Breaking News Newsletter for Breaking New Ground Landscape Partnership Scheme
Jul 2017
A newsflash for project partners and participants with news items, project updates, special features and forthcoming events.
Journal of Breckland Studies
Brecks Heritage Conference Thank you to all the speakers and participants of the Revealing the Heritage of the Brecks Conference in June. It was a fascinating and well-attended event
The Journal of Breckland Studies, published by the Breckland Society, is now available! Pick up your free copy from Brandon Country Park, or download here http:// www.breakingnewground.org.uk/news/journal -of-breckland-studies-released/ We want to know what you think! The Journal contains several fascinating articles about Breckland heritage and ecology:
"A fieldwork study of former Desert Rat camps in the area of High Ash;"
"Exploring the lives of Goshawks in the Brecks (identifying patterns in nest behaviour, habitat use and movements within and beyond the Brecks);"
"The early Palaeolithic archaeology of the Breckland (current understanding and directions for future research);"
Wingspan Consulting is doing an independent evaluation of Breaking New Ground. The main purpose of the evaluation is find out what went well and how things could be done even better in the future. As part of this, we are carrying out a survey of people who were involved in Breaking New Ground – for example, people who volunteered on the scheme or took part in training, events or activities.
We would be very grateful if you could help us by completing this short online survey. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to answer the questions. All of the "Using Google Earth to investigate 20th information you provide will be treated as Century Breckland Military sites;" confidential and used anonymously. Everyone "The Diary of Frank Norgate (1842 – 1919);" who completes the questionnaire will be entered into a prize draw for a £50 Amazon voucher. "Nature Conservation, ground disturbance and protecting archaeological remains on LINK http://bit.ly/2uFMPZ0 Brecks heaths;"
Project Evaluation C6 LiDAR In recent years, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has become an essential tool for assessing heritage at a landscape scale. The data created provides a point cloud view of the landscape and allows for the forest canopy to be digitally removed, revealing previously unrecorded features. Thetford Forest was considered to have had a relatively benign effect of the features imposed of the landscape by previous land uses, and this was indeed the case as the raw data was refined. In partnership with Norfolk Historic environment Service and the Brecks from Above project, the data was corroborated with aerial photographs to add 187 new records to the Norfolk and Suffolk Historic Environment Records. Many new features were identified and ground-truthed by professional archaeologists to prioritise their protection and help landowners understand the importance of managing their sites sensitively. The Forestry Commission and Forest Research held a workshop at Santon Downham village hall for BNG projects and landscape professionals. The workshop was led by Peter Crow from Forest Research who gave an introduction to what LiDAR is and explained how to interpret it in woodland situations, which requires particular caution. Manipulatable data was made available to all BNG projects under a license agreement and was used by several projects to identify new flint mines and military training sites amongst other things. The data was also made public, with a clickable map providing high quality jpeg images, available on the BNG website. The project was undertaken with the aim of revealing unknown heritage but has generated significant interest amongst other landscape professionals including a PhD student who wants to use tree height data to understand carbon stage and growth patterns, and the British Trust for Ornithology who want to use the data to analyse whether microtopography influences nightjar nest site selection.
The LiDAR maps are now available for everyone to explore! Download the LiDAR maps by going to this link: http://bit.ly/2sonUMK PROJECT LEGACY Images will continue to be used to inform forest management for heritage and aspects of biodiversity Additional LiDAR maps will be produced to cover Kings Forest to the south. What is LiDAR? LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variables distances) to the Earth. These light pulses, combined with other data recorded by the airborne system, generate precise, threedimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics. A LIDAR instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver. Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms for acquiring LIDAR data over broad areas.
Brecks Events
Partners’ Events Butterflies and Insects of the Heath 22nd July , SWT Knettishall Heath, 10-12 £4/person Book: here http://bit.ly/2sHPyQ7 Dragonfly and Damelfly guided walk 21st July 12-2 SWT Lackford Lakes £4/person. Book here: http://bit.ly/2sBhD0r Wild at Weeting (arts, crafts and guided walk—call 01842 827615 to book) Sat 5th August NWT Weeting Heath 10:00-16:00 Enchanted Forest 25th August Brandon Country Park 10:30-15:30 (£3 per passport) If you’d like to see your event here, please send us details at bng.admin@suffolk.gov.uk
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Picture of the Month Desert Rats stopping for a brew during training at High Ash Photo: IWM
Back from the Brink—Shifting Sands Update Back from the Brink – Shifting Sands and the Brecks received some fantastic coverage early this Spring when the success of the funding bid from the Heritage Lottery Fund was announced. Local and national press were excited about its history, the species and landscape, and the ongoing efforts to preserve it. Shifting Sands – Securing a Place in the Brecks is now looking ahead to starting work on the ground later this summer with two new staff members recruited to the project and due to come on board in mid-August. Around the country partner projects from the National Back from the Brink program are also getting staff and plans in place. The first meeting of the new project officers will further highlight the Breckland habitats as well as the ongoing work as they gather there for two days later this month. The organizers look forward to hosting them in this truly unique place in the UK. As the staff get themselves oriented some of their first tasks will be to engage with the wider community and start to enrol the local volunteers in their efforts. Watch this space for opportunities to join in learning and contributing to this next phase of Brecks conservation.
The Stone Curlew is one of the rare species that will be targeted as part of the project
Get your Brecks Events/News noticed!: If there is something that you would like included in the next newsletter, please send details to Amy : BNG.Admin@suffolk.gov.uk Breaking New Ground c/o Visitor Centre, Brandon Country Park, Bury Road, Brandon, Suffolk, IP27 0SU 01842 815465 e: bng.admin@suffolk.gov.uk t: @TheBrecksBNG f: TheBrecksBNG. w: www.breakingnewground.org.uk