NENCV at Stow Heath
On the afternoon of Wednesday December 4th, NENC Volunteers teamed up with Felbeck Trust volunteers to work at Stow Heath in Felmingham. Stow Heath is a small 2- or 3- acre site that was historically a surveyor’s allotment – that is, a plot of land that the local roadman used to extract aggregate to maintain the roads. Nature has taken over and the environment is now a mixture of ponds and mixed woodland with a full canopy of mature trees such as Oak and a well- developed sub-canopy of Holly, Elder and others.
We had two tasks: first, to open up paths to allow easy access to the site; and second, to remove some of the fallen trees in the ponds, as well as to begin to thin some trees to ideally allow 50% shade and 50% sunlight on each pond. The novelty for NENCV was the presence of a tree surgeon and chain saw – something we would not normally have the use of in our team, which meant we could cut and clear a good amount quite quickly.
There is still much work to be done as each pond seems to be unique in depth and shape as well as in the make-up of the pond floor. However, after just a couple of visits by our group of volunteers, the opportunity for increased biodiversity is becoming clear.
Chris Foster (NENCV)
December 4th 2024
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