Not many would argue that 2021 wasn't an unusual and difficult year. It had its lows (no need to mention those) and highs (celebrating the 5-yearly Knill's Ceremony and the G7 summit to name two). One constant for the Reserve's volunteers has been the positive power of nature and community. The Wednesday work parties (meet at 09.30 by the main gate, rain or shine) have been a great way to connect with like-minded people and get some physical exercise (and coffee and cake). Th

Over the years a number of wildlife surveys have taken place at the Reserve. Whether it's trees, birds, butterflies or any other flora or fauna, we're keen to keep track of the Reserve's inhabitants. To help with this, the volunteers would love it if visitors to the Reserve would let us know about any wildlife sightings they make. You can sign up and leave a comment at the bottom of this post (ideally with a photo) to tell us what you've spotted. If you're not sure what you'v

Visitors to the Reserve are starting to see more and more piles of bracken and gorse cuttings dotted around the site. Recently, the volunteers took the decision to stop burning the green waste created by our winter maintenance work. This wasn't an easy decision because the annual bonfire was quite an event for the volunteers. However, there's a lot of good scientific research that shows the environmental impact of bonfires. This French study shows the impact of burning green

This is the first in an occasional series of walks highlighting points of interest around the Reserve. The circular walk takes in the new and old parts of the Reserve, beginning and ending at the Count House Lane entrance (w3w : ///looks.confused.skidding - couldn't have made up a better 3 words, especially after heavy rain!) A guided version of the walk is available as a GPX* file and as a PDF. The route is also published on the Out Door Active walking community website. The

One of the main jobs for the volunteers over the winter is tree planting. Winter is a great time for planting bare root saplings because they are in their dormant stage and will be settled in ready to grow again in the spring. Today's trees were donated by Reserve neighbour Paul Sampson, who spotted an offer from The Conservation Volunteers and OVO Energy. Their 'I dig trees' campaign aims to plant 2 million trees this year. The volunteers were glad to do their bit. Another 5

The good people at Forest Research have concluded in a report that access to woodlands promotes mental health - not a great surprise to the volunteers at the Reserve. What is a surprise is that the researchers claim that access to nature gives us all such a boost that it saves the NHS around £185 million (and that's a conservative estimate). The savings come from fewer GP visits, fewer prescriptions, reduced hospital and social care and fewer days off work. You don't need to

Autumn always brings a flush of fungi to the Reserve. The range of colours and shapes of the visible (i.e. fruiting) parts of the fungi never ceases to amaze. These pictures were all taken on a single October walk around the reserve. Don't forget though that the visible parts of the mushrooms are only a small and temporary part of a much larger organism which threads out under the ground for, often, a significant distance. The fungi on the Reserve also play a key part in the

The biodiversity around the Reserve isn't limited to the bigger inhabitants. If you look closely when you are walking around you'll see a wide range of smaller plants that are equally important to the ecology of the site. The Reserve is a fragment of the Temperate Celtic Rainforest, which is a rare and threatened environment. The understory provides the perfect habitat for a wide range of mosses. The high air quality also provides a perfect habitat for lichens to grow high up

One of the ongoing battles for the volunteers is to control the spread of non-native, invasive plants that would otherwise take hold on the Reserve. Rhododendrons were a major problem when the Reserve was founded in 2000 and they continue to be a problem today. It's not unusual to be talking to a volunteer and suddenly see them disappear into the undergrowth with a mini-mattock in hand to dig up a Rhododendron seedling they've just spotted. Rhododendrons are very determined p

The volunteers are working on a number of projects around the Reserve, one of which is to put up a number of bat boxes around the site to encourage bats to make themselves at home. 6 bat boxes were donated by volunteer Chris and have been put high up in specially selected trees. It was no easy task to carry the necessary kit to the remoter parts ot eh Reserve, but as ever the volunteers were more than up to the task. All of the boxes were safely put in place over two Wedesday