Neroche Update February 2011

neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme

UPDATE February 2011

2011 is the final year of the Neroche Scheme. Though there are exciting new projects which the Neroche partnership will continue into 2012 and beyond, the current programme of Lottery-funded projects must reach its conclusion in September. So, there is much to do, and this update provides a flavour of what is coming up….

Along the Wild Edge

Sculpture and Information

A new book, representing the culmination of over two years of work by a wide range of local amateur and professional historians and heritage enthusiasts in the Neroche area, is published this month.

Have you ever wondered what lies beneath your feet when visiting Staple Hill? Take a look around the Easy Access Trail and you'll discover an exciting new geology sculpture called ’A Slice of Neroche’.

The new sculpture provides a tactile model of the topography and land form of the Blackdown Hills scarp slope, highlighting the underlying geology in a simple, nontechnical way suitable for all audiences.

‘Along the Wild Edge’ is the most comprehensive book ever published about the northern Blackdown Hills. Produced by the Neroche Scheme, it brings together the work of 40 contributors, and covers a huge span of subjects and history. Running to over 320 pages with 50 chapters, the book is arranged into eight sections, covering different parts of the northern ridge of the Blackdowns and the surrounding landscape.

‘Along the Wild Edge’ has been produced thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. As a result, the book is not being offered for sale, but instead a copy will be offered free to all residents of the parishes within the Neroche Scheme area, together with all those in and out of the area who have taken part in some way in the Neroche Scheme’s many projects over the past five years.

It’s the Neroche Scheme’s way of saying thank you to everyone for their support and enthusiasm, and offering a lasting record of the Hills which hopefully will inspire people to explore it more deeply.

The artist involved was sculptor Rob Jakes, and his raw material was an oak tree harvested locally from Staple Park Wood, only 1km from the viewpoint. Hugh Prudden (left) a local geology expert shown here with Rob Jakes (right), provided invaluable geological advice for the piece.

Close to the geology sculpture, you will find a new information panel ‘A Forest for all’ describing the management of the forest visible from the Loop Trail Also, look out for a new inscribed bench, made from the same oak as the ‘Slice of Neroche’, due to be installed on the very top of the Castle Beacon at Castle Neroche, in April.

Meanwhile, the Neroche Digital Trail Guides are available for hire at Taunton TIC and the Farmers Inn, West Hatch. For adults and children alike, the guides can tell you more about the flora and fauna around you, and using an interactive map, you can find out the history of the places you are passing along the Staple Fitzpaine Herepath trail.

Walks, courses and activities

The book will be formally launched at the beginning of April. Details of distribution and how to obtain your copy will be publicised over the next few weeks. The Neroche team will try to ensure that everyone who wants a copy can have one, but copies are limited so we cannot guarantee to meet every request

The Blackdown Hills Countryside Events Booklet for spring and summer 2011 will be available soon. Produced in conjunction with Blackdown Hills AONB, there are a wealth of walks, talks, courses and volunteer opportunities to be found.

Copies will be sent out by post in the next few weeks, but please do let us know if you would prefer us to save postage, as information is available online at: www.blackdownhillsaonb.org.uk

Young Wood

We’re beginning a new chapter for Neroche, at Young Wood, which is part of the Wych Lodge complex of woods near Staple Fitzpaine. A new site is being established for activities like bushcraft, Forest School, and around this, the surrounding woodland is about to begin being brought back into traditional coppice management, in order to supply firewood and other produce for local markets. Members of the Neroche Conservation Volunteers, together with people from the immediate local community in Staple Fitzpaine and Curland, are working with us to develop this project as something owned and shared with local people. There will be regular volunteering days at the wood, one day a month starting in April, plus a variety of other activities through the year.

If you are interested in getting involved with this exciting new project, please contact the Neroche office

Herepath and other Trails Further improvements are in the pipeline on the Staple Fitzpaine Herepath. A new link is about to be created from the eastern side of the Trail, near Bickenhall, under the A358, to connect into the bridleway at Hatch Green. This link has been organised and supported by the Taunton Deane Bridleways Association.

Meanwhile the final remaining ‘bad step’ on the Trail, between Staple Lawns and Staple Park Farm, will be tackled this spring.

At the other end of the ridge, at Blackdown Common, Neroche has recently funded an upgrade of the bridleway from Crossways Farm to the edge of the open heath. This has improved what was a notoriously muddy track and allows easier access out onto the magnificent heath.

However, there are problems for the wildlife on the heath here. Rare birds like curlew and Dartford warbler have declined on the site in recent years, due in part to disturbance from dogs off the lead during the nesting season. We are working with the AONB and Natural England to try and encourage dog walkers and other users of the heath to keep dogs on leads and to keep to main paths during the sensitive period of May and June. If you use the heath for walking a dog, please remember the effect an unrestrained dog can have on groundnesting birds.

Volunteering To date the Neroche Scheme has clocked up over 1000 volunteer days, translating into over £60,000 as in-kind match funding to help draw down Lottery investment into the Blackdown Hills.

The Neroche Conservation Volunteers is now a thriving group, carrying out twice monthly work on Forestry Commission and Somerset Wildlife Trust sites. As well as helping to manage wildlife habitats, a group of volunteers has now begun training with Butterfly Conservation staff and members (pictured below with John Davis), to be able to carry out butterfly transect recording in the Neroche area If you’d like to become involved, book a place on our Butterfly Identification and Monitoring day on Tuesday 10th May.

Meanwhile a group of archaeological survey volunteers have continued to survey new sites in the forest , the Herepath Trailwatchers continue to monitor the condition of the Staple Fitzpaine Herepath, Health Walks volunteers are working with SASP (Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership) to bring vulnerable groups out into the forest, and vegetation survey volunteers are contributing to our picture of forest wildlife. All these volunteers are making a huge contribution to the Blackdown Hills landscape.

For more information visit www.nerochescheme.org Or contact us at: Neroche Scheme, St Ivel House, Hemyock, Devon, EX15 3SG Tel: 01823 680846, Email: info@nerochescheme.org Working together to conserve and celebrate the heritage of the northern scarp of the Blackdown Hills AONB The Forestry Commission, Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership, Natural England, Somerset County Council, Devon County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Mid Devon District Council, South Somerset District Council, The National Trust, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Somerset Art Works