HEAL project at Peel Park and the Coppice Local Nature Reserve

Like the rest of the UK, we have been experiencing some odd weather, accompanied by some disappointingly low invertebrate numbers. But we are still working hard to improve the site for pollinators.

Our summer started like many others do, tackling Himalayan Balsam! We had several sessions of balsam removal around Pleck Meadow to reduce its spread. Similarly, volunteers have been working around the site to remove Montbretia, a.k.a Crocosmia. Whilst it is a wonderful flower to have in the garden, a common cultivar (Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora) can escape from gardens, where it can kill biodiversity along paths and woodland floors as it spreads. Pleck Meadow also received its 3rd annual Grassland Condition Assessment. During the assessment, volunteers were able to attend to find out more about wildflower ID and what makes a healthy meadow.

We have continued to remove Rosebay Willowherb & Purple Moor Grass from the area of heathland that suffered a burn in June 2023.

We have continued to work at the Northern Gateway entrance near to the Peel Park Car Park where we removed dock, Creeping Thistle, and Bindweed. The summer results have been spectacular for the Northern Gateway as we have had swathes of Tufted Vetch, Black Knapweed, Yellow Rattle, Bird's-foot-trefoil, and Ox-eye Daisy. We've also had some new species appear such as Wild Marjoram, Marsh Woundwort, and Lady's Bedstraw.

Lastly, we had a double whammy of important management for pollinator diversity at Pleck Meadow as it received its 3rd annual cut and had a butterfly bank installed! You can read more about them by clicking their links.

Despite the temperamental weather in April, we still managed to get a lot done on Peel Park & the Coppice LNR.

April is the perfect month for planting & seed sowing. We have been planting a variety of different native species to benefit pollinators.

We have had a couple Saturday sessions at Pleck Meadow where we picked litter, removed Broadleaved Dock & Soft Rush, and planted wildflowers like Marsh Violet, Lesser Spearwort, & Meadowsweet. Amphibian activity was good as we have seen spawn from frogs and toads, as well as a pregnant Smooth Newt! We have also been removing Rosebay Willowherb & Purple Moor Grass from the area of heathland that suffered a burn in June 2023, and planting wildflowers like Sheep's Sorrel, Devil's-bit Scabious, and Heath Speedwell.

We also worked at the Northern Gateway entrance near to the Peel Park Car Park where we removed dock, planted wildflowers and sowed plenty of wildflower seeds!

We had huge help from primary schools in the area like Peel Park Primary School and Benjamin Hargreaves Primary School, who helped with wildflower planting all around Pleck Meadow! Thanks to them there will be tonnes of wildflowers for pollinators in the coming months and years.

Lastly, the long awaited Pleck Meadow Carved Bench has finally been installed after months of waiting for some dry weather! The talented local chainsaw artist, Rick Goodwin, has carved this beautiful bench from Larch which was felled on-site by Woody C.I.C. in Winter 2022/23. Please rest your feet and enjoy the views of the meadow & Accrington!

Spring has brought with it the usual perks, bees, flowers, and milder - albeit still very wet - weather!

March is the final month before nesting season when we can remove scrub on the heathland, so we spent a lot of time bringing down colonising Silver Birch for the benefit of Heather, Bilberry, Crowberry, and other unique heath species! Special thanks to the staff from BT Accrington who came to assist! Lowland Heathland is a semi-natural habitat which requires intervention from humans and/or large animals to keep the soils nutrient poor and acidic. These conditions provide a unique habitat which benefits many wildflowers and pollinators. You can read more about the cultural and biological importance of heathland on the Wildlife Trust website.

Our very own TreeACTION project joined us again for a session on the site to plant extend our Alder Buckthorn hedgerow to attract the Brimstone Butterfly. You can read more about the Brimstone Butterfly in last months' post!

We also had another Saturday session at Pleck Meadow where we picked some litter and removed Broadleaved Dock. Dock can very easily dominate an area of grassland, reducing biodiversity. We are also preparing areas of ground for wildflower planting next month! We also had a look at the frog spawn in wetlands which is now hatching! You can read more about the frog spawn at Pleck Meadow here.

We have have been a lot busier on the Coppice this month thanks to the milder weather.

During February half term, our very own TreeACTION project hosted a session on the site to plant a new Alder Buckthorn hedgerow to attract the Brimstone Butterfly. We also had help from the North Lancs Training Group hospitality team who volunteered their time to help us with the Alder Buckthorn and the leftover Hawthorn from last month. They even made the Lancashire Telegraph! A huge thank you to NLTG for all their hard work.

The Brimstone Butterfly is an unmistakable butterfly, with the males of the species sporting sulphur yellow scales that instantly brighten up the landscape in early spring. The females are a bit more modest, with their pale greenish-white wings, the average person may mistake them for a Large White or even a leaf! The butterfly is quite common down south but is becoming more common in the north of England. We are brimming with anticipation to see if the Brimstone will take to our new hedgerow and choose it to lay its eggs. The caterpillars can only feed on Alder Buckthorn & Buckthorn so they are essential to have if we hope to help the Brimstone population!

During the half term, we also held a litter pick walk from Arden Hall to Pleck Meadow where we collected 8 bags of litter! On the walk, we discovered some frog spawn in the new wetlands on Pleck Meadow, amazing news for this habitat. You can read more about the frog spawn at Pleck Meadow here.

And of course, we continued to clear scrub in the heathland to prevent woodland encroachment, ensuring that heath species like Heather and Bilberry have plenty of light and can continue to thrive. Lowland Heathland is a semi-natural habitat which requires intervention from humans and/or large animals to keep the soils nutrient poor and acidic. These conditions provide a unique habitat which benefits many wildflowers and pollinators. You can read more about the cultural and biological importance of heathland on the Wildlife Trust website. We have also been busy removing dominant Purple Moor Grass to give heath species more room to grow, not an easy feat as the grass's roots form rock hard mats which are difficult to dig up!

The Coppice was not as busy as usual this month with bank holidays and frozen weather slowing down work. Particularly the week of the 15th was very snowy and icy which lead to some sessions being cancelled due to safety concerns.

We made up for it other sessions where we continued to clear scrub in the heathland to prevent woodland encroachment, ensuring that heath species like Heather and Bilberry have plenty of light and can continue to thrive. Lowland Heathland is a semi-natural habitat which requires intervention from humans and/or large animals to keep the soils nutrient poor and acidic. These conditions provide a unique habitat which benefits many wildflowers and pollinators. You can read more about the cultural and biological importance of heathland on the Wildlife Trust website.

Another detrimental species to heathland are Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS.) INNS can spread and dominate very easily as they don't have many natural predators in their new environments, this can negatively impact our native species. Rhododendron in particular can be incredibly invasive. It can completely take over an area of land and stop all light from reaching the ground which makes it impossible for ground flora to thrive. We caught this cheeky one growing on the edge of a woodland near the heath. We quickly dug it up and have removed it off-site. Montbretia (a.k.a Crocosmia) is another garden escapee which can easily dominate a woodland floor. This particular patch had grown a thick mat of bulbs that went 20cm deep! Thank you to our volunteers who put in a tremendous amount of effort into removing INNS and protecting our native species.

On Saturday 20th January, our very own TreeACTION project hosted a session on the site to plant a new hedgerow to enforce the border to Pleck Meadow. Initially, planting was halted as the ice had frozen our Hawthorn into one solid block! Fortunately, our Holly was still ready to go and we managed to plant 60 of them. On Monday 12th February, during the February half-term, the remainder of the hedgerow will be planted, let us know if you'd like to help out!

PROSPECTS had the pleasure of hosting work experience for Lancashire Adult Learning's Railway learners. It strikes as odd at first for a railway worker to need work experience at the Coppice, but all train tracks suffer from overgrown vegetation which are handled by a Deveg (De-vegetation) team. We have plenty of overgrown vegetation at the Coppice so it's actually the perfect training site! Thank you to the Lancashire Adult Learning team for the assist!

Lots of cosy new homes for birds & bats as well as comfy seats at Peel Park & the Coppice LNR!

In autumn 2023, WOODY C.I.C. created and installed 30 bird boxes and 10 bat boxes across the site. A variety of different openings for the bird boxes were made so that they will benefit lots of different bird species like Blue Tits, Marsh Tits, Great Tits, sparrows, Nuthatches, Robins, Wrens, Song Thrust, & more! We will be keeping a close eye on them to see if they have any inhabitants in the spring! The bat boxes will be suitable for both species of pipistrelles, Common and Soprano as well as other species that are present in the area such as Natterer's, Noctule, and Brown Long-eared. All bats are listed as vulnerable and are protected by UK law; inhabited boxes can only be handled/opened by a licensed bat worker. It can take a year or two for a bat box to become inhabited so we will need to be patient but it will be very worth it to see the bats flourish on the site!

They also built and installed a Barn Owl box near Pleck Meadow. The box will be able to house a Barn Owl and her chicks, we will be paying close attention to see if the house becomes occupied! It has been installed overlooking the meadow so that the owl will have plenty of open space for hunting.

WOODY C.I.C. has repaired 5 benches across the site and installed two new ones along the new Pleck Meadow path allowing for more areas to rest your feet! In particular, the path along Pleck Meadow is steep in some areas so they have been placed in prime spots so you can rest and catch your breath if need be.

The wood used to make all of these was sourced from Larch trees that were felled on-site to benefit native Oak in a management method knows as "halo-thinning." The Larch and the Oak were planted near each other because Larch is a good 'nurse' species as it grows faster than the Oak which is more susceptible to weather damage. The Oak are shielded by the taller Larch so that they can grow to a size which won't be as vulnerable to the environment. Now the Larch have done their job they can be felled and used to improve the site in other ways whilst the Oak can now grow bigger to fill the gaps left by the Larch. The Larch were felled in autumn and winter 2022/23 but the timber needed time to cure before it could be made into habitat boxes/benches or else the wood could warp.

This work was funded by the HEAL Project which ended in March 2023. A big thank you to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund which made this possible!