improving the environment, promoting wildlife conservation, encouraging community awareness
in and around Burton-upon-Trent and further afield

Affiliated to BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers)

BCV ANNUAL REVIEW 2008/09

Around twenty BCV members attended our Annual Review and Social/Buffet held at the Old Cottage Tavern (May 2009).

The evening started with the formal AGM business: Lawrence presented the BCV Annual Report which highlighted another successful year for the group (there's a link to the report below); Steve then presented the accounts which in spite of major expenditure during the last year still showed a surplus over the 12-month period.  The committee was re-elected, with the exception of Steve who has stepped down as Treasurer, and we welcome Emily who has taken over this role.

Lynn presented an informative talk on the ancient woodlands around the Forest of Needwood which was very well illustrated with slides, once we eventually managed to get the projector to work.  And we were entertained with an audio-visual presentation of our year's activities, compiled by Shane.

Allotment (Mar 2009)

BCV members are busy preparing the allotment for the new growing season.  Our newest member Conservation Colin casts an eye over the allotment.

Middleton Lakes (Mar 2009)

Left: Planting reeds at Middleton Lakes, a new RSPB reserve near Tamworth.

Right: Here's one they prepared earlier (planted the previous year).

Planting a new hedge at Hadley End (Feb 2009) along the line of an ancient hedge near Yoxall.

The planting included a variety of species: hawthorn, hazel, field maple, crab apple, holly, and silver birch, plus a few rare wild service trees in an attempt to recreate the biodiversity of the old hedge-line.  We also put in some willow and alder in the wetter areas.  The new hedge is 170 metres in length – not bad for a single day's work!

Woodland management in the delightful setting of Scalpcliffe Woods in Stapenhill (Jan 2009).  A well-attended task – so popular that we had to rush out and buy a further supply of helmets to kit everyone out.

February saw the launch of our new BCV logo and also the long-awaited new trailer.

Christian Fields, a new wildlife area on the northern edge of the city of Lichfield.  We have assisted Lichfield District Council with various work parties there, working towards Local Nature Reserve status.  Recent tasks have included scrub control, path clearance, and installing natural barriers. (Feb 2009)

Hedgelaying on the Kingfisher Trail (Jan-Feb 2009): The Kingfisher Trail is a recently restored wildlife corridor and cycle route which runs alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal in Burton.  The work carried out by BCV and other community-led environmental groups over the last two years culminated in the Kingfisher Trail being awarded Green Flag status in 2008.  The pictures show part of our latest hedgelaying section, which we completed during January and February, and also a living dome structure built from willow sticks which we cut back from the reed beds at Branston Water Park as part of our ongoing environmental management plan there. 

ROLLESTON FOOTPATHS: In January we had a busy weekend surveying and maintaining the footpath network in and around Rolleston-on-Dove, following up the work we did in the summer of 2007.

On the Saturday we installed a new pinch-stile on Shotwood Hill Lane (pictured left), and on the Sunday we carried out some repairs to existing stiles on the path running between Marston Lane and Cornmill Lane (pictured right).

To complete the weekend, we had the BCV late Christmas meal at the Albion pub on Saturday night, which was attended by no fewer than 22 volunteers – another great meal enjoyed by all; many thanks to Jo for organising the event.

A barbecue on the Allotment followed by wassailing in the orchard!

Footpath work: This is one of three gates we installed at Rolleston-on-Dove, part of a short circular route from the church which is now stile-free!

Left:  A bluebell walk along the river at Hardcastle Crags in Yorkshire, where we recently spent another weekend working on this National Trust site.

Right: Going batty on the Bat Walk on the Burton Washlands.  It was a wet evening, but our patience was rewarded with the detection and sighting of a few bats towards the end of the walk.

Update on previous projects

Here are a couple of photos from Lawrence – showing the hedge we laid at Knightsbridge Way in Stretton, and also the willow screen at the back of Blackpool Street – both looking very healthy.

THE BIG BRIDGE AT YOXALL LODGE

After many delays due to problems with the supply of suitable timber, we finally installed the big bridge at Yoxall Lodge on Easter Saturday.  Made of solid oak, the bridge is a massive 40 feet (12m) long.  The main problem was to move the two 40-foot spans without breaking them.  This was done with a lot of bodies, and a set of wheels under the middle.  These then had to be manoeuvred across the field, through the woodland and up to the bank of the lake.

With the aid of ropes, using the trees as pulleys and Matt in the lake with a pair of waders, each span was put in place. Once this had been done, the rest was plain sailing; we had marked all the joints and it was put together in no time.  It's always nice to complete a project in one day and see the results.  We are now negotiating to put in the third river crossing over the Trent!

Willow-weaving (Feb 2007): On the Saturday we cut back the willow on the reed beds at Branston Water Park (left). This is part of the ongoing active management plan to preserve the special reed bed environment which is attracting increasing numbers of waterfowl.  The resulting willow material was put to very good use: on the Sunday we built a living willow bird screen (right) on Burton Washlands, using entirely natural material including the bindings. Although we didn’t quite finish it on the day, we completed the screen after an extra session there two weeks later.