Urban and Rural areas and it is a

Heritage Lottery Funded project that gives

on-the-job training in nature conservation.

After just one month of my placement with

the Trust I’ve already been on ecological

surveys, built up my plant ID skills (above

the embarrassingly poor level that they

began at), worked on the badger

vaccinations in North Derbyshire, planted

wildflowers in a wood, helped to build a dry

stone wall, designed maps for a

presentation in London, entered planning

applications into the Geographic

Information System and helped children

find minibeasts at an event at Hardwick

Hall. It’s been fast, busy and mentally

overloading but I’ve enjoyed every minute!

To be able to get involved with so many of

the Trust’s areas of work in only four weeks

has been an amazing experience.

This is a difficult job sector to get started

in and I feel very lucky to have this

opportunity. With 29 weeks of the

placement still to come and new projects

on the horizon I’m set for a very busy and

exciting year.

The Carillion team at Woodside

As reported in the last Wild Derbyshire, plans to build a cycle track on The Sanctuary Local Nature Reserve at Pride Park in Derby were halted by the work of a coalition of 16 wildlife groups and by the legal action that the Trust initiated, which forced the city council to withdraw its plans.Despite the preliminary earth clearing carried out earlier by the council, most of the birds for which the reserve was important have been seen again, many of them returning to breed. Skylarks sang over the mound, lapwings flew over the lake, sand martins returned on cue to their nesting wall and a pair of rare little ringed plovers raised two chicks.However, the council has not yet shown any signs of reinstating the reserve by levelling the mounds of soil created

during preparation for the track, upgrading the fencing and renewing the interpretation at the viewing points.We are in discussions with the council now that the legal matters have been resolved, and we hope to report some progress to the reinstatement of this Local Nature Reserve in a future issue.

Renishaw Hall welcomes Trust membersSeventy guests enjoyed a lovely evening at Renishaw Hall in June. Our thanks to the hall guides for the tours, to Gallery Caterers for the wonderful buffet, to Kieron for supplying Renishaw wines, to Kindred and Kind for keeping the beautiful shop open all evening and especially to Rachael at Renishaw and the family for enabling us to hold such a special evening.

The Sanctuary - breeding success despite works

Little Ringed Plover with chicks

Oliver Foulds

Carillion teams up with us for reserves work

Three of the four peregrine chicks that hatched on Derby Cathedral have now flown the nest. Sadly, the fourth one died a few weeks earlier, perhaps from heat stress. Ian Layton, our Peregrines and People Engagement Officer, has been busy organising Watch Points for the public and for various specific groups. Ian’s hard work has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This funding is coming to an end and we are now busy looking for alternatives.

One of the groups that came was from the Enhanced Resource Base for visually impaired students at St Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy. After attending the Watch Point they were then welcomed into rooms in the Cathedral to handle various birds of prey brought by family-run Falcons at Laxton. They included barn owls, tawny owls, a buzzard and harris hawk, plus an eagle owl called Curly. Anne Butt from the unit

says: “Some students were initially anxious about handling the birds, but they all settled and the students had a fantastic time feeling the weight, size and softness of the birds’ feathers. To get so close to these types of birds was a very special experience and the falconers commented on how relaxed the birds were in the students’ company.”Thanks to all the volunteers who help at the Watch Points and the team from Rolls-Royce who have been working alongside us since the spring, coming up with many new ideas and showing real commitment to our project. Thanks too to the Cathedral staff who have been most supportive and to Serco and the City Council’s IT staff who ensure the web cam pictures are beamed out across the globe. This season we had received over 250,000 hits by mid-June.• Meanwhile, after almost eight years

without any breeding success, peregrines returned to a traditional nesting location in the Snake Pass in north Derbyshire earlier this year. Previous breeding attempts are believed to have failed, according to the RSPB, due to persecution in the area. This year, we have been working alongside the RSPB and the National Trust to celebrate the return of these birds. At the time of writing there were two chicks in the nest waiting to fledge. We hope that this success is a sign of things to come in this part of the Peak District.

Membership Recruitment Officer

DERBYSHIRE NEWS


Four years ago, we began working with Severn Trent Water at Carsington Water. Together the partnership has built up the Wildlife Discovery Room education programme, delivering activities to visiting schools as well as running family events and adult workshops. We have also developed a new Outdoor Classroom with funding from The Veolia Environmental Trust. This has allowed our outdoor events to take a new direction and encompass more bush craft style activities. These have proved popular, attracting up to 200 people to take part in our summer events each day.Wishing to build upon this success, Severn Trent invited us to begin an education programme at Staunton Harold and Foremark reservoirs.So far we have put together a programme of education activities for Key Stage 1 and 2, allowing children to

visit and take part in pond dipping, habitat studies and water cycle activities. We have also begun to run a series of school holiday family events from the site. In February half term we organised a Stickman Adventure Trail where families discovered that there is a lot of fun to be had with a stick or two. With two fully booked trails during the day, they had a go at den building, making mini rafts and painting with mud and sticks. Over Easter our bush craft family event gave families the opportunity to try their hand at fire lighting and cooking bread over the camp fire as well as a number of craft activities.This summer we held two Wild Play events where families were able to drop in during the day to take part in trails and mini beast hunts as well as crafts and other wild play activities. We are now planning another of these events

for the October half term on 26th October, so whatever the weather, we will have something to keep the kids busy and entertained. Come down to join in the fun! Full details of our events are in our Wild Times events booklet and on our website.

Peregrines’ Progress - North and South

School children discover nature at The Avenue WashlandsPupils from three Chesterfield primary schools have been discovering nature at The Avenue Washlands Nature Reserve.The children, from Hunloke Park, Grassmoor and Deer Park Primary Schools, joined us earlier this year to try out a variety of activities on the reserve, including willow coppicing, bird identification, bird box making and tree identification. The four Discovery Days were funded by Western Power Distribution.

Hen Harriers UpdateLast issue we reported on the dire situation

facing hen harriers in our uplands. This spring

Trust Conservation Manager Tim Birch

spotted a sky dancing male hen harrier in the

Upper Derwent Valley, along with a female.

A major operation swung into action with

the RSPB, National Trust, local raptor groups,

Peak District National Park and the police all

involved in an attempt to ensure that the birds

could breed successfully. The hen harrier is

one of our rarest and most persecuted birds

of prey.

A watch point was set up and regularly

manned during April and May. The male sky

dived spectacularly for many weeks and even

built a “cock nest”. Unfortunately the female

went missing and despite the best efforts of

the male he could not find another mate. No

hen harriers bred anywhere else in the Peak

District this year. However there were regular

reports of other individuals around the Peak

District and also another pair over the moors

near Buxton. We hope that hen harriers are

more successful next year and will be working

hard with all stakeholders to ensure that these

spectacular birds of prey can return to

successfully breed in their upland home in the

Peak District.

Carr Vale Nature Reserve has recorded another county first, with the news that a pair of lesser black-backed gulls has successfully bred there.These birds are a familiar sight in Derbyshire – small numbers are commonly seen in many places with large numbers at roost sites

such as Carsington, Ogston and Foremark Reservoirs. Despite this, they have never been proved to breed before. This spring, the vigilant team of observers who monitor the reserve daily noticed an obvious pair, although they considered the male too young to breed. They were seen displaying most days, observed mating on two occasions and carrying nest material almost daily.

Volunteer warden Mark Beevers said: ”It seemed that the pair bond was strong, but we took the view that they were just going through the motions, perhaps practising for next year.”The pair eventually evicted a pair of black-headed gulls from one of the reserve’s tern rafts and towards the end of May it became clear that they were sitting on a nest. After an anxious wait for Mark Beevers and the other observers, three young hatched in mid-June and at the time of writing we were waiting for them to fledge.

Going even wilder

Beckett Primary School were among those who came to see Derby’s peregrines

Hunloke Primary School pupils at The Avenue

A pupil from St Benedict with Curly the eagle owl

Hen harrierAndy Hay/RSPB Images

New breeding species for Derbyshire at Carr Vale

Lesser black-backed gull chick

Mike Snell

Fun with sticks

Even before we could put the first needle into a Derbyshire badger, a lot of hard work had gone on behind the scenes. We met up with other Wildlife Trusts including Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire, who have also been fundraising and vaccinating, to exchange information and ideas. We developed close links with the National Farmers’ Union in Derbyshire who have supported our work on vaccination in the north of the county.

Our policy throughout has been to highlight the role of badger vaccination as an alternative to culling – but ultimately we still want to see the Government doing more to push for the development of an EU-approved cattle vaccine and to ensure that everything is being done to minimise cattle/badger interactions on farms by discouraging badgers from entering cattle sheds and feed storage areas, for example.

We teamed up with the Derbyshire badger groups including Debbie Bailey, a nurse from Furness Vale who is taking a career break to help out with the programme. As our lead vaccinator in the north of the county, Debbie has been instrumental in getting our vaccination programme off the ground. She also raised £900 by organising a Badger Ball in Furness Vale. Other fundraisers have included Chris Preston and Fay Saxton who organised Badger Fest, a folk music festival at the Queen’s Head in Belper, which raised more than £550.

First StepsBefore they can begin work, the vaccinators need to complete a Government course and be issued with a licence. This was our first step and the first vaccinators completed their courses in September last year in order to be ready for the new vaccination

season starting in May 2014. We now have three licensed vaccinators in the county, with another two getting trained up shortly.

The next step was to identify suitable sites. We’re fortunate to have the backing of Derbyshire County Council, who have announced that they would not allow culling on their land should the cull be rolled out to include Derbyshire. We also have good links with the National Farmers’ Union in the county, plus other landowners who are happy to allow us to vaccinate on their land.

It’s encouraging to have this support, despite clear differences that remain between ourselves and the NFU over the issue of the badger cull. We decided to carry out our first vaccinations on a Trust reserve, Hartington Meadows, as this was a learning experience for all concerned and enabled us to vaccinate on a site close to land grazed by neighbouring farms.

How Vaccination WorksAt the beginning of a vaccination round we start by pre-baiting the setts. A peanut bait is laid and then revisited over subsequent days to ensure that the badgers are taking the bait. Once this is confirmed, we dig in our humane badger traps. It’s a day’s work for a team of volunteers to get these into position. They’re not too heavy, but are a little awkward to handle – particularly bearing in mind that they sometimes need to be carried some distance into woodland, up and down steep slopes, to their position. We reckon our teams will be super-fit by the time we finish the season!

The traps are placed near the sett entrance and once we have confirmed the badgers are taking the bait, this is gradually moved nearer to the trap and eventually to inside and towards the back to entice the animals all the way in. This takes a few days, during which time the door is tied open so that the badgers can come and go as they please.

Even the task of placing the traps appropriately isn’t always that easy. At the beginning of our second round of vaccinations, we confidently placed a trap near what we thought was a good location, under a majestic looking beech tree, near the sett entrance. However, a short period of observation soon showed us the error of our ways – a great tit

family was nesting in a small crevice in the tree trunk not far above our heads and the adults were clearly not happy with our choice. Not wanting to risk an abandoned nest we moved the trap a few metres away and the birds seemed happy. Once they were ready to commence vaccinations at Hartington, the team moved onto the site to a temporary camp they affectionately named Camp Badger. Being close by makes the chore of being ready to vaccinate at first light slightly more bearable – this is done for the badgers’ benefit, so they can be released as soon as possible and they can return safely to their sett. By law we have to vaccinate any badgers caught in our humane traps within three hours after dawn.

There’s a lot of preparation to be done at this stage. Paperwork is important as we need to keep meticulous records of all the vaccine used, the temperature it was stored in, the batch number and date. Our whole vaccination programme gets audited once a year so it is vital we keep on top of the paperwork!

On a Learning CurveThe first vaccinations at Hartington certainly were a learning experience. The weather – rain and 40 mile per hour winds – held things up for two days, then a volunteer fell ill and needed an ambulance. He is thankfully much better now.

Badgers and vaccinators both had to endure the disruption of a firework display and local youths racing cars around the site at 2am. So it was with a great sense of relief that they finally vaccinated their first badger – a cub – early on 18th May. It’s good to vaccinate cubs as this introduces protection into the sett from an early age. The badger is vaccinated in the upper thigh, a quick procedure after all the build-up. A few hairs are clipped from its coat and it is marked with blue livestock spray so that we know if we trap it again the next night that it has already been vaccinated. Once this is done, the animal is quickly released to make its way back to the sett.

At Hartington we took three days in total and vaccinated most of the reserve’s badger cubs, a good start. On the second day we caught two cubs in one trap - they were quickly vaccinated and safely released.

Our next round took place at Poole’s Cavern and Grin Low where we worked with Buxton Civic Association, and a local farmer who farms on land owned by Derbyshire County Council. At the time of going to press we were about to start a third round of vaccinations working with a farmer on the National Trust’s estate at Edale and are also planning to work in other parts of the county.

FEATURE


How you can helpWe are continuing to raise funds to support the vaccination programme. Remember this programme will last for 5 years so it is a long term commitment. You can donate via our website or by text. To donate £1.50: Text WILD1 to 88833. To donate £10.00: Text WILD3 to 88833. If you prefer to send a cheque, please make this

payable to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and send to Badger Appeal, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, East Mill, Bridge Foot, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 1XH.Many thanks to everyone who has contributed so far – if you’d like more information on ways to help, please contact us on 01773 881188 or email [email protected]

Badger Vaccination Begins

Almost a year after we began fundraising, we were finally able to start vaccinating badgers in the county this spring. Heather Turley reports.

Setting the trap

Trapped Badger

Left: Debbie showing Oliver how to put down peanut baitAbove: Digging in the trapRight: Debbie vaccinating a badger

FEATURE


Water Voles and MinkOur fastest declining wild mammal, the water vole is our largest vole and is found along rivers, streams and ditches. In Derbyshire there is still a stronghold on the Cromford Canal. Signs of their presence include burrows in the riverbank, often with a nibbled ‘lawn’ of grass around the entrance. Water voles like to sit and eat in the same place, so piles of nibbled grass and stems may be found by the water’s edge, showing a distinctive 45° angled-cut at the ends. ‘Latrines’ of rounded, cigar-shaped droppings may also be spotted.

Water voles have previously been recorded at seven locations around the reservoir. Habitat improvement work was carried out around the site, including pond creation and coppicing scrub along streams to increase light levels. Mink control work also took place – these non-native mammals are a devastating predator of water voles.

Water voles were found to be present at Fishtail Creek, Hopton Ponds, ponds by the dam wall, and at the northern end of the reservoir.

Brown HareBrown hares were introduced to the UK, perhaps as long ago as the Iron Age. They are found in many parts of the county, mostly in farmland, pastures and open woodland. Hares shelter in a ‘form’, which is simply a shallow depression in the ground, or grasses, but when disturbed can be seen bounding across fields using their powerful hind legs to propel them forwards, often in a zigzag pattern.

A brown hare census carried out on one evening in May resulted in seven brown hare sightings. Records confirmed their presence around Sheepwash car park and in the fields between there and the Lookout Tower.

Harvest MouseThe tiny harvest mouse lives in long tussocky grassland, reedbeds, hedgerows and around woodland edges. They build a spherical nest of tightly woven grass, high up amongst the tall grasses.

Although Carsington has suitable habitat, there were no records of harvest mice from the area. As part of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust harvest mouse survey in the winter of 2004-05, a number of sites at Carsington were surveyed. Surveying entailed searching for abandoned

summer nests, which does not disturb the animals. Five sites were surveyed, with positive results being found at three of them.

Small MammalsAn effective method of surveying for the presence of small mammals is live-trapping, using Longworth or other similar traps. The traps are left in situ for one or two days, and checked every 12 hours, when any animals caught are released unharmed at the point of capture. During 2004 six sites at Carsington were surveyed, using around 100 traps at each site.

Five species of small mammal were caught: wood mouse, common shrew, pygmy shrew, bank vole, field vole.

Discovering Mammals at Carsington Water

Carsington Mammal ProjectThe 2004 Carsington Mammal Project was a collaboration between the then recently formed Derbyshire Mammal Group and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Derbyshire Bat Group and Severn Trent Water. The intention was to establish which mammals were present around Carsington Water, using surveying techniques such as live trapping and nest searches. Prior to this, little was known about which mammals were present in or near the reservoir. The project also used information from national surveys run by the Mammal Society, plus casual sightings from members of the public.

A total of 28 species were confirmed by

sightings or signs, including brown hares, water voles and pipistrelle bats, which are UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority species, and water shrew and harvest mouse, which at the time were considered uncommon species in Derbyshire.

Mammals found in 2004 included:

Water ShrewThere are very few records of water shrews in Derbyshire, which may reflect their rarity or simply lack of recording. They live almost entirely in wetland habitats and are the only shrew likely to be seen in the water.

As part of a national survey run by the Mammal Society, the presence of water shrews at Carsington was confirmed by

use of baited tubes. Plastic tubes were baited and left in situ at likely sites for 10-14 days, before being collected for analysis. The droppings left by any animals using the tubes were then examined under a microscope for the presence of aquatic invertebrates, the water shrew being the only small mammal likely to have been eating them.

Scats containing remains of freshwater shrimp and water louse were found in tubes left at Hopton Pond and Fishtail Creek.

With two mammal-related anniversaries, there’s plenty to celebrate this year. Steve Lonsdale of Derbyshire Mammal Group takes a look at the county’s mammals and how you can get involved.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Mammal Society and the 10th anniversary of the Carsington Mammal Project. To celebrate, we have joined forces with Severn Trent Water to launch the Carsington Mammal Challenge. There are activities and family events taking place through the year, enabling you to get closer to mammals. These include live-trapping and surveying, and the creation of a giant ‘mammal map’ which is on display in the Wildlife Discovery Room at Carsington.

Harvest mouse Amy Lewis

Bait tube Water vole

Tom Marshall

Brown hare Christine Gregory

Small mammal trapping

Mammal RecordsMammal records for Carsington, and any other area of Derbyshire, are always welcome, and can be submitted via the Derbyshire Mammal Group’s website at: http://www.derbyshiremammalgroup.com/records.htmlIIt is particularly important to include:What you saw or heard (ie species, sign, or other evidence)When and where you saw or heard itWho recorded it

Carsington Mammal List from 2004 ProjectThe following mammals were confirmed in the Carsington mammal project of 2004, either by specific survey or by casual records submitted:

•Hedgehog •Common shrew

•Pygmy shrew •Water shrew

•Rabbit • Brown hare

•Grey squirrel •Bank vole

•Field vole •Water vole

•Wood mouse •Harvest mouse

•Brown rat •Fox

•Stoat •Weasel

•American mink •Badger

•Red deer •Roe deer

•Fallow Deer (This record was based on dropping analysis, and there are

no other fallow deer records from the area.)

•Whiskered bat •Daubenton’s bat

•Natterer’s bat •Noctule

•Pipistrelle •Brown long-eared bat

Developments Since 2004Since 2004 Derbyshire Mammal Group has carried out further surveys in the area, particularly for small mammals and BAP species, and also as input to The Mammals of Derbyshire which was published in 2013 and was based on 85,000 mammal records from Derbyshire collected up to the end of 2010.

Additional information collected for The Mammals of Derbyshire, and subsequently, includes:

Water Shrew: recorded around Sheepwash

and in the south-eastern corner of the

reservoir.

Brown hare: further records for the Millfields,

Hopton, and Knockerdown areas, and on the

eastern side of the reservoir.

Water Vole: records since 2004 show water

voles have been recorded almost all around

the reservoir, and are colonising ponds which

the Trust recently created in the north-east

corner of the reservoir.

Soprano Pipistrelle: the soprano pipistrelle

was not recognised as a separate species to

the common pipistrelle until the 1990s. It is

therefore possible that records collected for

common pipistrelle before then are actually of

the soprano pipistrelle. There are no

confirmed records of soprano pipistrelle from

Carsington in The Mammals of Derbyshire,

but there are several pipistrelle records from

the area which have not been identified as

common or soprano. As the soprano is

widespread in the county, it is possible that

some of the undetermined Carsington

records may be of soprano pipistrelle.

Otter: no otter records were included in the

2004 report; however, otters were present in

the Carsington area prior to 2000, and in the

past few years have been confirmed on the

Henmore Brook, south of Millfields. It is likely

that there will be confirmed sightings on the

reservoir in the next year or two.

Stoat: there are two records of stoats in

ermine (the term for their white winter coat)

from Carsington, which is unusual this far

south in the UK.

Polecat and Polecat-Ferret: there is one

record of a polecat-ferret from Hopton in

2006. There are no confirmed polecat

records from Carsington, but with their recent

spread across Derbyshire from the west it is

likely that they are present in the area.

Noctule: Derbyshire Bat Group has been

running a successful programme monitoring

the bat species around Carsington. A

particular highlight is the number of noctules

using the bat boxes in Hall Wood – in March

2014 27 (a site record) were recorded.

Carsington Mammal Project 2014The Trust and Severn Trent Water have created a list of 60 mammal related events and activities for families to do in 2014. This list is available from the Visitor Centre reception at Carsington. Mammal sightings can be sent to [email protected] – these will be collated and added to the ‘Mammal Map’ in the Wildlife Discovery Room, and forwarded to Derbyshire Mammal Group.

FEATURE


DERBYSHIRE FLORA

Hopefully by the time you are reading this the first and major part of this new work on the plants of the county, the new Derbyshire Flora, should be with the publishers. This part includes the 1,920 separate accounts of different plants that grow wild in the county along with around 1,100 maps showing current and past distribution of the commoner species. After this the second part, including a brief description of the county and a section on where to see wild flowers locally will be with the publishers soon, and the whole book should be out by Christmas. Look out for further details including the pre-publication offer in the next issue.

Below are examples of accounts of sites where people can go and view local plants for themselves. The book features 55 sites throughout the county, from Bleaklow in the north to Rosliston in the south. All sites can be viewed from publicly accessible footpaths and many Trust reserves. For each site there is a brief description of the habitats and directions for getting there. Some indication is also included of the plants to see on each site. However, detailed plant lists are not included for each place so visitors can have the pleasure of discovering plants for themselves. Sites are arranged by local landscape character areas so all sites for example for the Dark Peak are included next to each other. Below is the account for Hartington Meadows which comes in the section on the White Peak after recommendations for visiting several of our limestone dales.

Hartington Meadows (SK150611) This

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust reserve differs from

others in the White Peak in being part of the

limestone plateau rather than along a dale. It

is just east of the village of Hartington, which

is itself off the A515, approximately halfway

between Ashbourne and Buxton. The reserve

consists mainly of hay meadow and rough

calcareous grassland with a disused quarry

and ponds. The grasslands are floristically

rich with orchid species, clustered bellflower

(Campanula glomerata) and dropwort

(Filipendula vulgaris).

Directions and access: Leave the A515 at

SK158612 just north of Newhaven Corner

taking the B5054 to Hartington. After 1km,

and just before the high bridge over the road

(SK149612), turn left into the Hartington

Station car park. Walk south along the trail to

the steps and stile on the left which lead into

the reserve along a public footpath.

Derbyshire Flora - Nearly thereAs the long-awaited Derbyshire Flora nears publication, author Alan Willmot reports on progress.

Holly Wood is another example of a Trust reserve included in the list of recommended sites

to visit. This is in the west of the county near Ashbourne within the Claylands natural area.

Holly Wood (SK173428) This is a small woodland reserve of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

which is situated some 4km south of Ashbourne. There is a mixed deciduous woodland

canopy with marshy areas and a pond. The wet areas typically display marsh marigold

(Caltha palustris), remote sedge (Carex remota) and opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage

(Chrysosplenium oppositifolium). There is a good show of bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and daffodils (Narcissus spp.) in spring, although many of the latter are clearly

planted. A more notable plant of the wood is upland enchanter’s-nightshade (Circaea x intermedia).

Directions and access: Going south from Ashbourne on the A515 pass through Clifton and

then take the second minor road on the left to Edlaston at SK171433. The wood is about

500m down the lane on the right hand side in the bottom of a small valley. There is just

room to park on the roadside here at SK174431. Access to the reserve is via the gate on the

south side of the road.

Carsington Water

Hartington Meadows

Holly Wood

The Mammals of DerbyshireThe Mammals of Derbyshire by Dave Mallon,

Debbie Alston and Derek Whiteley, is a

comprehensive account of Derbyshire’s

mammals (past, present and possible

future).

It is available by sending a cheque (payable

to Derbyshire Mammal Group) to:

DMG Books, c/o Wyecliffe Cottage,

Chapel Hill, Ashover, Derbyshire S45 0AT

Orders may also be taken using either

debit or credit card. For more details, email:

[email protected]

or ring Jo on 07824 531468

The price is £12.50 (inclusive of postage).

DERWENTWISE


The Lower Derwent Valley between Matlock Bath and Derby is internationally renowned as the birthplace of the factory system. It was here in the 18th century that water power was successfully harnessed for textile production. The mill complexes through the valley are a legacy of this innovation, and include some of the world’s first ‘modern’ factories.

These industrial masterpieces sit in a beautiful landscape, and this will be the focus of the new £2.5 million DerwentWISE project which will run for five years. Led by the Trust, the wide-ranging partnership will inspire and enable us all to care for the special landscape, with its internationally important ancient woodlands, archaeology, diverse geology, wildflower meadows and river habitats.

The local knowledge, skills and experience of the partnership will be put to good use under the guidance of Scheme Manager Tania Pells, who along with her team will be delivering projects based on the four themes of

conservation and restoration, community participation, increasing access and learning, and increasing heritage training opportunities.

Earlier this year, three official launches took place, at the Eco Centre in Middleton by Wirksworth, the Belper Goes Green event and at Derby Silk Mill as part of Inspiring Derby. These events gave people the chance to find out a little more about DerwentWISE and how to get involved. One of our first aims is to ensure people have the skills needed to help with projects, so there are a range of courses available – look out for the Eco Centre’s Get Skilled for DerwentWISE courses, including drystone walling and using a chainsaw.

If history is more your thing, then ‘Heritage at Risk’ offers training programmes to teach volunteers how to assess and undertake conservation of heritage assets in their community. ‘Sedimentation’ focuses on the unique geology of the area, and with community art projects running alongside you can also get creative. You may like to capture

the history and legends of the landscape through ‘Story Telling’ walks and ‘Lost Stories’ photography.

Whatever your interest, community participation is at the heart of the project. The rhododendron clearing scheme at Lea Wood (see opposite) has already uncovered all sorts of interesting things for the Lea Wood Heritage Community Project archaeologists to get their teeth into! Whether you’re keen to get hands-on with nature or prefer to admire the view, there’s something for everyone.

The team would love to hear from community groups, landowners and volunteers in the Lower Derwent Valley area. There’ll be a chance to learn more about the skills training opportunities and grant schemes available to locals to help preserve this unique landscape, as well as passing on any expertise and knowledge you may have about your patch.

It’s early days yet, but we’re keen to get everyone working together to make the Lower Derwent Valley really come alive.

The DerwentWISE PartnershipLed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, the partnership includes Natural England, Derbyshire

County Council, English Heritage, National Stone Centre, Fleet Arts, The Arkwright

Society, Environment Agency, Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site partnership,

Derbyshire Dales District Council, Forestry Commission, Derby City Council, Amber

Valley CVS, University of Derby, and Amber Valley Borough Council, supported by the

National Farmers’ Union.

DerwentWISE - the journey beginsFollowing a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid, the DerwentWISE landscape partnership project is now underway. Claire Hanley-Opik reports.

Lea WoodThe ancient woodland at Lea Wood is being overrun by this non-native garden escapee, and that’s bad news for our wildlife. Rhododendron is very invasive and almost indestructible once it’s established. The dense coverage prevents traditional woodland plants from growing, and local trees are suffering too as there is no light for their seedlings. The evergreen foliage is toxic to most native insects and mammals so it’s no use as food either!Rhododendron is hard to remove. It produces vast numbers of seeds, and the seedlings are hard to spot for the first five years, so re-invasion is a big problem. That’s why the clearing project at Lea Wood will take at least five to 10 years. Working with the Trust, dedicated volunteers hack down bushes, burn the cuttings and treat the stumps. Annual

checks keep on top of any regrowth or new seedlings. As the rhododendron is cleared, it allows the natural regeneration of tree species like oak, silver birch and wych elm. Existing indicator species such as bluebell, yellow archangel, wood melick, and wild daffodil should take advantage

of the newly opened up areas, allowing this special woodland to make a glorious comeback.As the undergrowth is cleared,

Lea Wood Heritage Community Project (another Heritage Lottery Fund project) is able to get in and continue its historical investigation. A great example of two different bodies working together, the DerwentWISE work clears the ground for geophysical surveys and archaeological digs, and the Heritage Community Project team records the landscape and ecological sightings of species at Lea Wood. Visit www.leawoodhcp.wordpress.com to find out more about their work.

More informationTo find out more about Eco Centre courses, like the centre’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/DerbyshireEcoCentre or search online for Derbyshire Eco Centre to access a downloadable brochure The DerwentWISE website should go live in December. You can contact the project team at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust on 01773 881188 or by email at [email protected]

Clearance at Lea Wood

Belper Mill, Ashley Franklin

Excavations at Lea Wood

Tony BiddleFormer Secretary of the South Derbyshire Group, Tony Biddle passed away this summer.

Tony was a strong silent type, a cricket fan who also loved all things natural. He was born in Burton upon Trent in 1938. The family moved to Shropshire with his father’s engineering work but returned to Burton in time for Tony to pass his 11 plus exam at

Newhall School. After completing his education at Burton Grammar School for boys, he spent a short time training with BT as a telecom engineer before carrying out his National Service with the RAF, then returning to BT as a lineman. His wife Marianne encouraged him to study again at college - he went on to pass all his exams and interviews with flying colours and became a BT manager.Tony loved the outdoors, nature and

collecting things. He loved beetles, bugs, butterflies and moths and always carried specimen jars in his pocket on a walk. Tony was secretary for the Old Post Project and for the South Derbyshire Group.After being diagnosed with cancer, Tony was given 18 months to live. He refused all treatment, working on mind over matter and lived for three years and three months.He will be sadly missed by all.

DerwentWISE launch at EcoCentre

UPLANDS


Heather moorlandStunning to look at when it reaches its purple best in August or September, heather provides breeding habitat for a variety of birds, including hen harrier, merlin and short-eared owl.

Hen harriers are among the most endangered breeding birds of prey in England – their preference for ground-nesting sites among heather and their diet of small grouse and fowl bring them into conflict with gamekeepers and farmers. During courtship, the male performs an elaborate ‘skydancing’ display, a series of steep climbs and dives, plummeting and twisting towards the ground before pulling out of the dive and rising steeply again.

The short-eared owl is about the same size as a barn owl but with long wings. These birds hunt mainly during the daytime, flying low over moorland and grassland to hunt field voles and birds.

The merlin is a small falcon, not much bigger than a blackbird. They feed on small birds, especially meadow pipits, which they chase in flight, not far above the ground. They nest on the ground, among the heather.

Patient observers may also be rewarded with a glimpse of a mountain hare. Smaller than the brown hare, the mountain hare’s coat is brown or grey-brown with white undersides. In autumn, it begins to turn white and most are white by December, moulting back to their summer coat in March.

Our moorlands are much more than pretty places with wonderful wildlife – they provide some vital functions with repercussions for all of us. Peat forms over thousands of years, by the build-up of layers of plants such as sphagnum moss, cotton grass and heathers, and is up to four metres deep in places. As they contain large volumes of dead and decaying organic matter, peatlands are great at storing carbon. More than three billion tonnes are already being stored, and if restored, an

additional three million tonnes of carbon dioxide could be removed from our atmosphere every year.

They are also crucial for storing, retaining and purifying water. Our upland areas are also our wettest as anyone caught in a downpour on Kinder Scout can testify. In fact, 70 per cent of our water comes from upland areas – preserving and restoring them can help alleviate flooding and ensure a healthy water supply to meet growing demand.

Sadly, many upland peatland areas in England are currently in poor condition. Upland peat is eroding into our rivers and being lost to the atmosphere through drainage and burning, affecting water quality and supply, and contributing to climate change.

Throughout Britain, a number of projects are starting to reverse the damage, revitalising upland peatlands and restoring land that has been overgrazed, drained, burned and polluted. They include projects co-ordinated by the Moors for the Future partnership in the Peak District and South Pennines.

Now, a group of organisations including The Wildlife Trusts, National Trust and RSPB have got together to urge the Government to take action for our upland peatlands. The partnership is asking the Government to, among other things, support targets for 200,000 hectares of healthy and well-managed uplands in England by 2020, develop funding for peatland restoration, and secure funding to ensure ongoing well-managed peatlands.

Find out more on our website, www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk

Our Uplands On Top of the World?

Derbyshire is a county of contrasts. In the south the gently undulating landscape of the Trent Valley is dotted with gravel extraction sites, plundering the wealth of natural resource in this part of the county. Worked out sites here have flooded to provide wonderfully rich wetlands teeming with birdlife.

Make your way northwards through the lush Derwent Valley with its ancient woodlands and watch for water voles skulking secretively on the Cromford Canal, to arrive among the spectacular scenery of the limestone dales, where ash woodlands cling to the hillsides and glorious orchids put on a vibrant summer display. Along the way you may be lucky enough to spot brown hares in a meadow or dippers bobbing on the river. To the east is the Magnesian limestone of North East Derbyshire and the coal measures, while to the north we finally reach the grand heights of upland Derbyshire, with its challenging walks and glorious vistas.

This landscape attracts walkers and mountain bikers to explore but for those not in a rush through, it offers some wonderful wildlife habitats.

Blanket bogsWild areas with spiky rushes, carpets of moss and wet, peaty soils, blanket bogs are a familiar feature of our dramatic upland landscapes. They smother large areas of level or gently sloping ground under a ‘blanket’ of peat.

Although blanket bog is naturally species-poor because of its acidity, both its name and appearance belie its considerable wildlife interest. Growing among the wispy strands of deergrass and cotton-grass are a variety of unusual plants and animals adapted to this specialised habitat, including bog rosemary, cranberry and

insectivorous sundews.

Peaty pools separated by drier hummocks of heather, bilberry and crowberry are as common features as the sphagnum moss-dominated flats. Sphagnum mosses play a very important role in the creation of peat: they hold water in their spongy forms, providing essential nutrients to the soil and preventing the decay of dead plant material which eventually gets compressed to form peat.

Golden plover, dunlin and greenshank are some of the many bird species which nest on blanket bog, alongside a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic

invertebrates. Golden plovers breed on upland heathland and blanket bog. One of their major food sources are craneflies which also inhabit the wetter areas of the moorlands. As our uplands dry out, populations of cranefly are dwindling, which will impact on golden plovers.

Like other peatlands, blanket bogs also play another important role. Preserved by the constant waterlogging and acidic conditions, a wealth of fascinating evidence from the past, such as pollen, seeds, insects, wooden structures, organic artefacts and even human remains, have been found stored in chronological order in the layers of peat.

Cotton grass - David Fryer-Winder

From the top:Golden plover - Margaret HollandRound-leaved sundew - Vicky NallSphagnum moss - Philip PreceyShort-eared owl - Amy Lewis

For more information on upland

projects and wildlife in Derbyshire

and the Peak District visit

www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk

and www.easternmoors.org.uk

OUT AND ABOUT


Brockholes WoodBrockholes Wood is our most northerly reserve, just north of the Woodhead Pass above Tor Side Reservoir. It is a fragment of sessile oak woodland surrounded by moorland. Near the top of the wood is a disused quarry. Visit in early September to see the heather which now covers the quarry floor and you may also see one of the resident kestrels flying out from the quarry cliff face. Kestrel numbers have declined but they seem to be doing well here. They have recently moved into this woodland. Roe deer are the smallest native deer species. In winter they appear to be dull brown but in spring they turn a lovely red brown.You may also be lucky enough to see a mountain hare. These have shorter ears than brown hares and their feet are covered with thick fur. In winter their coat turns from dull brown to white, making them easy to see unless the ground is covered with snow.

Carvers RocksTo see heather in the south of the county, visit Carvers Rocks on the edge of Foremark Reservoir. This reserve boasts an area of lowland heath which is glorious at this time of year. There is also an interesting wet valley bursting with sphagnum moss. Spagnum has a huge capacity for holding water and is found in many boggy areas where the intrepid can quickly find themselves up to their knees. It was used in the Crimean war for dressing wounds because of its extreme absorbency. In the oak and birch woodland which dominates the reserve you can find woodcock and marsh tit.

Willington Gravel PitsThe reedbeds at Willington turn a beautiful blonde colour at this time of year and rustle in the wind. Last November a murmuration of starlings arrived and each evening onlookers were treated to one of nature’s most spectacular displays as thousands of birds wheeled around the sky forming intricate patterns before descending en masse into the reeds to spend the night. These are not the first birds of the year to use the reserve as a gathering place. Earlier in the year swallows come here to roost before starting on their long migration south for the winter.

Carr ValeIn the north east of the county there is no better place to see wildfowl than this series of pools on the edge of Bolsover.

This reserve is monitored daily by a dedicated team of local birdwatchers so check out our website before you visit to see what is about.

In winter the reserve is home to a range of wildfowl which feed on the flooded margins of the grassland, on the seeds and invertebrates disturbed by rising water levels. Amongst them are wigeon - unlike other species of dabbling duck they leave the water to feed by grazing on very short grass. The male wigeon is distinguished by his chestnut coloured

head. Gadwall are also present here in large numbers. Close up the black and light brown mottled markings on the male bird are rather beautiful. Red-legged partridges and brown hares are also regularly seen on the reserve.

DrakelowAt this time of year cormorant numbers build up in the winter roost, some of these being resident breeders while others come to roost from across the Trent Valley. They like to stand with their wings held out to dry after a spot of fishing. One of the most common ducks to look out for here is the shoveler. The female looks similar to a female mallard but she has a large shovel-like beak. The male has a dark green head and neck not dissimilar to the male mallard. At any one time you can see dozens of birds on the water grouped in tight circles feeding on insects and small plants which they sift from the water.

There are a number of dedicated ornithologists at the site, so check our website for details of birds they have seen recently. Please note a permit is required for Drakelow.

Hilton Gravel PitsHilton is a good place to find fungi. On a fungal foray one October 32 species were found. Of these the most striking is the fly agaric. Its red cap with white spots makes it easy to see amongst the birch trees. Fly agaric is poisonous and was once used to knock out flies. The people of northern Scandinavia use it to round up reindeer as it has hallucinogenic properties and makes them easy to catch. Another fungus to be found here which has a purple hue but is not as obvious as the fly agaric is the purple brittle gill. This fungus is a member of the genus Russula, all of which are brightly coloured, either yellow, red or purple.

Hillbridge WoodAn autumn walk in the Goyt Valley is to be recommended. Park on Long Hill just outside Whaley Bridge and follow the path through the woods and over the river into Hillbridge Wood. If you visit early in the morning you might spot a red deer. These majestic animals are our largest deer and were once widespread in England. They disappeared from the wild in the 18th century and were kept in deer parks for hunting. It is unclear whether the red deer at Hillbridge Wood were introduced here for hunting when it was part of the Jodrell Estate or escaped from nearby Lyme Park.

Hillbridge is also an excellent place for fungi. There are a number of old birch

trees here which have a bracket fungus known as birch polypore attached to them. The fungus is hoof shaped and grows up to 20cm across its is light brown on top and white underneath. An evocatively named fungus which you should find growing here is candle snuff fungus. It is also called stag’s horn fungus. It is about 3cm high but easily spotted as its ghostly white on top and black underneath and branched just like a stag’s horn.

Out and About: Autumn Don’t let the shortening days and cooler weather deter you – there’s still plenty to see from birds to fungi and lovely autumn colours on our nature reserves. Let Reserves Officer Julia Gow be your guide.

October

NovemberSeptember

Carr Vale - Guy Badham

Roe buck - Jon Hawkins

Mountain hare - Mick Hoult

Wigeon at Carr Vale - Guy Badham

Fly agaric - Sue Crookes

Stag’s horn fungus - Les Binns

September

In September the main job is mowing. Several reserves have areas that benefit from an annual mow. At Carr Vale and Wyver Lane the grassland is mown right down to the water’s edge to encourage wigeon to graze. At Oakerthorpe, Golden Brook Storage Lagoon and Hilton Gravel Pits, orchid glades are mown after they have finished flowering. At Spring Wood and Mapperley Wood the glades are mown to provide woodland edge habitat for butterflies.

Our Toyota Hilux turns up, trailer in tow, with the pedestrian mower (pictured). The mower is fuelled and pre-operation checks are carried out to make sure the machine is in working order. The mower is then driven through the wood to the grassland glade. The volunteers all arm themselves with pitchforks and rakes.

The mower does an excellent job of reducing the grass height and is much quicker than using strimmers. Raking up takes just as long, however, and it takes nine volunteers to keep up with the mower! All the cut grass is raked up and moved to the edges of the glade where it

will rot down and provide overwintering habitat. The removal of the cut material is important as it keeps the nutrients down and stops the dominance of grasses and scrub. At the end of the day the mower is cleaned and returned to the trailer.

MID-WEEK TEAM


November

As the weather gets colder and the hours of daylight less, the work of the mid week team goes round full circle. It is the start of the winter scrub cutting season. The volunteers meet at Miller’s Dale Station car park in the Wye Valley and head down the Monsal Trail to Chee Dale Nature Reserve. Each volunteer arms themselves with a bow saw and lopper. The day’s job is clearing small hawthorn trees from an area known as Wormhill Slopes. The ground is quite steep and contains important areas of limestone grassland.

The first task is to get a small fire going (we cheat and use firelighters and dry kindling). Some volunteers cut down the hawthorn trees as close to the ground as possible. They then drag the cut material across the slopes to the fire site. Others are tending the fire and help to load the wood on to it. As the day goes on the fire gets a little bigger. At around 12 o’clock a load of potatoes are wrapped in tinfoil and placed in the hot ash at the edge of

the fire. Meanwhile the reserve staff wander around the hillside with a bottle of herbicide searching for the scrub stumps. Each stump gets a very small dose of spray which stops the trees re-growing. At 1 o’clock everybody stops for a well-deserved lunch break including a hot jacket spud and butter. After lunch the work continues until about 3, when we stop loading the fire. The volunteers then stand around the fire watching it burn down and turning it in until it is safe to leave.

December

In December the volunteer team has its annual Christmas work party. This is usually very well attended with 50-60 people including mid week volunteers, weekend volunteers, all the reserves staff, other Trust staff and trustees. In 2013 the Christmas party was at Lea Wood Nature Reserve near Cromford. The morning’s work task was clearing non-native rhododendron. The reserve has some

dense areas of this invasive species. In these areas nothing else will grow - it even stops the natural regeneration of the woodland trees.

We split up into smaller groups, each led by a member of the reserves team. Large areas of rhododendron are cut down and cleared in a short amount of time. Most of the rhododendron is burnt on a large fire and the stumps treated with herbicide. At 1 o’clock the work stops and everyone congregates at a central point. A lunch spread is put on which often includes hot jacket potatoes, chilli con-carne, mince pies and hot fruit punch. Some very keen volunteers even do some more work after lunch, although most people are too full of food! The midweek team has a two-week break over the Christmas period but you can bet they will be back in the new year to start all over again!

We’d like to thank everyone who volunteers for the Trust. We couldn’t manage our nature reserves without you!

A year in the life of the Midweek Team

PART THREE: AUTUMNContinuing our look at the work of the Midweek Volunteer Team, Paul Harasimow takes us through the autumn months.

October

Today the volunteers are meeting at Willington Gravel Pits. The job is still mowing but this time it’s on the islands! Willington has four islands which provide valuable sites for nesting birds. There is no way we can use the mower so brushcutters are used instead. We use a two-man metal boat to get to the islands. The first job is ferrying all the volunteers and equipment from the mainland to the first island. A rope line is set up after the first crossing to make things easier. Three volunteers who have been trained to use brushcutters set to work cutting down the vegetation. The first island is soon cleared and they move on to the second one. The rest of the volunteers then start to rake up the cut material. A small grass fire is lit and is used to burn all the cuttings. Positioning the fire is very important as grass fires produce a lot of smoke! By the end of the day two of the islands have been cleared. The final job is getting all the volunteers and equipment safely back to the mainland.

Willington Scrub clearance

Mowing at Hilton Gravel Pits

FEATURE


In 1988, a group of botanically-minded friends travelled to the Greek island of Crete for a week of tulips and orchids and endemic plants in the spring sunshine, led by the inimitable Dr Franklyn Perring, a founder of one Wildlife Trust, president of another and General Secretary of the then Royal Society for Nature Conservation.

That was the inaugural holiday for Wildlife Travel, a company set up by The Wildlife Trusts with the aim of raising money for the Trusts, alongside promoting eco-tourism and inspiring people about wildlife.

From tiny acorns… in the 26 years since that first Wildlife Travel holiday, we have travelled with 347 different groups, to 47 countries on every continent on the planet except for

Antarctica.

We have had close encounters with elephants, swum with penguins, been kept awake by singing nightingales and lulled to sleep by chorusing tree frogs; we have seen sunrise over the Amazon, drunk sundowners in the Okavango Delta and experienced the midnight sun in Iceland; we have enjoyed amazing displays of wild flowers from the Russian Arctic to the Cape of Good Hope; we have watched otters on Mull, gone rock pooling in Norfolk, seen great bustards on Salisbury Plain and found some of Britain’s rarest wild flowers on the Isles of Scilly; and we have made wonderful memories and very good friends along the way.

Raising money for wildlifeAll the profits we have distributed in our 26 years have been donated to The Wildlife Trusts to support their conservation work here in the UK, rather than being paid to individual shareholders.

Since 1988 we have raised more than £150,000 for nature conservation, and we are keen to raise much, much more. If you are a traveller, please consider joining one of our holidays. And spread the word! The more travellers, the more profitable we will become, and the more money we can raise for wildlife here and across the country. For every traveller who mentions Derbyshire Wildlife Trust when booking with us, we will make a donation to the Trust, and if you haven’t travelled with us before, this will be at least £50 per person.

For more information about Wildlife Travel and our holidays, visit www.wildlife-travel.co.uk, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/WildlifeTravel.UK or call 01954 713575

Being responsibleEco-tourism is about much more than just travelling to see wildlife.

Eco-tourism is defined as ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people’. As the detrimental effects of air travel are increasingly accepted, so we need to ensure even more that all our holidays provide positive gains to the local environments and communities that we visit.

For us, our conservation credentials aren’t just a case of ‘green wash’, they are central to the way we run our business.

As well as working with The Wildlife Trusts, we do our best to ensure that where ever possible we also contribute positively to the work of nature conservation organisations in the destination countries. Our holidays have visited vulture feeding projects in Spain and in the Balkans, contributed to research work and environmental education projects in the Galapagos and travelled with local conservationists in Portugal, Tasmania, Romania and Yorkshire, amongst many others.

One of the first wildlife holiday companies to off-set all our flights as a matter of course, we are keen to ensure that we do much more than ‘just’ off-set any damage. In recent years our flights have been mitigated through the World Land Trust’s work in reforestation and protection of high biodiversity forest in Ecuador, a country we have a long and happy history of visiting.

Travelling has an enormous potential to be a force for good. For some of the world’s most endangered wildlife, the key to their survival is ecotourism, ensuring

that a healthy ecosystem has an economic value to the communities who live in and alongside it.

Take, for example, Madagascar. The world’s fifth largest island is famous for its endemic wildlife: around 85 per cent of species found there are found nowhere else on the planet, including all 101 species of lemur. Ninety species of lemur are threatened with extinction according to the most recent IUCN Red List assessment, making lemurs one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates.

Madagascar is rich in wildlife, but it is amongst the poorest countries on the planet. More than 22 million people make the island their home: nine out of 10 live on less than two dollars a day. For Madagascar, the two key economic opportunities are tourism and the extractive industries: logging and mining.

Madagascar has a wonderful network of national parks. When visiting Madagascar it is immediately obvious that the areas around the national parks are more prosperous than elsewhere: the presence of forest protects water resources and soils and ameliorates the local climate. The presence of tourists who have come primarily to see the lemurs ensures the local people have a good income. Conservation work around the national

parks includes improvements to local infrastructure, provision of schools and health care systems. The national parks are key to an improved standard of living for the local communities and the survival of the wonderful wildlife.

The combination of a period of political instability and the world economic downturn saw visitor numbers fall by almost two thirds between 2007 and 2010, and almost immediately the rate of illegal mining, poaching within the national parks and deforestation rocketed.

Without the presence of tourists, and more importantly the flow of tourist dollars, Madagascar’s forests and their lemurs won’t survive. Wildlife Travel will be visiting Madagascar in October 2015.

Philip Precey of Wildlife Travel explains how this wildlife

holiday business helps support our work at home and the

environment and communities much farther afield.

Travelling on the Wild Side

Val d’Espetal, Aragon

Galapagos hawk, Gardner Bay, EspanolaDelta Camp, BotswanaPaphos, Cyprus

Galicica, MacedoniaGalapagos flycatcher

Ring-tailed lemur

For the past three years, in close partnership with the Wildlife Trusts for Sheffield and Yorkshire, we have been running a project called Skills for Wildlife. This Heritage Lottery funded project offered places for 16-19 year olds to study for an environmental conservation diploma in a work-based environment.

Working as a close-knit team carrying out practical conservation tasks for a year, the trainees gathered evidence whilst out in the field to put into a portfolio. As well as learning many aspects of managing nature reserves, they also worked on their personal development by practising their communication, team-working and time-keeping.

We provided hands-on training in heritage land-management skills such as hedge laying and dry stone walling, first-aid and a broad range of conservation work including working with children and livestock (not at the same time), assisting at events and surveying.

As individuals, they also had a work placement one day a week with another conservation-related organisation. These were local to their area and provided

additional on-the-job experience. In some cases, trainees continued working on a voluntary basis after the placement, gaining further experience to enhance their job prospects.

As well as hedge planting and laying with the Limestone Journeys project, collecting and propagating veteran tree seed and creating new woodlands with the Value in Trees project and habitat improvement on the Erewash Canal, the team worked on over half of the Trust’s reserves on tasks such as constructing a viewing screen, rebuilding a bridge, putting up signs, making and putting up bird boxes and erecting and repairing fences.

Seasonal habitat management, some of which was done alongside volunteers, was carried out on grasslands, wetlands, woodlands and heathland, and included scrub clearance, annual meadow mowing, invasive plant removal, tree thinning, willow and hazel coppicing.

The team also worked on the Trust’s outdoor classrooms at Carsington Water and the Whistlestop Centre in Matlock Bath.

FEATURE


Nurturing new talentOur three-year Skills for Wildlife project has given 11 young people in Derbyshire a chance to train for a career in nature conservation. Kelvin Lawrence takes a look back on some of the project’s highlights.

Where are they now?From this year’s group, Ben G left early to pursue a career in farming; Lottie has gone on to an apprenticeship at a horticultural nursery; James C has secured a place at university studying environmental science; Ben N has started a drystone walling and landscaping business. James R has also launched a landscaping business; Izzy is on the job hunt and hopes one day to work in marine conservation.As I metaphorically turn out the lights at the end of the project I’d like to say thank you to all the organisations and individuals who supported the project, far too many to mention, and especially a big thank you to our trainees. Their enthusiasm for nature is infectious and inspiring. They have been fun to work with and have made a great contribution to our efforts to protect wildlife which we really appreciate. We wish them all well as they embark on their future careers.

HighlightsThe team was in great demand, working all over Derbyshire and sometimes beyond.

Lottie gets to grips with log splitting as part of a green woodworking workshop The trainees developed their hedge laying skills while helping with the Limestone Journeys Project.

The team installed a new viewing screen next to the living bird table at Woodside Nature Reserve

Completed section of rebuilt drystone wall at Hartington Meadows Nature Reserve

The trainees helped with various school grounds projects including this fantastic wildlife hotel.

Learning surveying skills at Lea Wood

I am a more confident person and it has helped my passion for wildlife

to grow Danny Goodall

Gaining this experience and qualifications will

highly improve my chances of getting another job in

this sectorJoe Outhwaite

Wheatear, Amy Lewis

BOOK REVIEW


With 376 A4 pages and weighing in at a hefty 5lb 4oz this beautifully illustrated book is the result, from first idea to final publication, of over 20 years work by the Derbyshire Ornithological Society. Originally conceived as an update to the 1978 book Birds of Derbyshire, with the outline specification established by 1998, the final cut-off for information proved to be 31st December 2011 with publication in early 2014!

Early sections of the book cover the history of Derbyshire ornithology from the 17th century then detail the formation of the Derbyshire Ornithological Society with key activities and personnel to date. These are followed by accounts of the varied geology and landscapes of the county. It even includes records of fossil remains dating back 25,000 years, where

bones of red/willow grouse and ptarmigan were common. They conclude with many full colour photographs of birds categorised by common local habitat and others of rarities such as the Black-browed albatross recorded in Staveley in 1952.

However the core of the book is the 319 species that have been recorded in the county, of which 125 are breeding species. All the available information about the distribution of each species and how numbers have fared over the decades has been included, down to the level of individual events, for example, the locations of large starling roosts or the earliest sighting of waxwings. For all the breeding species distribution maps are provided based on 10 km grid squares indicating confirmed, probable and possible breeding.

Not a book to pack in the rucksack for a day’s birding, but a wonderful book for

opening at random to discover, for example, the story of Frederick Bulstrade Whitlock, a bank manager and keen ornithologist, who published Birds of Derbyshire in 1893 before absconding to Western Australia with the contents of the safe, or that a pair of peregrines were sighted chasing a skein of pink-footed geese near Crowden on 18th October 1998.

But it is much more than that, it is a fantastic research tool for the serious ornithologist, bringing together just about everything there is to be known about the birds of the county from avocet to yellowhammer, (no sightings |of zebra finches being listed!). It will prove to be the definitive text on the subject for many years to come.

Fred Pickering

Trustee

My week: Martin MullisIf you’ve been out at an event in Derbyshire this summer, you may have met one of our Wildlife Supporter Officers who help us find new members. Martin Mullis is one of the team and here he explains how a typical week looks for him.

Monday is usually the day after a recruitment

event. My wife Ruth and I look after our

year-old granddaughter on Mondays and

Tuesdays, so in order to get her to sleep (and

get us some peace!), we generally walk her up

to the Post Office with my pockets full of

membership forms from the week’s activities

for posting back to base. However, Monday is

also the day for my monthly meeting with

‘the boss’, Ellen, and then other members of

the team at HQ. It’s also choir practice night.

I applied for the Wildlife Supporter Officer

role when I found that I had a knack for

recruiting after successfully encouraging men

to join the choir - not an easy sell!

Tuesday is my second day of babysitting, but

I will sometimes do a few phone calls to

lapsed members, to see if I can get them to

rejoin. I am always conscious of the number of

annoying cold calls I get at home, and so try

not to sound like a call centre operative when

I do ring people. Talking about ringing, I am

learning to ring the bells at my local church on

Tuesday nights - this will keep me going well

into my dotage I think.

Wednesday, and I get to go out with my

volunteering pals under the supervision of

either Julia, Paul or Sam on the Trust reserves.

This started as a hobby when I was still fully

employed with the police. I enjoyed it so

much that I used to take time off from proper

work to do my wildlife hobby. One of the

reasons I think I am suited to recruiting new

members to the Trust, is that I am so involved

in project work on the reserves and can

impart that knowledge of where and how

membership subscriptions are spent.

Thursday may be another day of

volunteering. Some of the projects I have

been involved in lately are building the

boardwalks in Chee Dale, checking bird boxes

at Long Clough, coppicing hazel in Deep Dale

and cutting back the scrub at Priestcliffe Lees.

And to think I worried about not having

enough to keep me occupied in retirement!

Friday: while the light nights are here I might

do some house to house recruiting, which I

have found to be profitable. It is all about

selecting areas where there may be people

with a potential interest in wildlife. For

instance I was successful in a locality where I

had heard that the residents had bought up a

piece of land to protect it from development,

and where I knew there were badger setts…

not to mention the odd celebrity recruit! I also

go to locations near to our reserves, and I find

that I can inspire people to join by talking

about all the preservation work going on just

down the road. Or I might go to an indoor

event such as a Farmers Market in Buxton’s

Pavilion Gardens, where I find many local

people who have not yet heard of the Trust,

or who have, but hadn’t got round to signing

up yet. Friday is also quiz night, another

hobby of mine. I recently recorded an episode

of Pointless on BBC TV, and managed to get

the Trust a mention.

Saturday: now that we are in to Carnival

season, I might set up at the Carnival

showground. I have a gazebo that I can just

about set up on my own, but it sometimes

needs holding down quite firmly. I have to

make sure I am well protected from the

elements at some of these events and am

already on to my second set of display boards

after a year of such work. I am regularly joined

by family or friends at a site and have found

that it is a good way of keeping in touch with

local issues and local people. I might do a

special event such as the One World Festival

in New Mills, where I find like minded people

ready to support the Trust, or similarly the

Inspire Festival in Glossop.

Sunday will find me at something like the

Edale Country Day, or maybe Padfield Plum

Fair. Again I am spending my time at these

lovely traditional Derbyshire events that are

staged in beautiful surroundings in a spirit of

celebration. Working and living in the Peak

District as I do in this role, it would be easy to

take for granted the wonderful countryside,

but it is gratifying to meet all the visitors at

these events and to see that people still

come to enjoy this glorious scenery and

value it by becoming members of Derbyshire

Wildlife Trust.

FEATURE

The Birds of DerbyshireEdited by Roy Frost and Steve Shaw on behalf of the Derbyshire Ornithological Society

Publisher: Liverpool University Press £45

What’s on your bucket list?

My Bucket List

1. Experience the Northern Lights

2. See a golden eagle in the wild

3. Run a marathon

4. F ind out about my family tree

5. Go whale watching

6. Learn to play the piano

7. Ride a gondola in Venice

8. Go camping with my family

9. Tell Dad I love him

10. Leave a legacy to Derbyshire

Wildlife Trust

To learn more about leaving a legacy

to help wildlife, call 01773 881188

or email

[email protected]

REMEMBER A CHARITY


You can help to make sure Derbyshire’s beautiful wild places can be enjoyed by future generations. Marketing and Fundraising Manager Jane Proctor explains more.

Once again we are working with solicitors across the county to promote legacy giving during Remember a Charity Week, 8th – 14th September, and throughout the year by providing them with our legacy leaflets. This year the theme is ‘What’s on your bucket list?’ On this page you will find a list of solicitors offering discounted Will writing services to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust supporters.

So what’s a bucket list? In 2007 the film The Bucket List was released starring Morgan Freeman whose character has just a few months to live. He puts together a list of things he’d like to do before ‘kicking the bucket’. The list is intercepted by Jack Nicholson’s character who takes it upon himself to make sure everything on the list is ticked off!

Everyone’s bucket list is different, from a rare bird sighting to visiting the Taj Mahal, but our campaign is all about encouraging our supporters to think about what you’d like to achieve, while asking if you’d consider leaving

a legacy to the Trust so that future generations can continue to enjoy Derbyshire’s rich wildlife and wild places.

In recent years legacies really have made a difference. Earlier this year a legacy and anonymous donation enabled us to purchase an extension to Hartington Meadows Nature Reserve, adding a further 10.29 hectares (25.4 acres) to the site. This is the fourth time the reserve has been extended and the second time legacy funds have been used. Hartington now has a mixture of beautiful meadows, rugged quarry faces, pools, dew ponds and woodland and is home to hundreds of species.

However, it’s not all about land purchase as funds also contribute to our work including encouraging children to enjoy the natural world, supporting nature reserve management and volunteer teams.

Whatever you are able to give, no matter how large or small, really does make a difference. If you would like to discuss leaving a gift in your Will please do feel free to call Jane Proctor on 01773 881188 for an informal conversation.

The solicitors taking part in Remember a Charity Week 2014 are:

Andrew Macbeth Cash & Co6 St John’s StreetWirksworthDerbyshire DE4 4DR01629 822515c.loeber@potterco-solicitors.co.ukwww.potterco-solicitors.co.ukHalf price will writing during September 2014.

Aspinall WrightNotary House65 High Street WestGlossopDerbyshire SK13 8AZ01457 [email protected] price of £80 for a single Will and £125 for a joint Will during September.

Bilton HammondCorner HouseUnion StreetMansfieldNotts NG18 1RP01623 [email protected]% discount all year.

BRM SolicitorsGray Court99 SaltergateChesterfield Derbyshire S40 [email protected]% discount during September 2014.

Cleaver Thompson Ltd5 & 7 King StreetAlfretonDerbyshire DE55 7AE01773 832193enquiries@cleaverthompson.co.ukwww.cleaverthompson.co.ukFixed price of £60 for a single Will and £95 for a joint Will during September 2014.

Cooper Sons Hartley & Williams 25 Market StreetChapel-en-le-FrithHigh PeakDerbyshire SK23 0HS01298 [email protected] price Will writing during September 2014.

Flint Bishop LLPSt Michael’s CourtSt Michael’s LaneDerby DE1 3HQ01332 [email protected] Will Writing (straightforward Wills) all year until Aug 2015. For details please contact the Wills and Probate team.

Maclaren Warner Solicitors129 Bath StreetIlkestonDerbyshire DE7 8AP01159 304994simon.kassell@maclarenwarner.co.ukwww.maclarenwarner.co.ukFixed price of £75 for a single Will and £140 for a joint Will all year.

Potter & Co23 Dale RoadMatlockDerbyshire DE4 3LT01629 582308c.loeber@potterco-solicitors.co.ukwww.potterco-solicitors.co.ukHalf price Will writing during September 2014.

PymsThe Triangle131 Bridge StreetBelperDerbyshire DE56 1BJ01773 [email protected]% discount during September 2014

Rickards & Cleaver17 Church StreetAlfretonDerbyshire DE55 7AJ01773 [email protected]% discount on 8th – 14th September 2014

Wykes O’Donnell Williams10-12 St James StreetDerby DE 1 1RL01332 [email protected]

14-15 Queen StreetIlkestonDerbyshireDE7 5GT01159 328776jamesnewton@wykesilkeston.co.ukwww.wykessolicitors.co.ukFixed price of £60 for a single Will and £90 for a joint Will all year.

A lasting gift

FUNDING

Each 50/50 Club membership costs just £12 and many current members have a number of memberships. Each £12 raised can make £120 which really is too good to be true! Four times a year a draw is made and currently prizes from £10 to £50 can be won. The more members the club has the greater the prize fund and funds raised for the Trust.

We are currently encouraging more people to join the club and to take out as many memberships as they can – it’s a bit of fun and does make a difference.

Congratulations to recent winners: Susan Patrick, Mr P Smith, Keith White, Jenny Morton, Penny Halfpenny, Beryl Hough, Mr B & Mrs S Norton and Dr G Allen.

Corporate SupportersOur corporate supporters are:

Absolute Networks Ltd

Accrofab Ltd

Bowmer Bond Narrow Fabrics Ltd

Buxton and High Peak Security

Carillion Rail

Catandra Consulting

CEMEX UK

Commercial Estates Group

Creed Foodservice

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber

EPC UK

E P Industries Ltd

Grangers International

Green Metals UK

JC Balls

Henry Boot Plc

Jury’s Inn Derby

Lafarge Tarmac

Lubrizol Ltd

Parry & Co (Nottingham) Ltd

The Riverside Hathersage Ltd

Stancliffe Stone

Tomlinson

Toyota

United Utilities

University of Derby

Visit Peak District and Derbyshire

Weleda

Western Power Distribution

Wienerberger Ltd

If you would like to find out more about becoming a corporate supporter, contact Ruth Long on 01773 881188.

Funding NewsWe have recently received the following grants and donations.

• £250 from the Wild Flower Society for volunteer training

• £1000 in memory of Peter Baker from his nephew Tom Arthur – this will be used to build a dipping platform at Drakelow

• £400 from our West Derby Group for work at Hilton Gravel Pits

• £400 from Greenwatch for Erewash Meadows

• £500 from the William Dean Trust for Value in Trees

• £1000 from the Four Winds Trust to assist with schools transport

• £15,300 from The Veolia Environmental Trust for Erewash Meadows

• £100 from the family of Barbara Moyes towards our Value in Trees project

• £3000 from Open Gate towards Value in Trees

Join our 50/50 Club!Fill in the form below and send with a cheque (made payable to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust 50/50 Club) for £12 per year per subscription to the Trust office. There is no limit on the number of subscriptions you can have, but you have to be in it to win it!

Name (s)

Address

Telephone number

Email address

Number of subscriptions required at £12 each Total amount enclosed

Join our 50/50 Club and win up to £50 four times a year!The 50/50 Club has been running for many years and has raised thousands of pounds for the Trust. All funds raised draw down ten times their worth as they are used for ‘third party’ donations which are required for successful bids via the Landfill Communities Fund.

To join simply fill out the form below.

Thank YouThank you to the following for recent donations to the Trust

Thank you to the following for recent donations to the Trust: Kevin D’Mello, Mr & Mrs Dyster, Miss Brock, Mr & Mrs Jackson, Mr & Mrs Wood, Mr & Mrs Lenton, Mrs Nicklinson, Scots Burns Association, Irene Dixon, Mr & Mrs Sprules, Joyce Sawford, Mrs Barrass, Sue Glithero, Steven Bell, Duffield Gardening Club, David Charlton, Mrs

Oldham, Mrs Malthouse, Mr Daykin, Trent & Lower Derwent Group, Appletree Hundred Group, Mr V Sercombe, Mr Arthur, South Derbyshire Local Group, Mr Guildford, Mr Thrupp, West Derby Local Group, Mr & Mrs Shaw, Mr Hales, Mrs Stetka, Mr & Mrs Rogers, Mr Twyford, Jim Wise, Mr & Mrs Markwell, Mrs Cawdron, Wye and Upper Derwent Group, Dave Hawkins, Peter Gamble, Hardy Orchid Society, Sue & Don Zmarzty, Whatstandwell Open Gardens and Dot Morson.

Thanks to Hilary Malella, Simon Wigglesworth, Mrs Beardwood, Caroline Hawkridge, Ann Froggatt, Lynda Osgerby, Lorraine Murphy and Helen Naylor for their donations to the Derby Cathedral Peregrines Project.We’d also like to thank friends and family of the following for their kind donations in their memory: Mrs Mary Samways, Doreen Magee, Sidney Staples, Mrs Muriel Wilkinson, Charles Wildgoose, Susan Fearnley, Mrs Barbara Moyes, Peter McCarthy


Toyota’s new partnership with Kew will benefit wildlifeCorporate supporter Toyota recently announced a new partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to create more natural habitats on its sites. The car manufacturer’s site at Burnaston near Derby contains areas of meadow, grassland, wetlands, woods and hedgerows and is home to more than 400 recorded plant and animal species, some of them rare and protected. The Trust has been carrying out regular monitoring on the site since 2006, including monthly invertebrate surveys, weekly breeding bird counts during the breeding season and bat surveys. Using this information, Kew’s team have been contributing to landscape planning at the site and are providing expertise in horticulture, land restoration, seed quality and project implementation, working with a local design practice and landscape contractors. We will continue to carry out survey work and provide advice on management of the habitats on the site for wildlife.Tony Walker, Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK’s Deputy Managing Director, said: “Working closely with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Kew Gardens we have radically changed the way in which we manage our site. We are able to introduce these measures side by side with our essential business of making cars, developing ecology, nurturing biodiversity and extending our commitment to environmental leadership.”

Value in Trees

Planting at Toyota

FEATURE

32 DERBYSHIRE NEWS AUTUMN 2014

After 20 years at the Trust, People Engagement Officer Jill Leheup has left us. Nick Brown takes a look back at her time with us.

Way back in 1994, the Trust took on a seasonal assistant to help with the school visits which were just starting at the Whistlestop Centre in Matlock Bath.

Jill Leheup was an experienced school teacher and lived with her husband Aidan just up the hill from the centre. She seemed perfect for our needs…and so it proved to be.

Now, 20 years later, she has decided to leave the Trust. Not many staff stay for such a long time – a mark of her commitment and powers of endurance.

Jill always tackled the work in hand without fuss and with total focus and dedication. One of the activities that she and the Trust pioneered was getting primary aged children directly involved in reserve management. Prepared by a proper ‘tools talk’ beforehand, they could be relied on to use loppers, bow saws, rakes and the like very sensibly.

Getting children to ‘put something back’ seemed successful. This ground-breaking work put the Trust at the forefront of environmental education, with other Trusts following suit when they saw how effective it could be.

A four-year, lottery-funded project called Making Natural Connections enabled Jill and a colleague to engage many schools with their local nature reserve. The plan was to try to get the children to take some ownership and pride in their local ‘wild patch’. Jill remembers this as one of the best projects she ever worked on.

Jill has a natural talent for craft and art work and she soon found ways to bring these skills into her teaching. Children made the most wonderful banners under Jill’s guidance. I particularly remember those from Rose End Meadows Nature Reserve and the super eel banners made to celebrate the release of thousands of elvers into The Avenue Washlands Nature Reserve.

Willow work was another passion of Jill’s and she supervised children making willow domes in the grounds of dozens

of Derbyshire schools.

Jill helped many new education staff find their feet. She was a real team player. When I asked her what she would miss most she said the company of her colleagues, past and present, and there have been quite a few over the years.

Jill, we wish you well with your travelling and other plans. I have a suspicion that when the Trust has an urgent need for someone to stand in and deliver some work with children, you’ll be willing – and certainly more than able.

I’m sure many children will have fond memories of their time with you. Hopefully some will have grown up to make their own contribution to conservation. That would be your legacy.

“You’ve been brilliant to work with. Your impression of a barn owl swooping on

its prey will remain with me for ever!” Rose Riddell, Sessional Education Worker

“Jill is the most dedicated, talented environmental educator I have ever met.

She is always inventing amazing new activities for events and school visits, that inspire wonder and awe in her audiences, no matter what their age. She captivates her audience, generating within them a keen interest for local wildlife.”

Louise Valantine, Senior People Engagement Officer

“Thank you for the best day ever at the Whistlestop Centre. I really enjoyed the river

dipping – it was fascinating because we found things we wouldn’t normally find in a river.”

Rebecca, Tupton Primary School

Farewell to JillJill Leheup at work

One of the eel banners created by Hunloke Park Primary School

UK NewsThe biggest stories from around The Wildlife Trusts Autumn 2014

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Can we rewild Britain?The case for restoring natural processes

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Take action for

Living Seas And help restore

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marine wildlifePage 40

Hello worldOur experts reveal how to introduce children to nature

Latest UK-wide news and issues:wildlifetrusts.org/news

UK NEWS

Four generations ago children roamed, on average, six miles from their home on foot. Now children roam 300 yards and spend twice the time we did indoors.

Four generations ago Britain had more than three million hectares of wildflower meadows. One generation ago we had only three per cent of this left and this is vanishing fast. So the chance today of a child stumbling across a wildflower meadow is almost non-existent.

Yet we know our happiness is tightly bound up with experiencing the natural world. The UK’s children are the unhappiest in the Western world, Unicef reports. And the most overweight. And many parents wish their kids were outside more. I know I do. The reasons are clear. When I was a child the doors were open, the woods were nearer and there was a limit to how much entertainment could be found indoors, especially after a winter of board games and books. Now the doors protect us from strangers; the woods and meadows are further away and the garden, if there is one, may not entertain older children for very long. Meanwhile, indoors there is a constant and varied scene of entertainment.

The solution is more wildlife places nearer where most of us live. It means forest schools being core to our learning. It means parents being more actively involved. And that’s no bad thing because whilst we may have been outside more we are ecologically illiterate compared to the generation before ours. Thanks to your support, your Trust is doing all it can to help change this. Let’s say it loud and clear: No Child Stuck Indoors!

Stephanie Hilborne OBEChief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts

No child stuck indoors

There are 47 Wildlife Trusts. With more than 800,000 members, we are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving all the UK’s habitats and species. Contact us on [email protected] or 01636 677711. To join your Wildlife Trust, visit wildlifetrusts.org/joinus Natural World, The Kiln, Waterside, Mather Road, Newark, Notts NG24 1WT. Editor Rupert Paul Communications manager Adam Cormack. Layout editor Phil Long Cover: getting to know Cornwall’s Godolphin Woods, by Cheryl Marriott

twitter @wildlifetrusts facebook.com/wildlifetrusts

AVONA derelict former sports ground in Bristol’s Avon Gorge will become Bennett’s Patch and White’s Paddock nature reserve from 2015 when Bristol is the European Green Capital of the Year.wtru.st/AvonGorge

BBOWTThe 34th annual count of snake’s-head fritillary plants at Iffley Meadows revealed a record 84,190 individual plants despite the site being under water for eight weeks earlier this year.wtru.st/RecordCount

B’HAM & BCThe Trust has taken on the historic Deer’s Leap Wood, on the boundary between the Edgbaston, Harborne and Soho Wards of Birmingham. It now has a secure future as a nature reserve.wtru.st/DeersLeap

CHESHIREThe Trust is undertaking major works to improve and enhance Red Rocks nature reserve on the Wirral. The SSSI is crucial to the survival of the natterjack toad, Britain’s rarest amphibian. wtru.st/RedRocksWork

CUMBRIASince 2012 16 volunteers have been mapping distribution of the Lake District’s smallest tree, dwarf willow. Its habitat requirements make it a potential indicator species for climate change.wtru.st/DwarfWillow

DORSETVolunteers have discovered a new species of starfish in rockpools at Kimmeridge. The small cushion starfish Asterina phylactica has never been recorded there before. wtru.st/Small Cushion

DEVONThe Greater Horseshoe Bat Project has received HLF funding. The project helps farmers to farm in bat-friendly ways so that vital feeding areas and flight corridors are maintained. wtru.st/GHSBatProject

DURHAMThe Trust has developed the Wildground Project – 118 traineeships in grounds maintenance to encourage a more natural approach. The aim is to improve biodiversity in built-up areas.wtru.st/WildGround

ESSEXA new Education and Visitor Centre at Walton on the Naze will be created with £1.145m from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund. It will help develop understanding of the Naze’s ecology.wtru.st/NazeCentre

GLOS Excavations at Greystones Farm reserve have turned up Iron Age remains, including two human burials. The reserve includes Salmonsbury Camp, an ancient monument. wtru.st/IronAgeGreystones

AROUND THE WILDLIFE TRUSTS

Trusts fight to save grasslands

One grassland saved... justA hard-fought campaign over a city centre site in Derby shows how at risk our special places are.

When Derby City Council proposed building a closed-circuit cycle track on The Sanctuary Local Nature Reserve (LNR) it was opposed by 16 conservation groups including Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, the Derbyshire Ornithological Society, the local RSPB group and others. The Trust took legal action against the Council to save the site, which is the city’s only bird reserve.

The Council designated the site as a LNR in 2006. It was widely welcomed as a great example of green development in an urban environment. It is home to an impressive array of species, given the small size of the reserve. Birds breeding here include little ringed plover, lapwing and skylark.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is now seeking to work positively with Derby City Council and to establish a ‘friends of’ group to ensure the future management and protection of this site. More at derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/news/2014

Flower-rich meadows and grasslands are more threatened than ever, according to new

evidence from The Wildlife Trusts. Despite 97% of lowland meadows in England having been wiped out by 1980, loss of these habitats continues.

Since 2005 a quarter of Local Wildlife Sites with grasslands (99 out of a total 392) in Nottinghamshire have lost valuable species. In Cumbria, surveys of upland hay meadows show a 27% decline (35 out of 128 sites). In Worcestershire, 24% of grassland Local Wildlife Sites (48 out of 200) have been degraded or lost since 2005.

After making these shocking discoveries, in May The Wildlife Trusts presented Environment Secretary Owen Paterson with nearly 9,000 e-petition signatures, collected in just four weeks, to urge better protection. The Government is about to take vital decisions (based on the Common Agricultural Policy) which will determine the future for many wild grasslands in England.

Wildlife-rich grasslands are vital resources. They store carbon and help purify and hold water. But on current trends they – and the insects and birds that depend on them – will vanish.

We are asking the Government to:n Improve laws and policies to better protect important grasslands;n Reward farmers for managing important grasslands, and link their conservation to conditional paymentsn Designate deserving grasslands as Sites of Special Scientific Interest;n Set up a national grassland inventory, with sustained monitoring of sites;n Restore more wildlife-rich grasslands, and encourage restoration partnerships.

Longer term, we are working with Plantlife, landowners and others to tackle the issues facing grasslands.More on wildlifetrusts.org/grasslands

In some parts of England up to a quarter of wildflower-rich habitats have declined or disappeared since 2005

Species-rich hay meadows often only have Local

Wildlife Site status. It’s not enough

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34 NATURAL WORLD AUTUMN 2014 AUTUMN 2014 NATURAL WORLD 35

Ideas for large-scale nature restoration along the proposed route

A greener vision for HS2

UK NEWS

GWENT£365,000 from the Big Lottery Fund People and Places Programme has boosted the Trust’s People and Wildlife Project, which raises awareness of the wildlife of the South Wales Valleys. wtru.st/GwentPandW

LEICS & RUTThe Trust has been gifted a fabulous new nature reserve set in the Belvoir escarpment. Coombs Meadows (mainly marsh and grassland) boasts one of the finest views over the Vale of Belvoir. wtru.st/CoombsMeadows

LINCSThe new Wildflower Meadows Network project will inspire local people to create and restore meadows, thanks to a £76,300 HLF grant. The aim is to develop a network of these rare habitats. wtru.st/LincsMeadows

LONDON WTThe Trust has a new reserve – Braeburn Park. A large brownfield site, it has ex-Victorian landfill, a shooting club, an orchard and a geological SSSI. It’s notably rich in scarce invertebrates. wtru.st/BraeburnPark

MANXThe first juniper grove has been planted in Glen Auldyn just a few hundred yards from where the last native tree was dug up nearly 70 years ago. It’s part of the 30-year Ramsey Forest project. wtru.st/ManxJuniper

N’BERLANDWith HLF funding the Trust and Archaeological Research Services Ltd have excavated Mesolithic remains, a Bronze Age cemetery and ancient peat beds at Low Hauxley. wtru.st/Rescued FromThe Sea

SOMERSETTwo million baby eels were released into Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve and Catcott Great Fen by the Sustainable Eel Group, the Rivers Trust and Somerset Wildlife Trust. wtru.st/SomersetEels

SUFFOLK The Trust is asking people to record their hedgehog sightings online. The project will help to identify hedgehog hotspots in the county as well as areas where they are completely absent. wtru.st/SuffolkHogMap

SURREYAbandoned playing fields at Priest Hill are beginning a new life as a nature reserve. Bare ground and chalk encourage invertebrates and wild flowers, which in turn support many birds and butterflies. wtru.st/PriestHill

ULSTERGrazing animals will return to Bog Meadows in Belfast thanks to £50,000 from the Alpha Programme. The reserve will also become easier for visitors to access.wtru.st/BogMeadowsWork

WILTSHIREThe box bug Goncerus acuteangulatus has been found at the Trust’s Conigre Mead reserve in the centre of Melksham. Its name comes from its main food, the box tree. wtru.st/WiltsBoxBug

AROUND THE WILDLIFE TRUSTSS & W WALESThe Trust is urgently raising money to continue critical breeding seabird studies along the Pembrokeshire coast. Government funding cuts are withdrawing support just when it is needed the most. wtru.st/SeabirdSOS

The Wildlife Trusts propose a greener HS2The Wildlife Trusts are calling for the controversial HS2 railway to become one of England’s biggest nature restoration projects, if it goes ahead.

We oppose the current route because of the environmental damage it would cause. The proposed mitigation measures also miss the chance to achieve a net gain for nature.

“Improved public transport is an important part of our transition to a low carbon economy, but this must not be achieved at the expense of the natural environment,” said Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape.

We are proposing a 1km ribbon of wildlife-rich landscape either side of the railway, with regular green bridges, pathways and cycle tracks (‘Low Speed 2’) reconnecting communities and habitats cut through by the line.

“It could be planned, established and run by a partnership of residents, landowners and local groups,” explained Paul. “Recreated habitats would link and provide ‘stepping stones’ between wildlife sites. In time there would be new meadows, woodlands and wetlands for people to explore, alongside existing farms, communities and housing.”

Independent research puts the cost of establishing and managing the green ribbon at less than 1% of the overall HS2 budget of £42bn.

Read ‘HS2 – A Greener Vision’ at wildlifetrusts.org/hs2

In March Environment Secretary Owen Paterson confirmed there would be no national roll-out of the badger cull in 2014. However, pilot culls will continue in Somerset and Gloucestershire as part of the Government’s strategy to tackle bovine TB (bTB) in cattle.

Independent reports show the culls failed to meet targets for effectiveness and humaneness. The Wildlife Trusts along with many groups, politicians and people oppose culling. Many Wildlife Trusts in the ‘edge area’ (where bTB is not yet widespread) are vaccinating badgers to help tackle the spread of bTB. “It’s time to stop seeing badgers as the problem,” said Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape. “The disease is mainly spread between cattle so the Government needs to do much more to address this.” More at wildlifetrusts.org/bovineTB

Alliance challenges fracking rules

All protected wildlife areas, nature reserves and national parks should be frack-free zones. Each drilling proposal should have a full environmental assessment. The shale gas industry should pay the costs of its regulation and pollution clean-ups.

That’s the message in a report by The Wildlife Trusts, the Angling Trust, the National Trust, RSPB, the Salmon & Trout Association and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust which challenges the way fracking in the UK is regulated.

Weaknesses in the current regulatory framework could put species such as pink-footed geese, salmon and barbastelle bats at risk and chalk streams could be contaminated or affected by water stress. More at wildlifetrusts.org/fittofrack

Roll-out stopped –pilot culls continue

New Wildlife Trust binocularsThanks to a partnership with Opticron we now have five Wildlife Trust binoculars, ranging from £30 to £129. Sales will help fund work on our reserves, keeping them a great place to see wildlife. The range comprises 8x21, 8x32, 8x42, 10x42 and 10x50. You can buy them from optics retailers and selected local Wildlife Trusts. opticron.co.uk

Tackling bovine TB in cattle makes more

sense than killing badgers, say The

Wildlife Trusts

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There are five models in The Wildlife Trusts’ range

Ospreys thrive on Wildlife Trust reserves

Kent grassland extendedIn the last two years Kent Wildlife Trust has managed to acquire 117ha (291 acres) of new chalk grassland reserves. The latest is the 74-acre Magpie Bottom near Shoreham, and two more sites should be added soon.

Scottish Wildlife Trust is 50It’s 50 years since the Trust was formed thanks to the efforts of a pioneering group led by Sir Charles Connell. The SWT’s first reserve was Enterkine Wood in Ayreshire. Today it manages 120 reserves across Scotland and has more than 35,000 members.

Osprey revivalThere are signs the UK’s osprey population is expanding with birds prospecting and fighting for nesting sites. In Montgomeryshire the regular Dyfi pair saw off stiff competition for their nest. At Rutland Water one nest was abandoned after territorial disputes. Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Foulshaw Moss saw its first clutch of eggs. And in Scotland the old female at Loch of the Lowes laid her 70th egg. wildlifetrusts.org/ospreys

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Kent Wildlife Trust’s Magpie Bottom reserve

in its summer pomp

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AUTUMN 2014 NATURAL WORLD 3938 NATURAL WORLD AUTUMN 2014

Hello worldTaking young children out? These are our experts’ tips to introduce them to the wonderful planet they are a part of

PEOPLE & NATURE

Climbing over logs is so much

better in bare feet

1 Explore under logs, in crevices in trees, on leaves, in meadows, in

streams. Children love holding millipedes that are ‘playing dead’ and watching them unfurl. For advanced ‘mini-beasting’ set an overnight pitfall trap: sink a yogurt pot to ground level and prop a rain-proof roof over the top.

2 What sounds better? “Fancy going for a walk?” or, “Who’s up for a

mission to go back in time and discover dinosaurs and find their eggs?” It’s fun chasing imaginary dinosaurs through the woods. Stones are their eggs! Muddy puddles are footprints!

3 Find objects and make up what they could be. A twig is a walking

stick for a hedgehog. A catkin is a squirrel’s scarf. Children will really get into it and come up with some crazy ideas.

4 Roll down a grass bank and see who can roll the slowest – or who

can get to the bottom first!

5 Ask the children to pretend they’re an ant. They could put a piece of

string on the ground and explore every minute detail along it as if they were very small. What do they see and what do they find? What would it be like to be that creature?

6 Stop, sit and be still in long grass or under a tree. Nature will come to

you! A couple of minutes is all it takes!

7 Watch bees: spot the pollen baskets on their hind legs, and their

long tongues drinking nectar.

8 Use the best binoculars available – a pair of taped-together loo rolls.

This simple bit of kit will focus their attention on the smallest of habitats under a leaf, or features across a landscape. They’re light, durable and you can even stick them on the compost heap when you get home.

9 Even your back garden becomes a jungle of exciting creatures after

dark. Hang up a sheet and shine a torch to attract moths. Or search under stones or logs to spot nocturnal creepy crawlies.

10 Lay a sheet under a tree and shake a branch. You will be amazed at

how much is living up above your heads.

11 In the woods, get the children to leave a trail, marking out arrows

with stones, sticks or pine cones to show the way they’ve gone. Or leave some leaf art for other people to find.

12 As you walk, make up stories about the unusual things you pass. Who

really lives down that hole? Was that tree watching you?

13 Catch grasshoppers in long grass with a net made from light material

and a wire coat hanger. Have a jam jar ready to catch flying insects from the net for a closer look.

14 Building nest boxes is a brilliant activity for children. Ready-sawn

wood and pre-drilled nail holes make it easier for smaller ones to get involved.

15 Make a pond to attract wildlife with an upturned dustbin lid dug into

the ground. Wait a few weeks in spring or summer. Then just lie down on your tummy and watch.

Your expertsJudy Powell, Suffolk Wildlife Trust; Bryony Carter, Shropshire Wildlife Trust; Lorna Fox, London Wildlife Trust; Jennifer Morpeth, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust; Michelle Crooks and Jim Day, Hants & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust; Katie Fenton, Essex Wildlife Trust; Julie Doherty and Jo Morris, Avon Wildlife Trust; Debs Richardson Bull, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust; Steve Ashton, Tees Valley WT; and Cheryl Marriott, Cornwall Wildlife Trust

15 great outdoor games

Think like thisl Embrace the great outdoors in all its wildness. You and your children are wild at heart. We are meant to be connected to nature.l Children who are engaged and buzzing with excitement take in and store that experience for the future. It also awakens their natural curiosity.l Get out there and enjoy the sunshine, wind, and rain. Children will follow your lead and will want to do the same.l Let yourself go: run around, get muddy, make silly shapes and noises. Children will thrive off the energy you give off.l Keep it simple, cheap and local. There’s no need for fancy expensive materials.l If you come across a bug you’re not sure of, think of a funny way to describe it. That way you’ll remember it to look up when you get home, if you want to.l Above all, give them the time and freedom to play, and to explore the outdoors for themselves.

You can do a lot of fun things with a handful of mud

Go wildFind a wild place near you to explore. See a list of our regular nature clubs. Download activity and spotting sheets. wildlifetrusts.org/mywildsummer

Dol Play with your children outside, regularlyl Let them get wet and muddyl Encourage them to explore and discoverl Let them grow plants they can eatl Climb trees, make dens, dip ponds, look for bugsl Go out at night to search for bats or minibeastsl Rear spawn into frogs or caterpillars into butterflies

l Pick and eat wild blackberriesl Use your senses: look, listen, touch, smellDon’tl Worry if you’re not an expert. Just aim to create a sense of wonder – happy memories which will set them up for lifel Stay indoors if it’s raining. Take a change of clothes and see who can make the biggest puddle splash

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Tony Whitbread is Sussex Wildlife Trust’s chief executive. He’s worked for The Wildlife Trusts since 1990

Can we rewild Britain?

LIVING LANDSCAPES

Rewilding is allowing nature to work (as much as possible) as it should. At Cossington Meadows

near Leicester, semi-wild Exmoor ponies help to keep wetland habitats wild and healthy

Travel through rural West Sussex, between Wisborough Green and Petworth, and you will discover a

wonderful old forest: tall beeches and oaks soaring above holly trees and a scattering of woodland flowers. This ancient place is ‘The Mens’. It’s Sussex Wildlife Trust’s biggest woodland reserve and home to a long-running ecological experiment.

There are no obvious signs of management here. Instead, The Mens has been deliberately left to its own devices since we bought it in 1974, and probably for decades before that.

It is, arguably, one of the few places like a ‘natural’ wild wood in lowland England. So it’s a good place to start looking at ‘rewilding’ – helping the natural processes that once drove the ecology of places to regain a foothold.

Rewilding is an idea finding its time thanks at least in part to George Monbiot’s recent book Feral. In it, Monbiot argues that we need large areas where we can experience something close to the full grandeur of nature. Places where we can rewild ourselves, as much as rewild nature. But that doesn’t just mean restoring trees and peat bogs to the sparsely-populated uplands. Rewilding asks deep questions about our relationship with nature, and how we look after it.

In some places UK nature conservation is already heading in this direction. From upland forest regeneration in Glen Affric, peatland restoration in the Pennines to saltmarsh restoration in Essex, we see a move towards understanding and working with natural processes over large areas. But what did wild Britain look like before we took up the axe and plough?

People generally picture a dense ‘wildwood’ that covered Britain perhaps 8,000 years ago. After all, many habitats in Britain, if left alone, will eventually develop into woodland.

But that original wildwood must also have included all the precursors to the habitats we know today such as grassland and heathland, as well as dense forest. These would have been formed as a result of natural disturbance, such as wind, fires, grazing, flooding and probably a great deal more besides. Evidence of oak and hazel in prehistoric pollen records suggests the wildwood would not have been continuous trees, as these species don’t regenerate well in dense woodland. And more than half of all our species need open, unwooded habitat, while many of the rest live on forest edges. So whilst trees may have been abundant in the wildwood we also need plenty of imagination when conceiving the wildness of our past and future landscapes. So what does this mean for nature conservation today?

Rewilding is about understanding how nature works and using this to shape our future landscapes, not recreate the past.

There is some debate on the best way to rewild – should we just leave areas completely, or should we restore natural processes where they are absent? If the aim is wild places with as many natural processes present as possible then a range of approaches may be needed.

This could mean encouraging the natural regeneration of trees such as at Dundreggan in Scotland (the ‘Trees for Life’ project). It could mean opening up large areas for ‘near-natural’ grazing such as in the Great Fen (a partnership led by The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants) and in the privately owned Knepp Estate in Sussex. It could also mean reintroducing the ‘ecosystem engineers’, such as beavers, as is being trialled in Knapdale by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Or it could mean kickstarting natural processes by reversing engineering works on some rivers or blocking ditches on peatlands.

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And what could it mean for the landscapes our children and grandchildren will inherit? Dr Tony Whitbread investigates


Putting the top predators back, however, may be more difficult. The ecological need is clear – they are a missing part of our ecosystems and they drive diversity in nature. But we live in highly modified and populated landscapes and there are practicalities to consider. Nevertheless we should keep an open mind; in the long term our society needs healthy, functioning ecosystems, with as many constituent parts as possible. For example the reintroduction of lynx to parts of Scotland is gathering support, both for ecological and socio-economic reasons.

The Wildlife Trusts’ Living Landscape aim is for a wilder, more ecologically balanced landscape. To put it simply, we insist that wildlife should be abundant throughout the landscape, with natural processes restored where we can. This is why we are re-naturalising rivers, working with farmers to create wildness in farmland areas, reintroducing key

missing species and blocking thousands of miles of upland drainage ditches. Ditch blocking in particular should improve the country’s balance sheet – in this case by reducing the cost of clean drinking water and storing carbon.

So what has the experiment at The Mens shown us so far? Some natural processes – most large herbivores and their predators – are missing. But old-growth forest with minimal natural disturbance – common in the wildwood – is now extremely rare. And the decision not to actively ‘manage’ the wood has provided a valuable study into woodland ecosystems. One example was The Great Storm of 1987. In the 25 years that followed there was a huge pulse of regeneration in gaps where trees blew over. Broken trees sprouted, shrubs grew, wildflowers colonised and birds which usually stay on the edge moved inside. But in the long term the storm has not altered a gradual reduction of oak, hazel

and hawthorn. And whilst some less common species of fungi, flies and hole-nesting birds are doing well, other flowering plants and woodland lichens are becoming less widespread as shade-loving beech and holly gradually take over. This shows that while storms are important, they are only one form of natural disturbance in woodland ecology.

Rewilding is a different challenge in different landscapes. The Wildlife Trusts are working hard to help nature gradually re-assert herself in all sorts of different places – upland, lowland, rural and even suburban and urban. Our long-term goal is restoring natural processes and re-establishing wildness where we can. But meanwhile we still need to intervene actively in some places to preserve critical wildlife – for example by traditional grazing of wildflower meadows. Nature reserves are called this for a reason. They are reserves for the future, not an end in themselves. A living

version of the seed bank at Kew, they give us a chance of one day helping wildlife to disperse and recolonise.

Understanding the wild still has a place here however. If natural processes like disturbance are largely missing we can design conservation plans to mimic this, especially if informed by what we learn from wild nature. Similarly removing disturbance by fencing land and leaving it also influences the nature we get.

Rewilding also applies to the sea. This means persuading Governments to designate protected areas – something The Wildlife Trusts and others are helping to achieve. Once that’s done, our seas could begin to return to a more natural state. In the part of Lyme Bay

now closed to scallop dredging we are beginning to see a recovery of slow-growing organisms such as Ross corals.

Thinking big for nature has long been part of the plan, but rewilding can help widen our vision. In a densely populated country, we can’t always recreate true wilderness but we can, for example, improve the natural functioning of river valleys, enabling nature to take its course far more than we do now. We may not have the ancient wild aurochs to lumber through our woodlands, opening up glades. But extensive grazing with native cattle might help. We may not have top predators prowling the countryside and influencing how grazers behave – at least not yet. But for now we can ‘pulse’

LIVING LANDSCAPES

We need large areas where we can experience something

like the full grandeur of nature

Natural tree regeneration at Blaeneinion in mid-Wales, Pumlumon Project

Wild Nephin - a major new rewilding project in Co Mayo, Eire

The Mens - a wood that has seen no human disturbance in decades

Naturalistic grazing at the Knepp Estate, Sussex

Projects around the UK where natural processes are being restored. From a range of organisations. Local communities are often involved. Scale and methods differ. Dundreggan Conservation Estate, 4000ha Who: Trees for Life Where: Glen Moriston, Scotland. What: Reforestation, using wild boar for natural regeneration, montane scrub restoration, tree nursery treesforlife.org.ukSoar Valley, 6000ha Who: Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust Where: Leicestershire, England What: Floodplain, wetland, naturalistic grazing. lrwt.org.ukWild Ennerdale, 4300ha Who: National Trust, Forestry Commission, United Utilities, Natural England Where: Cumbria, England What: Re-naturalised rivers, naturalistic grazing, montane restoration, forest regeneration and native woodlandexpansion wildennerdale.co.ukPumlumon, 9000ha Who: Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust & landowners Where: Montgomeryshire, Wales What: Naturalistic grazing, woodland, scrub and peatland regeneration. montwt.co.ukWild Nephin, 8,000ha Who: Coillte, National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ballycroy National Park) Where: Co. Mayo, Eire What: Wild conifer forest, river, lake, restored bog and forest coillte.ie (search ‘wild nephin’)

Knepp, 1400ha Who: Knepp Estate Where: Sussex, England. What: Naturalistic grazing, wetland, scrub and woodland regeneration kneppsafaris.co.ukAlladale Wilderness Reserve, 9300haWho: Alladale, European Nature TrustWhere: Alladale, ScotlandWhat: Forest and peatland restoration, naturalistic grazing, reintroducing speciestheeuropeannaturetrust.comThe Great Fen, 3,700ha Who: Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs & Northants, Environment Agency, Middle Level Commissioners, Natural England, Huntingdonshire District Council Where: Cambs, England What: Wetland restoration, naturalistic grazing, scrub and woodland regeneration. greatfen.orgDingle Marshes, 93ha Who: Suffolk Wildlife Trust Where: Suffolk, England. What: Natural reshaping of man-made coastal defences. Wetland. suffolkwildlifetrust.orgScottish Beaver Trial, 4,400 ha Who: Scottish Wildlife Trust, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland & Forestry Commission Scotland Where: Knapdale Forest, Argyll, Scotland What: Trial beaver reintroduction. Wet woodland, Atlantic oak woodland, lochs and burns. scottishbeavers.org.ukFor more information and links: wildlifetrusts/rewilding

grazing to create diversity.We cannot, however, ignore the

impact of humans. Ours is a cultural landscape which probably goes back many thousands of years. The last truly natural wilderness may have been in the previous interglacial period more than 100,000 years ago when elephants, rhinos and bears mingled with badgers, deer and otters.

Those thousands of years of interaction between people and wildlife are important. But our job now is to create our future natural landscapes: places where people can experience wild nature with healthy ecosystems that can support us through life.

Conserving what remains is the starting point, but it is not the best we can have. Restoring our wildlife and ecosystems is a work in progress but we must imagine, and do, better. And popular support for rewilding can help to inspire that change.

A natural approach

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GREAT DAYS OUT


Houghton Regis Chalk Pit, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire.

What a landscape to explore

Wild Quarries

Explore

Pick your way through a moonscape of rocks and spoil heaps and you’ll find some amazing wildlife

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Before you goDownload a reserve leaflet to make the most of your visit. Most Wildlife Trusts provide one on their website which you can reach via wildlifetrusts.org

FIND MORE SITES LIKE THESE AT WILDLIFETRUSTS.ORG/ROCKS

1 Houghton Regis Chalk Pit BCN WT

This 100 acre former chalk pit hosts the country’s best display of the nationally scarce Chiltern gentian. Orchids and chalkhill butterflies thrive here too. The wetlands are home to great crested newts and turtle doves can be heard from the woodland in summer.Where is it? Path from Lake View, off Houghton Rd. Grid TL 013 236. Post code LU5 5GJ.

2 East Crindledykes Quarry Northumberland WT

Disused limestone quarry with a rich limestone flora and interesting geological exposures. Flowers include autumn gentian, salad burnet, thyme, cowslip, hoary plantain, heath grass and crested hair grass.Where is it? On Stanegate, N of Bardon Mill. Open to Northumberland Wildlife Trust members only. Grid NY 848 673

3 Meeth Quarry Devon WT

Nearly 100 years of operation have left two huge lakes (former clay quarries), with large

spoil heaps exposed. There are also ponds, woods, bogs and grassland which contain a fascinating mix of plants, and good butterfly and dragonfly populations. Brown hares live in the sparse open areas.

Where is it? N of Hatherleigh off A386. Follow Tarka Trail sign in Meeth. Reserve 1 mile. Easy access by cycle. Grid SS 53588 08935.

4 Brown’s Folly Avon WT

Bats roost in the old mines, while green hairstreak butterflies, pyramidal orchids and other wildflowers flourish on the exposed rock. Grazing by rare breed sheep helps preserve the geological features. The quarry provided stone for the facade of Buckingham Palace.Where is it? 0.5mi SE of Bathford, Bath. Park off Prospect Place, top of hill. Grid ST 798 663.

5 Clint’s Quarry Cumbria WT

Quarrying for limestone started here in the 1600s. There is still a large lime-kiln in the woodland near the southern boundary. Northern marsh and common spotted orchid

live in the damp patches. The drier parts have wild strawberry, centaury, mouse-eared hawkweed, bird’s-foot trefoil and knapweed – and bee and pyramidal orchids too.

Where is it? A5086 N of Egremont. Park in layby after junction 100m from entrance. Grid NY 008 124, Explorer 303.

6 Miller’s Dale Quarry Derbyshire WT

Until 1930 Miller’s Dale was still operational. The quarry floor is a special place, especially on a hot July day when the scent of fragrant orchids fills the air. Many other wildflowers flourish on the poor soil. Jackdaws and sometimes kestrels nest in crevices in the quarry face.Where is it? Wye Valley, 5 miles E of Buxton off B6049. Grid SK140731, Landranger 119

7 Bishop Middleham Quarry Durham WT

A large magnesian limestone quarry noted for its orchids, wildflowers and butterflies. Orchids include pyramidal, common spotted, fragrant, bee and dark red helleborine. There’s also blue moor grass, moonwort, autumn gentian and

fairy flax. In 2002 the reserve became the UK’s second recorded breeding site for bee eaters.

Where is it? 2.5 miles NW of Sedgefield, Grid NZ331326, Explorer 305. Regular buses from Durham and Darlington.

8 Ashwell Quarry and Quarry Springs

Herts & Middlesex WT

In summer this former quarry is full of field and small scabious, pyramidal orchid, clustered bellflower and glaucous sedge. The older thorn and elder bushes support rare mosses. The adjacent Quarry Springs produce water at a constant 10C, allowing rare flatworms to thrive.

Where is it? Hinxworth Rd, 0.5 miles W of Ashwell. Access by permit only: 01462 742 684. Grid TL 253 395. Post code SG7 5HX

9 Llanymynech Rocks Shropshire and Montgomeryshire WTs

The dramatic cliffs at Llanymynech Rocks watch over a botanical treasure trove: woodland twined in old man’s beard and

grassland abundant in bee and pyramidal orchids. Bright yellow rock rose and aromatic herbs grow among the tramways, originally built to carry stone.Where is it? Underhill Lane, Bronwylfa. Grid SJ 267 218. Post code SY22 6HD

10 Petershill Scottish WT

An old limestone quarry now noted for its geological exposure. Fossil trilobites, crinoids and brachiopods have been found here. The high humidity and limestone encourage lime-loving mosses and liverworts of regional importance. There’s also common twayblade, greater butterfly orchid and water horsetail.

Where is it? On NE edge of Bathgate. Grid NS984696, Landranger 65.

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— MY WILD LIFE —

my superpower

In the woods, Edward can do anything, be anyone. We’re here to make sure children can grow up near nature and let their imaginations run wild.

Make this your wild year. Find wild places, family events and nature clubs plus free activities and wildlife guides at: wildlifetrusts.org/mywildsummer

wild derbyshire autumn 2014

Documents

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wildlife increase

community relations

peter leeenquiries officer

slava haynesfinance

derbyshire de56

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edition of wild derbyshire