2003 Archive
Haymaking at Erre in 2003
From Mark Tyszka
In late October the sun shone and it was warm work. The faintly aromatic scent of dry herbs made me ponder what it must have been like in times past at hay-making time. Then it was scythes and wooden rakes (I still practice with my scythe, but the ancient skill is missing). Now it is robust star-bladed strimmers, wielded by Alf and Ken from the Far Ings team.
They came the previous Friday, and again in sunshine, made short work of cutting all four meadows and the steep south-facing bank. Left for us were long rolls of dry hay. We raked it into hay cocks and then carried it on hay forks to the hay piles where it quickly dries. There is a hole under each of our regular hay stacks, where the Rabbits spend the winter.
Tidying up one of the hay piles beforehand, I found a store of half eaten Haws and Rose Hips, sure signs of Wood Mice. So, as I lifted an armful of leaves, I wasn’t surprised to glimpse two grey bundles jump and scuttle away to safety. Three Robins and a Dunnock supervised, diving in and tidying up the insects we disturbed; a dancing ? of Long-tailed Tits passed though on a tour of inspection and the Rooks worried in the sky above until we had gone.
The best colours of Autumn shone from the wine red leaves of Bramble and pale yellow and green of feathery Agrimony. The meadow edges were strung with necklaces of Black Bryony berries. All the dead vegetation must be removed each year, especially when it is lush after a wet Summer.
If we did not do that, the rotting hay would make a mulch, stifling the smaller plants underneath, preventing seeds from germinating and fertilising the coarser grasses to grow tall. This is what so often happens on many roadside verges mowed too frequently in summer. Without cutting and raking off, the flowery meadows would quickly scrub over.
Under the soft herbage there is a crowd of coppice re-growth and seedlings of Hawthorn and Ash. Some can grow to 3 or 4 feet tall in just one season. If left, they would shade out the flowers in as little as five years. The ‘forest’ of 15 foot tall hawthorns and briars, which we try to keep at bay, surrounds the meadows on all sides. Nothing but evergreen Spurge Laurel grows underneath.
We enjoyed the company, there was time for plenty of gossip and by 2 o’clock we had left with glowing cheeks and a feeling of a job well done.
Pictures from the Event
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David Eklund raking hay in Meadow 2 with stacks of Conoco refinery |
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David Eklund and
Alan Avison raking hay in the |
Our main fundraising event was in May at Tetney Blow Wells, which began with a walk round the reserve led by its warden, Clifford Jukes. Many thanks are due to him for this, which proved most popular.
A faithful band of ladies provided lovely refreshments, and plants, bric-a-brac and Trust goods were on sale. Grateful thanks to all who made this event possible. We raised £172-13. The sale of Trust goods over the year Oct 2002-Aug 2003 reached a total turnover of £560.
In April, some members were accompanied by Mark Tyszka round the reserve at Eastfield Road railway embankment. He was most informative on the subject of all the plants we were trying hard not to step on. Mark then introduced us to Mausoleum Wood in Great Limber, now open to the public April - Sept.
Thank you for this day, Mark, and we look forward to seeing the reserve again.
In June, some members went over to the Isle of Axholme, to the garden of Geoff and Christine Trinder.
This most hospitable couple let us wander round their magnificent wildlife garden, with Geoff's commentary on how it had been set up; there was inspiration in this huge site even for those of us with humbler plots. (See later comment about WEA courses). In the afternoon he took us round Epworth Turbary.
Thankyou, Geoff and Christine.
Anne Lord writes about another visit:
"On Sunday 27th July, a few members visited Welton le Wold Quarry near Louth. Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service's Project Officer Helen Gamble was kind enough to agree to guide the group around this geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
"After a brief discussion of the risks we might encounter on the visit, Helen described the site's importance in terms of its geology and history. The quarry, (a former gravel pit) closed in 1970s. Around this time remains of elephant tusks and bones from large animals were found. There is also evidence of very early human activity, in the form of manmade flint tools.
"Beyond the car park, the tour began at a large glossy information board. It explains the various ice ages and inter-glacial periods and displays an artist's impression of some of the flora and fauna that would have inhabited the area. Conservation is an important part of the work, with new woodland and recent hedgerow, meadow and wetland areas being restored and created.
"Whilst we were there, we saw a couple of hares and Helen expected we would see the buzzard family which is known to frequent the area. Right up until the last half-hour we thought we would be disappointed when one or two of them decided to put in a brief appearance.
"The site is privately owned and closed for much of the year but from the top of the face we could see most of the site and the neighbouring fields with public footpaths across them. One of the adjacent fields belongs to the Wildlife Trust and has a smaller exposed quarry face and this is accessible throughout the year. It was a fascinating and enjoyable afternoon, which we hope to repeat next year."
The group also had a stall at the Waltham Windmill Environmental Fair in July. It wasn't well-attended - there were many events on that day - but we hope that it was appreciated by those who visited our stall.
The members who ran it enjoyed looking at the other stalls; it is heartening to see so many different kinds of groups all doing their bit to help the environment in many different ways, or minimize the damage we humans can't help doing - from Tioxide and Millennium, who try to ensure that their waste products are disposed of in the most responsible way, or ideally, used for something - to the people who make new things out of the plastic that some of us recycle
(NB Why isn't this collected any more? There is a plastic collection point at Tesco's, but remember it doesn't take brown plastic).
All in all, then, we reckon that members of the Grimsby and Cleethorpes group had the opportunity to take part in lots of wildlife oriented events, having a lot of fun in the process.
Apologies to any of our readers who would like to have been on any of the visits, but didn't hear about them in time - as some were arranged in the spring, we weren't able to include them on the yearly programme card, but we did give out information about some of the events at the evening meetings.
To this end, we have set up this website. We hope to keep it - and you - up to date in the future.