Environment

Somerset Circle a step closer to completion

A NEW section of a multi-user path in Dulcote, near Wells, has been declared officially open at a special celebration attended by Annie Maw, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset.

It marked the latest stage in a key section of the Strawberry Line which forms part of the Somerset Circle, now under construction. The path connects Wells to the Charlie Bigham’s food kitchen at Dulcote Quarry. When completed, the Somerset Circle will form a 76-mile, traffic-free circuit.

Mendip District Council invested £70,000 towards the works which were commissioned by multi-user path developers Greenways and Cycleroutes, as well as a further £15,000 from Charlie Bigham’s S106 money.

Preparatory clearance work was completed by Strawberry Line volunteers, who have taken on the responsibility for maintenance of the path as well as tree planting. Additional planting, landscaping and benches are to be installed shortly. The overall project was completed by local contractors, Goldings.

As well as Mrs Maw – who is a wheelchair user – guests included council

Guests at the official opening of the path at Dulcote

chair Helen Sprawson-White and other council representatives, Mendip Hills AONB, Somerset County Council, Charlie Bigham’s and Strawberry Line volunteers.

Ros Wyke, leader of Mendip District Council, welcomed everyone to the opening and presented the volunteer lead, Richard Jones, with a range of landscaping tools. Councillor Wyke said: “Connecting this section of path was an important milestone and is the result of commitment and collaboration over many years. “The grand opening was an exciting opportunity for all stakeholders to meet and see the results of our hard work. “It has inspired us to continue with our goals of opening other sections of the Strawberry Line in Mendip and beyond.” Mrs Maw and John Grimshaw, founder of Sustrans and who now runs Greenways, planted a hornbeam tree at the site as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy and also to mark the 50th anniversary of the Mendip Hills AONB.

For details, visit: www.thestrawberryline.org.uk

Quarry protestors set up camp

A GROUP of people opposed to the reopening of Westdown Quarry, near Nunney, have entered their third month of living in a protest camp on the site.

Protestors gather for the walk to Westdown Quarry

The small group, which includes activists from the HS2 line, say they are also opposed to Hinkley C and the Stonehenge tunnel project.

Hanson, which operates Whatley Quarry, wants to reopen Westdown to extract 160 million tonnes of limestone at a rate of two million tonnes a year. It already has an existing planning consent to resume quarrying but needs to consolidate and update its proposals to meet current regulations. Around 100 people gathered at Asham Wood, next door to Westdown, for a second, peaceful march to the edge of the quarry. Next to Asham

Guards of honour for tree legacy

MEMBERS of the Glastonbury Conservation Society have planted 17 oak trees on farmland in memory of their late chairman John Brunsdon MBE.

Money from John’s legacy was bequeathed to the society to carry out the work in fields below Wearyall Hill, next

Using an earth auger to drill holes for the guards The conservation society work party below Wearyall Hill

to the A39.

John, who died in January last year, was a committed conservationist and oak trees he helped to plant more than 20 years ago near Glastonbury Tor are thriving.

As well as planting the trees, society members installed heavy duty steel guards around them to protect them from a herd of highland cattle which graze the land. The guards were made by nearby Bennell Engineering.

John, a retired vet, was twice mayor of Glastonbury in the 44 years he served on the town council. He was also a National Trust warden for the tor and a bellringer.

The guards are so heavy they require three or four people to install

Wood – a SSSI since 1963 and open to the public – are disused workings called Asham Void, which Hanson also owns and wants to reopen to store waste materials from Westdown whilst at the same time carrying out a gradual restoration of the area to encourage wildlife.

No date has yet been set for Somerset County Council to consider Hanson’s application. Members of the Stop Westdown Quarry Expansion Campaign say the plan will breach the council’s climate emergency plan to be zero carbon by 2030 and is being “rushed through” ahead of the introduction of the Environment Bill in the House of Commons.

A former quarry building – nicknamed The Toblerone – in Asham Void Members of the Frome Blackbirds environmental group

Saving swifts for future generations

I WASastonished to hear in 2019 that swifts still nested naturally in East Harptree, south of Chew Valley Lake. Seeing them was a revelation and a call to arms. We used to see and hear our summer visitors regularly screaming as they hurtled low along Chew Magna High Street and in other villages and I realised what we had lost.

The swifts nesting sites were disappearing, their lives ebbing away. I sought help and advice; the resulting project led to 17 nest boxes being put up in Chew Magna and surrounding villages through our 2021 Swift Project.

Last year this iconic bird was added to the red list for endangered species.

So, what is so extraordinary about Apus Apus? They live on the wing; never landing on the ground. Juveniles spend their first years in non-stop flight, migrating north from Africa each year, prospecting for a nesting place in Britain. They never touch down and will only set foot in a place to nest, when they reach breeding age at three to four years old.

Swifts live in colonies that can be used by successive generations for years, even hundreds of years, usually pairing for life and returning to the same nesting place every year. Because their legs are set far back in their bodies they can only crawl up and waddle in an ungainly fashion into their nests for the time it takes to fledge their young. Then they are off again, back to their aerial lives.

Swifts fly 6,000 miles twice each year on migration, flying up to 500 miles a day, following the rains for insects on which to feed. They drink by swooping low, skimming the water surface before powering up again into the heavens. They preen on the wing, mate on the wing and rise between 3-6,000 metres into the clouds to sleep on the wing.

When sleeping, one half of their brain remains awake, possibly at these heights also sampling atmospheric and weather conditions for miles around. They are masters of the sky, flying at speeds of up to 69mph, the quickest recorded bird in horizontal flight. There are accounts of pilots in low-flying early planes seeing flocks of swifts below their aircraft in the dead of night.

A swift may fly the distance to the moon and back, some say three times, others up to eight times – four million miles in a lifetime. Science still does not know everything about swifts –they are truly the bird of legends.

Predators cannot outfly them – they are safe in their aerial kingdom, living often to a ripe old age, so why are they on the red list? There are many factors, the most apparent being nest loss. Their homes are being destroyed.

They nest in tiny cracks in stone or brickwork under the eaves or gable ends of tall buildings, often invisible to the naked eye until a bird is seen entering or leaving. But now we believe our houses should be sealed. Any hole is a defect and needs to be repaired. So the swift loses its long-term nesting site and we lose more of the world’s natural wonders.

Local projects which seek to reverse these losses by encouraging swifts back to their neighbourhoods are beginning to show some success. Come the end of April we will begin to look skyward again to spot returning swifts and we will continue with our attempts to help these iconic birds by providing nest boxes. Seeing a wild creature in reality is a sight that takes the breath away.

We have had a lot of advice and support from Mark Glanville, of Bristol Swifts. He and his wife Jane occasionally open their garden for the NGS, giving visitors the opportunity to see some of the swifts who regularly return there to nest.

Anne-Marie Morris Chew Valley Swift Project

For more information see: www.bristolswifts.co.uk

Nightingale project is right on song

WORK is underway at Carymoor Environmental Centre, in Castle Cary to encourage rare and elusive nightingales to become a resident bird on the reserve.

The centre was last year awarded £96,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for its Nightingale Project to create the ideal habitat for the birds, which are on the conservation Red List for endangered species.

Part of the work involves laying hedges and planting eight-ten thousand blackthorn – and other scrub species – which are attractive to nightingales because the thorny ground cover acts as a deterrent to other animals that might prey on their eggs and young. They also like to be close to water so a nearby stretch of water called Ron’s Pond is also being restored as part of the scheme.

Local farmer David Bowyer – whose family owns the Carymarsh nature reserve next to the environment centre – reported hearing a male nightingale singing in 2019 and part of the 100-acre site includes the aptly-named Nightingale Wood.

Carymoor, which is approaching its 25th anniversary, is a well-established outdoor learning centre and welcomes prebooked visits by schools and other groups. New volunteers are always welcome.

Volunteers at work laying hedges