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Holtspur Bottom Reserve - Work Parties
Holtspur Bottom Reserve - Work Parties
Updates by Nick Bowles
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June 2010
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With a deadline for various essential work to be finished in June, Frank Banyard and
Nick Bowles met at Holtspur on the 3rd June to check that all was on target.
With the reserve shimmering in all its floral beauty, insouciant to the urgency they felt,
it was hard to concentrate on any unfinished work.
But one last task urgently needs to be completed and then we shall meet the
Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) requirements and qualify for a grant for years to come.
This grant money is crucial to funding the often expensive work needed on the reserve.
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Certainly the reserve seems worth all the expenditure
on a day like today, when it is simply resplendent. We hope the images speak more
eloquently than we can of the beauty of this valley and its wildlife. There were 11 species
of butterfly on the wing, including key species: Dingy Skipper, Green Hairstreak
and Small Blue.
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On June 10th we shall remove a section of old fencing so its replacement can be erected by
professionals the following week. If you could please lend us a hand for an hour or two,
on Thursday 10th June between 6-8 pm to remove this old fencing, we would be grateful. No heavy
labour involved. Just snipping some old wire away from posts and rolling it up for disposal.
For information about where we will meet (in Riding Lane at SU 918905) and what we are
doing, contact Nick Bowles 01442 382276 or Frank Banyard 01494 672310.
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Small Blue
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21st February 2010
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The new clearing seems enormous to most of us who thought of it as a relatively small block of scrub. Now
largely cleared it is obvious that it will vastly increase the area of chalk grassland. New fencing and
re-arrangements of existing fencelines are to go ahead soon to allow this new area to be grazed next winter.
There is still a vast amount of cut scrub in two large piles plus huge amounts of cut material stacked around
the edges of the reserve. If anyone wants free firewood or material to form fenceposts, there is plenty and
they could come and collect free logs at our last work party of this winter on the 7th March 2010
- please join us if you can as extra hands would be greatly appreciated!
The photos show the new clearing as scrubby woodland in Autumn 09 and now. In places you can see the
firewood awaiting a new home/fireplace!
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Scrub on Triangle Bank before clearance
November 2009
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John clears scrub on the Triangle Bank
February 2010
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Triangle Bank scrub largely cleared - workforce in the distance
February 2010
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15th November 2009
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Holtspur Bottom's first work party of the Winter 2009 season took place in
wonderful weather (as promised at Member's Day).
A group of 6 smiling members installed temporary fencing to keep the sheep (which are expected to arrive in
the next few days) from the vetch covered areas, set a mesh in place to make vehicle access up the steep
slope on Triangle Bank possible in all weathers and cut a large amount of scrub from the secondary woodland
that has become established on the lower slopes of Triangle Bank. Hopefully, others would want to put our
next few 'work morning' dates into their diaries and join the fun: 06.12.09, 17.01.10 and 21.02.10.
These dates will see a variety of tasks, including bonfires, where we will try to cook potatoes - we would
be happy to see you there and share a jacket spud!
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Holtspur 'Triangle Bank' before and after scrub clear, November 2009
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22nd March 2009
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Planning an event for Mothers Day wasn't clever. It reduced the attendance to 2. Even so a great
deal was achieved. Much of it was simply finishing off work that our Warden, Rob Larkin, had begun
earlier.
We treated the bench with hardwood oil to extend its life and cleared some of the glass which has
come to the surface of the 'old tip' area. This area needed work to allow the positioning of a new
fence and it was decided to clear some of the old heaps of rubbish at the same time.
Unfortunately this brought rather a lot of broken glass to the surface. Visitors will need to take
care if crossing this area.
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Elsewhere, a mesh track has been fitted to reduce damage to the
steep Triangle Bank slope by heavy farm implements (which always seem to need access at the wettest times).
However, a visit by John Davis from Butterfly Conservation Head Office has led us to consider its removal.
He advises that it could weaken our very important application for HLS funding.
Access has also been improved with a new pedestrian gate between the outer footpath and the Upper field,
in its uppermost western corner.
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We also planted 150 Horseshoe Vetch plants into the newest scrape. Smaller than the first scrape, but
also in the Upper field, this will provide bare soil (and its associated warmth) as the first slowly
forms a dense, cooler turf. Hopefully the two scrapes will provide enough Horseshoe Vetch that
Chalkhill Blue will begin to breed.
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22nd February 2009
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5 UTB members continued the burning of previously cut scrub (from December). This was cut to prepare
a less severe disabled access slope. Paul Huckle, Wendy Wilson and Dave Wilton ensured that virtually
all fresh cut material was burnt and older rotting wood stacked into 'habitat piles'. In the process,
as the picture shows, they opened up a bright clearing in the scrub.
Wendy Wilson also removed the visual eyesore of the orange temporary sheep netting (erected in Nov 08),
which was erected to create an exclosure around the 1st scrape. We discovered that the sheep were choosing
the scrape as a place to sleep and were both grazing the planted vetches and producing a very unwelcome
layer of manure. The sheep have gone having reduced the sward to a low level and greatly improving its
appearance.
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Scrub burning at Holtspur Bottom
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There are now two scrapes. Our Warden (Mr Larkin) has made a second smaller scrape closer to the entry,
which will be planted in due course. We already have the plants under attentive care in Frank Banyard's
garden. Frank replaced out of date information on the two Visitor Information boards in preparation for
the new season.
Nick Bowles surveyed the Bottom and Bank reserves for the Higher Level Stewardship entry documents (due
to EN by the end of February). We are applying for a large grant that will cover the management of both
reserves. He also dug about 45 holes for Peter Hall to plant Dark Mullein into, in the hope of rescuing
the somewhat beleaguered Striped Lychnis population. This rare moth was very prolific in the Holtspur Valley
for some years but intensive clearance and grazing of formerly rough pastures by the adjacent Equestrian
centre has put the colony in peril.
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8th February 2009
Four Upper Thames Branch members braved the forecast of snow showers and the icy roads with frozen
slush in the kerbs to begin the clearance of cut material at Holtspur. This material had been cut
earlier as part of the preparations for the disabled access route. It also serves to let more light into
the scrubby woodland at the Riding Lane end of the reserve, which is increasingly dark as the scrub
becomes ever denser and some self-set ash trees get larger and larger. One result of the increasing
gloom at this end of the reserve is that some scrub has died. That was stacked into piles for dead
wood specialists to enjoy.
In view of the forecast this was a short exercise and more material is waiting for a similar fate
later when various tasks are also planned. This winter’s weather has led to the postponement of
several tasks, which will make the last two sessions there this winter busy.
Volunteer help from any members who can give us a little time will be very much appreciated!
Dates of the two remaining Work Parties are: Sunday 22nd February and Sunday 22nd March 2009.
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Bonfire at Holtspur Bottom
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7th December 2008
The workparty at Holtspur extended the path through the scrub for an easier ascent by disabled people.
Despite a hard frost, working in the scrub in the sun was very warm. Stage one of the path is now
complete. We await a grant to allow its completion.
We checked on the all-weather sheep. They continue to graze contentedly and to good effect, despite
the deep frost, and noted that they have penetrated the rather ugly temporary fencing erected to prevent
grazing damage to the vetches on the 'scrape'. Luckily incursions to this area have obviously been very
few and far between.
The next workparty (on Sunday 25th January 2009) will look to remove some more scrub and burn the large amount already generated. The
memorial seat will get some attention and we should be able to view the two new 'scrapes'. Later in 2009
these will be planted up with 400 Horseshoe Vetch and rather fewer Kidney Vetch plants.
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Clearing a Path for Disabled Access
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All-weather Sheep
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9th November 2008
We started on the new path through the entry area woodland to
assist disabled access. This path will take a less aggressive approach to tackling the steepest part
of the slope, zig-zagging across the slope through the scrub woodland. Following our own struggles with
that slope in today's very slippery conditions we think it might become the route of choice for the
able-bodied too!
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Clearing New Entry Path
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Several largish trees removed and much rather sad and dying blackthorn taken out too.
Hopefully, we'll get a path and some woodland regeneration as well, as a result of opening up the canopy.
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Paul Huckle Fells an Ash Tree
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The Fencing Party
From left: Chris Dennis, Paul Huckle, Frank Banyard & Wendy Wilson
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Then we went on to the scrape area and erected some temporary
fencing to keep sheep off the various vetches that are growing there. The sheep are evidently favouring
that section so we wanted to protect the vetch plants from over-grazing.
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Sheep in the Lower Field
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The sheep went to do their special work in the lower field, only
half of which has been mown and Frank took cuttings from the Horseshoe Vetch in the existing scrape to
augment the 300 plug plants ordered for planting in the spring, into the new 'to be created' scrape.
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Grateful thanks to Frank, Wendy and Paul for muscle and cheerfulness and especially to Chris for
muscle, extreme organisation skills, common sense and donating the materials. Nick took the pictures
(which was his excuse for not doing much else!).
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