We spent today at the SSSI site of Juniper Hill near Stroud (Wick street), working for Natural England. The grassland is an important habitat for rare butterflies and is in the danger of becoming a forest, due to an army of ash saplings eager to grow and take over.
To restore the grassland, which has started to be grazed again, we cut the ash saplings while a member of staff from Natural England treated the stumps (that’s what the man in the green suit is doing!). We left any hawthorn or black thorn alone because of their habitat value.
We had a good bonfire going!
Although the day was grey, it was dry and it was nice to spend it outdoors in this amazing scenery!
The end of a good volunteering day!
PS: If you fancy following Natural England Cotswolds on twitter, there they are: https://twitter.com/NECotswolds
Did you find any evidence of bee or fly orchids ? 60 years ago it was covered with flowers in the summer and the grass was burnt each year . We picked rose hips for a government scheme to make rose hip syrup . And we always picked black Barry’s for mother to make jam . Each Christmas we has a bough of Juniper for our Christmas tree It’s the most beloved place in the world for me I wish I could have been with you But I didn’t like the death adders