In December, the Volunteers will go to Thornton Wood first to dismantle the unsafe bridge across Clatter Brook.  Cheshire Wildlife Trust, on our request, have installed a new bridge on the condition the volunteers remove the old one.  Heavy Oak Coppice will be tidied up from last season’s hedging brash to benefit the ancient woodland ground flora underneath.  A start will be made on cutting a new coppice coupe near the entrance to the  wood.  Starting “entrance coppice” is an involved project as the coppice stools are large, but will re-sprout a treat if given enough light.  This will be an on going winter project  with considerable input from the mid-weekers.  This will be the fourth coppice coupe in Thornton Wood and will give the volunteers more flexiblity in cropping hedging stakes for the increasing hedgerow restoration projects the group undertake.  

There is a Volunteers’ Christmas Party in Bebington.  Let Paul know if you want to come along.  Bring a contribution to share.

At the butterfly park efforts will continue in removing the encroaching bramble, blackthorn and snowberry from around the park.  The embankment coppicing will continue, primroses have done well under the coppicing regime. This is the third cut of the coppice area and will provide a large number of hedging stakes.  Being on a south western facing slope there is more light getting to each stool than if the area was flat.

Trolley/wheelbarrow access to the base of coppice areas can be improved by removing turf and exposing the railway ballast track bed.  This will help tremendously in extracting materials.  Further primroses can be plug planted into the coppice area once the coppice season has finished.  The seeds have been sown.  There will be some hedge laying and further turf removal overlying the railway ballast area will occur.  This will benefit the bird’s-foot trefoil which in turn benefits the Common Blue butterfly and the local diversity species, the Dingy Skipper butterfly, recorded at the park this May, after two decades of absence.  A result!

At Thornton Common betwixt Christmas and New Year there will be hedge laying along the eastern enclosure hedge, willow removal oaks south of the ponds can be re-pollarded and some of the oaks in the centre can have their crowns lifted or thinned to help with the spread of heather in the strip between the main western and eastern ponds.  If you cannot make it to the tasks feel free to pop by and say hello and grab some tea and cake.

January sees the volunteers back at New Ferry Butterfly Park continuing with coppicing on the embankment cutting the hazel to benefit primroses which in turn benefits early flying bumble bee queens and brimstone butterflies.

Turf striping over the railway ballast beds will continue as it is one of the best ways to create a wildflower grassland rapidly.  

Later in January the “Entrance Coppice” at    Thornton Wood will be developed further.  

The 37th AGM is at Windsor Close Community Centre and will be followed by a slide show of activities over the year.  It is a chance to improve and develop the group further and for members to contribute more to the group as the group expands its activities.

The 17th Cheshire style free hedge laying training event will be held at Liverpool University’s Farm, Wood Farm, Neston. Please book on the Eventbrite link on the volunteers’ web page or with Paul.  The event will be followed by a meal in the Seven Stars, Thornton Hough @ 4.30pm. Last time there was much interest and compliments from the public as a footpath runs alongside the

laid hedge.

A group meal followed by meeting will be held at the John Masefield.  The venue is up for sale at the moment, so please let Paul know that you are coming a few days before just in case of issues with the venue.  

Where

Event

Meeting Point

Time

December 2022

Saturday 3rd

Thornton Wood

Bridge removal, tidy up of Heavy Oak Coppice and extending into a new coppice area

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Road

9:30am

Saturday 10th

Paul’s

Pot Luck Christmas Buffet, please bring a contribution    

Please book with Paul via jpl@liv.ac.uk

7:30pm

Sunday 11th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Bramble removal and Blackthorn clearance, embankment coppicing, turf removal and hedgelaying

New ferry Butterfly Park

9:30am

Tuesday 27th

and

Wednesday 28th

Thornton Common

Hedgelaying, Willow Removal Oak crown lifting and Oak pollarding

Wirral Rugby Club Car Park

9:30am

January 2023

Sunday 8th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Bramble removal and Blackthorn clearance, embankment coppicing, turf removal and hedgelaying

New ferry Butterfly Park

9:30am

Saturday 21st

Thornton Wood

Starting a Hazel coppice, new coupe “Entrance Coppice”

Bridge over M53 on Thornton Common Road

9:30am

Monday 23rd

Windsor Close Community Centre

37th Annual General Meeting & slide show

Windsor Close, New Ferry.  CH62 5BZ

7:30pm

February 2023

Saturday 5th

Woods Farm, opposite Leahurst Campus

17th WCV Cheshire style free hedgelaying Training Day. When confirmed, please book Eventbrite or with Paul on jpl@liv.ac.uk

Woods Farm, Cuckoo Lane,

CH64 7TB

09:30

Thursday 9th

New Ferry

Group Meal

Group Meeting

John Masefield public house, New Chester Road, New Ferry

Meal : 7:00pm

Meeting: 8:00pm

Sunday 12th

New Ferry Butterfly Park

Bramble removal and Blackthorn clearance, embankment coppicing, turf removal and hedgelaying

New ferry Butterfly Park

9:30am