News from Branchlines Community Woodland

The Branchlines Annual General Meeting will be held on October 19th in Great Waldingfield.  The Chairman David Taylor has written an update on the woodland's progress and an abbreviated version is published below.  Future plans will no doubt be reported at the AGM.

'Nearly all our young trees and hedge plants survived the summer, which was unusually wet this year. The same weather conditions have further filled the pond and encouraged lush growth of grass. Of the trees we planted, currently the tallest is a silver birch.

An increasing variety of wildlife is present in the wood and it is encouraging to hear favourable reports from villagers about how it is developing as a place to walk peacefully and enjoy nature.

A few trees did not come into leaf in spring and were replaced. Damaged stakes and tree shelters were also replaced. The new hedge along the top bank was initially cleared of nettles with the hope of encouraging more varied vegetation and flowers. This bank has been named ‘Rose Bank’ after Shirley Rose, who did so much for the village and the wood. A gap in the old hedge by the entrance gate was replanted to help screen the stream off from the access road. A Scots Pine was planted on the mound. The steps and disabled entrance gate were gritted.

In June, a ‘royal oak’ was planted by the chairman of the parish council to commemorate the queen’s diamond jubilee. The oak was grown from an acorn on a royal estate and donated by the Woodland Trust. It is situated by the benches along the access road and has a temporary label. A good number attended the ceremony and ate some specially commissioned jubilee cake.

The ragwort was cleared again by hand this summer during one of our monthly working parties. Three log seats have been created, one on the mound, one by the pond and one by the meadow. The paths and seating areas have been mown. More native plants were put into the pond’s shallow margins, where they have flowered and attracted a variety of dragonflies and other insects.

George Millins continued his work to establish populations of common lizards and slow worms. There is now a series of habitat piles along the top ride where the morning sun shines. The piles may look a bit scruffy at first but they soon weather and merge in.'

David Taylor, chairman