Wild Times

Wild Times DONCASTER

Your FREE GUIDE to Doncaster's Natural Wonders

EDITORIAL: ED MILIBAND MP

CONTENTS

I was delighted when I asked by the Mayor Ros Jones to chair the Doncaster Climate Change Commission looking at how Doncaster can play its part in tackling the climate emergency. There are huge opportunities for Doncaster in tackling the climate crisis through investment in low carbon projects that bring better jobs and better lives for people.

04 The Magic of Potteric Carr

In declaring a Climate & Biodiversity Emergency, Doncaster recognised that this was also inextricably linked to serious global challenges and declines in biodiversity – huge declines in animal, bird and insect populations, deforestation, wild fires, bleaching of coral reefs, and so on, all becoming far to familiar in our everyday media. This is truly a biodiversity emergency at the same time.

And we must respond where we can, in our local communities and environment, so I was excited when the Climate Commission endorsed a Doncaster Nature Alliance (DNA), a collection of local nature-based organisations, communities, and public services to promote a wider engagement in protecting and restoring Doncaster’s natural habitat.

08 Bee Kind 12 A Hidden Gem 19 Return Of The King 14 Better Hearts, Better Minds 18 Building Better From Below 22 Get Involved 24 Conservation & Communities 25 The Junior Civic Mayor 26 Art & Ecology 30 Get To Know Nature

This publication Wild Times will be part of Doncaster Nature Alliance’s campaign to raise the profile of Doncaster’s natural assets. My best hope is that you will be inspired to get out, visit, see, spend time, enjoy the natural environment, and also get involved in protecting nature. This can be a positive response to the climate emergency that benefits us all!

For more information on Doncaster Nature Alliance and Doncaster Climate Commission, please see the Team Doncaster web pages at: w w w . t e a m d o n c a s t e r . o r g. u k

THE SMALL PRINT

Wild Times is produced

and distributed by Doncaster Nature Alliance (DNA), a collection of wildlife groups, trusts and individuals who care greatly about Doncaster's unique wildlife and ecologies.

The opinions expressed in each feature or article in Wild

Times are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of DNA or the Wild Times editorial team, DNA, the editors and production team accept no responsibility for the opinions expressed.

FRONT COVER PHOTO Dragonfly on hand - Four-spotted chaser © Richard Smith

INSIDE COVER PHOTO Grassland view at Potteric Carr © Matthew Roberts REAR COVER PHOTO Reeds © Andy Dalton

CONTRIBUTORS AND COLLABORATORS Ed Miliband

Richard Smith

Andy Dalton

Mathew Roberts

XP School

Neil Aldridge

Sue Plaxton

Carol Hall

Janet Canning

Jim Horsfall

Ed Shaw

Carl Cornish

Debbie Coldwell

Peter Roworth

Anthony Cox

Louise Hill

Matt Duffy

Melissa Masserella

Sue Goodship

Paul Bareham

Sally Hyslop

Tricia Haigh

Rachel Walker

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Amy Enwright

Natural England

Mike Stubbs

The Conservation Volunteers

Warren Draper

Don Catchment Rivers Trust

Tim Newton Sam Cooper Nora Boyle

Friends of the Don Valley Way Doncaster Naturalists' Society

horne &draper Ever yday Audacit y. designed by

3

The Magic of Potteric Carr Andy Dalton

Did you know that just three miles from the centre of Doncaster lies an incredibly rich and diverse nature reserve that is almost twice as big as London’s Hyde Park? Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Potteric Carr nature reserve is a real hidden gem, providing a vital respite for both wildlife to be protected and flourish, and for people to escape urban living and rediscover some of Yorkshire’s amazing wildlife.

area. This culminated in the leasing of 13 hectares around Low Eller’s Marsh from British Rail by the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Trust - which later became Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Within the next 10 years, the nature reserve grew to over 100 hectares, took on its first paid employee and was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to acknowledge its importance as a valuable space for wildlife.

Since its formation in 1968, Potteric Carr has grown considerably. In the post-war years, a small but keen group began to take an avid interest in the animals and plants of the

In 1993, Sir David Attenborough visited Potteric Carr to celebrate its 25th anniversary, where he praised the efforts of the public and voluntary sectors in working

together to create such an important green space. In 1994 there were some worrying proposals to give 1,500 hectares of land around the reserve for development. In response, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust were resolved to not only protect Potteric Carr, but make it bigger and better than ever before.

Over the next 19 years, this plan was fulfilled thanks to the tremendous efforts of all those involved.

Significant amounts of external funding were required to undertake the work, most notably from the EU. Visitor facilities were improved with the completion of the field centre in

Sunset at Potteric Carr © Neil Aldridge

2005 along with 10 new bird hides.

More and more land was acquired, and today Potteric Carr covers over 265 hectares, with a further 100 hectares surrounding the nature reserve forming a buffer zone. In December 2016, the new visitor centre opened which has attracted over 40,000 visitors during its first year.

Potteric Carr is a superb place to visit, offering six miles of footpaths to explore and enjoy the reserve freely. It’s a particularly amazing place for birdwatching - over 230 species have been recorded, some particularly rare! We have special

hides that allow you to get up close and personal with birds such as woodpeckers and kingfishers, and also the many wading birds that visit Potteric Carr during the year – including the globally threatened bittern, who you may be lucky enough to see amongst the reedbeds in winter.

butterflies and abuzz with insects on warm afternoons – look out for the purple hairstreak and brown argus butterfly, and the banded demoiselle damselfly.

Some seasonal highlights: Spring: Plants - Colt's foot

As well as large areas of wetlands, we have several ponds which provide a home for newts, frogs and whirligig beetles (we run special events in spring and summer with staff on hand to show you the best spots for pond dipping). The meadows during summer are full of

Birds - Black-necked grebe; marsh harrier; little ringed plover; avocet Summer: Plants - Purple loosestrife; Southern marsh orchid; Birds – Little egret, bittern hobby;

5

Bittern © Andy Dalton

Invertebrates - Banded demoiselle; emperor dragonfly

solution in this time of climate emergency.

Autumn:

Birds – Bittern

People have always been at the centre of our work at Potteric Carr.

We have a core group of over 40 volunteers who work on a variety of activities virtually seven days a week. Our volunteers are involved in welcoming visitors, helping out in the café, carrying out monitoring of the wildlife and maintaining the path network and habitats we have.

Potteric Carr is not only an important haven for wildlife, it also acts as a safety valve at times of flooding; being able to store flood water and then slowly releasing it over time as the water levels recede locally. Many of the plant life within the reserve, particularly the large expanses of wetland, act as a very effective carbon store, which is also an important natural climate

Volunteers also play an active role in our people engagement at the reserve. We run an extensive events and education programme working with diverse groups from all around South Yorkshire. Schools are regular visitors to Potteric Carr and learn about habitats, classification, respect for wildlife and much more. Our events programme engages young children through Forest Tots, home

Birds - Redwing; teal; gadwell; willow tit Mammals - Roe Deer Fungi-Fly agaric Winter:

education sessions, and many interesting themed events during school holidays, like willow weaving and treasure trails.

But what will the next 50 years bring? The area has changed almost beyond recognition – our reserve is now bordered by development and we are seeing new species arrive but others vanish as the climate shifts.

We have an even more important role to play in informing and empowering people to care for their environment. One thing is certain though; Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is dedicated to ensuring that Potteric Carr continues to be an important oasis for wildlife and a thriving community for people to enjoy.

© Mathew Roberts

Egret © Andy Dalton

Marsh Harrier© Carol Hall

© Jim Horsfall

7

XP School

9

Š Warren Draper

11

Hatfield Moors showing cotton grass in early June Š Carl Cornish

Large heath butterfly Š Richard Smith

A Hidden Gem

The Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve

Sue Plaxton & Janet Canning

It’s hard to visit the remarkable Humberhead Peatlands NNR in South Yorkshire without feeling you’ve discovered something special.

The boggy, lowland mire that makes up the reserve is one of the country’s rarest and most threatened habitats.

Covering 2878 hectares, the equivalent of roughly 3,000 football pitches, the reserve is made up of Thorne, Goole, Crowle Moors and Hatfield Moors.

The mixture of habitats, including peatland, marsh, woodland and gravel pits, means the area is incredibly rich in wildlife. The reserve supports over 5,000 species of plants and animals, of which more than 4,000 are insects – many of these are scooped up in the air by one of the reserve’s star attractions; the mysterious, nocturnal and very rare nightjar.

Did you know that the area was once part of a pine and oak forest and the remains of bog pines and oaks can still be found in places today near the base of the peat? During early post-glacial times, a warmer and relatively dry climate enabled growth of thick vegetation and woodland but as sea levels rose, areas flooded and rivers deposited

alluvial clay soils. Wetter climatic conditions and poorly-draining soils resulted in a deep layer of fen peat to form and continued peat growth on Thorne and Hatfield Moors in areas above groundwater level developed into raised mires.

Throughout recorded history, the peat on Thorne and Hatfield Moors has been worked for animal litter and fuel, then more recently, up until 2004 for horticultural purposes on a commercial scale. Peat extraction

has damaged the peat but nowadays the Moors are legally protected by nature conservation designations.

Natural England’s priority is to restore the habitat, advance research and engage with visitors as it is also designated as Open Access.

13

Connect with Nature – it’s good for your well-being!

The Nature Reserve provides great opportunities for visitors to connect with nature and organised activities are on offer throughout the year, many of which are free including: Adder Spotting guided walk in March Spring walk in April Dawn Chorus in May Nightjar walk in June Evening walks Butterfly and dragonfly walk in July Water colour Sketching in August Fungus ID walk in Oct Autumn walk in Nov Scrub bashing day in January Summer holiday events and half term events However, to ensure these events are well organised, booking may be required so it’s best to contact us.

Also, keep in touch via our Facebook page where details of dates can be found nearer the time: facebook.com/humberheadpeatland The summer holiday trail on Hatfield Moors is a great way to explore nature. It starts at Boston Park car park with all you need to take part independently. A number of activity rucksacks are available so that you can go bug hunting or pond dipping as a family on Hatfield Moors. Hire is free with a deposit refundable upon return. All packs contain full instructions and a map of the Reserve where activities can be applied.

The Reserve is open 365 days of the year and there are many routes for leisurely walks on Hatfield

Common cottongrass Š Peter Roworth

Moors, starting from Boston Park and Ten Acre Lake car parks or the Wroot bridge access, and on Thorne Moors starting from Grange Road or Wilkinson Avenue - both from Moorends). There are viewing towers on Thorne and Hatfield that offer elevated views of this vast landscape.

It’s a site for all seasons. In early summer, large areas are covered white with the nodding seed heads of cotton-grass, late summer offers a seasonal highlight of flowering heather and autumn casts all shades of colour as life begins to wane and shut down and winter offers more open views of landscapes after leaves have fallen and bracken has subsided Also of interest on Hatfield Moors is a re-creation of a 5,000-year old Lindholme Neolithic trackway and platform replica. The original trackway is a significant historic finding as it is the earliest of its type found in the UK. It was discovered on Hatfield Moors by local man M.E. Oliver and investigated archaeologically between 20042006. Thanks to a National Lottery-funded project, last year, a group of 25 volunteers, (known as the Community of Builders) came together from across the Isle of Axholme and Doncaster area to build the replica where more visitors can view and walk the structure.

Why our peatlands are so special?

Lowland raised bogs are one of the most threatened habitats in Western Europe. Around 94% have been destroyed or damaged in the UK so restoration of the Humberhead Peatlands is a priority and over time, will help reduce the impacts of climate change because fullyfunctioning peatland can capture carbon. Hatfield Moors is also home to the rare nightjar which overwinters in Africa but breeds in heathland, forestry plantations and lowland peatlands between May and September. Nightjars feed at night on moths and other flying insects, foraging both on the peatlands and in the wider countryside. Rare plants, birds and insects that have evolved to live on this unique wetland habitat include specialised insects and spiders as well as mosses and plants. The Moors are home to some insects that occur virtually nowhere else in Britain: the Thorne pin palp beetle (Bembidion humerale), and the mire pill beetle (Curimopsis nigrita). Some insects have curious names such as the hairy canary fly (Phaonia jaroschewskii).

The Benefits of Volunteering

and enables people to learn new skills.

Opportunities to get involved include: Practical habitat and access management Recording wildlife Events and wardening Talking to visitors or helping out at events Or even helping in a busy office.

No minimum time commitment, you choose how much you do, and when, working with the volunteer coordinator. The rewards are two-fold for physical and mental wellbeing and an opportunity to make new friends. For further details contact humberhead. peatlands@naturalengland.org. uk Tel: 01302 846014. Natural England, Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve, Bawtry Road, Hatfield Woodhouse, Doncaster. DN7 6BF www.humberheadpeatlands.org.uk/ www.facebook.com/ humberheadpeatland

Regular volunteers work on Hatfield and Thorne Moors, undertaking a range of activities. Volunteering helps conserve this special habitat

15

Bentley Community Woodland Š Warren Draper

17

Return Of The King Salmon’s Reappearance in the River Don

Don Catchment Rivers Trust Few species evoke images of pristine rivers more than the salmon. The ‘king of fish’, as it’s sometimes called, is a staple of the nature documentary, usually scaling waterfalls and narrowly avoiding the jaws of a grizzly in the wilds of North America. It therefore often surprises people in South Yorkshire when they learn that the River Don once sustained a huge salmon population. It is precisely this iconic status of the species and its connotations of healthy rivers that has been one of the motivating factors behind efforts in recent decades to help salmon recolonise the Don. If salmon returned, so the reasoning goes, then people would take note, recognising that the Don is valuable habitat for wildlife and no longer the foully polluted and smelly river it once was. Perhaps, after years of neglect, people would begin to treat the river better, questioning whether to throw in that empty drinks bottle or reconsidering what they pour down the drain.

If people felt more positive about the river then it would be given a greater voice in decision making, such as investing more resources in improving it.

The species of salmon native to Britain is known as Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). It is actually more closely related to the Brown Trout (Salmo trutta), another native fish, than the world’s six other salmon species, which all inhabit rivers draining into the Pacific. Young salmon live in freshwater, before

migrating out to sea and travelling to their feeding grounds in the North Atlantic. After one or more years at sea they return to their river of their birth to spawn and reproduce in swift flowing and relatively shallow river habitat (see page 21 for Life Cycle & Salmon Terms).

Records show that salmon were once plentiful in the Don. Hecks (a type of salmon trap) were used to catch migrating fish in 17th century Doncaster, and next to nothing prices from market records show traders might have considered salmon to be inexhaustible. Two factors led to its loss from the Don. The first was the construction of large numbers of ever bigger weirs, built largely to draw water from the river to power water mills, or maintain water levels so boats could navigate the river and canal. These dam-like structures form barriers for the migrating salmon, and made it increasingly difficult for them to reach spawning habitat in the upper parts of the catchment.

The second factor was the gross pollution of the Don caused by the growth of industry and mining and a burgeoning population. So extreme was this pollution that by the 20th century, much of the Don stank, it regularly turned yellow and was dead to plants and wildlife.

In recent decades a remarkable recovery of the River Don has got underway, largely due to improvements in water quality

resulting from the decline of heavy industry, better regulations, and improved treatment of sewage.

While many water quality issues still remain, the fact that salmon’s relatives, trout and grayling, are now doing well in the Don shows that the water is clean enough for salmon too.

So how do you get salmon back to the Don? Well salmon have been attempting to migrate up the Don for a number of years, and have been observed jumping in vain to ascend barriers on the lower half of the river. You may be wondering why salmon are swimming up the Don when their homing instinct should lead them back to where they were born. The explanation is that their “internal satnavs” can make mistakes, and some individuals end up straying into different rivers. For example, one salmon found dead in 1976 downstream of Thorne had been tagged two years earlier on the River Ure in North Yorkshire. This unfortunate individual had taken a wrong turn into the heavily polluted Don on its way up the River Ouse.

While the best thing we can do to help salmon return is to remove barriers, many on the Don can’t be as they still have important functions or heritage value.

Therefore, over the last two decades various organisations including ourselves, Environment Agency (EA), Yorkshire Water (YW), Canal and River Trust (CRT), and

19

the councils of Doncaster, Sheffield and Rotherham have worked to create a migration ‘superhighway’ by installing fish passes (see Fish passes) on barriers. One of the first, built 20 years ago, was a rock ramp and bypass channel to allow fish to circumvent Crimpsall Sluice just upstream of Doncaster. A major step forward was made in 2016 when our Living Heritage of the River Don project (funded by the Heritage Fund, EA and YW amongst others) installed fish passes on five weirs in Sheffield.

has been a range-wide decline in the abundance of Atlantic Salmon.

The causes are not well understood, though it is thought that climate change is disrupting the oceanic feeding grounds, and the fish farms are putting a heavy burden on wild salmon through the parasites and diseases they release into the sea.

For this reason, the best choice environmentally is not to buy wild or farmed salmon. The return of the king to historic breeding grounds on the Don is something to celebrate, but we must all support the protection of life in our oceans.

Ourselves and other organisations continue to improve river habitat and remove barriers to migration to help give the species the best possible chance and maybe one day even flourish again in the Don.

Fish passes There are three types of fish pass on the Don; easements, Larinier and a rock ramp.

An easement on the River Don

can be seen on the Kelham Weir in Sheffield. These fish passes

don’t convey much water so are only suitable on smaller weirs.

They are often used when a weir has historical value as easements

represent only a minor modification to a weir.

Sprotbrough falls has an example of Currently all but two weirs a Larinier fish pass. A small section downstream of Sheffield need of the weir is removed and replaced fish passes (see map). The two with a concrete ramp that is less unaddressed weirs are Sandersons steep. Metal baffles inside the pass Weir in Sheffield, on which slow the flow of water. the council has nearly finished At Crimpsal Sluice, just upstream constructing a pass, and Masbrough from the centre of Doncaster, is a Weir in Rotherham. At the time rock ramp. This was constructed in of writing we are about to start 2000 by the Environment Agency. building a pass on this last structure.

At the time it was the only fish Once these passes are completed, pass of its kind in the UK. This salmon will be able to reach pass works by creating a section of Sheffield much more easily, the first rapids in a channel that bypasses location on the Don after leaving the the structure. sea where there is suitable habitat for the salmon to reproduce (though larger amounts of better habitat The current status of barriers on the River Don with regard to occurs upstream of Sheffield). how passable they are to adult salmon migrating upstream.

Excitingly, early indications suggest that the Don’s almost complete migration superhighway is already beginning to work, with two salmon being found in Sheffield in January 2019, the first records of salmon in Sheffield for over 200 years. What’s more, examination of one of these fish showed that it had spawned. In January 2020 another salmon was caught in the River Rother.

While the situation on the Don is encouraging, the global picture is less rosy, as in recent years there

A Larinier fish pass on Sprotbrough Weir (Falls)

Salmon life cycle and terms Eggs: Female salmon create protective

nests of gravel called redds, into which they lay eggs. Cool, oxygen rich water is needed to keep the eggs healthy, which hatch after 100 days.

Alevin: The newly hatched fish, or

alevin, are less than 2 cm long. Rather than find their own food they rely on a nourishing yolk sac until they are

Returning Adults: Salmon return to

Their pheromones attract males (or

freshwater at any time of the year and

‘cocks’) and soon the adult salmon pair

year before spawning in late autumn.

developing a red belly and a distinctive

may wait in freshwater pools for over a They don’t actively feed during this time, surviving off reserves of fat built up at

sea, but sometimes instinct means they

will go for a well presented angler’s lure!

Some salmon become "river mature" and return to spawn after only one

up. The males have become colourful, hooked lower jaw, called a kype, to

attract females from other males. Female pheromones attract males to their redds and work to synchronise mating, the

female releases her eggs and the males fertilise them.

year at sea; these, known as grilse, are

Kelts (or Slinks): The majority of salmon

Fry: As they are vulnerable to

having a more forked tail, a slenderer

fat reserves. However, a small proportion,

redd at night. Dispersing downstream,

spots that are blue rather than black.

ready to leave the redd.

predators fry leave the safety of the each fry finds a suitable territory

which they will defend from other fish.

Parr: As they grow fry develop stripes,

distinguishable from the older fish by

body, thinner scales, and more numerous Females (or ‘hens’) migrate to the

spawning sites first where they begin to make their redds, lifting and flicking gravel with their tails into position.

die after spawning, having exhausted their mostly females, survive and return

downstream as kelts (or slinks) to feed and recover in coastal waters, building up fat reserves for another migration. Surveys

have shown some kelts have successfully spawned three times!

becoming what are known as parr.

Some remain parr for several years,

growing slowly in the river until they are ready to migrate to sea.

Smolt: This life-stage prepares

salmon for life in the ocean, with

smolt undergoing changes to their

physiology, body shape and colour.

By becoming silvery they are better camouflaged in the sea. They find

safety in numbers, banding together

and travelling downstream in shoals.

Post-smolts: From the North Sea the post-smolts make their way to

the North Atlantic to rich feeding

grounds. They remain in the sea for

one or more years before returning to their home river to reproduce.

© Robin Ade and the Atlantic Salmon Trust

21

Get Involved

Volunteering with Conservation Groups

The Friends of the Don Valley Way The Friends of the Don Valley Way are a community group set up at the end of a National Lottery Heritage Fund project ran by the Don Catchment Rivers Trust known as the Living Heritage of the River Don. We aim to improve and maintain the walk set up in the LHRD project known as the Don Valley Way. The Don Valley Way is a walking route that runs from Wardsend Cemetery in Sheffield to St Marys Bridge in the centre of Doncaster (see w w w. donv a l le y w ay.or g.u k / ).

We meet regularly on most Tuesdays. We have undertaken litter picking, Balsam Bashing (clearing areas of Himalyan Balsam which is an invasive species) and generally keeping an eye on our areas of the river and canals.

In the past we have arranged walks along sections of the Don Valley Way, the most recent being from Conisbrough to Swinton station and included the Heritage Walk around Conisbrough. The latter was

interesting and we discovered some lovely hidden areas of the town that are worth a visit.

The total walk was 6½ miles and although the weather was a bit iffy was enjoyed by all. Further walks will be arranged.

We use the Don Catchment Rivers Trust’s events calendar, so if you’d like to join us details of all upcoming events are given on there: w w w.dc r t .or g.u k

© photography courtesy of Friends of the Don Valley Way

Conservation & Communities Volunteering with TCV

The Conservation Volunteers "The Conservation Volunteers are the unsung heroes of the environment.

No one will protect what they do not first care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced."

TCV Vice President, Sir David Attenborough CBE Who are The Conservation Volunteers?

Every day, The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) works across the UK to create healthier and happier communities for everyone. We do this by connecting people with green spaces to deliver positive lasting outcomes for both.

The challenges facing communities in the UK today are significant and many – social, health, and economic inequality; lack of community cohesion; and an increase in isolation and loneliness, to name just a few.

At the same time, funding for the care of green spaces, which are essential to the health and happiness of any community, continues to diminish.

TCV in Doncaster

space for the benefit of communities.

TCV is proud to work closely with The Land Trust in Doncaster to manage two of the area’s natural assets – Brodsworth and Bentley Community Woodlands.

Both former colliery tips, these two Community Woodlands provide free year-round access to almost 20km of tracks and trails. These lead through young woodland, by lakes and wetlands, meadows, valleys and glades. They are wonderful sites to get outdoors, explore, walk, cycle, go horse riding, and play.

The woodlands themselves are owned by the Land Trust, an independent charity that is committed to the long-term and sustainable management of open

The best way to find out more is to visit the woodlands for yourself or join in one of our many free events that take place throughout the year.

For full details visit www.tcv.org.uk or contact us for a free leaflet about all our activities e: southyorkshire@ tcv.org.uk t: 01302 388832.

Join in, feel good Volunteering with TCV in Doncaster is not only a great way to improve your health and wellbeing, but it will help ensure the ongoing transformation of these former industrial sites into mature woodlands, to be enjoyed for generations to come.

© photography courtesy of The Conservation Volunteers

23

We welcome volunteers in a wide range of roles. There are always interesting activities to get involved with, new skills to learn, and likeminded people to meet.

We have a weekly volunteer day at Brodsworth with our Biodiversity Action Team running from 10am until 3pm.

For those wanting to do more we have opportunities to join us on placement as a Key Volunteer. Key Volunteers aid us in delivering our sessions, maintaining the sites, and helping to lead positive activity within the community.

We’re always here to support volunteers and we provide a full package of training, expenses and support. To find out about our current Key Volunteer and Voluntary Officer roles then please contact us.

‘Volunteering has helped me to come out of my shell and increased my confidence.

I love it!’

Aidan – Winner of the Land Trust National Volunteer of the Year award 2019, for his involvement with the Biodiversity Action Team on Brodsworth.

Find out more at w w w.tcv.org.uk for more about the Land Trust and both Community Woodlands visit w w w.thelandtrust.org.uk

Go Wild for the Junior Civic Mayor Amy Enwright

Children from Bentley High

Street Primary School taking part in the Junior Make Your

Mark vote with Participation Officer (Doncaster Council), Amy Enwright, Cabinet Member for Children,

Young People and Schools,

Nuala Fennelly and Angie

Davies, Mental Health Lead Practitioner for the school.

In November 2019 Doncaster ran the Junior Make Your Mark campaign for the very first time.

Our young people get involved with the National Make Your Mark campaign for youth every year and we are proud to say that we are the first local authority to run a junior version for primary aged children.

Both campaigns allow local children and young people to vote for an issue that is most important to them and that they would most like to improve.

This year we received over 18,000 combined votes for both campaigns.

13,108 young people took part in the national campaign, which is the highest amount of votes that Doncaster has received. We also had 5,000 children take part in the junior version, a great success for the first year!

Interestingly, both campaigns came out with the same top result, with

6,909 children and young people telling us that they want to ‘improve and protect our environment’.

Our Junior Civic Mayor, Alfie Turton, was one of the children that voted to improve the environment in the Junior Make Your Mark campaign.

Alfie says, “I voted to improve the environment because I think Doncaster needs to stop using plastic and reuse more items because the sea is full of plastic and it’s damaging the environment. My school already does things to be eco-friendly such as recycling and reusing paper. They try to encourage us to use less plastic and take our own reusable bottles into class. At home we try and help the environment by buying things second hand, by not buying things we don't need and recycling."

children to attend. The event will take place on Friday 6th March 2020, from 9:30am-11:30am, at Bentley MyPlace, Askern Road, Bentley, Doncaster, DN5 0HU. Alfie will headline the event and special guest, Ed Miliband MP will be in attendance to hear all about the positive eco-based work that schools are doing already. We are sure he will also take great interest in any other ideas that the children may have to improve our environment, so that we can all make a real difference to our borough.

If you would like to know anything else about any of the information mentioned in this article, or if you feel that you could contribute to our ambition to become the most child friendly borough in any way, please email: yourvoice@doncaster.gov.uk.

Following the Junior Make Your Mark campaign we have decided to hold a ‘Primary Network Conference’ for primary school

25

ART & ECOLOGY Mike Stubbs

William Ruskin (1819-1900), thinker, critic and artist urged us to make sense of our environment, by directly by observing every detail, being in and studying nature (some of which took place on his walks in Yorkshire).

Artists across time have layered observation, curiosity, material exploitation and imagination, to explore our place in the world and find meaning. We look at nature, and the nature of ourselves.

A cave painting in Borneo from over 40,000 years ago depicts a bull.

Was the unknown artist scribing those images for identification of animals as food (as a utility) or as an appreciation of the beauty of the beast? What pleasure was derived in making those marks?

© photography courtesy of Ackroyd & Harvey

The Renaissance, Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau and much contemporary art and design references natural forms in a romantic way. Even Ai Weiwei a romantic himself in his design for the Beijing Olympic Stadium, references nature in ‘Birds Nest’.

Like much of his work natural forms involves roots, trees (often up-rooted) and their displacement as both symbol and metaphor for humans, and a structure which

could not have been realised without computer aided design and hightech construction techniques.

We sometimes forget that we humans, are also part of the ecology: it is not something out there, but within us. I also believe it is within art's nature to experiment and challenge the status-quo and am very interested in artists that have made a direct connection

to nature as part of their process.

Joseph Beuys is a critical figure who amongst many things was cofounder of the Green Party in 1973, planting 7,000 oak trees in Kassel in 1983 as an art ‘action’, and was committed to a synergy between environmentalism and art, as a form of social sculpture or activism.

Contemporary artist duo, Dan Harvey and Heather Ackroyd went

27

Š photography courtesy of Dutta:Harries

on to nurture acorns from Beuys’s original oaks and produce ‘Beuys’ Acorns’, a project which would continue his original aims into a new generation of people and trees.

They have made art with natural processes at their core and also as the material itself for a lifetime.

Last year in 2019, contributed to an extra-ordinary intervention with Extinction Rebellion, at the Tate Modern when they took horses with riders adorned in grown grass clothing into the Turbine Hall (this was unannounced!).

Crazy temperatures, wildfires worldwide, flooding as close as South Yorkshire, (not to mention a shocking lack of action by leaders worldwide) leads artists like others to intervene, beyond ‘normal’, combining art and protest. Tate have subsequently declared climate emergency.

This urgency reflects how many of us feel, wanting to be happy in nature through making small differences whilst at the same time seeing a climate emergency; a mass extinction juggernaut, hurtling towards us.

If most of our experience is derived is from our immediate surroundings, formerly known as nature, how manmade has that nature become, in a globalised technologised world?

Where can we find that direct connection with life and space to reflect on what it means to be a conscious, being as much part of the ecology as animals and plants?

And as a species, philosophise knowing our impact on the world far

outweighs, our numbers or timespan compared to other species on earth?

Would those early people who did the cave drawings have known that their future relatives might go on from hunter gatherers to farmers (or operatives in agri-business), and in so doing, change a relationship to the land in such a way that might possibly lead to the extinction of entire species of plants and animals?

We are part of evolution along with a conflicted relationship to technology as we mutate into cyborgs, most of us glued to artificially intelligent ‘smart’ phones; future humans, prostheticised with memory enhancement and audio visual extentions. Our ‘natural’ environment is of course now as much, ‘human made’ as ‘natural’ we are in the anthroprecene era, (the geologic period dominated by one, [the human] species).

This era when the medium (art, music, film, video, publication, social media) would both rely on and become the message itself.

Artists have always experimented with materials and technology, from aquamarine pigment derived from grinding lapis lazuli into a powder, as early the 14th Century, acrylic paint and electronic art in the 1960’s, Nano-art and biologically synthesised art in 2020? Science Fiction? No, new media.

As science and technology develop for utility, artists re-appropriate and re-invent for other means, asking important philosophical questions and experimenting with new processes and materials.

Doncaster born Nathaniel Mellors (consumption and robotics), Jakob

Steensen (augmented reality & climate change), Morehshin Allahyari (virtuality & politics), Erica Scourti (social media & identity), are some good examples of artists both employing and questioning our relationship to technology, whilst addressing issues of automation, cultural identity and mental health.

Yorkshire artists Jake Harries, and Monika Dutta share a strong commitment to hacking technology and permaculture as an alternative to industrialised farming (For every 1 calorie of food produced by modern agricultural methods, 10 calories of fuel are burned in its production).

The result is a hybrid art practice in the form of a community café, serving home-made Dandelion Burgers, food and process as artistic medium. Interested in the relationship between modern, urbanised living and individual health and wellbeing, they utilise the current issues of renewables, rewilding, biodiversity, and sustainable food sources as a means of exploring and challenging contemporary approaches to the natural world.

So, as many of us walk about glued to our phones, remember we have a choice to stay curious, draw, recycle stuff, go into nature, grow things and have fun, if we are not happy: the ecology is not happy, we are all part of the same ecology and nature.

Finally, to quote William Ruskin: “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.”

29

Small copper on ragwort Š Tricia Haigh

Get To Know Nature

Doncaster Naturalists' Society Louise Hill

Š Nora Boyle

Where can you find cave-dwelling spiders, a 'goat sucker', a 'hairy canary', lady's tresses, deadly nightshade, carnivorous plants or even the glorious Merveille du jour ?

All within 10 miles of the centre of Doncaster of course!

Open you eyes to the nature around you and let the Doncaster Naturalists' Society help you explore the unexpected wealth of nature that is on your own doorstep.

We are a group of wildlife enthusiasts and amateur naturalists with a wide range of interests who would love to share our knowledge

and love of Doncaster's biodiversity with anyone.

We have newt-lovers, flowerfanciers, fungi-photographers, butterfly-botherers, mothmarvellers, experts interested in the intricacies of insects and many more who are simply fascinated by the weird or the wonderful wildlife that shares our little corner of planet Earth.

The more you learn about the natural world the more you see, and the more you want to make sure it is there for future generations.

Society members have been exploring and recording the biodiversity of the Doncaster area since 1880 so our collective knowledge is an invaluable source of evidence of how our landscape (and its wildlife) have altered over the past 140 years.

Why not join us on a walk or event this spring or come along to one of our indoor meetings?

For further information visit: doncasternaturalhistorysociety. co.uk

31

© Wild Times 2020