witney woodland volunteers
witney woodland volunteers |
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about us:
The council workers who do this work on a regular basis are very stretched: there are six workmen in West Oxfordshire cutting grass, clearing brushwood, clipping hedges, weeding and replanting, and they cover an area from the Gloucestershire border, including Burford, Chipping Norton, down to Witney, Eynsham and Woodstock. 80% of their time is spent grass cutting, now that the changing weather has meant it is almost a year round job. Rubbish collectors are similarly stretched, so we usually collect bags of litter as we go. A volunteer force can augment the work of the W.O.D.C. by attending to the tasks more than once a year. Some paths on the Windrush River, the Mill Stream and between housing estates, need cutting back two or three times a year. The centre of Town is a lot tidier since WWV began, and has benefited from a series of shrub and tree planting too. Notable areas that have been planted include the substation triangle along Witan Way (opposite Waitrose car park), the wooded area behind the wiggly bench on Witan Way footpath, and several places on the bank of the Mill Stream. A hawthorn hedge was planted on West End Meadow, and over two winters, 150 trees were planted on 'The Mounds' at Thorney Leys to shield houses from the busy A40. Besides this, the WWV have coppiced about a quarter of the mature hazel and dogwood trees along Witan Way footpath, raised funds for the pollarding of some of the willows in Grimes Meadow on Langel Common, and cleared areas of overgrown woodland and moat at Cogges Manor Farm. We also raised funds to plant 3,000 daffodils and anemone bulbs along the grassy bank at Thorney Leys, and expect that other approach roads into Witney will want a flower carpet planted in successive winters. Last winter, WWV was able to help in a regional Ancient Tree Survey that the W.P. undertook, and over 150 ancient trees were surveyed in and around Witney. The rsults can be downloaded from the panel on the right. A major project to develop a community woodland at Deer Park is now well under way. WWV currently has around 30 members, of whom half probably meet every week to carry out any task that needs doing. We meet under the clock tower in Waitrose car park at 10 a.m. on Mondays, and spend two hours working. The membership fee covers insurance which is essential for all volunteers, and we work to Health and Safety guidelines developed for this setting. The Group is now independently constituted, but has its roots in a wider volunteer group, the Wychwood Project (W.P.) which undertakes conservation activities in the ancient Wychwood Forest area. |
news:********* watch this space for tree planting dates... ********* New - our guide to the ancient trees of Witney available for download here (Please let us know of any errors in this draft) summary of our activities during 2010 here archive summaries of work done: wwv pictures available here
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