SMCV

Following our visit here in May, we were back on 23 June to continue with the same work: suppressing bracken invading a heathland area by bashing it to break the stems. It was another warm summer day; and as it was over a month since our last visit, the bracken in the zone we tackled this time was of course much taller, but nonetheless we made good progress in completing the clearance of a good swathe of the slope. It will be interesting to see how this experimental means of control fares in the years ahead.

Of course, there was also time for a little stroll to see some other parts of Tegg’s Nose, including the lovely current display of orchids!

Our activity on 19 May was to help ranger Martin with the control of bracken on a slope of heathland at Tegg’s Nose Country Park. To reduce the use of chemicals on the site, this was the start of a trial to control the emerging bracken by physical means, i.e. by bashing the young stems with wooden poles (stiles or stales)! Good initial inroads were made, and the activity will continue in the weeks ahead (including by us again, on 23 June). As it was a warm, sunny day, this was energetic work – so a great opportunity for some of the day also to be taken up by Martin taking us on a wildlife walk and sharing his knowledge of the flora and fauna around us (moonwort, adder’s-tongue, pignut, green hairstreak butterfly, wall brown butterfly…).

More volunteers to progress this task on 23 June would be very welcome, so please come along to help us then if you can!