Brackenhill Urban Landscape Area

Environment Agency staff volunteering at Brackenhill ULAEnvironment Agency staff volunteering at Brackenhill ULABEES have a mangement agreement with the Council's Countryside and Rights of Way team to manage Brackenhill Urban Landscape Area. It is the area adjacent to Brackenhill Park in Great Horton and is managed to maximise the wildlife potential of the site. Our key jobs in the past year have been to repair the drystone wall along Greenfield Lane, to uncover and repair footpaths and steps and to control the litter and Japanese Knotweed.

In the forthcoming year we plan to further repair sections of pathway and to improve the quality of the pond. The Environment Agency carried out a survey of the pond last year and found, despite first appearances, that there is sign of invertebrate life in the pond. We hope to improve the amount of oxygenating and marginal plants.

Brackenhill Pond Survey

Geolocation

53.782423, -1.787295

Conservation Work

Friday 21st Aug: Brackenhill Urban Landscape Area, Westcroft Road, Great Horton, BD7

Friday 21 August 2009 Brackenhill ULA: Hard at work on the stepsHard at work on the steps

 Another great turn out of volunteers today with 15 in total. We carried out a variety of our regular maintenance jobs at the site. There was the collection of litter with 12 bags, removal of invasive plant species at 4 locations, path and step clearance at Green Lane and the central footpath. We were able to complete a lot of work to improve the site. Worth noting that the hedge which we laid in the winter has leafed up and is looking in good condition, as are the trees which we planted 3 winters ago and the grass area has several native wildflowers including Knapweed.

Friday 5th February 2010: Brackenhill Urban Landscape Area, Westcroft Road, Great Horton, Bradford, BD7.

Cutting the pleacherCutting the pleacherToday we returned to the same site as last week to further progress the work that was started. One group set off to the main site to the ensure the footpaths were clear, repair a wall and return shopping trollies. The other group carried on with the hedge. They quickly got into the work from the skills gained last week. First there was clearing and trimming to be done, then pleachers were cut and lastly trees placed into the line of the hedge supported by stakes. At the end of the day I am delighted to report that we completed the whole section, a great achievement for the group. The hedge will grow and provide a different habitat and we will return in a few years to relay it. 

Today we worked with 15 volunteers.

Click here for some other great photos of the work. 

Friday 20th August: Brackenhill Urban Landscape Area, Great Horton, BD7

Steps after clearingSteps after clearingToday there were enough volunteers to split into smaller groups. One group concentrated on making sure the pathways remained accessible at the central steps and then the lane from the school. The next group focussed on the invasive plant species, with two patches of Japense Knotweed and two patches of Himalayan Balsam tackled. The others concentrated on collecting litter, which although did appear too bad still managed to collect over 12 bags, including two from the pond.

Today we worked with 12 volunteers.

Click here to see other photos of the day.  

Friday 13th July 2012: Local Sites

One day - four sites!

We do not often move around in one day but felt a couple of sites needed a visit but couldn't entertain us all day.

Half of us spent the day at Brackenhill Urban Landscape Area in Great Horton. Tasks included hedge cutting, litter clearance and Japanese knotweed control.

The itinerant volunteers started the morning at Reevy Mill Dam, cutting back overhanging branches, cutting the path and clearing litter. Before meeting the other team for lunch we made a visit to the BEES UNR, where again we cut paths and overhanging branches to ensure access is easy. The wood vetch is now well established and looks splendid, and we enjoyed seeing quite a few newts sheltering in the woodland.

The afternoon visit to the orchard was in response to the break in on Monday night. The door has been broken beyond repair so we wanted to make it weather proof until it can be replaced. Whilst there we cleared round some trees, mowed the paths and some grass areas and did a bit of weeding in the vegetable beds. The frost in May definitely damaged some blossom, but there are some apples on the trees.