Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve, near Yate and Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire.


The Nature Reserve is run by the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group, a small group of volunteers.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Goose Green Spring Clean, Saturday 11 April

As part of our commitment to this local grassland and wetland nature reserve, we shall be undertaking reserve maintenance such as path clearance and a general reserve tidy up. Please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves. Please meet at the bridge on the reserve, west of Oak Close, north Yate, 10.00am.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Wapley workday deals with water, planting and rubbish

The Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve work morning on 14 March attracted 26 Wapley Bushes Conservation Group volunteers and friends, including family groups and a community work party from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We tackled a wide range of tasks. One party planted trees to form a barrier at the edge of the picnic area, while others cleaned up around the main paths and public areas, gathering around 15 bags of litter (plus a carpet from a roadside ditch)

Eager volunteers get a safety talk before all the planting and clearing
The third and heaviest job of the day was probably clearing silt from the water channel out of the top pond to stop it overflowing. A vital part of managing the Nature Reserve is controlling the flow of the water to conserve the various habitats. It was interesting to find a quantity of frogspawn in one part of the the top pond, something that had not been seen there before but which accounts for the frogs that are seen in the meadows.

"I think the water's going down" - Paul Hulbert checks the depth



This video gives some idea of the amount of silt in the stream

We're glad to report that the mud from railway works we mentioned recently has been partly cleared up, and arrangements have been made to reinstate the area concerned. The contractors now expect to be off site by the end of April.

P.S. If anyone still has two litter-picking tools from Saturday, please ring Paul on 07771 562505 to arrange to return them.


Friday, March 06, 2015

Mud, mud, glorious mud

Network Rail's contractors have caused more damage to the grass than we anticipated, but we're on the case.


As you can see, the big tracked vehicle and the tractor and trailer have been taken further into the mouth of the Lower Meadow than we had anticipated, and the whole entranceway is just mud.


There are also tracks on the near corner of the Common and to the side of the roadway in between.

The big tracked vehicle will be removed from the Common side of the bridge on Saturday night, crossing the railway track to get back to the compound. The tractor and trailer will finish their work on Monday. On Tuesday there should be a pavement sweeper on site to clean the mud off the tarmac roadway.

We are meeting the site manager on Monday morning to discuss the RADAR gate and ground reinstatement. The site manager appreciates that we're not best pleased, while we do understand the practical difficulties of manoeuvring such large vehicles in such tight quarters.

On a related local note, we have also met South Glos this morning about the boggy patches on the "Ashtrack" footpath from Wapley Bridge towards Goldcrest Park. They have measured it up and agreed the necessary works, and they anticipate doing the work in June/July when Network Rail are well clear and the ground has dried up. Some parts of the path will just be topped up, the worst parts will be reconstructed and drainage will be put in at one or two points.

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Fast progress on Wapley Bridge approaches

All the precast concrete units are now in place, and the big tracked vehicle should be crossing back over the line on Saturday night. Work is under way to fill in the sections with aggregate and then put the top surface on.

Obviously moving the tracked vehicle and the tractor backwards and forwards has created a reasonable amount of mud on the Wapley side. A street sweeping vehicle has been ordered for Tuesday to clear this up.

Monday, March 02, 2015

All systems go again on Wapley bridge works

The large tracked vehicle crossed the track overnight Saturday 28th February / Sunday 1st March and is now at work on the Common side of the line. It JUST fits on the approach ramp!


The first of the remaining precast concrete sections has been transported to the south side and lifted into place.


The sections are being moved by tractor and trailer via Besom Lane and Wapley Common.