Family Owl Prowl at Wapley Bushes - Tuesday 26 October

Tawny owl photo by Ian McGuire

Wapley Bushes autumn events are starting with a Family Owl Prowl led by local owl expert Ian McGuire, including a mobile slide show. No guarantees, but there's a reasonable chance of actually seeing wild owls. Certainly we'll learn a lot from Ian about these fascinating creatures.

Very suitable for families - children love to explore the “spooky woods” in the dark. And it’s not a school week, so staying up late is OK!

Meet at 7 pm at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US. Please bring a torch and wear suitable footwear.

South West In Bloom success for Wapley Bushes

We are very happy to report that once again both our entries have achieved the highest level – Level 5 Outstanding - in the "It's Your Neighbourhood" category of the South West In Bloom awards:
- Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve
- Wapley Common and the Orchard for the Future

We would like to thank all our volunteers who have helped during this very trying year, and everyone who from Dodington Parish Council Council who has been involved with Wapley – we couldn’t have done it without their help and support.

In other categories we would like to congratulate Thornbury In Bloom for achieving a Gold Award and winning the Sargent Cup and several other awards.

Kingsgate Park, Chipping Sodbury, Page Park and other larger entries are in a separate part of the In Bloom competitions, and their results will be announced in a few months time.

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group autumn events

We've got four events planned between now and the end of the year - there will be something for everyone! So please put these dates in your diaries:

• Tue 26 October 7.00 pm - Owl prowl from Shire Way gate led by local owl expert Ian McGuire
• Sun 21 November 10.00 am - Volunteer work morning starting at Shire Way gate - Clearing stream, general tidy-up, showing volunteers what has been happening re ash dieback etc
• Wed 1 December 7.30 pm - Red Kites talk and slide show at St Nicholas Family Centre, Abbotswood. Ian McGuire's talks and photography are always fascinating
  
• Sat 4 December 10.00 am  - Volunteer work morning from Shire Way gate, planting 30 or so trees to replace the big trees worked cut back in the Ancient Woodland last winter due to ash dieback
  

We'll put more details of each event here and on the Wapley Bushes website as time goes on.

Successful History and Honey Walk on 11 September

 Ten of us started from Abbotswood, exploring Dodington Parish Council's new Memorial Garden at QE2 Kelston Close Playing Fields. We discovered traces of the old Sergeant's Farm and heard about the impact of the coming of the railway.

We crossed over to Wapley Common and explored the Orchard for the Future, learning about pollinators, inspected the bug hotels, and discovered how grassland management for small mammals has attracted tawny owls to nest in the woodland.

On the way back to Abbotswood Paul Hulbert told us stories behind the names of the various roads on our housing estates.

"History and Honey Walk" - Saturday 11 September

Come and join us on a guided walk organised by Wapley Bushes Conservation Group for Abbotswood Action Group. Everybody welcome!

We'll be starting at Abbotswood at 10.30 am, and returning about 1.00 pm.

This walk from Abbotswood to Wapley and back will look at Fruit and History, Pollinators and the Future.

• Find out what was here before the estates were built, and learn about the importance of "home orchards" to local people.
• Learn about the role of pollinators and the importance of encouraging small mammals.
• Find out what the Orchard for the Future project at Wapley Common is doing to encourage them.
• Discover why the railway was a key route to South Wales, its role in wartime and how it created an important wildlife corridor.

 

South West In Bloom assessor visits Wapley

We were very please to welcome the South West In Bloom assessor to Wapley this week. Each year we put in two entries, one for the Nature Reserve:

 and one for the Orchard for the Future and Wapley Common, because they are such different areas.

Our assessment visits are always interesting - they give us a chance to hear outsiders' views of what we're doing, and to get feedback on our latest improvements and changes.

This year we highlighted our new interpretation boards and the work we've been doing on Ash Dieback Disease. We also talked about how much local people have valued Wapley Common and the Nature Reserve during COVID.

We're looking forward to getting our results and our feedback.