Successful planting morning on Saturday 30 November

 

Seven of us managed to do quite a lot of whip planting in between forecast spells of bad weather. We planted 97 small trees along the new dead hedge that the pupils of Culverhill Special School had created at the bottom of the Ancient Woodland, where it meets the end of Wapley Common.

There was a real range of species - Holly, Crab Apple, Dog Rose, Common Hawthorn, Goat Willow, Hornbeam, Hazel, Field Maple and Buckthorn.

As well as creating a living barrier, these trees and bushes will benefit birds, pollinators and potentially hedgehogs as well.

A big thank-you to everyone who turned up to help, despite the change of day at short notice!

Next Wapley work morning - date changed again - SATURDAY 30 NOVEMBER

 

This weekend's work morning will be on SATURDAY 30 NOVEMBER, not Sunday 1 December, because rain and high wind gusts are predicted to hit the West Country on Sunday. We apologise for having to change the date due to weather for the second time.

On Sunday 1 December there will be a Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve Work Morning of early tree planting, which is always a fun activity. We will be planting more than 100 whips along the dead hedge recently constructed by the pupils of Culverhill School. The new trees should grow over the dead hedge and create an effective and long-lasting barrier. Lighter tasks such as litter picking will also be available.

Meet at 10 am at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, near the entrance to Cherington, Yate BS37 8US. Please wear stout footwear and bring gloves if you have them. If not, we’ll provide gloves that you can keep until the next workday.

Please come and join our work mornings even if you haven’t been before. You can bring your own tools, or tools will be provided. Everyone is welcome, though children under 16 will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Many thanks to our Wapley Wardens!

 

After more than 20 years as Wapley Wardens, keeping an eye on the Nature Reserve on behalf of Dodington Parish Council, Isabel and Bert Ryan have now retired from the role. They took it on when Isabel stopped being a parish councillor, but still wanted to keep a link with Wapley Bushes.

To mark the occasion the Chair of the Parish Council Cllr Chris Zapata and Cllr Paul Hulbert presented Isabel with a planter for her lovely garden.

Cllr Hulbert said "Over the years that Isabel and Bert have been walking regularly at Wapley, they have often been the first to spot problems and let the Council know about it - we're very grateful to them"

They are succeeded as Wapley Wardens by Krystyna and Bob Hutchinson.

Well cut back - report from work morning 15 September

 Eight volunteers had a very productive Wapley work session on a bright and dry Sunday morning.

- Clearing the bed of the seasonal stream down through the wood

- Cutting back overhanging vegetation on the paths in the Western Wood, mainly in the sections that hadn't been strimmed recently, e.g. the steps and nearby

- Cutting back new branches and creepers hanging down to just above head level on the pathway beside the picnic area along to the kissing gate on Besom Lane. The sides of the path had already been strimmed recently by the Parish Council.

Hopefully that should take care of path overgrowth in those areas for quite a few weeks.

Wapley work morning coming up - Sunday 15 September

On this work morning we’ll be digging out the bed of the stream down through the woods, so that it won't flood when we get heavy rain, and cutting back some overgrowing vegetation in the Western Wood. We’ll also be doing litter collection and tidying up.

Meet at 10 am at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, near the entrance to Cherington, Yate BS37 8US. Please wear stout footwear and bring gloves if you have them. If not, we’ll provide gloves that you can keep until the next workday.

Please come and join our work mornings even if you haven’t been before. You can bring your own tools, or tools will be provided. Everyone is welcome, though children under 16 will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Short back and sides - Wapley work morning 6 July

Seven volunteers braved threatening clouds to cut back excess vegetation to make life easier for visitors -and also for some of the residents of the Nature Reserve!

We opened up the area round the notice boards near the Shire Way entrance and then trimmed part of the path up to the slope towards the bridge - Dodington Parish Council staff had already trimmed much of the rest of the path. 

On the Common we cleared sightlines for cyclists and then opened up the fronts of the bug hotels to give better access for insects and birds. We were careful to check each area for nests before we started cutting.

We also cleared vegetation from the kissing gate at the Besom Lane end and tidied up round some of the new seats. Parish Council staff are currently working on trimming back the paths in the woodlands.

Have you seen the new "dead hedge" constructed by pupils from Culverhill Special School, supervised by Dodington Parish Council's Estates Officer? This will be great habitat for birds and insects, especially when climbing plants have been planed to climb up over it. The dead hedge replaces an old boundary fence on the woodland edge.

Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve Workday - Saturday 6 July

 

This workday will comprise a deep clean and cutting back intruding vegetation along the woodland paths to get the reserve ready for our summer visitors. If you can, please bring your own gloves and wear stout footwear.
 

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US, 10.00am.

Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve Workday - Sunday 12 May

This workday will be a combination of a spring clean of the reserve and planting out native flower plug plants in a grassland area. Please wear stout footwear and please bring your own gloves if you can.
 

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US, 10.00am.

Goose Green Workday - Saturday 20 April

 

We shall be undertaking reserve maintenance on this local grassland and wetland nature reserve such as path clearance plus litter picking. Please wear walking or wellington boots and please bring your own gloves if you can.

Please meet at the bridge on the reserve, west of Oak Close, north Yate, BS37 5TN, 10.00am.

Good work morning on 9th March, and looking ahead

Six enthusiastic volunteers carried out a range of work during the Wapley Work Morning on Saturday 9th March. We planted 16 "bare roots" trees in the top corner between the Upper and Lower Paths:
4 Acer Campestre - Field Maple
4 Quercus Robur - English Oak
5 Tilia Cordata - Small-leaved Lime
3 Alnus Glutriosa - Black Alder

We also planted another oak that was donated to us in a pot, grown from a Frenchay Common acorn.

We then cut back encroaching vegetation around the main woodland paths in the Ancient Woodland and along the Ride, ready for increasing numbers of visitors as the weather improves. We even cleared a fallen tree that was blocking one of the pathways.

Our next two workdays will be as follows:

On Saturday 20 April there will be a Goose Green Work Morning, when we'll be undertaking reserve maintenance on this local grassland and wetland nature reserve in North Yate.

On Sunday 12 May we’re planning to do plug planting in the Orchard for the Future on Wapley Common and a general spring clean of tWapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve.

Please watch this space for further details.

Wapley tree planting morning - Saturday 9 March

 

For our Wapley Bushes tree planting work mornings this winter, we are planting a range of broadleaf species to replace some of the tall trees that were cut down due to ash dieback disease, We will be planting them towards the top of the Ancient Woodland, where the Upper and Lower Paths join. As usual there will also be a variety of lighter tasks, so something for everyone.

Meet at 10 am at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US. Please wear stout footwear and bring gloves if you have them. If not, we’ll provide gloves that you can keep until the next workday – as a COVID precaution we’re not sharing gloves.

Please come and join us even if you haven’t been before. You can bring your own tools - for example a spade if you've got one - or if not, tools will be provided. Everyone is welcome, though children under 16 will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Report back from Wapley work morning Sunday 18 February

 Ten of us had a very successful session on the 18th, doing a variety of cutting back:

We pruned back some hedgerow branches either side of the young fruit trees at the bottom of the Lower Meadow, to give them more room to grow.

We cut back the brambles round the bug hotels to give better access for pollinators and other creatures - it's not just insects who use bug hotels, it's small mammals and birds as well.

We also cut back vegetation behind several of the newly refurbished benches on the Common. Dodington Parish Council is planning more repair work shortly.

Many thanks to all our volunteers!

Wapley work morning - Sunday 18 February

 

Due to the very wet ground conditions, it may not be possible to get vehicles up carrying the strimming equipment to prepare the ground for tree planting on Sunday 18 February. We will now be doing all the winter planting on Saturday 9 March.

We still have lots to do on Saturday 18 Feb. Our main task will be to cut back overgrowth around the fruit trees at the bottom of the Lower Meadow, adjoining the bug hotels and if necessary behind the seats on the woodland edge of the Common.

Meet at 10 am at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US. Please wear stout footwear and bring gloves if you have them. If not, we’ll provide gloves that you can keep until the next workday – as a COVID precaution we’re not sharing gloves.

Please come and join us even if you haven’t been before. You can bring your own tools - for example a shears, a rake or or secateurs if you've got them - or if not, tools will be provided. Everyone is welcome, though children under 16 will need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.