Report from the Nature on the Doorstep Group.

You may have noticed that some of the trees in the spinney are marked with paint. This follows consultation with the Duchy of Cornwall (who own the land) as to how best to encourage a wide variety of plants and animals into the spinney. The timber is of no real commercial value as it now stands and if left, the trees (mostly poplars) will continue to grow "spindly".  So the Head Forester from the Duchy came and viewed the site, marked trees that should be removed and gave advice of work that we ourselves can do - e.g. coppicing.  The Duchy are very supportive of our aims and ambitions.  They have applied for a "thinning licence" and will remove the necessary trees.  This will then let in more daylight to the ground and encourage shrubs and wild flowers to flourish. And the remaining trees will grow into more worthwhile specimens.

Local members of the Bat Conservation Trust will carry out a survey once the weather warms up sufficiently for bats to be flying.  They will advise us as to whether it would be appropriate to erect bat boxes.  Clumps of snowdrops, that were once growing where the current playing field car park is and subsequently moved to the land adjacent to the Play Area, are now being moved to the spinney.  A variety of bird boxes are being built and will be erected on those trees that are not scheduled for removal.

This is all part of our endeavours to make the spinney a more interesting  and attractive place for villagers to visit.