Blewbury is one of several spring-line villages, lying at the foot of a low escarpment forming the northern boundary of the chalk downs within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (NWD AONB). There is a zoomable map showing the extent and boundaries of the AONB, which includes the entire village and its surroundings.
The southern part of the parish of Blewbury lies within this area of downland, much of which is given up to arable farming, although patches of land still retain characteristics of the original calcareous grassland which is one of the richest habitats in Europe. These remnants are being identified and studied for their intrinsic biodiversity. The area known as the Chalk Pit is an old chalk quarry reached via an ancient hollow way, Rubble Pit Lane, leading to it from the village. The quarry and the path contain a mosaic of habitats including lowland calcareous grassland, rank grassland, scrub and wooded areas. These areas together have been made a new Local Wildlife Site on the recommendation of the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT).
The project was awarded a grant of £6057 by NWD AONB in January 2012. This has allowed the habitats to be managed and significantly improved by reducing the scrub and increasing the areas suitable for wildflowers. Where possible, the long grass has also been cut and removed in the autumn to give further help to the existing wildflower and insect populations.
Rubble Pit Lane: The area covered by Rubble Pit Lane, and the Chalk Pit at lower left, is outlined in red on the map below. Rubble Pit Lane has been much improved. The scrub has been greatly reduced where it was encroaching on the grass areas. The sections where the scrub and trees had already taken over completely were drastically cut back early in 2013 by Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) under their legal obligation to keep the lane open as a bridleway (photo). OCC collaborated closely with the project management, and the result is a wider, improved public bridleway and footpath with very much thickened hedges on each side giving much improved habitat for birds and other wildlife. The bottom two photos show the path as it was before (left) and after regrading (right).
The Chalk Pit: The dense scrub, mostly hawthorn, has been much reduced by cutting and then poisoning the stumps. The remaining bushes provide some shelter and feeding habitat for birds without shading the grassland too much. The photo at left is an overall view of this former chalk quarry. Autumn grass cutting (photo at right) has allowed a marked increase in many species of wildflowers.
Tickers Folly Field: This is an area of about 2.5Â hectares of grass, owned by the village, which in the past has been mown short throughout the summer months. By agreement with the Parish Council, just over a fifth of a hectare along the southern boundary is now under care as a wildflower meadow. Getting wildflowers to become established is a slow process, but experiments with different methods of propagation over several years have shown the way to better results. More than 20 new species are now to be found as a result of our efforts.
The best method has been to germinate seeds in trays, prick them out into small pots in spring and then plant out after several months when strong and healthy, and when conditions are favourable. Direct sowing of copious amounts of carefully gathered and purchased wild seed into scarified soil has been almost wholly unsuccessful. An exception to this has been the parasitic yellow rattle, which has taken very well from sowing in scarified patches and has benefitted the other plants hugely by weakening the coarse grasses. A total of 4500 wildflower plants have now been sown. Butterfly and bee numbers have increased markedly with the growth of the meadow and sheltering hedge.
The photos show autumn gentian, a large skipper butterfly on field scabious, a meadow pipit’s nest on Rubble Pit Lane, and toadflax.
In 2019 the results of all the work were clear. There were well over two thousand cowslip flowers from the few hundred planted over the last four years, many of the original plants sporting a dozen or more flowers. 153 pyramidal orchids have been flowering. Field scabious, along with a great number of other common flowers like red clover, dropwort, toadflax, knapweed and kidney vetch were widespread. It is thought that many of the seeds sown in previous years have lain dormant, awaiting the right conditions to flourish. Even some quite rare species are established, including bee orchid, star of Bethlehem, and broomrape. The photo (at right) shows an overall view of part of the wildflower area.
Note: For a much more detailed description of this work, there is an article at the end of our July/August 2019 newsletter.
Living Churchyard: Churchyards are important sanctuaries for wild life. Some, such as St Michael’s Church in Blewbury, are especially valuable, having been reclaimed from ancient meadows or pastures. If they have never been ploughed or treated with artificial chemicals, the soil will be rich in the seeds of wildflowers. This project (supported by BBOWT and the Church and Parish Councils) won an award in 2001. There are four different habitats: hedgerow, wayside, woodland edge and ditch, and chalk meadow. The existing natural floral population has been augmented by other species and a sustainable mowing routine established. Currently, the maintenance routine is continuing and new native species have been planted. Coarse grass is still the main problem and yellow rattle has been introduced to reduce this.
A note on ragwort: Ragwort is an important contributor to the natural biodiversity of the chalk downland, but it is toxic if eaten by horses. Ragwort grows in all three of the Downland Project areas: Tickers Folly, Rubble Pit Lane and the Chalk Pit. The Downland Project and Sustainable Blewbury are not responsible for the control of this weed, but it is taken seriously and efforts are made to keep it under control as part of the wildflower population. For a full description of the plant, with its benefits and dangers to wildlife, see the Defra Code of Practice (introduced July 2004).
Some relevant notes from the Code are as follows:
Ragwort poisoning can have a devastating effect on horses in particular, as well as being damaging to cattle and other animals. Ingestion of Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), either in its green or dried state, can cause serious liver damage, which can have tragic consequences for both animals and owners. ... However, in the right place, and where there is no risk to animal welfare, ragwort contributes to the biodiversity of the flora and fauna in our countryside.
By promoting good practice and good neighbourliness, the Code aims to reduce significantly the risk that horses and other livestock might be poisoned. It is intended for use by all landowners and occupiers.
The Code does not seek to eradicate ragwort, but only seeks to control it where there is a threat to the health and welfare of animals. We place a particular emphasis on protecting horses, whose digestive system makes them particularly vulnerable. The Code provides comprehensive guidance on when, where and how to control ragwort, but pays specific attention to the needs of the environment and the countryside as part of the process. The Code should benefit the environment by ensuring there is less damage to non-target species, by setting out clear parameters on when it is necessary to control ragwort and by recommending the use of non-chemical options for control where feasible.
In the Downland project our method of control is to pull up the flowering plants before they seed. They come up fairly easily when the ground is wet but care has to be taken to wear gloves when handling them. They are disposed of in heaps, out of sight and out of the way of grazing animals. In 2014 the number of flowering plants going to seed was reduced to near zero. One problem is that only flowering plants can be seen easily. Some are allowed to grow and flower where cinnabar moth caterpillars (left-hand photo above) have been seen. The cinnabar moth (right-hand photo above) is a ‘priority species’ under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and so we have a responsibility to maintain this population. There are some research efforts in progress to develop a biological control method in certain circumstances using the cinnabar moth. So far this has not reached a usable stage.
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