Boar's Well Urban Wildlife Reserve

We returned to the site today to carry out further management work. And, were greeted by the new sign on the entrance meadow, which needless to say has not enhanced the display of wild flowers.  However, the group soon got stuck into the various tasks that were necessary. The path edges were cut back and mown to make the site more accessible. Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam were removed to improve the chances of other vegetation thriving. Plus litter collected from various areas to improve the site. 
By the end of the day the group of 10 volunteers had made a positive difference to the site.
More evidence of our funny summer was had, if it were needed as it was a nice hot sunny day today.

Click here to see other photos of the day.

Our tasks today were to continue with the hedge laying and to coppice the cornice area. We soon got into the hedging, cutting pleachers and staking the trees to create a living barrier, it was made easier as we had cleared the line out before. By the end of the day we had cut and laid about 20 metres and the work was looking like a hedge. This will benefit the site, by increasing the light getting to the ground and provide another habitat. While further on the site the cornice was coppiced by cutting the stems at ground level using saws and loppers. This will increase the light levels to the ground, add colour to the site as it regrows and stop it becoming woody.

We thought that we would be lucky with the weather, but we were not and were rained on most of the day, which is why the photos have not come out very well.

Today we worked with 6 volunteers.

Click here to see the other photo of the day

comma on buddleiaOur most important job today was to get round as much of the himalayan balsam as possible. It had grown since our last visit. We wanted to concentrate on the areas where the plant grows on the upper slopes, so that the seeds do not get sown back across the site with the prevailing wind. A good number of us set about this task, scrabbling up and down slopes, and dodging or not the nettles. While the others worked to keep the paths open, first scything, then mowing the grass at the sides and then cut cutting back the overhanging vegetation. Little bits of litter were cleared, more work to extend the ditch and open up the grass area adjacent to Spink’s Well. But on the plus side there were a few butterflies about notably comma, peacock and whites. The Rowan trees are laden with berries and buddleia full of flowers, all of which are welcome at the site.

We were blessed today with some fine weather and beginning to think that it doesn’t rain on us at Boar’s Well, or is it too soon to say??

Today we worked with 11 volunteers and welcomed 3 new people.

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Coppicing cornus at Boar's Well  Today we worked with 5 volunteers and have been clearing an area of footpath that has become overgrown, on one side by a large willow tree that has fallen over, and on the other side by a dogwood shrub. The willow was cut back so that when it grows back it will grow straight. The dogwood was coppiced so that when it grows back the new growth will give impressive colours to visitors of the site. As the task was large we have not completed the work and we continue this task next week along with clearing encroaching vegetation on other parts of the site.

To see more images of the day visit the gallery page and in particular look out for Tschillis with a South African home made rake!

Boar's Well 1st May 2009

 After carrying out a site visit during the week we found that the meadow area contained a number flower species like Kidney vetch that would not of benefitted from a cut of the grass and this would of affected the butterflies that feed on them. However there was plenty to do on the site as we found out. First we started by clearing the pathways in our attempt to maintain them at their original width, this involved the unpleasant task of clearing the dog mess and general litter picking. We placed posters at the entrances to request that dog walkers clear up their dog's mess and we spoke to as many dog walkers as possible. Spink's Well was given a clean up and the photo shows this historic feature. We then turned our attention to the central steps and carried out weeding and topping them up with crush and run. Our final task was cutting of Japanese knotweed near the Coleman Street entrance which was bigger than this time last year as we remember, which gives a clue as to how we spend our future visits.

Today we had 6 volunteers.  

See more photos of the day in the gallery.

Mowing the path edges

 Today there was a number of people who were new to the site, so we gave a general introduction to the site and walked part of it pointing out the main features. Then we tackled more of the invasive plant species and concentrated on keeping the walkways open. The main path egdes was mowed, overhanging branches cleared, the central entrance way was tidied up and more work was carried out on the Bolton Road steps.

We were joined by 12 volunteers.

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Thinning treesWe made our first visit of the year to the the urban wildlife reserve. This gave us the opportunity to carry out litter picking, clearing the main entrance way, the steps at the Bolton Road entrance and then some thinning of the tress in the woodland. This will provide better access for people using the site and allow the trees in the woodland to grow and develop into stronger and healthier trees. As can be seen from the pictures the rain was persistant throughout most of the day.

Today we worked with 13 volunteers.

Click here for more pictures of the day.  

Clearing the path

Today we worked with 14 volunteers

finding Japanese Knotweed in the section near Coleman StreetThis was our first visit of the year and 19 volunteers were involved in access and biodiversity management. 

We cut and cleared overhanging branches along the main path and the footpath connecting Bolton Road and King's Road. We also continued our programme of invasive species control - cutting and pulling Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed in order to give the diversy range of native species a better chance to thrive. The areas of Japanese knotweed continue to be challenging to work in - the terrain is steep and uneven and the nettles are abundant. The remaining knotweed is on the whole fairly feeble but is still clinging on.

However, we were certainly taken aback by the quantity of balsam - a massive reduction in the numbers from last year. Very encouraging. We wondered whether the severe weather during the winter could have affected the seed bank (although the plant is from the himalayas) - I have had a quick internet search to see if other sites have found a similar reduction this year but there are not a lot of reports. We will be able to compare with other sites in Bradford that we are familiar with but at this stage I think it looks like the persistence and thorough work that we have undertaken in recent years should be congratulated.

The yellow rattle that was sown two years ago in the meadow area is doing very well indeed.

clearing the nettles and bindweedToday we worked with 10 volunteers to start the autumn management tasks. The last cut of the Japanese Knotweed at the three sites towards Coleman Street were completed. We pulled some Himalayan Balsam - it is disappointing how much has come into flower since our early season excitement about getting on top of it. The plants that were removed had some seed pods but we felt that if they ripened once pulled at least we limited the area over which they would spread.

We also made a start on meadow cutting, concentrating on the area outside the site on King's Road which was cut with scythes and raked to ensure the fertility does not build up which will benefit the grasses at the expense of the wildflowers. The main meadow will be tackled in October. We cut a significant pathway between Spink Well and the pylon to remove nettles and bindweed, as well as clearing around the well head.  Although valuable plants for wildlife these species are dominating others and reducing the number of flowers along the pathway. There are plenty more nettles and bindweed on the banking.

Two years ago we seeded some yellow rattle and the initial clumps are establishing well. To aid the spread of the plant we collected seed from the dry pods and introduced these into new areas where we had scraped away the vegetation.

In addition we cut along the entire path, removed overhanging branches and collected a significant amount of litter.

We were kept company today by a noisy gang of jays and few speckled wood butterflies.

Have you ever seen common blue butterflies at Boar's Well? If you have we would like to hear from you.