Aim:  To monitor the area and look after the wild plants and wildlife. If appropriate, do more to provide information about the area and encourage its use as a village facility.

Progress as of January 2024: 

Rapidly moving ahead. The last few sheep were retrieved by the farmer in November and the fencing taken down in December. Some of the wooden fencing has been kept stacked up for reuse and the rest taken away by local residents for their own use.

On 1st January 6 people took part in a flowering plant survey/hunt of the Site as part of the national study being undertaken by the Botanical Society of England and Ireland. We found 6 plants in flower:

1. Periwinkle
2. Dandelion
3. Daisy
4. Aconite
5. Shepherd’s Purse
6. Petty Spurge (very small)

This sets the baseline for things to come over the next few years. Obviously, plenty of opportunity to improve the biodiversity. The full results can be found on  bsbi.org/new-year-plant-hunt 

Plans are now being made to hold volunteer work sessions to clear some of the excessive weed overgrowth and prepare small areas to experiment with different indigenous plants (I’m giving woad a try!). All going well we’ll be doing a bit of tree planting around the edges before March.