Field Mouse on Flickr.
Getting a diverse mix of wildlife in our small urban garden. This little fella was happy to pose for me yesterday….
Ladybirds on fallen deadwood on Flickr.
The importance of fallen deadwood for biodiversity can’t be emphasised enough.
The Wildlife Trusts: 100 years of nature conservation #WildlifeTrustsare100 (by TheWildlifeTrusts)
“The Wildlife Trusts: 100 years of nature conservation is a documentary film telling the story of The Wildlife Trusts. From its inception as the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves in 1912 under the leadership of Charles Rothschild, to the birth of the local conservation movement after WWII, through its dramatic growth in the 1960s to the present day.
The film visits locations such as Skomer, Loch of the Lowes, Brockholes, Flamborough Head, Woodwalton Fen and Ballynahone Bog. It also uses archive footage from Trusts, the BBC and other sources. Interviewees include Sir David Attenborough, Prof Aubrey Manning, Simon King, Ted Smith, Stephanie Hilborne, Hilary Benn MP and trustees, staff and volunteers from around the Trusts. The film is narrated by the actor Sam West, directed by Sarah Pitt and produced by Environment Films.
Many Wildlife Trusts are showing the full hour-long film at local ‘our history’ screenings.”
Tree Huggers of the Woodland Trust Unite - Woodland Trust Volunteers’ Conference
I won’t bore you too much with the pre & post conference travel from Whiston to Grantham, well Barkston actually, (but more of that later) except to say that if you are travelling by train look for the deals! My journey, if I’d have booked the return trip, would have cost me £78.50 but two singles at £23 each seemed to make much more sense.
Vaguely recalling filling out the booking form earlier in the year for the Woodland Trust Volunteers’ Conference I was fairly confident that I had ticked a box for my B&B of choice and a reservation was sorted. I had anguished over whether or not to go in the first instance because not being particularly flush at the moment - the term I believe is skint - I knew that the weekend would stretch the resources. I had the form filled out, in an envelope with the Queens head firmly adhered to the top right hand corner, and after carrying it with me for a few days I let it loose into a post box. Had I done the right thing?
On the Friday before travelling I contacted the Woodland Trust to enquire about the B&B and of course I had it wrong… no reservation! I quickly contacted the B&B that had been my choice and Sue, the owner of Kelling House, got back to me with the news that it was fully booked. Explaining my plight she offered a solution - would I be OK on a bed settee in the lounge? Yes please! That was the easiest decision so far!
Not only did Sue fit me in but she also offered to pick me up from Grantham Station with the instruction that she would be waiting at the gate and was “tall and mature”. Sue is tall and we found each other no problem. As we pulled into Kelling House she mentioned that the dog, Missy, needed walking. Unbeknown to me she had been in the back of the car all along.
Going into the house the TV was turned on for Chester Races by the horse loving Sue. A conversation about horse racing followed and I felt settled! I then decided to get my camera and go for a walk as I didn’t want to waste time whilst in this lovely place that was Barkston.
Sue asked would I like to take Missy with me and so Missy, me and my camera set off to explore…
We walked along the footpath through a field of rape and up the hill toward a wind turbine offering views across the village and then back down to the River Witham.
Fields of gold…
Always nice to meet an Orange Tip and there were plenty of bird species on show too.
The River showed no sign of drought conditions…
After the walk I took Missy back and then paid my first visit to The Stag for a couple of pints before heading back to the B&B where I met fellow volunteers Mike & Jill who were passionate about Hackfall in Yorkshire, Dave a web guide volunteer from Gateshead, and the “fussy eater” Howard, an ancient tree hunter from Suffolk and we had our chicken wrapped in bacon - minus cheese…
The banter started straight away with Dave, Howard and our host Sue all joining in. After eating it was off to the first planned event of the conference weekend; a bat walk at Woodland Waters
Mike Jackson’s photograph at the start of the bat walk.
The bat walk was a great success with close up views of Daubenton’s Bats flashing across the water the highlight of the evening for me. Four or five species of bat were detected during the course of the night.
After the walk it was back to The Stag for a night cap where Marcus the landlord greeted me by name, what a genuinely nice guy and funny with it too!
Up early as usual on the Saturday, I explored the garden at the B&B…
She was watching me!
After breakfast it was on to the Belton Woods Hotel the venue for the conference. We sat at tables with other volunteers from our own regions so we were able to share experiences and build relationships before the conference was opened by the Chair of the Woodland Trust, Nicola Nicholls. Nicola who is clearly passionate about our trees and the Woodland Trust, set the scene for the day and was followed by the Keynote speech from the ecologist, producer and writer Edward Milner on the issues of “Our Native Trees in an Era of Climate Change.”
We then split into groups for the remainder of the morning and the first part of the afternoon.
My first group session was with fellow “VisitWood” volunteers. Gail and Shona, who manage the project, explained how VisitWoods was developing and showed case studies of how visiting woods was helping people with dementia, autism and those with special educational needs.
It was very interesting and quite an emotional session learning how nature and woods were genuinely helping people and how our volunteer roles contributed.
Lunch followed with further opportunity to meet fellow volunteers and the afternoon commenced for me with an Ancient Tree walk in Belton Park led by the excellent Jill Butler who shared her knowledge and experience and encouraged fellow tree huggers to step inside the the hollow Limes in the park!
Jill and fellow tree huggers after a spot of Lime Tree “time-travel”.
Jill explained how Lime Trees could “walk” across a landscape, regenerating along the way. This one appears to be beginning a journey.
Attentive tree huggers…
Back to the hotel after “the hunt” and the conference closed with a Panel Debate chaired by the President of the Trust Clive Anderson.
Mike Jackson’s photograph of Clive Anderson
An entertaining speech followed by a lively debate:
“Going Native - Should we focus on planting native trees as a better investment for our future than non-natives?”
Both sides of the panel put forward convincing arguments but surprisingly for some the decision went non-native. Somehow I doubt that the debate ended at the conference however.
The day passed in a moment but it had been very enjoyable and great to meet the other volunteers.
We headed back to the B&B unsure of where we would eat our evening meal. We asked at The Stag on our way but as it had been pre-booked to the hilt the answer was a no. We got back to the B&B only to find that Clive Anderson would soon be joining us for coffee. Chief coffee maker Dave sprung into action and soon we were chatting in the garden drinking coffee.
We decided to have one more try at The Stag and Marcus eventually relented and Dave, Howard, Stephen and myself were fitted in for food along with Clive and 25 other Woodland Trust folk. It was a great night with great company and a few Leicestershire Tigers thrown in.
Sunday morning breakfast was followed by another visit to Belton House and a walk through the magnificent trees with the passionate Ted Green - a man who will forever be 7 years old and he implores us all to be too. Always question why, always learn. Ted quickly became a hero of mine.
Ted Green MBE - To me he’s “The Fred Dibnah of trees”.
We saw and learnt about many trees on the estate and there was a discussion about the National Trust’s caring and investment of their built heritage with that of the living heritage of their trees. I think as a group of tree huggers we all thought more should be done to protect and care for the trees than is currently the case.
Some images from Belton Gardens…
More time travel…
Jill Butler pointing at “the Tardis”
Edward Milner sharing his view with volunteers
The value of deadwood
An extremely old Hawthorne
A Champion Sugar Maple in the foreground with an Ash in the background.
An important Crab Apple rooting along its fallen trunk
Listening and smiling…
Can you smell it? Wild garlic beneath a London Plane
Cute to you? To Ted these are “land maggots”
What a “pile of stones” Belton House
If any of you are still reading then thank you! I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far and thankfully I don’t have much more to say.
I asked a rhetorical question at the start; Had I done the right thing? I hope that having read this account you’ll know the answer to that question.
The weekend was extremely rewarding and I’d like to thank everyone who made it special for me; The Woodland Trust and the organisers who did a great job, the speakers and especially the other volunteers, it was really great to meet you all. Also Sue at Kelling House, a great host and character and Marcus and the staff at The Stag - to coin a Scouse phrase - you were boss!
One final thanks to the train companies that were practically perfect for both journey’s - that always helps!
I now have another question: When can we do it all again?
A Woodland Trust Volunteer Conference walk at Belton Park - Ted Green MBE - The relationship between trees & fungi (by wildknight1960)
A Woodland Trust Volunteer Conference walk - Ted Green MBE Talks about the living heritage of trees v that of that pile of “stones” at Belton Park (by wildknight1960)
