Chiltern Society & Forestry Commission
Links
• Memorandum of Understanding between us and the Forestry Commission.
• Statement on the consultation about the future of the Forestry Commission.
• Article in The Economist.
Conservation work at Wendover Woods
This conservation group is based in the Wendover area and is led by Mike Baldock, a Chiltern Society member who has been an active volunteer with the Chiltern Society Central Conservation Volunteers.
The group works midweek, focusing on a wide range of conservation projects at Wendover Woods. The Forestry Commission would like help from Chiltern Society volunteers on a number of projects; clearing paths, cutting back undergrowth, opening up views from Wendover Woods over the surrounding countryside and on a project to clear an area which is the site of an iron age hill fort. There are plans for the group to work on other projects on public access land in the Wendover and Tring area.
If you would like to get involved with this group and make a difference to the environment please call Tracey or Jenny in the Chiltern Society office 01494 771250.
Wendover group programme 2012
Date |
Meeting point |
Task |
Notes |
| 03-Jan | Wendover Woods Hale Lane Entrance | Ash Coppicing | Following our 2-year coppicing cycle, cut the second quadrant of ash to provide improved habitat for wildlife species residing the in bowl area of Wendover. |
| 17-Jan | Wendover Woods Hale Lane Entrance | Ash Coppicing | Following our 2-year coppicing cycle, cut the second quadrant of ash to provide improved habitat for wildlife species residing the in bowl area of Wendover. |
| 07-Feb | Weedon Hill | Cutting back, removing waste, trails improvement | Lots of work to do in this small wood with a lot of character. Tasks include cutting back of vegetation, clearing brash from the tracks, removal of rubbish and fence line removal. |
| 21-Feb | Weedon Hill | Cutting Back, removing waste, trails improvement | Continuing work from the previous session at Weedon Hill. |
| 06-Mar | Wendover Woods Free BBQ Car park | Informal Trail improvements | FC Rangers and CS Volunteers made great progress last year on cutting back our formal trails, so now there’s a chance to cut back and improve the many informal tracks in Wendover Woods. |
| 20-Mar | Wendover Woods Main car park | Children’s Play Area | The annual top-up of wood chip in the Children’s Play Area occurs around March before Easter Holidays. It’s a large task for FC Staff and help would be greatly appreciated! |
| 03-Apr | Wendover Woods Fan Seat BBQ car park | Conversation Hedge Planting | Planting a living hedge around core areas of Wendover Woods to improve habitat and prevent vehicle users from parking on our soft grass verges. |
| 17-Apr | Hale Wood | Trail maintenance | Opening up some trails in Hale Wood, across from Wendover Woods. |
| 01-May | Weedon Hill | Woodland Management | Return to Weedon Hill to complete any left-over tasks in the Wood. |
| 15-May | Hodgemoor Woods | Bracken Cutting | Visit Hodgemoor woods near Amersham, cutting down some birch and pulling bracken. SSSI Site and Ancient Woodland, a must-see. |
| 05-June | None | Queen’s Jubilee | No session this week. |
| 19-Jun | Wendover Woods Fan Seat car park | Fan Seat Meadow Raking / Trail Maintenance | The annual grass cut on the Fan Seat meadow will require us to rake the cuttings and remove them from the meadow, reducing nutrients returned to the soil and thus improving wildflower growth. |
| 03-July | Mop End Woods | Himalayan Balsam Cutting | Travel to Mop End Woods near Weedon Hill for some Himalayan Balsam cutting, in line with forest design plans. |
| 17-Jul | Aston Hill Car Park | Meadow Raking / Hedge maintenance | Part of the Wendover Woods complex, Aston Hill has a large meadow which is fantastic for wildlife. We’ll be raking the cuttings here to improve flora growth as well as tidying the hedges and trees in the area. |
| 07-Aug | Wendover Woods Free BBQ car park | Summer Litter Pick / Biological Surveying | The woods will be busy this time of year so time for an annual litter-pick at Wendover Woods. Biological surveying will also be undertaken. |
| 21-Aug | Wendover Woods Pimple Point Lay-by | Pimple Point View / Flint Walls / Mansion Hill road | Managing our ongoing annual tasks, we’ll take a look at pimple point view, the Rothschild’s Flint Walls and Mansion Hill road and aim to tidy them up or make any necessary improvements. |
| 04-Sept | Wendover Woods Free BBQ car park | Boddington Hill Fort / John sale Viewpoint - vegetation clearance | Again,
we’ll focus on our annual maintenance tasks looking at
Boddington Hillfort, John Sale viewpoint and other recently-made
viewpoints by CS volunteers. |
| 18-Sept | Bittams Woods | Cutting back, glade restoration / improvements | Part of the Wendover Woods complex, we’ll be managing some glades and areas of the wood which bring benefits to wildlife, in particular butterflies and bats who frequent the wood. |
| 02-Oct | Wendover Woods Free BBQ car park | Invasive species removal | Removing laurel and other undesirable plant species around the woods in accordance with forest design plans. |
| 16-Oct |
Wendover Woods Free BBQ car park | Ponds Work | Taking a look at our ponds in Wendover and maintaining them. Also attempt to cover any pond lining with soil & grasses to make them more natural. |
| 06-Nov | Wendover Woods Free BBQ car park | Boddington Hill Fort vegetation clearance | Continuing the work to make this ancient hill fort more of a feature. |
| 20-Nov | Wendover Woods Free BBQ car park | Viewpoint maintenance | Continuing with clearance of tree regeneration clearance along our viewpoints, or use this date to complete any outstanding tasks from this year. |
| 04-Dec | Baldwin’s (Wendover) Woods | Grimm’s Ditch management | Return to Grimm’s ditch, a scheduled ancient monument, to clear regeneration on the ditch / mound structure. |
| 18-Dec | Forestry Commission Forest Office B4009 | Bonfire / Social Gathering | An annual social gathering and burning of cuttings collected over the year at a location to be decided at a later date. Time to reflect back on all the hard work done this year! |
Start time: 10.00am. End time: 1.00pm
Meet at either the Wendover Forestry Commission Offices in Upper Icknield Way B4009 (opposite Harebridge Lane) about a mile after the RAF Halton Camp if approaching from the direction of Wendover town centre. Or the Free BBQ car park or Fan Seat car park in Wendover Woods – entrance to woods on St Leonards Road off B4009. For other events – details will be given nearer the time.
Contact Mike Baldock on 01442 823139, or his mobile: 07870 836 051.
