Conservation Report – February 2022
Thank you to all the volunteers who attended on Sunday 13th. Attendance for this session was 11, and we were lucky that the forecasted rain did not arrive until we had almost finished.
WBC are still unable to chip Rhododendron for a while due to soft ground around their access point. This has allowed us to concentrate more effort on clearing the ditches and pathways.
In this session, we dug out a further section of the large ditch running parallel to Dorset Way.
Much effort was also directed at path clearance on the footpath running parallel to Dorset Way.
We have edged the path to encourage walkers to follow the original route which has a hard gravel base. This will allow more plants to thrive along the borders of the footpaths.
Clearing the ditches will help to keep the footpaths clear and usable. It will also help to ease the water logging around tree roots and promote a greater diversity of ground level plants. Another possible consequence is that the residents who have a garden backing onto the ditch could find that their garden drainage has improved.
In future sessions, we will continue to clear the drainage channels, restore pathways, and remove Rhododendron.
All the work we carry out is with guidance from WBC.
Stephanie McKay – Voluntary Conservation Officer for FOFH
AGM Minutes 2022
I would like to thank all those who were able to attend our Annual General Meeting, which was held on Sunday, 23rd January 2022. Please find the link to the Meeting Minutes.
The minutes include an update on our achievements, and the talk given by our guest speaker, Richard Westwood, Countryside Officer.
We look forward to seeing you during the year on one of our activities in Fox Hill.
Conservation Report – January
We had a great turn out considering the cold week and the weather was especially kind to us. Thank you to all the volunteers who attended on Sunday.
Our activities were slightly different for this session as WBC are unable to chip more Rhododendron for a while due to soft ground around their access point. This has allowed us to concentrate more effort on clearing the ditches and pathways.
< In this session we dug out a further section of the large ditch running parallel to Dorset Way.
> We began to follow the course of the hardcore footpath leading from Dorset Way to Limmerhill. Interestingly the original route of the footpath has deviated over time and we worked on clearing this drier area.
The next step will be to mark the edges of the cleared area in order to guide walkers, and allow the wetter areas time to develop regrowth
Some areas are very wet and even though we cleared lower areas to one side the water has not drained. We are seeking advice from WBC on how to tackle these sections.
< Some of our volunteers used wheelbarrows to move the pile of shredded rhododendron from our last session onto the pathway running between the two dead hedge ways.
> A small team worked on cutting back a little Rhododendron and topping up the dead hedges. It was evident that there was some regrowth and a few volunteers worked on this too. Now you can see the trees not just the Rhododendron!
As always there was a litter pick. Looking forward to the next time – please check the Events calendar.
Stephanie McKay
Conservation Report – November 2021
A big thank you to everyone who came out to help again on Sunday. This is a very brief report as much of our work was a continuation from the October session.
Left: There didn’t seem to be as much wood chipping to move as last time but it was bigger than it looked!
Right: A group continued to remove Rhododendron. The brash from the Rhododendron was stacked at the Dorset Way entrance where it will be shredded for future pathway improvements.
We continued to clear out the ditch which runs parallel to Dorset Way. When this task is complete it will improve drainage and make the pathways less waterlogged.
A small group of us dug a drainage area to the right of the Dorset Way pathway. This was at a point where it gets particularly muddy and was suggested by the Countryside Officer as a possible solution. We also began to scrape back some of the mud from this pathway in an effort to find its original surface. This task is a work in progress and we shall monitor how successful it has been next session!
Footpaths Update
It’s the 31st October. It will not only be Halloween but also the second anniversary of when Friends of Fox Hill submitted a Public Rights of Way application to Wokingham Borough Council. The claim is a complex one involving 19 separate path routes when normally a claim is just for one route. Further complexity has been added by a separate application for 7 bridleways on Fox Hill by another group being made at the same time. It was mutually agreed by all parties that as they were at the same time for the same area they would be considered as a joint application.Â
So where is the application now? An advance draft report is with the Wokingham Borough Council legal team, and they are considering the analysis, consultants investigation report and the appendices of evidence. The documentary evidence, user evidence and landowner evidence analysis has now been completed and all that remains to be carried out is a site visit and final conclusions. Interestingly there is some further investigation required with regard to the legal status of both Limmerhill Road and the Wokingham Borough Council owned section of Fox Hill which may have an impact on the viability on some of the claimed paths. This is being looked into by the Council’s legal department. The response from the Council is a lengthy document containing 35 pages, 13,000 words and 16 appendices at present. Once received we will provide a summary of the contents and make copies available to all those who kindly provided the evidence forms for the application if they so wish. Â
Once the report has been published, there will be a period of consultation for the public or interested parties to make comments before any final approval of any new Public Rights of Way can be made.
Tony Delliston
Conservation Report – October
A big thank you to everyone who came out to help on Sunday. Our aim for this session was to move the large pile of Rhododendron chippings from the Dorset Way entrance into the woods onto one of the pathways. This was suggested to us by one of the WBC Countryside Officers as a solution to recycling the Rhododendron that we are removing. It took a convoy of wheelbarrows and some dedicated shovelling to successfully complete the task.
As we had such a good turn out on Sunday, we were also able to make a start on clearing the ditch which runs parallel to Dorset Way. When this task is complete, it will improve drainage and make the pathways less waterlogged. In addition, improved drainage should help the health of the trees and could be of benefit to those residents on Dorset Way who sometimes find their gardens waterlogged. Before beginning this task, we took advice from WBC and were careful not to disturb any tree roots.
Our final task of the day was to continue removing some more of the Rhododendron. This will help to increase the variety of plants growing on the forest floor. It looks a little bare at the moment, but if you were to compare this area with the area of woodland where we first began our conservation work, it is possible to see the progress we are hoping to achieve. The greater the variety of native plants we can attract, means that we will also be increasing the habitats for invertebrates, small mammals, and amphibians. The brash from the Rhododendron was stacked at the Dorset Way entrance, as before, where it will be shredded for future pathway improvements.
Bulb Planting Report
A good day was had on 9th October 2021 – we even made the local paper.
Please find the link to the news article here – Wokingham Today
Conservation Report – September 2021
Volunteers were working to clear the Rhododendron in the woods last Sunday morning. The Rhododendron is an invasive non-native species which blocks the light and stops other plants growing. Once the Rhododendron has been cut, it is stacked on one side of the path at the Dorset Way entrance.
We are working in conjunction with Wokingham Borough Council. They will shred the stacked Rhododendron brash into chippings. For our next working party, we will be asking volunteers to bring wheel barrows so we can use chippings to improve the paths.
The photo on the left shows the damp area that will be used to plant Wild Garlic.
The photo on the right shows an area we have cleared of Rhododendron, which we have now marked for the planting of Bluebells.
Rhododendron is a hardy plant so the regrowth needs to be cut back a number of times to help weaken it further. Wokingham Borough Council have applied a herbicide to the stumps which is commonly used by the Forestry Commission.
Garden Waste
Have you seen lawn clippings and tree cuttings whilst walking in the woods?
You may answer ‘Yes’.
Why is it not good practice to dump garden waste in the woods? After all you may think it will rot down/compost and provide nutrients to the soil.
What you may not realise is the impact that this can have on the flora and fauna of the land where waste is left. It can lead to the introduction of parasites or disease included with cuttings, waste, and autumn leaf fall.
Have you spotted any of the following whilst walking in the woods?
The purple flowering Rhododendron Ponticum, Crocosmia, Bamboo, and the lovely Buddleia Davidii, also known as the Butterfly Bush? These are just a few of the invasive species that have made their way into the woods.
Your garden waste could also introduce non-native species in the woods.  These non-native species can take over and prevent the native plants from flourishing.  Some can remain dormant for many years; potato peelings/seeds for 3 years, and Japanese Knotweed for up to 20 years.
So please dispose of your garden waste in an environmentally safe way.  The local authority provides a kerbside collection of garden waste via bins and bags.  You can also take your garden waste to the Household Waste Recycling centre.  We are fortunate to have such unique woodland on our doorstep. Please help to keep it free from non-native invasive species.
Here is a link to some shrubs that are surprisingly considered invasive:
Conservation Report – June
On Sunday, 13th June, we held our last volunteer conservation working party for a couple of months. It was a successful session and as we continue to remove Rhododendron. There is more space for a greater variety of native plants to grow. One native species which grows well in the woods is wild honeysuckle.
The bark from wild honeysuckle is used by dormice for nest building. We have not seen any dormice but will keep a look out!
You will see that we are edging the areas where we have worked with some of the dead wood and fallen trunks. This to encourage everyone to use the existing pathways so that the newly cleared areas are given a chance to establish.
Edging Edging
You can see in this photograph how the plants have begun to thrive next to one of the dead hedges we built.
You might also notice that we have left the stumps of the rhododendron standing quite high. WBC will be cutting them closer to the ground and applying a pesticide to complete the process.
Thank you to everyone who took part.
Stephanie Mckay – Conservation Officer FOFH