RECTORY PADDOCK
Grass Vetchling
The Rectory Paddock
Winner of The Community Award at Lincolnshire Environmental Awards 2018 ‘It was 20 years ago today’, that Market Deeping Town Council bought The Glebe Field in order to prevent house building between our main green area and the church. It included a small piece of neglected field. Here’s what happened next… After creating a small pond, it became neglected, overgrown and had inappropriate non-native planting. Waste was dumped on the field. A youth group working in The Spinney offered to clear the pond. Getting mud covered was seen as a plus! Over two hundred cans and bottles were retrieved. Clearly some renovation was needed. A wildlife pond and a meadow full of wildflowers was the aim. A volunteer team was set up, working with Pyramid Orchid Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust to lay hedges, sow and plant wild flowers and enlarge the pond. 200 trays of wildflowers were home-grown. The Council bought seeds too, particularly Yellow Rattle, essential for a healthy
meadow. We knew we were on the right track when Vipers Bugloss, a stunning blue flower, was spotted last year. This summer, we found our first Pyramid orchids. Taking five years to germinate, they’re a long time coming! Another rare flower, Grass Vetchling, has also been identified. These scarce flowers need hard work to prevent their loss from our countryside. With birds, insects and wild animals like hedgehogs becoming endangered, we successfully developed a range of environments, encouraging as much wildlife as possible. With many plans coming to fruition, the Town Clerk entered the Spinney and Paddock project into the Lincolnshire Environment Awards, Community Project section. We began a nail biting circuit of initial statements and a site visit by the judges after which we learned our entry had made the top three! continued >
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