NETTLEHAM WOODLAND TRUST SUPPORTERS NEWSLETTER

Registered Charity Number 1129705

Dear friends,

A Happy New Year to you all!

2011 was an important year for NWT with the Grand Opening of Monks Wood in May and our fifth anniversary in September. 2012 promises to be exciting for us in many other ways highlighted by several planting projects with 5,000 trees going into the ground in the spring.

This latest edition contains no photos for two reasons:

• Some supporters have had real difficulty downloading the ‘fat’ newsletter;
• Mike has significantly updated our website, and photos can be seen there.

LOOKING FORWARD

• ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – COMING VERY SOON!

Monday 23 rd January 2012 at 7.30pm in the Small Hall of The Old School

The AGM is a key part of the year for any charity and trust such as NWT. The formal agenda will be the standard one of elections, reports and discussions about past, present and future. As a community organization, we would very much welcome the participation of our supporters from the community to hear details of what will be happening, and why, and to add new angles to the conversation. We can also promise that no-one will be frog-marched onto the committee, although of course, as in any voluntary body, we will suggest that keen supporters might like to be a little more involved!

B. EVENTS IN THE SPRING OF 2012 - COMING SOON

Please put the following in your diary or on the wall calendar. We would welcome your support at any of these. Please contact the secretary if you’re interested, or just check the time and turn up.

• Wednesday 1 st February 7.30pm , Old School: Nettleham Gardeners Association: Chris, supported by Susie and Rod, will be telling the NWT story and answering questions.
• Monday 6 th – Saturday 11 th February: Monks Wood – All Abilities Area : planting 420 trees and shrubs provided by the Woodland Trust. Exact times to be confirmed. “ Wild harvest selection : Hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, elder, dog rose ”
• Monday 27 th February – Saturday 10 th March: Co-operative Wood: main planting. Exact times to be confirmed but the Saturdays 3 rd and 10 th March are likely to be the main dates. However, there will be a range of preparatory activities e.g. pacing out the lines and ‘planting’ canes, and also some special planting sessions for Coop employees and members, and also for schools.
• Wednesday 29 th February: Monks Wood – All Abilities Area : planting of the willow tunnel funded by the British Council as part of its Connecting Classrooms project. Our supporting special schools will be invited to this activity.
• Other dates will be posted soon once we know more about the timetable for the Bishops Palace and also the exact planting plans of Lincoln Rugby Club.

C. EVENTS TO LOOK FORWARD TO LATER IN 2012

- All Abilities Area at Monks Wood: An improved application for WREN funding for further work on the main walk, fencing and gates was submitted in December. We hope for a positive result in March 2012;

- All Abilities Area at Monks Wood – in May we will have to report back to the Lottery funders about our progress on this project;

- Co-operative Wood – a successful planning application will lead to major earthworks to construct the pond and island at the end of the summer.

D. THE DIAMOND JUBILEE

It has recently been suggested that we could plant two rows of small-leaved limes from the main entrance up to the Monk Oak and then to the main walk in the South Wood, sixty in total, of course. This could possibly be done just after the February/March work on the All Abilities Area and the Co-operative Wood, and attract suitable positive publicity and a VIP to ‘open’ the royal avenue. There is money in the NWT reserves, which could pay for this project, but we do wonder whether any supporters would like to sponsor a tree.

An NWT committee meeting on Monday 9 th January will add some flesh to some of the above which will be circulated and/or placed on our website.

LOOKING BACK

EVENTS IN THE AUTUMN OF 2011:

Friday 2 nd September: The Co-operative Wood: As part of its 150 th anniversary celebrations, the Lincolnshire Co-operative completed the purchase of the field on the east side of the South Wood at Monks Wood. It is basically a 10 acre triangular shape lying north-east of the right-angled turn on the bridleway to Reasby (GR045788) up to the ditch. Planning permission is being sought from WLDC to make a new entrance in the hedge at the east end of Ashing Lane which will be the only official access point to this 4 hectare site. Dennis and Rod are the key people in this tricky process.

This area will be planted as wet woodland and deliberately made less inviting for humans in contrast to the recreational nature of Monks Wood. There will be the one circular walk. Parallel to the stream, there will be a 120m long pond with a central island for birds. In due course we are hoping to attract woodcock, nightingales, willow tits, willow warblers, garden warblers and spotted flycatchers amongst others with graduated planting designed to create an appropriate habitat for these species. Alder, birch, oak, hawthorn and various species of willow will be among the trees and shrubs required.

Saturday, 10 th September at 1000 at Monks Wood: Forest Get-Together: A dozen or so woodland enthusiasts met up for a walk and a chat, which led to a supporting message to the 38 degree movement. One visitor that day was Sam Wardhan of Red Dog Film CiC. Sam wrote a moving piece about Monks Wood and NWT in the Lincolnshire Echo on 26 October 2011 for which we thank him.

Saturday, 24 th September from 1000 to 1400 at Monks Wood: Workbee A somewhat different dozen or so met up for a happy morning of mowing and raking in the Memorial Garden and the south glade. The new mower worked beautifully.

Saturday, 24 th September at 1100 at Monks Wood: Walk for Life This was publicized through Walk for Life as requested, but as far as we know no-one turned up!

Sunday, 25 th September: anniversary: a group of stalwarts, present and past, and their families met at Susie’s home to celebrate the first five years of NWT.

Wednesday, 19 th October: Bishops Palace : Parish CouncillorJohn Evans received a phone call from the Heritage Lottery people to say that the Bishops Palace funding application had been successful, and so we can move on to the next stage i.e. plan everything in more detail. The first steps are fencing and access from two points i.e. the High Street next to the Methodist Chapel and the corner of the Burial Ground. Hedge and tree planting is unlikely before November 2012.

Friday, 21 st October: speaking: Susie, supported by Dennis and Rod, spoke at the annual Lincolnshire Biodiversity Conference at Riseholme. The focus was ‘Reconnecting People with Nature’ with NWT as a case study.

Tuesday, 1 st November: speaking: Chris, supported by Susie, spoke at the weekly meeting of the Lindum Colonia Rotary Club at the Lincoln Hotel on NWT’s role as a community organization.

Wednesday, 2 nd November: funding: we heard that we have been successful with application for English Woodland Grant Scheme funding to create a wet woodland in the Co-operative Wood, with additional funding to promote bio-diversity.

Friday, 18 th November: School field trip: Welton St Mary’s Primary School is developing a programme of regular visits, season by season. The first of these was an activity shared with Bishop King Primary School from Lincoln .

Saturday, 19 th November from 1000 to 1600 at Monks Wood: Workbee: This was one of our regular events. The main activity was relocating trees which were too close to the newly laid, hard-surfaced 'Access for All' path in the South Wood. There was also some woodchip spreading, most importantly to mark the informal footpath on the west side of the Middle Wood between Ashing Lane and the bridge. As well as some regulars we were joined by some members of the Lindum Colonia Rotary Club and a student from William Farr working towards her Duke of Edinburgh community service accreditation.

Tuesday, 22 nd November: Lodge Lane : Chris and Rod met representatives of the Lincoln Rugby Club and discussed their tree planting needs and ambitions. The newly graded site is impressive, but as this newsletter goes to press, they haven’t got a firm plan as regards a planting schedule for the 8,000+ trees required by their planning conditions. It will not just be a matter of slipping in some whips!

Tuesday, 6 th December: The Co-operative Wood: a start was made on forming the circular ride, sorry walk, in the new wood. The winter weather will break down the heavy clay enabling us to cultivate, roll and sow in the spring .

Thursday 8 th December: enough said: from late October an uncomfortable six weeks followed the chance discovery through Google of an unwarranted attack on the NWT by a parish councilor. This was then fully aired in the Nettleham News by NWT as part of our campaign to clear our name. More senior figures in the community than the parish councillor quickly confirmed that he was ill-informed and was writing on a private blog. The offending article was duly removed from the internet. The Chairman decided to draw a line under this unsavoury episode on 8 th December, because there was nothing further to be gained from prolonging discussion.

Friday 30 th December: Monks Wood: regular visitors will have noticed that LWT has now fenced off the two fields adjacent to the North and Middle Woods. This is partly to allow grazing by sheep and thus improve the land as wildflower meadow, but also to create a ‘green way’ from the main entrance to the east of Pickerings Meadow as an alternative to the public footpath. Hedging was being planted on 30 th December when the Chairman visited the site – 1500 hawthorn, blackthorn and maple. There is also a new LWT carpark sign.

……………..

2011 was a very good year for the Nettleham Woodland Trust. 2012 promises to be equally exciting.

Hoping to see you at the AGM and/or in one of the woods.

Best wishes

Chris Williams, Chairman, Nettleham Woodland Trust crw197@gmail.com

Supporters’ Secretary: Elizabeth Hipgrave