Nearer home

Having spent some recent sessions walking to local Winchester sites and around Winnall Moors itself, it was thought a good idea to spend some time nearer to home and to do some gardening in the grounds of Bradbury House and work in and around Winnall Moors.

So we set about tidying up the vegetable plots, harvesting the runner beans and encouraging the kitchen at Bradbury House to make use of the produce. Radish, spring onions, and a wide variety of herbs were all planted and watered to enure a good crop as eventually the sun did start to shine. We were harvesting strawberries for quite some time in addition to the ongoing runner beans, once they start it seems they will never end.

The compost bins were also rejuvinated with some fresh material mixing in the fresh grass cuttings.

The mower came out to top off the wildflower area just inside the impressive Durngate Arch. This small area of wildflower mix is the result of long hard work removing a dense wall of brambles over the past few years and then rotivating the area to remove any last root system before the flower mix was sown.

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The meadow needs to be cut in late summer once the seeds have been dropped to remove the plant material so that it does not enrich the soil, most native grassland species are happier in nutrient poor soil. Before the mowing we collected some of the seeds to sow in the Bradbury House wild area beyond the garden and also on the front grass to add a little more diversity and colour to the site, only time will indicate if we were successful!

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The very personal views of one of our attendees

Report of Cri and Hampshire Wildlife trust: Winnall moors and water meadows By Tim Mattock

Getting out into the open countryside isn’t something we city folk do every day, appreciating the nature which is on our very doorstep is most definitely not on most people’s agenda. Especially if you’re a little down on your luck, be it either homeless or on the road to recovery from an addiction of some format.

     

 

          Essentially most can do this on their own and have a wonderful time, however getting in behind the scenes withAdrian  at the Hampshire wildlife trust has really helped to understand the enormity of sustainable wildlife and woodland management, and the day to day management which has been involved in the ecological environment which surrounds us every day.

From building Bird screens which can enable us to view nesting kingfishers, to pulling Balsam plants which are not indigenous to the area and can grow out of control sustainable management even on some of the most mundane tasks can give great pleasure to those willing to take an active part.

From a personal aspect, and having studied sustainable tourism management, we  have been fascinated by the important work carried out in order to fix banks which have suffered from erosion, as well as the way which streams are rechanneled in order to shift the smelly silt which sits at the bottom of the river Itchen which runs at varying degrees throughout the moors. It’s also a good opportunity to swap our own environmental stories of interest, and I have had a fabulous time listening to the others involved.

                         The importance of the involvement of volunteers who don’t necessarily get involved everyday is hugely important for both environmental understanding and generating future interest in further developments within the parks. Without this opportunity to break up the frustration of being at the lower levels of society, and an opportunity to understand the importance of careful ecological management we may not have anything to break up the solitude that is homelessness and/or addiction.

 

It’s something we are able to share with our children and loved ones when we get a chance to see them, it triggers interest on a personal level when alone, and gives us an interest in the nature which is indeed just on our doorstep.  It triggers ambition to help in the community and without an opportunity to spend time with knowledgeable education officers and guides would normally be completely missed by the untrained eye.

It’s also lovely to be able to take photographs of the wildlife and have thoroughly enjoyed this aspect generating a personal interest.  Future tours of the Moors and its steady improvement  along with the grazing of the cattle recently moved in will be awaited with abated breath, as well as the idea of the Bush tucker meal I suggested .

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