Below the surface

A lot goes on at Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve between workdays. Members of the committee and friends walk the Reserve regularly, tidying up and clipping back overgrowth. Dodington Parish Council's handyman and street warden visit to clear litter, especiall after busy weekends.

Other "unseen" work includes monitoring the fruit trees and treating them with traditional remedies as necessary. Members of the public report any problems they find on the Reserve, and the Committee or the Parish Council try to deal with them as quickly as possible.

We also do a monthly photo shoot right round the Reserve, the Common and the Orchard - we've now got an archive of digital photos going back to January 2003. This allows us to monitor how things develop month by month, and to compare different years at the same time.

Sometimes the photo survey produces surprises - these plate-sized bracket fungi have appeared in the last month. We know where they usually appear each year, so we keep a look out every time we walk round to see whether they've arrived yet.

All this information feeds into our management of the Reserve. The Five Year Management Plan is being revised at the moment by a professional ecological consultant, and he will be making recommendations that form the basis of the work we undertake on work mornings or commission contractors to carry out.

Last chance to see

The meadows will be mown fairly shortly, and we're getting to the end of the butterfly season. So if you want to see Wapley at its summer best, take advantage of a sunny day and head over to see what you can find.

Here are a couple of butterflies on their favourite plant, black knapweed:

Marbled white

Meadow Brown

Success again for Wapley Bushes

Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve and the Orchard for the Future have won the Green Flag Community Award for the third year running - the only Green Flag Award in South Gloucestershire.

The Green Flag Award scheme recognises quality parks or green spaces. In total, 1,582 parks, cemeteries, universities, shopping centres and community gardens in the UK have met the high standard needed to receive the Green Flag Award or the Green Flag Community Award.

The Green Flag Awards are judged by an army of more than 700 green space experts, who volunteer their time to visit applicant sites and assess them against eight strict criteria, including horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability and community involvement. The Green Flag Awards Scheme is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

Obviously Wapley Bushes Conservation Group, who manage the Reserve, and landowners Dodington Parish Council are very pleased with this success. They are now looking forward to hearing the results of their South West in Bloom award entries.

Working in the wet - 12 July workday

On a very wet morning half a dozen of us carried out some essential maintenance tasks on the reserve. The bushes alongside the paths have been growing at an incredible rate, at least a foot a month. We split into several working parties and carved our way through the jungle to try to keep all the paths walkable.

Meanwhile we also did some light summer pruning of the stoned fruit trees, and checked round the apple trees as well - we think we're going to have an apple crop on the Common this year.

Harvesting the meadow

Part of our haul of rattle seed

Four of us spent a couple of hours at Wapley on Wednesday collecting hay rattle (yellow rattle) seeds. This plant has large seeds, and if you pick the seed pods when they have dried and shake them, you can hear the seeds rattle.

Rattle is an interesting plant - it's a hemi-parasite. It has green leaves that can photosynthesise, but it can tap into grass roots and draw nutrient from them, which weakens the grass.

Up at the top of the Lower Meadow we have an area where the grass is so vigorous that few wildflowers can take hold. Our idea is that by sowing small patches of rattle there we can weaken the grass and encourage species diversity. It'll be an interesting experiment - we're starting to play with GPS to record where we do things like this.

We're also wondering whether hay rattle can feed off the root systems of the invasive plant meadowsweet - perhaps this could be a way of bringing it more under control.

In more news from the reserve, the areas that were seeded after they were damaged by vehicles turning are showing a lovely crop of annuals - the perennials will come along later.

The patch at the bridge end of the Common, on the orchard side

 In the cottages part of the orchard, the climbing rose that we trained up the dead plum tree has shot upwards, and is now in bloom.

Please come and join us at our work morning this Sunday (12 July) - meet at 10.00 am at the Shire Way gate for a couple of hours of light stoned fruit tree pruning and general maintenance tasks. As usual there will be something for everyone. Please wear suitable footwear and bring gloves if you have them.

Wapley Bushes Summer Fruit Tree Pruning morning Sunday 12 July

Please come and join us for a pleasant summer work morning - nothing too strenuous!

As well as pruning stoned fruit trees such as plums and gages, we shall also be attending to odd jobs on the reserve. There will be something for everyone!

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

Wapley Guided walk explores "orchid alley"

Sixteen wildlife enthusiasts, including a group of visitors from the Cabot Group of the Wildlife Trust in Bristol, explored Wapley's meadows and woodlands last weekend. We found three of Wapley's five species of orchids and many other meadow flowers. Then we went into the woodland and talked about the challenge of ash dieback disease and how the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group is planning to cope with it. Finally we visited the Orchard for the Future, where local varieties of fruit trees (ones you can't buy in the shops) have been planted on one side of Wapley Common.

It's not surprising they call it a bee orchid!

Butterflies, bees and orchids - Wapley meadow at its best

Now is the time to visit Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve if you're interested in meadow flowers and insects. Investigate on your own, or join us on our public guided walk this Sunday 28 June, meeting at 2pm at the Shire Way gate. We shall be welcoming guests from the Cabot Group of the Wildlife Trust but everyone is welcome. Here are some photos from the last few days:

Bee orchid

 

Common spotted orchid

Six-spot burnet moth on black knapweed

Small white female butterfly

Meadow brown male butterfly

Ringlet butterfly

Wapley bridge official opening photo

A photo of the official opening of the new Sergeant's Farm Bridge today - Cllr Christine Howard, Chairman of Dodington Parish Council, assisted by yours truly. They loaned her a pair of gold-coloured scissors to cut the ribbon!

Wapley bridge replacement timelapse film

Courtesy of Network Rail. Very impressive!

This video shows the replacement of Sergeant's Farm Bridge,  which links Shire Way to Wapley Common and the Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve.

Wapley Bridge - Network Rail opening event tomorrow (Tuesday 28 April)

With only a day's notice, Network Rail have said that they are having an official opening event at the bridge at 11.00 am tomorrow (Tuesday 28 April) to which local residents are invited.

Dodington Parish Council will organise a community celebration in a few weeks time - we'll let you know.

Wapley footbridge is now open!

The new Sergeant's Farm Bridge opened yesterday evening, and people seem to like it. 

There's a motorbike barrier and a kissing gate, which can be opened fully to let wheelchairs through if you have a RADAR key.

The slope looks manageable for anyone pushing a wheelchair or a buggy.

The span of the temporary bridge across the railway was removed overnight.

Well done to Network Rail's contractors Murphy, and also to all involved from Dodington Parish Council and South Glos Council's Public Rights of Way section.

The Big Pull 2015

The Big Pull is run by South Glos council, as part of the Wild4life project, and the Avon Invasive Weeds Forum.

Himalayan Balsam is a plant which is rapidly spreading across the UK invading the banks of our rivers and streams, smothering our native plants and causing flooding. Pulling it up is the easiest way to control it.

Last years campaign was very successful, with 106 volunteers - including many local people - helping to clear a 675m stretch along the River Frome. Here’s what some pullers had to say about it:

‘Great morning – something very therapeutic about pulling up that balsam!’
‘Nice to meet new people and meet old friends.’

The organisers provide the equipment and guidance, you provide the pulling power.

Join us for a free Big Pull morning on:
    Saturday 31 May
    Saturday 7 June
    Saturday 28 June
    Saturday 12 July

The mornings run from 10am to 1pm. Meet at the far end of Celestine Road, Yate, BS37 5HB.

•     All ages are welcome and there’s no need to book
•     Free refreshments and snacks provided
•     Please wear strong outdoor footwear and weatherproof clothing
•     Long trousers and sleeves advised and sun cream and a hat if the weather is hot

For further information or to discuss any access needs please contact communityspaces@southglos.gov.uk or call 01454 863556.

New Wapley bridge may open any day

It's possible that the new Sergeant's Farm Bridge, which links Shire Way to Wapley Common, may open as soon as tomorrow (Sat 25 April).

If all goes to plan tomorrow, we understand that Murphys have Network Rail's permission to remove the temporary bridge overnight Saturday/Sunday. Fingers crossed...

They have been installing the new boundary fence for the Network Rail compound. At least in the short term the path from the bridge will emerge at the zebra crossing, then people will be able to walk along the short length of tarmac on the edge of Shire Way and then follow the path back into the ashtrack.

It is hoped to organise a modest celebration event in the near future, possibly involving a local school. We'll keep you posted.

South Gloucestershire Spring Walk, Sunday 19 April

This will be a guided tour around a scenic and rural part of South Gloucestershire to coincide with the bluebell flowering season. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.