A very merry Christmas from Wapley Bushes!

Many hands made light work at Wapley work morning on 2 December!

Eleven of us made short work of the woodland planting on 2 December. Despite the rain we planted 35 woodland trees of various species to help replace future losses from ash dieback disease. With such a good attendance we got the trees planted quickly.

Wapley Local Nature Reserve Workday - Sunday 2 December

This workday will be a morning of woodland planting to enhance biodiversity plus general maintenance and tidying up 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.

Ridge Wood work morning - Sunday 25 November

Meet at 10.00 am at the Melrose Close entrance to woods (see map here)
Jobs to suit all abilities, gloves and tools provided
Finish at 12:00 noon approx.

Find out more from the Ridge Wood website

Wapley Fungus Foray finds species galore

 The Wapley Fungus Foray on 14 October was a great success. Led by Lee Haywood of the Cotswold Fungus Group, 13 volunteers found a wide variety of fungi. The children were particularly good at finding them.

The event was organised by Wapley Bushes Conservation Group and sponsored by South Gloucestershire Council via Cllr Tony Davis's Member Awarded Funding grant. Many thanks Tony!

Here is a small selection of the other fungi we found - there's an official list, but please don't ask me what they all are!

Success at South West In Bloom Awards

Volunteers Pete Carpenter, Paul Hulbert and Tim
Fairhead in Yeovil with the award certificates

Wapley Bushes received two Outstanding awards - the highest level possible for Neighbourhood entries - at the South West In Bloom awards in Yeovil earlier this month.

The judge particularly praised Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve for "outstanding environmental responsibility" in the long-term re-planting project in the woodland, and for the community participation in events and workdays.

Regarding Wapley Common and the Orchard for the Future, the assessor singled out the fruit trees, the grass-cutting rotation providing small mammal habitat (owl prey) and the new bug hotels for special praise.

Lilliput Park, where many of the same people volunteer, gained the Outstanding Award too.

We also congratulate our colleagues of the Wapley Allotments Association for their two Outstanding awards - so it was a clean sweep all round!

Kingsgate Park Nature Reserve Ponds Workday - Saturday 27 October

We shall 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, BS37 4NW, 10.00am (parking is available at the entrance of Shackleton Avenue).

Ridge Wood work morning - Sunday 21 October

Meet at 10.00 am at the Melrose Close entrance to woods (see map here)
Jobs to suit all abilities, gloves and tools provided
Finish at 12:00 noon approx.

Find out more from the Ridge Wood website

Fungus Foray at Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve, Sunday 14 October

Investigating and learning about our local fungi with expert Lee Hayward of Cotswold Fungus Group.There will be many kinds of fungi about – let’s see how many we can find! This event is sponsored by South Gloucestershire Council. Please wear stout footwear.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland (opposite the road entrance to Cherington), south Yate, BS37 8US, 2 pm

Create a Back Garden Nature Reserve - illustrated talk by Ian McGuire of Wild Owl TV - Friday 12 October

In the second of his two wildlife gardening talks, local expert Ian McGuire explains how creating habitats, putting up nest boxes and feeding animals can change a suburban garden into a miniature nature reserve. This event is sponsored by South Gloucestershire Council and Dodington Parish Council.

Friday 12 October, 7.30 pm at Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Road, Chipping Sodbury BS37 6JZ.

Kennedy Way Pond Workday - Saturday 6 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).

Another successful Wapley work morning on 9 September

There were only 8 of us, but we accomplished a lot. We carried our annual task of clearing the stream down through the wood - if we didn't do this, the centre of the woodland would start flooding.

Some of the team - proving that
there's now headroom on the paths!

We also chopped back the low-hanging vegetation on the woodland paths, litter-picked round the woodland, and did "routine maintenance" on the fruit trees. Well done everybody!

Ridge Wood work morning - Sunday 23 September

Meet at 10.00 am at the Melrose Close entrance to woods (see map here)
Jobs to suit all abilities, gloves and tools provided
Finish at 12:00 noon approx.

Find out more from the Ridge Wood website

Quick video - Wapley in late summer

Wapley August 2018 a from Paul Hulbert on Vimeo.

A brief look at Wapley in the last few days of August 2018.

Sunbathing fox

Seen in the farmer's field next to Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve this afternoon.

Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve Workday - Sunday 9 September

We shall be undertaking the annual stream clearance and other reserve maintenance walk on this autumn workday. Please wear stout footwear.

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

Bicycle Safari - Discover local nature on two wheels with expert Ian McGuire.- Sunday 2 September

Family friendly, under 12s must be accompanied by an adult. Bicycle Safari sets off at 11.00 am from Riverside car park next to Yate Cinema BS37 4AY. Meet from 10.15 am for briefing and to check bikes.

Organised by the Joint Cycleway Group with bike checks and riding hints from South Glos Council's "Dr Bike" team".

Ridge Woods Forest Fun Time - Thursday 23rd August

Return of this popular family woodland event, suitable for accompanied children up to age 11.

Forest Trail, Woodland Crafts, free entry, refreshments

Trail starts at Jubilee Gardens Entrance from 2:00 pm - please see map of woods here

Sorry, no dogs at this event. 

Wapley Bushes given 7th Green Flag Community Award

It's now official - Wapley Bushes has achieved the Green Flag Community Award for the 7th year in a row. Ours is one of only 8 Community Awards in the South West, and in fact we've got the only Green Flag award of any sort in South Gloucestershire. Well done to all our volunteers and to Dodington Parish Council staff!

 

The Green Flag Community Award, a category for green spaces that are managed by voluntary and community groups.

The next work morning on the Reserve will be Sunday 9 September, meeting at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, BS37 8US, 10.00am. Extra volunteers would be very welcome – please contact Paul Hulbert on 01454 315851 for more details, or just turn up.
 

Busy bees and the cricket season - report from work morning 15 July 2018

We had a productive work morning this weekend - it was so hot that we had to keep it slightly shorter than usual. Six of us cleared the bramble and other growth round the young fruit trees in the bottom hedge of the lower meadow to give them room for growth. We also cut back overgrowth on the top path and behind the seats on the Common.

While we were there we watched the leaf cutter bees hard at work at our new Bug Hotels on Wapley Common. They lay their eggs in a hole, seal off the cell with leaf fragments, lay eggs in another cell, cap it with more leaves and so on.

We also saw quite a few crickets - here's one resting on one of our tools.