Everyone loves a workday bonfire!
So I haven’t blogged for quite some time, but that just means I have more to blog about! The late Summer and Autumn became has been a really busy time and I’ve been getting stuck habitat management in the living landscape of the Lower Aire Valley ; I’ve been working on some really amazing Brownfield sites with some equally inspiring volunteers and I’m learning more about Yorkshire every day. It really is an underappreciated county; full of wildlife from the coast to the dales.
Practical work days on sites that need a bit of TLC are exactly why I wanted this traineeship so badly; and I have to say… it never disappoints.
So much hay….
With the beautiful autumn weather comes the time of year to give the rich wildflower meadows of the lower-Aire Valley their late annual hay cut; many of sites are particularly notable for this owing to their relatively recent re-landscaping and reclamation from industrial land and with that the relatively shallow soils which lend themselves to a rich variety of wildflowers. So now that the devils-bit scabious has (just about) finished and set seed… this means two things…. Cutting and RAKING!
Hollinhurst Meadow.
It’s not the first time I’ve been involved with meadow restoration projects; but it is the first time I’ve been involved with using low impact and small scale agricultural machinery to help the process. At Hollinhurst wood, a lovely little woodland and meadow set in the heart of a former coilery village, we used a pedestrian mower, a hay-bob and the mini-bailer to remove the bulk of the meadow’s biomass into sacrificial areas in the surrounding woodland where the habitat is more resilient to the nutrients supplied by the arisings. The site is really well used by local people and it was really nice to be stopped by local folk to offer their encouragement and to say how happy they were that the site was being managed for wildlife. Hopefully, with ongoing management and volunteers from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and also Leeds City Council volunteer groups this can continue to be a great haven for wildflowers and visitors alike. I feel extremely passionate about the benefits that urban nature reserves such as this one can offer the wider community and its very rewarding to know that there is a lot of affection for sites like this.
In a similar vein; I also must mention another fantastic work party at Roach Lime Hills SSSI; I felt incredibly privileged to be working on such a special little site; the limestone beneath gives way to such lovely flowers such as clustered bell-flower and eye-brights: the evidence of which could be just about still be seen as we again worked to remove the hay. However, due to the site’s management prescriptions all the hay onsite must be removed; and the easiest way to do this? Have a bonfire on a large metal tray of course! It was fantastic day and I’m definitely looking forward to visit this site again when the sheep are released for a spot of grazing over the winter months.