Merry Xmas from Wapley Bushes!

And here's a seasonal sound bonus - our local insomniac robin singing his heart out at 11.30 pm recently:

listen to ‘Insomniac robin’ on Audioboo

In case you're interested, here's an RSPB web page on night singing birds, especially robins.

Wapley Local Nature Reserve Workday, Saturday 16 November

This workday will be a morning of general maintenance work and tidying up in the reserve prior to the winter season. Please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves.

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

Excellent Owl Prowl at Wapley Bushes! (Monday 28 October)

We had a great owl prowl at Wapley Bushes this evening with Ian McGuire. We saw three tawny owls near the Lower Path, one on its own and a pair. One sat on a branch 20 feet up calling to us, and we also saw them in flight. Thanks for a great event, Ian!

Rather soggy but happy nevertheless
- Ian McGuire, his tame owl and the owl prowlers.

The owl prowl was part of South Gloucestershire Council's Discover Festival. If you missed the Wapley prowl, there's another one tomorrow (Tuesday 29 October) at Ridge Woods. Meet 7 pm at the Quarry Road entrance. Please wear warm clothes and boots, and bring a torch.

Ian is also running owl prowls on Wednesday at Willsbridge Mill, and on Friday at Coniston Community Centre, Patchway, with a 7 pm start in each case.

Kingsgate Park Nature Reserve Ponds Workday, Sunday 20 October

We shall undertaking maintenance of this important amphibian site including the cutting back of vegetatio n. Please wear gloves and wellington boots.

Meet at the Scott Way entrance to Kingsgate Park, Scott Way, Yate, BS37 4NW, 10.00am (parking is available at the entrance of Shackleton Avenue).

Kennedy Way Pond Workday, Saturday 12 October

We shall be carrying out general management works on the reserve including vegetation clearance at this local wildlife haven.

Meet at the Kennedy Way Pond, Link Road, Yate Shopping Centre, 10.00am (parking is available at the Yate overflow car park also on the eastern side of Link Road, BS37 4AY).

Orchard Harvest Day, Sunday 6 October

Celebrate the richness and variety of English fruit at this 14th century historic barn with a 200 year old working cider press. Activities and fun for all ages. Organised by South Gloucestershire Council.

11am -4pm, Winterbourne Barn, Church Lane, Winterbourne, BS36 1SE.

Munching and meddling at Wapley - first crop and work morning 15 September

Ten of us met at Wapley today for the first autumn work morning of the year. We started as usual with a safety briefing:

Then most of our volunteers worked on clearing the stream in the wood and cutting vegetation back from the paths, while a couple of us did some maintenance on the young fruit trees.

• Good news - we've had our first crop from the Orchard for the Future.
• Bad news - we've eaten it. Two apples, one each. But they tasted lovely!

Here's another part of our mini-crop - a medlar, very much a rarity nowadays.

 And here are our volunteers at the end of a productive morning.

Our next work morning at Wapley will be on Saturday 16 November, but there will be a Wapley Owl Prowl on Monday 28 October, meeting at 7.00 pm at the Shire Way gate. See you there?.

Wild Owls Chat, Saturday 21 September

Learn more about the UK's owls in this chat with Ian McGuire of Wild Owl. Organised by South Gloucestershire Council.

2:30 -3:30pm, Winterbourne Library, Flaxpits Lane, Winterbourne, BS36 1LA.

Introduction to British Owls Talk, Thursday 19 September

Come face to face with a wild owl and learn more about them in this inspiring talk from Ian McGuire of Wild Owl. Organised by South Gloucestershire Council.

7:30 -9.00pm, The Old Grammar School, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, BS37 6AH.

Ram Hill Colliery Heritage Open Day, Sunday 15 September

An opportunity to visit the remains of this 19th century coal mine with guided tours showing the steam engine and house, horse gin and dramway terminus remains. Organised by South Gloucestershire Council.

10:30am - 4:00pm, Ram Hill Colliery, Broad, Lane, Ram Hill, Coalpit Heath, BS36 2TY.

Wapley Bushes Workday, Sunday 15 September

This workday will be our annual stream clearance where we hope to clear the central watercourse through the main woodland. This work is required to preserve the habitat of the rare local thinspiked wood sedge. Everyone welcome - there are lots of lighter tasks too. Please wear walking or wellington boots, and bring some gloves if you have them.

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

Bat Walk at Kingsgate Park Nature Reserve, Friday 13 September

Nature lovers are invited to come along and find out more about the local resident bat population with a free guided bat walk through the nature reserve area of the park. This event has been organised in cooperation
with South Gloucestershire Council.

Meet at the Scott Way entrance to Kingsgate Park, Scott Way, Yate, BS37 4NW, 7.30pm through to 9.30pm (parking is available at the entrance of Shackleton Avenue).

Wapley in summer - spot the Green Lady!

Just a few photos of Wapley in the hot weather we've been having.

Can you see the face in the first one?

Friendly frog

We came across this friendly frog during our recent meadow survey.

A tale of two species

On our meadow walk we came across two species that complement each other nicely, the six-spot burnet moth and the bird's foot trefoil.

Bird's foot trefoil, with its attractive yellow flowers, is a favourite food source for the burnet moth caterpillar.

 The caterpillar becomes a pupa in preparation for its transformation into the adult moth.

 

A discarded pupa case after the moth has flown

 

The adult six-spot burnet moth

As the bird's foot trefoil ages it turns gradually from yellow to red,
hence the common name "eggs and bacon"

Finally its three leaves start to resemble the toes of a bird's foot,
hence the name "bird's foot trefoil"

(Photos by Isabel Ryan) 

Excellent meadow walk - orange tails, diamond backs and adder's tongues

Meadow surveyors at work!

We had an excellent meadow walk and survey on Sunday  23 June led by Rupert Higgins of Wessex Ecologicla Consultancy, who wrote the Five Year Plan we currently use to manage Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve. We saw everything from micro-moths and orange-tailed bumble bees, via hairy sedge to a diamondback moth, a migrant from North Africa or the Mediterranean. Unfortunately we saw very few butterflies, mainly meadow browns. Probably it was too cloudy for other species that were in evidence the following day, which was sunny.

Meadow brown butterfly

Our find of the day was the adder's tongue fern, which usually has only one leaf plus a single tall spike bearing the spores. This uncommon fern is said to be a good indicator species of ancient meadows.

Adder's-tongue fern

We have quite a few more interesting photos to show, so we'll post them here over the next few days.

(Photos by Isabel Ryan and Paul Hulbert)

New look for the Orchard for the Future

Deer damage to the bark
of one of our fruit trees

The new look - mulch mats
and wraparound guards.

Sharp-eyed visitors will have noticed some changes to the young fruit trees on the Common. Firstly we've put some mulch mats around the trees to stop competition from grass - we're letting the grass grow long to provide a habitat for small mammals such as voles, which will eventually become "owl takeaways" if we manage to attract some owls to the woods.

The mats are completely biodegradable. They're made from a mixture of recycled jute and cashmere hair, needled onto a hessian backing. As the mulching mat material degrades, nitrogen and other beneficial elements will be released to benefit the growing plants. The mats are held down by recycled plastic pegs, but these are fully biodegradable too.

We've also had to deal with a problem of deer nibbling the bark of some of our trees. We've fitted wraparound guards to the main stems of the trees and we've painted the upper stems with a deer browsing deterrent comprising clove and almond oils. Hopefully they won't be as attractive now as an overnight snack.

Summer South Gloucestershire Walk, Sunday 30 June

South Gloucestershire is fortunate to have some very picturesque countryside and our experienced guides, Richard and Pauline Wilson, will be taking us to the Golden Valley area near Wick in the south of the county. Please wear walking boots or other stout footwear and please note that ample free car parking is available
at the Wickwar Road car park.

Meet for a car share at the Clock Tower, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 2.00pm.

Summer Meadow Flower Walk, Sunday 23 June Wapley

We shall be having a walk around the meadows and woodland to have a look at the different types of summer wildflowers that are on display. Do come along and learn more about our native flora and there will be plenty of interesting insects too. Please wear walking boots or other stout footwear.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, 2.00pm.

Grand Duck Race, Sunday June 16

As part of our contribution to Chipping Sodbury Festival Week, we will be holding our annual duck race along the River Frome. Why not come along, have a flutter, and join us for an afternoon of races, a cup of tea and a doughnut? You are very welcome to come along and bring a picnic to enjoy in the park. The races start from 2.00pm.

Meet at Jubilee Park, Quarry Road, Chipping Sodbury, 2.00pm.

First blossoms of the year at The Orchard For The Future, Wapley

May blooms (and more) at Wapley Bushes

There are cowslips galore on the Lower Meadow

Wild Garlic in the Ancient Woodland

Bluebells throughout the woodland

Primrose among bluebells

Yellow archangel and bluebells

Ragged Robin

Hartstongue fern

And the traditional buttercups and daisies, of course!

Book Sale & Coffee Morning in aid of Wildlife, Saturday 18 May

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.

Report from Work Morning, Saturday 16 March

A rather belated report from an excellent work morning. Around 18 volunteers, including a number of children, split up into three groups. One group tackled some very muddy planting, putting in 50 extra trees in the Jubilee Hedge.

Another team cut back some overhanging branches, while a very industrious group did a deep spring clean of the reserve, including some of the approach areas that hadn't been tackled for ages.

Well done everyone!

In the meantime, the buds on the horse chestnut tree we transplanted last year are showing nicely. Maybe Spring WILL come this year after all!

Wapley Work Morning, Saturday 16 March

We shall be undertaking a range management tasks that will help to enhance the biodiversity of this precious nature reserve. We'll be clearing back some vegetation on the main Ride between the woodlands and use any excess offcuts to build up the dead hedge at the edge of the Western Wood. We have about 50 small trees to be planted to infill gaps in the Centenary Wood hedge, and we'll be doing spring cleaning by litter picking around the reserve. Something for everyone!


Please wear stout footwear. Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, opposite the entrance to Cherington in South Yate, 10.00am.

Quiz Night Live, Friday 8 March

This is your chance to have some fun and pick a team of Eggheads and bring them along to our general knowledge quiz. We have found this to be a very popular event and you are most welcome make up a team name and bring your own snacks and beverages. We will also be serving tea and coffee for you in the break. Quiz teams are usually made up of four players at a cost of £2 each per person. Please contact Malcolm on 01454 310328 to book your team's place.

The Old Grammar School, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 7.30pm.

Avon Wildlife Trust's Southwold Group is very active and would very much welcome more like-minded people to join them. They organise workdays, walks, surveys, fundraising events and it only takes a couple of hours every other month. If anyone wants to help out and try something new then please call Malcolm on 01454 310328 and you will be made very welcome.

We came, we sawed, we pruned...

Having lost two workdays in a row due to bad weather, we decided to hold a mini-workday today. People who had attended the pruning workshop last summer, plus a couple of others who had viewed the DVD we made of the event, gathered to do some light pruning of the young trees. We were happy to find that they were in good condition, and we're hoping for a vigorous year's growth ahead.

Our next Wapley Work Morning will be on Saturday 16 March - details will follow here.

Snow makes Wapley look like Narnia

A few photos from Wapley today.

Burn off those holiday calories! Wapley Bushes Workday, Saturday 19 January 2013

Update: This work morning has been now cancelled because of the snowy conditions. It's likely to freeze overnight, and it would be unsafe doing the work we intended using cutting tools.

This is your chance to burn off some of those Christmas calories by joining us for our first workday of the new year. We shall be undertaking general management tasks that will help to enhance the biodiversity of this precious nature reserve. Please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves if you have them.

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

Avon Wildlife Trust's Southwold Group is very active and would very much welcome more like-minded people to join them. They organise workdays, walks, surveys, fundraising events and it only takes a couple of hours every other month. If anyone wants to help out and try something new then please call Malcolm on 01454 310328 and you will be made very welcome.

Merry Christmas from Wapley Bushes!

Just three more days to enjoy Westonbirt Enchanted Christmas 2012

The last three days of Westonbirt Enchanted Christmas 2012 will be Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd December. It's better than ever this year - here's a slideshow of photos from last weekend with a taste of what to expect:



Adults £9, concessions £8, children £5. No dogs please except assistance dogs.  Westonbirt Arboretum, A433, 3 miles south west of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS, 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm with the last entry at 7.15 pm.

The Spectacular Westonbirt Enchanted Christmas 2012 - Fri, Sat & Sun evenings from 30 Nov to 23 Dec 2012

The Enchanted Christmas will return this year with a spectacular new illuminated trail and more exciting festive activities, foods and stalls onsite. The costs are adults £9, concessions £8, children £5. No dogs please except assistance dogs.  Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening from 30 November to 23 December 2012 at  Westonbirt Arboretum, A433, 3 miles south west of Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS, 5.00 pm to 8.30 pm with the last entry at 7.15 pm.

Planting despite the rain!

When we were rehabilitating the old part of the Orchard for the Future earlier in the year, we started thinking what to do with a the trunk of a dead plum tree. We decided that we would make it a "feature". Despite having to cancel the work morning yesterday, members of the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group were able to plant a climbing rose in memory of a local Dodington resident, Mrs Molly Turner, later on in the afternoon.

This rose, Rosa "Wedding Day", will eventually produce a large display of flowers in the summer and hips in the autumn. The scented single flowers are wildlife-friendly and will be benefit pollinating insects such as bees and hoverflies. The summer flowering season will also complement that of the adjacent spring flowering fruit trees to provide a longer nectar and pollen season for insects. Similarly, the autumn hips will be of benefit to foraging birds. Not only good to look at, but ecologically useful!

Jane Giddings gets down and dirty planting the new rose

Meet our new friend Rosa...

Workday Sunday 4 November CANCELLED - have a squirrel instead!

We've had to cancel today's work morning due to heavy rain overnight making the ground unsafe for working. It's still raining and sleeting out there, so in case you need a wildlife fix to make up for it, here's a short video of a squirrel that Paul saw yesterday:

Wapley Bushes Workday, Sunday 4 November

This workday will be a morning of general maintenance work and tidying up the reserve prior to the winter season. Please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves if you have them. We will provide the tools.

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

Owl Prowl at Ridge Wood Nature Reserve, Wednesday 31 October

We shall be joining our guide, Ian McGuire, for a twilight owl prowl through Ridge Wood and hear him call for the resident tawny owls. Please wear warm clothes and boots and bring a torch. This event has been organised in cooperation with South Glos Council.

Meet at the southern Quarry Road entrance to Ridge Wood, Chipping Sodbury, 7.00pm (until 9.00pm).

Kingsgate Park Ponds Workday, Sunday 28 October

We shall be undertaking maintenance of this important amphibian site including the cutting back of vegetation. Please wear gloves and wellington boots.

Meet at the Scott Way entrance to Kingsgate Park, Scott Way, Yate 10.00am (parking is available at the entrance of Shackleton Avenue).

Avon Wildlife Trust's Southwold Group is very active and would very much welcome more like-minded people to join them. They organise workdays, walks, surveys, fundraising events and it only takes a couple of hours every other month. If anyone wants to help out and try something new then please call Malcolm on 01454 310328 and you will be made very welcome.

Wonders of the Universe - Star Gazing, Thursday 25 October

This free presentation by Callum Potter of the Cotswold Astronomy Society will be an opportunity to learn more about the wider universe. If the skies are clear we will also walk to nearby St John’ Park to view the night sky. Please wear warm clothes, strong footwear and bring a torch. This event has been organised in cooperation with South Glos Council.

The Old Grammar School, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 7.00pm (until 9.00pm). 

Fungus Foray at Tytherington, Monday 22 October

Our guide, Justin Smith, will help us get to know the difference between mushrooms and toadstools on this autumn mycological adventure. Please wear warm clothes and boots. This event has been organised in cooperation with South Glos Council.

Meet by the Village Shop at the junction of The Nurseries and Itchington Road, Tytherington, South Gloucestershire, 2.00pm (until 4.00pm).

Ridge Wood Conservation Day, Sunday 21 October

This will be a bit of practical voluntary work to help manage the reserve. and please meet at the northern Greenways Road entrance to the woodland, north Yate, 10.00am (until midday).

Kennedy Way Pond Workday, Saturday 20 October

Following on from the major pond restoration works at the start of the year, this pond has now become a wildlife haven again full of newts, pondskaters, water beetles and other wildlife. We shall be carrying out general management works on the reserve including vegetation clearance.

Meet at the Kennedy Way Pond, Link Road, Yate Shopping Centre, 10.00am (parking is available at the Yate overflow car park also on Link Road).

Tree Life Centre Open Day, Saturday 13 October

Join us for an Open Day at the BTCV Tree Life Centre. The Tree Life Centre is a community project based at Grimsbury Farm in Kingswood where people from many different backgrounds come together to grow trees, shrubs and wildflowers.  There will be a range of activities for people of all ages which may include harvesting, preparing and sowing seed; potting up plants; wildlife and tree identification walks; pond dipping.

Access: Wheelchair access around parts of the site is limited but the area close to the entrance of the nursery is flat and accessible and there will be a fully accessible activity set up in the covered potting shed area. This event has been organised in cooperation with South Glos Council.

Meet at the BTCV Tree Life Centre, Grimsbury Farm at the junction of Grimsbury Roadand Baden Road, Kingswood, 11.00am (until 4.00pm).

A celebration and a successful workday

Our work morning last Sunday started with a celebration as Cllr Gloria Stephen, Chairman of Dodington Parish Council,  presented the volunteers of the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group with the Green Flag Communities Award. The Green Flag Community Award is the national award scheme for high quality green spaces in the UK that are managed by voluntary and community groups. Wapley is is one of just three sites in South Gloucestershire to receive Green Flag awards this year.

We were very pleased to see so many at our work morning - around 30 people, many of them children. Our numbers were boosted by a community work party from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

With so many willing hands we accomplished a lot of work. The key objective was our annual task of clearing the ditch down through the wood - this year it wasn't as clogged up as usual. When (if?) we have dry summers the ditch fills up with early leaf fall, but this year it was just a case of clearing some excess clay and removing fallen branches.

Another major task was cutting back fast-growing vegetation along some of the paths. This was of course more onerous than usual. We also cleared some young blackthorn that has shot up among the unmowed part of the orchard grass, and did a litter pick throughout the Reserve.

Our next Wapley workday will be at 10 am on Sunday 4 November, meeting at the Shire Way gate - call Paul Hulbert on 01454 315851 for more details, or just turn up.

Don't forget that we have a Bat Walk at Yate Common on 19 September and a Wild Food Foray at Wapley on 24 September, and there's a whole list of local wildlife events shown in Dates for Your Diary. Full details of each event appear on this blog a couple of weeks before the due day.

Wild Food Foray at Wapley Bushes, Monday 24 September

Come along and enjoy an autumn walk with our guide, Justin Smith, and see what nature's free larder has in stock for you to take home, cook and eat. This event has been organised in cooperation with South Glos Council.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, opposite Cherington Road, south Yate, 2.00pm (until 4.00pm).

Scenic South Gloucestershire Walk, Sunday 23 September

We shall be going on a walk to look at the autumnal delights that nature has to offer at this time of year at Wick and Doynton in the Golden Valley. Our walk leaders will be the experienced guides Richard and Pauline Wilson and please wear walking boots or other stout footwear as this walk will be about four miles or so.

Meet for a car share at the Clock Tower, High Street, Chipping Sodbury, 2.00pm. Please note that ample free car parking is available at the Wickwar Road car park.

Wildlife dates for your diary

Here's a quick glimpse of local wildlife events coming up over the next few months. We'll post details of each a couple of weeks before the event.

• Wednesday 19 September - Bat Walk at Yate Common
• Sunday 23 September - Scenic South Gloucestershire Walk
• Monday 24 September - Wild Food Foray at Wapley Bushes
• Saturday 13 October - Tree Life Centre Open Day, Grimsbury Farm
• Saturday 20 October - Kennedy Way Pond Workday
• Sunday 21 October - Ridge Wood Conservation Day
• Monday 22 October - Fungus Foray at Tytherington
• Thursday 25 October - Wonders of the Universe - Star Gazing, Chipping Sodbury, 
• Sunday 28 October - Kingsgate Park Ponds Workday
• Wednesday 31 October - Owl Prowl at Ridge Wood Nature Reserve
• Sunday 4 November - Wapley Bushes Workday
• Fri, Sat & Sun evenings from 30 Nov to 23 Dec 2012 - The Spectacular Westonbirt Enchanted Christmas
• Saturday 19 January 2013 - Wapley Bushes Workday
• Friday 8 March - AWT Quiz Night Live!

Avon Wildlife Trust's Southwold Group is very active and would very much welcome new members and volunteers. If anyone wants to help out and try something new then please call Malcolm on 01454 310328 and you will be made very welcome.

Bat Walk at Yate Common, Wednesday 19 September

Avon Bat Group’s Laura Plenty will be taking us around this green open space for a twilight stroll in search of bats. Bat detectors will be provided and please wear warm clothes and boots and bring a torch. This event has been organised in cooperation with South Glos Council.

Meet at the Westerleigh Road entrance to the Common opposite St. Briavel’s Drive, 7.15pm (until 9.15pm).

Work morning and presentation of Green Flag Award, Saturday 8 September

We will be pleased to welcome the Chairman of Dodington Parish Council, Gloria Stephen, who will be presenting the Green Flag Community Award at the start of the Wapley Bushes Work Morning on Saturday. Gloria has of course been a frequent volunteer at Wapley as well, so she knows the Reserve well. We thought it would be more appropriate to do the presentation to our volunteers on site rather than at an artificial event in the Parish Hall.

This workday will be our annual stream clearance where we hope to clear the central watercourse through the main woodland. This work is required to preserve the habitat of the rare local thin-spiked wood sedge. We will also have a range of lighter tasks - there will be something for everyone!

Please wear walking or wellington boots and bring some gloves if you have them - we'll provide all the tools. Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, 10.00am.

Avon Wildlife Trust's Southwold Group is very active and would very much welcome more like-minded people to join them. They organise workdays, walks, surveys, fundraising events and it only takes a couple of hours every other month. If anyone wants to help out and try something new then please call Malcolm on 01454 310328 and you will be made very welcome.

Orchard for the Future - update

Malcolm masking up ready for spraying

The Orchard for the Future is going well, apart from a minor problem with the quince trees and a few others others which have had to be treated for quince leaf blight fungal infection using traditional Bordeaux mixture and flowers of sulphur. Both of these chemicals are traditionally used in organic agriculture. Thanks go to  Isabel, Malcolm and Tim for carrying out the spraying. At least two further retreatments will be required - one in winter and one before leaf burst in spring.

Tim points out the blackthorn that
we'll need to eradicate from the
long grass

You will have seen that the grass around the young trees on the Common has been left uncut apart from the wide pathway where people walk. This is to provide a habitat for mice and voles, which will hopefully entice owls to nest in the woods. In future years the grass will be cut in sections on a three-year rotation. We've noticed that there is a patch of young blackthorn shrubs growing in the long grassland where the apple trees are on the common and this matter needs to be addressed at some stage. Off with their heads!

Major award for local beauty spot as Wapley Bushes wins Green Flag

We are pleased to announce that Wapley Bushes has won the Green Flag Community Award 2012, the national award scheme for well-managed, high-quality public and community parks and green spaces.

Our entry combined Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve, including our recently-planted Jubilee Hedge, with the new Orchard for the Future, which aims to restore heritage varieties of fruit in a public orchard.

We are particularly happy to have gained the Community Award because it recognises the efforts of all our volunteers.

The award will be presented at the next Wapley Work Morning  on 8th September – meet at the Shire Way gate at 10.00 am.

Orchard for the Future - successful tree pruning workshop

Click arrow for slideshow

We had an excellent workshop this morning pruning the old plum trees in front of the Wapley cottages. The trees hadn't been tended for many years, but we've managed to make a visible difference.

The workshop was led by local expert Graham White - Mr Fruit - and paid for by Dodington Parish Council. Graham explained to us that stone fruit should be pruned in the summer. Other fruit such as apple trees should be pruned in the winter, and Graham explained what we will need to do to look after the trees we planted last year.

The old trees in this small area are local varieties such as as Frampton Magnum plums. The new trees - most of which are on Wapley Common - are also local heritage varieties of apples, plums and other fruits.

Last year's new tree planting was financed by South Gloucestershire Council, organised by Wapley Bushes Conservation Group, and carried out by local volunteers - a real community project.