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Over the next few months we will be coppicing and cutting back some of the encroaching trees and shrubs along the paths and fire ride on the Thakeham Road side of the the Warren.

Without grazing by wild herbivores or livestock the process of natural succession means that eventually dense trees and shrubs take over, reducing the variation in habitats that support the widest range of species.  Also, as the trees and shrubs grow close together they grow ‘leggy’ as they compete with each other to reach the light.

By cutting back the trees and shrubs not only are the paths opened up to improve access but also areas of heath can be linked up.   Cutting back a deciduous tree or shrub like holly does not kill it but rather rejuvenates it and creates a bushier plant as it throws up multiple stems from its roots.  These bushier plants provide another habitat, such as nesting sites for some birds.  In the meantime the extra light reaching the ground stimulates the growth of other plants, previously suppressed by the low light levels, which attract butterflies and other insects and which in turn provide food for other species such as birds and bats.

On Saturday we started to clear along the path behind Heatherlands.  As you can see some fairly substantial trees were taken down – these are probably as big as we can fell using hand saws.

Shifting the larger trees usually required some team-work

The small branches and twiggy material, or brash, was burnt – see previous post for an explanation of why we burn.

You can see that the bonfire is contained off the ground in a tray which is standing on corrugated iron sheets.  This is to prevent the ground catching fire, though with the amount of rain recently that seemed unlikely.

As the year moves into autumn and winter you will see that on some of our conservation mornings we will have a bonfire.

In the autumn and winter months our conservation work often includes cutting down small trees, coppicing and cutting back shrubs. This creates a lot of woody waste material which we need to dispose of somehow.  Everyone loves a bonfire but with concerns about greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions why do we burn it?

There are only 3 realistic options for us on the sites we work on.

Pile it up and leave it to rot down

Over time this will still result in the release of carbon into the atmosphere, plus some methane which is a worse GHG. It is true that some carbon will be kept in the wood that breaks down into organic matter in the soil but we do not want this on the heathland areas which need shallow, impoverished soil. At Sandgate Park, where there are areas where piles could be left, much of our shrub clearance work involves cutting back of the invasive and fast growing Rhododendron ponticum. The leaves and stems of this shrub decompose slowly as the wood and leaves do not attract invertebrates, such as woodlice, worms, beetles, etc., that eat dead wood and leaves, so we would soon have too many piles of cut material which would detract from the attractiveness of the area and we would become short of space for any more.

Chipping

This has similar issues as leaving the material to rot down plus any chipper would almost certainly need to be petrol or diesel driven and so add to GHG emissions.

Burning

Most of the carbon is released back into the atmosphere, but no methane is produced.

Burning is not the perfect answer but is often the best one available to us, especially where our objective is to maintain and expand our very rare heathland habitats. In your own gardens the other options are usually better choices as they:

• keep precious organic matter in your garden,
• can be used to provide habitat piles to attract birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, such as hedgehogs, into your garden, and
• are less likely to cause annoyance to your neighbours due to smoke and smell.

Alternatively you can subscribe to the council’s green waste collection.

If you want to help on one of our conservation mornings please see our programme here or email sandgate.conservation@gmail.com. Tools, gloves and refreshments are provided.

Part of the crowdfunding process included the production of an impact report to inform the project backers and others about the success of the project.  It also provides a facility for project backers to complete a survey about what they feel about the project.

The report can be found here

 

We are pleased to be able to tell you that the the bridge and the approaching footpaths have been completed.

There is a level footpath running a short distance through the woods from the gate on Badgers Holt to the bridge and on the other side of the bridge a gently rising footpath to join the path on the quarry side of the park.

The main motivation for getting the bridge and footpaths in place was to improve accessibility and we are gratified by the comments we have been getting from people about what a positive difference the new bridge and footpaths have made to their ability to enjoy the park.  It is now easy for people using mobility scooters to cross the stream.

We would love to hear from people about what they think about the new bridge and footpaths.  Email us on sandgate.conservation@gmail.com or send us a message us on Facebook – www.facebook.com/SandgateConservation.

The works have obviously left some marks on the landscape, for example where soil has been moved to create the footpaths and piled up along the side of the paths, but in time the vegetation will grow and hide the soil.  Also,  it is hoped that with the new footpath in place people will avoid walking across the bluebell and wild daffodil areas and these will regenerate in time.  We plan to clear the stream of the logs and other debris that was used as a makeshift bridge now that it is no longer needed.

Over the next few weeks and months people should also see some other changes, such as a signage board and a dog poo bin, for the quarry area of the park.

As we move into mid summer the woods have become quieter as bird nesting tails off.  The heather is flowering and is looking reasonably good considering the die-off due to drought last year.  The wet heath pond looks much better now that the fence has been removed from around it.  Fungi are already starting to appear here and there.

The quarry area of the park is still full of wildlife activity.  The meadows are a mix of wild flowers and grasses that are attracting a wide variety of insects including a variety of butterflies.  The quarry is a regular nesting site for sand martins and the birds can be seen swooping over the grassy areas.

Please avoid creating new paths across the meadows as this results in fragmentation which significantly degrades it as a wildlife habitat and causes disturbance to the wildlife that lives in it.  Also, keeping to the footpaths greatly reduces the risk of you and your dog picking up ticks that could carry Lyme disease.  The footpaths around and through the meadows are clearly defined as they are finished in yellow Fittleworth stone (there are some tracks for infrequent use by maintenance vehicles – these are not intended to be used general footpaths) and the area can be fully enjoyed from the footpaths.

In our last update on the bridge, just over 2 weeks ago, we reported on the start of the work to build the bridge.  The contractor had marked the trees that needed to be taken out for the new path and the Sandgate Conservation Society volunteers had spent a work morning removing the trees.

Regular visitors to Sandgate Park would have seen that within a few days the contractor had cleared away the felled logs, removed the tree stumps and dug out the new path, and created the concrete foundations for the bridge.

A few days ago we were told that the bridge was at the stage where we could usefully help to finish work on it.

You can see the new path on the Cemex quarry side has been completed and it now has a gentle slope through the woods to the bridge.

The bridge crosses the stream at a point where its banks are level so that there is step-less access to the bridge from the paths.

The bridge is made from durable oak and it is build on top of two steel beams that span the gap – it is built to last.

The bridge still needed anti-slip strips and hand-rails so on Tuesday morning the ‘crew’ gathered for work.  Sandgate Conservation Society volunteers were joined by Horsham District Council Parks and Countryside staff.  Anna Worthington-Leese, Chairman of Storrington and Sullington Parish Council came along to check out progress.

Fixing the anti-slip strips.  Two people screwing on the strips, one person sorting out the screws and one person as the obligatory ‘foreman’!

 

 

Meanwhile, in another part of the woods, the redundant gate was removed.

While this activity was going on the contractor was continuing work on the paths.  A new path is being created from the new bridge to the gate onto Badgers Holt.  This will provide accessible access to the area of Sandgate Park from the eastern end of the park.  It is hoped that park users will stick to this new path so that the native bluebells and wild daffodils are not trampled.

We think you will agree that the bridge looks just right for the woodland setting and it meets all expectations.

A big thank-you to all of you who helped make this happen by donating to the bridge fund.

 

 

If you go down to the woods you may see evidence of some activity at the site of the planned bridge across the quarry stream.  The Sandgate Conservation Society volunteers were out this morning clearing trees along the route of the new path to the bridge from the Cemex side.

The existing path is far too steep and leads to a point in the gully which is too wide to be sensibly bridged. The new path will be less steep and lead to where the gully is narrower and the banks on either side of an equal height.

We were met by Ryan from Horsham District Council (HDC) Parks and Countryside who told us what needed to be done. The contractor employed by HDC had been out and marked the trees to be felled to make way for the path.

The new path will branch off the main path a few yards further east of the steep path and the first thing we had to do was to cut and stamp our way through the scrub to get to the trees.

Ryan didn’t just supervise but got stuck in with the rest of us

By break time (tea/coffee and cake) you could see the progress we had already made.  The  picture below shows the view looking out from the woods. You can just make out some of the volunteers who were very keen to get their cake!  The stumps will be removed by the contractor who will also chip the logs and branches we left stacked up by the side of the path.

The picture below is looking back into the woods from the main path.  The scrub beaten down and the start of a path.

We cut down the trees using bow saws. Many of the trees were fairly spindly but a number had trunks at about the limit that we could manage with bow saws and had reached a considerable height. These trunks had to be saw to shorter lengths to allow us to move them.

By the end of the session we had managed to cut down the last marked tree and moved the logs and branches to the side of the path ready for the contractor.  The picture below shows the last felled tree.  We all cheered when this one came down – it was hot work even in the shade! You can just make out how long it was – the bright green leaves in the foreground are its canopy and you can see two figures at different points along the trunk sawing it into manageable lengths.