Joint Task With Friends of Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common (FOLK) 26^th September 2021

The second joint task of the year with FOLK saw us working on the side of the hill.  Eight GVCV members with a similar number from Folk mustered in Tramway Cottage car park on a warm and sunny early autumn day before setting off to collect our tools.

  The work  was to cut a nine foot wide corridor through an area of gorse to encourage the movement of butterflies from one area of the hill to another, in particular the rare Duke of Burgundy which is present on specific areas of the hill. 

The group split into two and worked from each end of the designated section with the hope of meeting in the middle.  Fires were started at each end of the corridor to burn off the cut gorse which was rapidly piling up.   

The warm sunshine and stunning views of Cheltenham created a tranquil, almost spiritual backdrop to the work which was enhanced when a nearby gorse bush went up in flames!  Fortunately it was soon extinguished.  With the butterfly corridor created by lunchtime most people departed although a few remained into the early afternoon to tidy up and let the fires burn down. 

Here’s hoping to a procession of Duke of Burgundy butterflies next spring.

Rob Niblett

GVCV Task Report

Bowater – 12 Oct 21

This task was for Gloucestershire County Council’s Access Team, restoring a 8m steel and wood footbridge over a stream at Bowater (Stroud). The footbridge (point A on the map below) is much used by walkers, especially in the winter when it can become impossible to ford the stream.

Alan Bentley of the Access Team supported the task with a preparatory visit on Monday 6 Sep, spending about an hour with the group at the start of the session on Sunday 12 Sep and by providing materials.

The group parked along Bowbridge Lane whilst tools and Candy’s truck were bought closer to the work site via a gate at the end of Gunhouse Lane. Eight members attended.

The group successfully achieved the following:

– Path clearance to the bridge for access.

– Removal and replacement of the bridge deck, adding recycled plastic runners underneath the new deck to improve expected life.

– Replacement of kick boards.

– Replacement of half of the bridge rails.

This left the bridge in a usable state and it should remain so for several years.

Problems with materials (rails too short for one section of the bridge, grip strip too long for the deck without appropriate tools and PPE to cut it) prevented full completion, however these tasks are now on a slightly shorter ‘to-do’ list for the Access Team’s contractors to complete. The decision was made half-way through the day not to start any work on a second nearby bridge as it was important not to leave this in an un-usable condition.

This was an unfamiliar task for the group:

– New skills were learnt, with overall efficiency improving from amateur (but keen) to ‘a bit better’ through the day.

– Attention was needed through the day to ensure that all members had work that they were able to progress.

– The variety from more familiar tasks was a positive and getting the bridge to a much improved state gave a sense of achievement.

Before:

Overgrown paths before and after:

Teamwork fitting plastic runners and deck boards:

7/8 of the team on the completed bridge: Mel, Mark, Vanessa, Trina, Josephine, Dave and Anthony

Phil Hermes memorial walk

On Saturday August 7th we held the third annual walk in memory of Phil Hermes 1958 to 2018.  Phil was a long-standing volunteer with GVCV.  About a dozen of us walked, including conservation volunteers, Phil’s brother Mike and ex-colleagues of Phil from European School Books.

We started out at 10.30 am from the Rising Sun car park and walked in a clockwise loop around Cleeve Hill to the Lone Tree where the plaque with its poetic tribute to Phil is situated, together with other plaques, and where his ashes are scattered. Phil was fond of roaming and birdwatching on Cleeve Hill, and his birthday was on August 9th, so the walk was appropriate.

Afterwards we adjourned for lunch, a drink and convivial conversation at the pub.

David G Evans, Phil’s close friend.

Cleeve Hill

GVCV TASK 29 August 2021 – Nosehill Farm

This was a disappointing day with only 3 volunteers turning out, our lowest number this year, obviously Bank Holiday weekend offered more attractive options.

The objective on this site is to clear the undergrowth away from a disused quarry face, the face containing examples of a rare rock formation known as “Cotswold Slate”.

Our initial activity was to create access by clearing the waist high vegetation between the pond margin and the guard fence at the base of the rock face.

We took particular care to clear around the information board describing the adjacent imprint of a dinosaur footprint in the rock (a Theropod, a dinosaur of the group which includes Tyrannosaurus Rex, all bipeds walking on hind legs and with three toed feet. The largest of this group grew to 18 metres and weighed 6 Tonnes)

This allowed us to see the area between the fence and the rock face, the object our exercise. To our dismay, the area which we had completely cleared in April, was now hidden by vegetation 5 – 15 feet high. We spent the rest of our day attacking this growth but our efforts did not achieve anything near to our pre-formed ambition.

Hopefully we can get back to this site soon with a larger team to properly reveal the rock face.

One of those places we love to come back to and today (despite the temperature) 9 of us helped open up the paths in the Pocket Park, remove more water soldier/reedmace/blanket weed from some of the ponds and rewove plus trimmed the willow tunnel in the ponds area.

We only worked for 2 and a half hours but nevertheless got through a lot of work. Well done team!

Back here again in October.

Four of the group set out from Charlton Kings at 9.30 for a 6 mile walk that took in Dowdeswell Reservoir, Lineover Woods and Ravensgate Common. A perfect morning for walking, not too hot and a bit of a breeze.

Followed Cheltenham Circular from Glenfall Way into grassland and past horse fields looking down towards the A40 (not in view thankfully), before meeting Cotswold Way into a wooded path alongside Dowdeswell Woods. Here, the buzzing of overhead lines soon went away and we reached the reservoir , where some sheep were grazing and Rob contemplated skinny-dipping but thankfully thought better of it for the good of the rest of us.

Crossing the A40 by the old Reservoir Inn – now a restaurant – we climbed up into Lineover Wood (Woodland Trust) up the now made-up path on the edge of the wood. Home to Small and Large-leaved Limes and open flower-rich grassland. Stopped at the top for a bite to eat and viewed some of the panorama across Cheltenham, watching butterflies enjoying the sunshine.

Onwards along Cotswold Way, held up for a while by a Roman Snail crossing the path, none of us had actually seen a live one before (you usually see the empty shells), Steve was particularly entranced by it, thinking about its welfare in getting across the path without being trodden on.

Once we left Lineover there was a steep climb up onto Ravensgate Common but loads of species of plant including Wild Valerian, Birds-foot trefoil and Kidney Vetch and we hoped we may see a Small Blue or two but did come across several Small Heath instead.

Descending down and back onto the Circular Trail through more meadows, including a large display of Betony, we reached Beeches Road and then met the A40 again after going past Balcarras School and Eastend Road, then returning to same grassland that took us back to our cars.

A great walk and worth repeating at some point.

A return visit to this lovely site with a wide range of habitats, play areas and allotments too. Today we continued clearing Water Soldier, Reedmace and blanket weed from five ponds, this allows more light into the ponds and keeps them as waterbodies for all the wildlife that uses them.

An overcast and cooler day for May but welcome in a way, with all our pulling and raking. And we had another chance to use the waders…

We came across a Moorhen nest whilst removing reed so stopped what we were doing and moved on to another pond. Fortunately the hen bird returned to her nest and didn’t seem perturbed. Newts were found in another 2 of the ponds which was exciting.

We had completed much of what we had hoped to do….

…and so deserved a bit of recreation:

Well done all.

GVCV TASK 04 July 2021 – Elmley Castle, Evesham

GVCV worked on 4 July 2021 at Lodge Farm, Elmley Castle, Evesham. We have previously worked on that site planting young trees including apple trees, and scrub bashing and clearing around a pond.

Two of us had also observed the installation of a set of leaky dams there with the idea that GVCV could replicate the process elsewhere. The technique used on the day however involved heavy mechanised plant manoeuvring substantial tree trunks. This was obviously well beyond the scope of GVCV. We did however decide that we could follow the principle but using smaller horizontals with intermediate vertical posts to hold them in place. The lighter construction is not an issue because the principle of leaky dams is to produce a slowing of the current by adding further dams in the ladder till the desired reduced flow is achieved.

Our specific task on that day was the removal of isolated clumps of blackthorn and bramble in a field of waist high grass. We were required only to stack the cut material for collection by others so really it sounded like a simple enough task.

Typical Blackthorn clump

What elevated it from a simple task to a bit of a nightmare was the series of torrential downpours which soaked us to the skin, time and again. There was some minimal shelter in one corner of the field but getting there still dry was a feat beyond Linford Christie. And then there was the issue of summoning up the will to go back out into the open field.

I have to confess I called an early finish to the task and we handballed all the kit back down the hill

Waist high plus grass

Concentrate on one clump at a time, then move on to the next one

We had great encouragement from the Gloucestershire FWAGSW rep and the farmer (plus his dog) who kindly transported us and our tools up the hill to the work site in his super all terrain pickup.

The compensation for all that aggravation was the panoramic views all around, us the song of a hundred skylarks overhead and a host of butterflies so thick it was difficult to walk without stepping on them.

Tired and wet but unbowed and looking forward to the next task

GVCV TASK 11 July 2021 – Thames & Severn Canal – Coates

The Thames and Severn Canal, built in 1789, goes through Coates.  The canal once joined with the Stroudwater Navigation (west of Stroud) to provide a link from the river Severn to the river Thames (at Lechlade).

The Sapperton tunnel (3,817 yards long) was the longest tunnel in the country when it was opened (and still ranks 3rd longest). There is no towpath through the tunnel. The boatmen had to lie on their back on the deck, brace their feet against the tunnel roof, and “walk” the boat through the tunnel, a process called “legging” (2.2 miles remember)

The Coates Portal to the Sapperton Tunnel

The canal was formally abandoned by an Act of Parliament in 1954 and gradually became derelict. Today the tunnel remains impassable, as it has done since around 1916, due to numerous roof falls.

The Cotswold Canals Trust aims to restore the canal as a fully-navigable route from the River Severn to the River Thames. They been awarded grants of National Lottery Heritage money to restore various sections. The Phase 3 restoration section runs between Brimscombe Port, near Stroud, and Gateway Bridge in the Cotswold Water Park, some 16 miles, includes the challenge of the Sapperton tunnel. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

When finished it should allow boats to travel from Stonehouse and Stroud to Saul Junction by joining the Stroudwater Navigation to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

An already restored section

The project will bring a range of benefits to the local area. The canal corridor will help increase biodiversity by reconnecting previously fragmented habitats, including wetlands, ditches, scrubland and hedgerows. The variety of habitats that will be created or restored will become one of the UK’s largest biodiversity offsetting projects. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust will be helping to check the environmental quality of the work in the later stages.

It’s anticipated that the project will attract an extra 250,000 visitors to the area, who will inevitably gain from the health and wellbeing benefits of being by water. This is a belief that is firmly at the heart of both the Canal & River Trust and the CCT.

There is also a national significance to Cotswold Canals Connected. It’s a key part of a much larger project to reconnect the River Severn to the River Thames via a green and blue corridor. New walking and cycling routes along towpaths will allow people to get closer to water. The routes will flow through over 30 hectares of new protected habitats, providing a beautiful, safe wildlife corridor that will be one of the biggest in Europe.

Most of the work to date has been carried out by volunteers – some 700,000 man / woman hours so far. Much of this has been standstill maintenance, removing encroaching vegetation from the banks and from the dry canal bed and keeping the towpath clear to encourage the large number of walkers who currently. use it, (possibly followed by lunch in the adjacent Tunnel House Inn, when Covid allows)

GVCV task on 11 July was to continue this standstill maintenance. We worked in conjunction with the Cotswold Canal Trust volunteers under the direction of the Warden responsible for this stretch of the canal. Specifically we were clearing the towpath using brushcutters and removing more substantial growth on the opposite bank using chainsaws. Vital to these operations were the squad clearing away the cut material.

Hard at work with a brushcutter

We were blessed with weather which was just right for working and this was one of the tasks where we could get the satisfaction of looking back and seeing the results of our labour, (Just don’t think about how much still remain

The tow path after the strimmer had been through

Just start at the edge and work your way in, they said.

A well deserved lunch break

GVCV TASK 06 June 2021 – Weoodmancote on the Kemerton Estate

We worked this day on land at Woodmancote which belongs to the Kemerton Estate.

The area was an Ash plantation and fairly recently the ash had been coppiced leaving bare stools. The stools will re-generate but in order to enhance the copse extensive new planting had been added 1 or 2 years ago, The new planting we found was an eclectic mix of Ash, Oak, Beech, Sycamore and Holy. The saplings as we found them had grown to 2 or 4 foot tall (except for the few which had died).

The plantation was completely surrounded with deer fencing and all of the saplings planted were had plastic guards around them as added protection. Deer love browsing on young tree growth, hence the need for protection. In the past the deer had managed to get to the trees because we found some with clear evidence of having been nibbled. The deer are still active, when I inspected the site mid-week a deer led me along the field edge, from the track, past the gate into the copse and continued on into some trees/shrubs beyond.

The site as we found it – spot a sapling if you can!

Our allotted task was to halo the saplings i.e. to clear away all of the vegetation around the young saplings so that they did not have to compete for light, moisture and nutrient in the soil, giving them a better chance of surviving to maturity.

Halo around a sapling inc exploratory track to find it

Our initial difficulty was in locating the new saplings… They stood between 2 and 4 foot tall but they were completely lost in a jungle of grass, nettles and thistles rising to 5 foot tall We had to embark on a game of “hunt the sapling” which involved clearing exploratory pathways through the undergrowth with slashers etc (which are crude control tools) whilst exercising great care not to cut through or damage the saplings,

Careful use of the slasher

At the day we had successfully haloed a fair number of saplings though far fewer than we expected to, due to the effort needed to find them. The fact of it being the hottest day of the year so far was another factor.

No shade – but a welcome break non the less. Where was Mike when I took this shot ?

We know that there are many more saplings waiting to receive the same treatment and hopefully we will return to the site at some point in the near future to continue the process.