Butterflies in the Meadow

Isabel Ryan took these lovely photos during the Wapley Wander:

This wide shot shows the richness of the meadow, which is what attracts the butterflies and other insects.

This close-up of a pair of marbled whites shows clearly that the markings on the underside of the wings are different from the tops.

Coastal Fossil Hunt Saturday - 23 July

A tour along our very own local Jurassic Coast at Aust with our expert guide Mr Chris Townson. As we are by the coast we might even see some of the descendants of dinosaurs themselves - wading birds! Bring a magnifying glass if you have one, and please wear stout footwear. Meet for a car share at the Clock Tower, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 1.30pm (Parking available in the Wickwar Road car park)

Wapley Bushes Summer/Autumn Newsletter now online

Click here for the Wapley Bushes Summer/Autumn 2011 Newsletter with details of wildlife events on the Nature Reserve and in our area.

Update 22/08/2011: Please note that the Ridge Wood Autmn Quest event on 15 October has been cancelled.

A butterfly's eye view of the Lower Meadow at Wapley

Report from Wapley Wander 3 July 2011

Part of the group looking at the flora in the Top Meadow

An enthusiastic group of walkers met yesterday afternoon for a tour of the Nature Reserve. The meadows were full of wild flowers and butterflies - if you haven't visited them lately, catch them now before the flowers set seed and the meadows are mown shortly. There are over 70 wildflower and grass species present in the rich Lower Meadow including many species that are beneficial for insects, including black knapweed, devil's bit scabious and betony. We saw one species of orchid on the day, te common spotted orchid, but we know that there are others which have already gone over. The Top Meadow also had a great collection of grasshoppers and crickets - as we walked through the grass they would explode away from where we were about to tread.

The main Wapley Wood has just been declared an Ancient Woodland by English Nature, meaning that it's over 400 years old, so we talked about the traditional woodland management techniques that we still use today, such as hedgelaying, coppicing and dead-hedging. We also explored the importance of drainage - our ditches and the underground stream - and historic concepts such as the bank and ditch system, and people being able to take wood "by hook or by crook".

We showed off our big projects from the past year, as mentioned previously on this blog - the new path up the Ride, the hedgelaying in the Lower Meadow, and the Orchard for the Future on the Common. We also mentioned our long-term planning and some ideas we have for improving habitat to attract owls.

Thanks to everybody who came. Please follow the links above to find out more about what we've been doing on the Reserve.

Burnet moths doing what comes naturally on the Common

Wildlife and history walk at Wapley - Sunday 3 July 2pm

Natural England has recently declared that Wapley Bushes is an Ancient Woodland - that means it's more than 400 years old.

To celebrate, there's a guided walk through the woods and meadows on Sunday. The meadows are currently full of wild flowers and butterflies. The walk will also showcase some of the major projects that the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group has undertalken over the past year.

Everyone welcome - meeting at the Shire Way gate, next to the zebra crossing. Please wear suitable footwear.

Another successful Duck Race

A big thank you to everyone who helped maintain the ancient tradition of duck herding on the River Frome this afternoon, at the Chipping Sodbury Festival Duck Races in aid of the Wildlife Trust.

Report from work morning 8 May

A long overdue report from our last workday (pressure of work!)

Building up the dead-hedge

We carried out a variety of tasks. The big job was clearing up a quantity of branches that local vandals had chopped down in the Centenary Wood ready for setting fires, and tidying up the butchered trees. We then took the branches down to the edge of the main woodland facing the Lower Meadow, and used them to build up the dead-hedge.

Dead-hedging, in other words weaving branches between stakes driven into the ground, is a traditional way of creating a natural-looking barrier that also acts as a habitat for small creatures. In time ground plants may grow up over the dead-hedge.

We also cut back some vegetation on the paths, gathered up some litter and cut back the grass around the new fruit trees on the Common.

A fun afternoon at the races (duck races, that is!)

Please join us on Sunday 19 June for the annual Chipping Sodbury Festival Duck Race on the River Frome, in aid of the Wildlife Trust.

Why not come along, have a flutter, and join us for an afternoon of races, a cup of tea and a doughnut? Great fun for all the family!

You are very welcome to come along and bring a picnic to enjoy in the park.

The races start from 2.00pm in Jubilee Park, Quarry Road, Chipping Sodbury.

Evening birdsong at Wapley

Check this out on Chirbit

Wapley Bushes Work Morning - Sunday 8 May

This workday will be a general checking of the state of the woodland, meadows and paths before the summer. We will also be doing a litter pick round the reserve as well. You are welcome to come along on what we hope will be a warm and pleasant walk and please do wear walking or wellington boots
and bring some gloves.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the reserve at 10.00am.

Goose Green Spring Clean - Sunday 10 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.

Meet on the main Greenways Road, just north of the entrance to Oak Close, North Yate, 10.00am.

What were YOU doing on Mothers Day 1994?

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group is trying to locate local people who took part in a mass planting on Sunday 13 March 1994. In just one morning 80 people – half of them children – planted 800 trees to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Dodington Parish Council. It was an event called ‘Plant a Tree for Mothers Day’.

“Many of the trees planted in 1994 are now twenty feet tall” said Cllr Paul Hulbert, a member of Wapley Bushes Conservation Group.

“We’re planning a very special planting on Mothers Day next year – March 18th 2012 – to create a hedge on the edge of the Centenary Wood, so we would love to locate some of the original parents and particularly children who took part in the original planting so long ago”

“We would be grateful if anyone who remembers taking part could contact us by phoning Dodington Parish Council on 01454 866546 or emailing dodingtonpc@southglos.gov.uk”

Wildlife Trust Coffee Morning & Book Sale - Saturday 9 April

You are most welcome to come and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, a slice of home made cake and have a browse through our varied selection of books that we shall be offering for sale. All monies raised will go to wildlife conservation projects in the Avon Valley area. If you can provide any books or cakes for
this day, please contact Malcolm on 01454 310328.

The Baptist Church, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 10.00am to midday.

Kingsgate Park work day

The Friends of Kingsgate Park have recently been successful in winning a South Glos Council grant of £1200 towards replacing some of the fencing along the Scott Way end of the park.

The Friends are having a workday to bolt on some of the new pales on Saturday 26th March, 10.00am – 12.00, meeting at the double gates on the Scott Way side of the park.

Orchard planting a resounding success

Claire Young and Paul Hulbert with the volunteers of the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group have called their latest planting day on Sat 12 March "a resounding success" as more than 40 trees were planted, forming a new Community Orchard on Wapley Common and nearby.

The trees on the Common are all local types of apple, plus a few plums of a rare local variety.

"It's good to do something so traditional yet so future-looking", said Dodington Parish Cllr Paul Hulbert, who organised the event. "We're very grateful to expert Graham White - known locally as Mr Fruit - who guided us through the planting"

South Gloucestershire Cllr Claire Young commented "This was a great way to spend a beautiful spring morning - fresh air, good company and exercise with a legacy that should last years"

The planting was jointly funded by Dodington Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

Successful planting morning!

We had a very successful planting session on Saturday, planting 130 trees to fill gaps along the newly-laid hedge - half was hawthorn, and the rest was a mixture of dogwood, field maple, guelder rose, alder buckthorn, wayfaring tree and wild pear.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who came. Please remember that we've got another work morning next Saturday (12 March) planting our Orchard for the Future - we're meeting at 10.00 am at the Shire Way gate as usual. We hope to see you there.

Planting an Orchard for the Future - Saturday 12 March

Please come and help Wapley Bushes Conservation Group members and friends plant some groups of fruit trees on Wapley Common next Saturday, 12 March.

We aim to create a community orchard - an "Orchard for the Future", if you like - where in years to come our children and grandchildren will be able to come and pick delicious fruit straight from the trees.

The project is being funded by Dodington Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council, but the labour is all being provided by local volunteers. The planting session will start with a workshop led by local supplier “Mr Fruit” (Graham White)

We shall be meeting at the Shire Way gate to the Nature Reserve, next to the zebra crossing near Cherington, at 10.00 am. It would be helpful if you could bring a spade and gloves, if you have them, and you should wear suitable footwear.

Wapley Bushes Work Morning - Saturday 5 March

Today we shall be meeting on a Saturday to allow some of our members who cannot join us on a Sunday to come along and join us in our ongoing reserve conservation work. We hope to start our plans to reinvigorate a recently laid hedgerow by planting up new whips in the gaps. This will help to provide an improved habitat, shelter and food source for wildlife. Please wear stout footwear.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the reserve, 10.00am.

Southwold Spring Walk - Saturday 26 February

We shall be going to the Cromhall area of the county to look for some of our early spring favourites such as snowdrops. We shall also be looking out for birds on the wing and in hedges and we shall be admiring the scenery too so why not come and join us? This walk will be relatively short.

Please wear walking boots or other stout footwear. Meet for a car share at the Clock Tower, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 1.30pm.