Where :The Orchard, Jubilee Wood
When: Saturday 7th October 10.30am
Come and join us for the annual community apple pressing event alongside demonstrations of green wood craft.
Please bring along any apples and pears for a morning of peeling/chopping/crushing and make fresh juice.
You may want to bring along a seat/chair and a container to take juice home.
AND, in the evening there is the Harvest Festival, Supper and Auction in Winwick – see previous posts in Forthcoming Events
This coming Saturday, 5th February, there will be a working party in the Jubilee Wood, to tidy up the recently trimmed shrubs and trees. Michael will be there from 9.30AM, come along with heavy duty gloves as the main activity will be to add to the “dead hedge” (a structure made of the trimmings/prunings, to create a habitat for wildlife – come and see or take a look at the video below).
In addition, thanks to donations to the Great Gidding Charity, fruit trees have been purchased to be planted in the remaining spaces in the Orchard. These fruit trees have Royal associated names and will be planted to mark the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne, and the start of her Platinum Jubilee Year. At 11.00AM, there will be a rest from the activity, bring along a flask (you choose the contents), there will be cake, and we will drink a toast to Her Majesty.
Please spread the word to your neighbours, and join us at 9.30 AM or 11.00 AM.
WHEN:This coming Saturday, 23rd October from 10.30AM
WHERE: in the Orchard at Jubilee Wood, so wear appropriate clothing and footwear for the weather
(if it is too wet/windy/cold we will relocate to the Village Hall)
Bring along your apples and pears for a morning of peeling/chopping/crushing and make fresh juice. You may want to bring along a seat/chair and a container to take juice home
Other activities are planned (weather and venue dependent).
If you have apples or pears to spare, and can’t attend on the day, please drop them off at Manor Site Farm/87 Main Street.
Look forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Two dates Saturday 28th November and Saturday 5th December (if needed) have been set a side to carry out the usual Jub wood maintenance. Jobs to be done include the trimming of the hedge between the wood and the allotments (partially done) pruning the fruit trees that are scattered through out the wood, some strimming especially the are to be planted up this autumn. Planting around 100 shrub and ground cover plants if conditions allow – this includes mats, tubes, ties and stakes.
Obviously we will have to adhere to the covid rules that will be in force at the time of this proposed event.
Time 9.00am to 12.30pm on both days.
After the blistering heat of May we have been enjoying a complete turn of weather in June with much needed rain and unusually strong winds which may or may not have made the insects happy. Some thunderstorms did reach us but fortunately weren’t serious enough to badly frighten the more sensitive animals and humans among us.
We still had some very warm days at the end of the month and the water level in the pond continues to lower, exposing the banks and generally making it more difficult to see what is going on as the weeds which were previously underwater are starting to poke their heads above the water line and the water is not so clear.
The warm weather has brought out the butterflies in the wood, and as you walk along the paths you can see drifts of Meadow Browns fly up around you. Many other butterflies are present and we can all learn more and connect with with the natural world on our doorstep by taking part in the Big Butterfly Count which starts on Friday 17th July until Sunday 9th August. You can download the App or sheets from the Butterfly Conservation Website (bigbutterflycount.org) and the whole family can take part. It only takes 15 mins so is perfect to do whilst walking around the wood and even if you don’t see any at all, it’s important to record it.
In medieval times chasing butterflies was seen as foolish and perhaps even sinful (wasting good working time!) and as they don’t produce anything useful like honey, or threaten us by stinging or biting they were seen as being pretty useless apart from tempting people away from work. Thank goodness times have changed and we can appreciate their beauty and fascinating lives…
The trees in the wood are full of fruits and it promises to be a bumper year for many of them. Apples of all kinds, medlars, damson and hazel nuts to mention just a few. The village has a juicing press which is available for use by villagers and is now stored at the village hall so if anyone is interested in borrowing it or organising a community fruit pressing, please contact one of the Parish Councillors or the Clerk, Julie Trolove. All their details are on the website.
Ash dieback continues to be evident in the wood. As the spores of infection can be wind blown and are on the ground in the leaf litter from previous years, it’s almost impossible to control effectively.
It’s tempting to compare our present Covid pandemic with the pathogens that ravage some other species such as Dutch Elm disease, Varroa mite virus in bees, and Ash dieback. The causes may be varied: bacterial, viral, fungal etc., but after talking to someone who knows far more about these sort of things I realised that the pathogens all have one thing in common, and that is that they all need to keep their host alive in order to benefit from them. The more virulent strains are, strangely enough, likely to be the victim of their own success as the host dies so it’s often the less virulent ones that survive which could be seen as a slightly better outcome. We’ve seen how this modifies growth patterns in the Elm trees, which now rarely grow to maturity as the beetles which spread the fungus can detect young elms growing in hedgerows once they reach a certain size. In terms of trees, the hope is that identifying and breeding genetic variants which are resistant to or tolerant of the pathogens will allow us to see mature and plentiful specimens of Ash and Elm throughout our countryside in the future. What will happen to us humans is another matter……
Ash dieback has also provided an opportunity for some of the more creative members of the community to use their skills making sheep hurdles. They were originally used as lightweight fencing panels that could be moved easily from one area to another, wherever they were needed. From penning animals to shear or dip, to offering protection from bad weather, particularly at lambing time. They obviously had to be lightweight so several could be carried at one time over the shoulder but robust enough to be knocked into the ground and be used repeatedly. Michael has already embarked on making some hurdles from young saplings which needed to be thinned within the wood and perhaps it will be possible to get some feedback from him about the intricacies of the craft for a future blog….watch this space as not many villages still have an “old” village hurdle maker!!
Tomorrow, 6th July, Michael has organised a ‘Jubilee Wood ‘walk around’, 7:00 pm for a 7:15 pm start which is open to all. Please remember about social distancing but any questions, ideas and even (constructive!) criticisms will be welcome.
I wish you all a happy and healthy month ahead and hope that the recent lifting of some restrictions have helped to lift your spirits. No better place to celebrate than the Jubilee Wood!
John Clare, the poet, knew what he was talking about when describing his nineteenth century rural world, although even then he was concerned about the changes taking place. I wonder what he would have made of the present ‘lockdown’ and the restrictions that have been placed on all of us. Jubilee Wood has remained open for those of us allowed our daily dose of exercise, and provides both peace and space to relax in as well as a source of fascination for those of us interested in the natural world. The plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals that occupy the wood are carrying on as normal, in fact they’re no doubt benefitting from the reduction of air pollution and noise.
It’s been officially the driest May since records began in 1896 and perhaps we should now be thankful for the wettest February in 150 years, as the trees are still looking healthy and hedges have been flowering well, and the pond is staying at a decent level. With the total rainfall in England just 17 % of the average for May and the UK having its sunniest Spring since 1929 the weather has actually been worth talking about.
Water plays host to some amazing creatures and visiting the pond is always a highlight for us on our walks around the Wood, and the dragonflies and damselflies have been prolific there over the last few weeks. It’s interesting that these ‘Jurassic visitors’ which have been around for millions of years, don’t live for very long, not much more than a year and that’s assuming they don’t get eaten by predators either as an egg, a nymph or an adult. They’ve certainly adapted well to all the changes they’ve encountered. The common blue damselfly is also seen on a daily basis at the pond, and can be identified by its beautiful bright blue colour, small thin shape and its similar shaped pairs of wings. They also hold their wings closed when at rest and their flight is much less purposeful and weaker than the stronger and bigger dragonflies which will often engage in territorial combat on the wing. The wing muscles of dragonflies are attached directly to the wings rather than the thorax allowing them to move each wing independently, which means they can hover like a helicopter, fly backwards and perform hairpin bends at extreme speed…….no wonder they’ve survived for so long.
Dragonflies are a great indicator of water quality , as they only choose clean environments with plenty of oxygen in the water to breed in, and looking at the clear water in the pond and the welcoming mixture of plants it maintains, you can see why it’s such a popular place for them.
Keeping the water clean by scavenging on detritus and decaying organic matter is a job for another inhabitant of the pond, the freshwater snail. There are more than 30 kinds in Britain and our snails in Jubilee Wood pond can sometimes be seen floating upside down on the surface of the water while taking in air through the opening of their lungs on the underside of their body, performing a sinuous dance as they move around. The sex lives of the pond snails is fascinating for those who are interested in such things and a link to more information will follow at the end of this blog as this author doesn’t quite feel up to the task at the moment…..perhaps ‘lockdown’ is having more effect than I thought!
Common and widespread in Britain, this brown bug with a body the shape of a boat can be seen in our pond, swimming with its long oar like legs and coming up for air at the water’s surface. The various species of boatmen are difficult to tell apart from each other but all are herbivorous, eating algae and detritus within the pond. During warm weather the adults may even take flight so watch out for them over the next few days.
The wood has a new and very attractive addition…..a sheep hurdle made from one of the young Ash trees in the wood. Michael has made a beautiful job of it and you can see it on the left in the top corner of the wood if you walk clockwise from the entrance. He’s hoping to do a workshop on making them once the present restrictions are no longer in place so check out the website at the bottom of the blog if you want to do some research. Thanks to Michael for this information and for actually doing the work in this sweltering heat when most of us just want to collapse in the shade.
Michael has also managed to keep the grass pathways tidy, aided by the acquisition of an old ride on mower which allows for selective height cutting in different areas. The hot weather has slowed down the growth of the grass and an abundance of rabbits try to help him as much as possible. Unfortunately they seem to be getting their energy from vegetables being grown on the adjacent allotments but at least they’re sharing them with the Muntjacs.
Hopefully, the next few weeks will be more comfortable for many as our exercise time increases and meeting with loved ones becomes a possibility, although restricted by social distancing. The Jubilee Wood is always there for a quiet walk and chance to recharge the batteries so I hope you’ll be able to enjoy it, but if you haven’t been able to, here are some reminders…..
pondexpert.co.uk Pond Snails in Your Pond
Making a Cleft Sheep Hurdle
It’s been the driest, hottest April on record which has been good news in some ways as we struggle to cope with the social restrictions and distancing that is required during the Covid 19 pandemic. Those of us who are lucky enough to have a garden have been able to watch it grow as the days lengthen and the temperatures rise, and the Jubilee Wood has been literally blossoming as the fruit trees flower and the heavy, sweet scent of the hawthorn bushes fills the warm air. The early balmy weather has really speeded up the opening of young green leaves on the different species of trees found in the wood and the sight of Spring migrants in the skies has made many of us smile. Let’s hope the last few days of cold and wet weather in April haven’t made them regret their decision to come back.
I was reading about the seventeenth century author of The Complete Angler, Isaac Walton, who called swallows ‘half year birds’ as they only tend to be with us for six months of the year before travelling back to Africa, and thought it a really appropriate nick name. It’s surprising to realise that very little was really known about the migration of birds until relatively recently (at least it seems recent for some of us!). In 1937,the British Trust for Ornithology took over the ringing of around three quarters of a million birds a year in Britain and Ireland to help improve our understanding of the movement and behaviour of many species of birds. House martins also make the incredible journey to and from sub-Saharan Africa, returning to their old mud nests under the eaves of houses. As the edges of the pond in the wood are now softening up nicely after all the rain in the last couple of days, they’ll hopefully be able to find plenty of wet mud for any repairs they have to make.
Another summer visitor to our shores is the greyish warbler, the Blackcap. Although our cold winters are not usually favoured by these sun loving birds, the bird food we provide in our gardens is making it a viable option for them, especially the ones who originated from Germany and North Eastern Europe. Its lovely song has earned it the name of ‘northern nightingale, and although not experts, we think we were lucky enough to record it in the wood during a recent dawn chorus. There is a video at the end of the blog and it would be good to hear from more knowledgeable ornithologists out there if we’ve got it wrong and what other birds they can recognise from their song.
At this time of year, one of the most uplifting sounds has to be the wonderful dawn chorus and with the recent reduction of traffic noise both day and night this has to be the best opportunity of hearing it in many decades. It may also be having a beneficial effect on those birds trying to find a mate, especially those in the cities, as they can now actually hear each other! It’s interesting to think that here in the East the birds will start singing at least half an hour before those in the South West but what is the purpose of such an early daily expenditure of avian energy throughout the land? There are lots of theories, and territory marking and mate finding seem to be two reasonable front runners as some species such as the sedge warbler and the pied flycatcher stop singing after pairing. However, why sing at dawn? It’s nice to think that it’s a gift for those of us who suffer from insomnia, to chase away the worries of the sleepless night although it’s probably much more likely that it’s of social use to the birds themselves.
This is a difficult time for us all, whether as busy front line workers, having to stay indoors or limit ourselves to half an hour’s exercise outside a day, or sadly losing loved ones to the Corvid 19 virus, but nature still rises above it all and ironically is benefitting from the reduced amounts of pollution and noise in their environment. Hopefully you can spend some of your limited exercise time in the Wood enjoying this wonderful window on the natural world, but if not, I hope the following images and videos will help a little.
Dawn Chorus videos
Useful web sites: www.rspb.org.uk
Interesting reference books: England in particular, Sue Clifford and Angela King
Nature has an incredible way of overcoming what are seemingly insurmountable difficulties, the grass that grows through tarmac, the hedges that burst into leaf after being shattered by flail hedge cutters, the birds that are willing to return to an environment that was once so hostile it threatened their very existence. When the times are tough, as they have been for everyone over the last few weeks as the corona virus ravages across the globe, it’s reassuring to put anxieties to one side and simply watch a red kite stretching its wide wings as it floats in the sky or a silent barn owl slicing through the dusk as it searches for its supper. The Wood can offer us a place to relax in as well as wonder as we observe the ever changing and adaptable ways of nature.
The Jubilee Wood continues to show signs of bursting into life, with green shoots emerging on the hawthorn trees and brambles, and one of the crab apples around the central area is already flowering, if somewhat half heartedly at the moment. The glossy, elongated, arrow shaped leaves of the Wild Arum, Arum maculatum, can be seen around the bottom of the hedges, often with attractive dark spots on. Some people know it better as Lords and Ladies, ‘cuckoo pint’, or Jack in a pulpit and it’s distinctively shaped flower has not surprisingly led to many names with bawdy associations.The flower is designed to attract flies for pollination and its fruit, which is a spike of bright orange berries can be a common sight in woodlands in autumn, but like many wild berries these are toxic to humans.
The leaves of the low growing Speedwells, Veronica persica and Veronica chamaedrys, are also all around the wood and as its name indicates, it was seen as good luck when seen on journeys. In Ireland in years gone by, ‘speed you well’ was even sewn into clothes as a good luck charm to protect against accidents. Introduced to this country from Asia by the Victorians, the common names for speedwells include ‘bird’s eye’, cat’s eye, and Farewell. The bright blue flowers brighten up the darkest of woodland corners and it won’t be long before they are flowering.
On the amphibian front, the first newts have been seen in the pond which is full to the brim after the continuous rain and grey skies of February. With the lack of cold weather this winter some people are wondering if they did much hibernating at all. Fortunately March has been much drier and the warm days of sunshine have been a relief to those of us who have had to keep at home. The occasional sharp ground frosts have made surfaces slippery but at least the paths around the wood are finally drying out although it doesn’t take much rain to make them soggy again. The previous dark, waterlogged areas under the hawthorn and blackthorn are disappearing and muntjac are making the most of the young trees for cover.
Five new identification sheets have been added to the folder in the arbour , so once people can get out and about again there will be an opportunity to put a name to what you’ve found there. Thanks to Michael for ordering them and making an excellent holder to keep them all together and protected from the weather.
As I write this, the clocks have been turned forward to remind us that it’s officially British Summer Time and those of us who have been waking up early will certainly be aware that the birds don’t worry about man made time constraints. What can be more uplifting than hearing a dawn chorus as the sun starts to rise?! Perhaps tired new parents suffering from sleep deprivation might not agree but on the whole, it’s a pretty wonderful experience which doesn’t cost anything and can be enjoyed by all of us. Ready to nest, the birds are making use of the many bird boxes in the wood and perhaps before very long there will be fledglings, who with any luck, will also be joining in the dawn chorus this time next year…..
As we wait to see how the next weeks unfold, perhaps we can start to appreciate rather than resent this opportunity to slow down, an opportunity to observe and listen to the sights and sounds of nature, the Wood will be there waiting for all of us, providing us all with a wonderful place to just be.
www.wildlifetrusts.org – useful activities for all the family
As the New Year begins the paths are still very wet underfoot. Surprisingly the rainfall has been about average for the month but the ground is saturated so any additional water is just settling on the surface. We’ve had one or two frosty nights and mornings but generally it’s been very mild for the time of year with bright yellow aconites and white snowdrops providing a taste of Spring around the pathways and hedgerows.
Hedges
This time of year is a great time to look at hedges and some of the secrets they hide away in the summer when in full leaf or flower. We have a relatively newly planted hedge which separates the allotments from the wood itself, but the boundary hedges are much older. The really old hedges or ‘assart’ hedges are formed from the edges of woodland which has been cleared of trees and turned into a field for cultivation. The planted hedges we’re familiar with may well have their origins in the enclosures of the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries, which greatly relied on blackthorn and hawthorn saplings to provide barriers and hedgerows as they grow so quickly. Look closely at established hedges and you will see where maintenance has been done over the years to keep them compact . Pollarding, coppicing and hedgelaying are all traditional techniques, and many hedges are machine cut to make it possible to maintain the miles of hedgerows that criss-cross the country. The new hedge between the allotments and the wood was beautifully laid in February 2017 helping it to grow thicker and last longer as the pleachers (trees which are partially cut and laid horizontally) throw up new vertical growth.
Hazel
The odd occasions when we’ve had beautiful sunny days this month have been a wonderful opportunity to see the golden hazel catkins or ‘lambs tails’ which are the male flowers on the coppiced hazel in the far corner of the wood. Both male and female flowers can be found on hazel and the small fuschia pink female flowers can be clearly identified if you take a close look.The hazel wood is much prized for its bendy stems and used in many traditional crafts such as hedge laying, making wattle, withy fencing, baskets, and the frames of coracle boats.Take a look at the bird hide in the far corner of the wood which Michael made from the hazel coppiced from the Wood and you’ll see how useful and attractive it is. It’s not only humans who like to eat hazel nuts, as they are also eaten by woodpeckers, nuthatches, tits, wood pigeons, jays and small mammals. The leaves of the hazel provide food for the caterpillars of moths, and where it’s coppiced, the open, wildflower-rich habitat supports species of butterfly, particularly fritillaries. Coppiced hazel also provides shelter for ground-nesting birds, such as the nightingale,yellowhammer and willow warbler. Perhaps one day the Jubilee Wood will be home to one or all of them, please add them to the species list if you see them.
Hazel flowers provide early pollen as a food for bees. However, bees find it difficult to collect and can only gather it in small loads, as the pollen of wind-pollinated hazel is not sticky and each grain actually repels against another. A lot of hard work for early and probably hungry bees!
Detective work
Hazel has also long been associated with the dormouse (also known as the hazel dormouse), but so far there have been no reported sitings of the tell tale holes made in the hazel nuts by dormice, which isn’t surprising as they are quite rare in this part of the UK and mainly found in Southern England and Wales, so perhaps they haven’t chosen the Jubilee Wood as a home yet….. but it would be wonderful to find traces of them so keep a lookout as you wander around the wood.
The Wood Wanderer
December is traditionally the time for looking back over the year before looking ahead to the new one, which will undoubtedly be better and shinier with all the New Year’s resolutions we’ve so carefully made. The effects of too much eating and drinking can easily fool us all into making promises to ourselves that are harder to keep than to make!
However, weaving back through the Jubilee Wood memories of 2019, a tapestry of happy and interesting activities has been built up and stored on many a smart phone. Events such as pond dipping, creating art from nature, the making of hay and celebration of the summer solstice are just a few of the community get togethers that have taken place in the wood. The weather favoured some and not others but even that was always a useful reminder that we still can’t control that part of nature. After a dry spring, a mixed summer and a very wet late winter, inky black stretches of water can now be seen underneath the hardy hawthorns, and the pond has risen to new heights in an attempt to break its banks.
What went on in 2019?
The Jubilee Wood continues to be a place of quiet reflection for many as well as a fascinating place for anyone interested in nature and wanting to learn new things. The Huntingdonshire Fauna and Flora Society came and carried out a survey in June which is a useful benchmark regarding what can be found in the wood, and volunteers could help to build on the information by helping with a short survey in 2020 – watch this space for further details! The pop up events which took place throughout the year are a testimony to the generosity of those people who organised them and gave their time and expertise free of charge, as well as the interest that many of us have in learning something new. Perhaps for some of us it’s a case of revisiting things we had long forgotten, but sometimes that brings with it the memories of childhood pleasures such as the first time we went pond dipping or had different trees pointed out to us….. how many of us can recite different rhymes we learnt long ago about Oaks and Ashes or not casting a clout before May is out? According to the Friends of the Earth, half of the people in Britain who took part in a study couldn’t identify an oak leaf! Very unscientific as no details are given about the people who took part but perhaps we could all get more pleasure from nature if we understood a little more about it. The link to their tree quiz is at the end of the blog if you’re interested.
What’s in store for 2020?
Looking forward to 2020 there will surely be many more fun and interesting events in the wood as long as people support this wonderful resource we have. Volunteers continue to manage the woodland by cutting back intrusive brambles and young hawthorn, and planting up new areas such as the holly copse.
You may have already spotted a couple of new additions as you wander around, especially if you’re a dog walker. The new dog pooh bin at the entrance should be a great help to dog owners, making it easier to keep the wood clean for everyone. There is also a new …….art installation? or bird hide?…….. which has been created just off one of the main paths of the wood. A wonderful example of how waste material from the wood (in this case coppiced hazel) can be used to provide both a functional bird hide which fits in perfectly with its surroundings as well as something beautiful to look at. Anyone for willow weaving sculptures next year?!
Finally, thanks to all the volunteers who, throughout the year, give their time to maintaining Jubilee Wood but especially to Michael who keeps the show on the road. Without his enthusiasm and hard work the wood could easily lose the diversity of species which is slowly but surely being built up. Sustainable woodland management allows a habitat to become a wonderful place, much loved by humans and of great benefit to plants and animals when managed well. Many people contribute in different ways to make our community wood a special place; making and positioning bird boxes, turning up on cold wet days with secateurs and strimmers to help manage the wood, cooking delicious cakes and soups for community events.
Hopefully, many more people will enjoy and share in the wood in 2020. Happy New Year.
The Wood Wanderer