Friday Group Report: March 2020

17th January to 6th March 2020

It has been very wet this year but the Friday Group lost only two days owing to rain. Most of the time the Group has been working on North Heath, near the Sun Goddess. Many Birch trees have been cut down to prevent seeding this year, similarly many Birch saplings have been cut down to ground level. Material cut down is trimmed to a suitable length and then piled up; log piles like these make good wildlife habitats.

One morning was spent on South Heath, near to Rock Path. There is a lot of Heather growing here so time was spent trimming back Gorse to give more space and light for the Erica. Some Birch and Rhododendron were also cut down.

A lowland heath seminar was held at Dale Farm, Heswall on 29th February. This was attended by the Ranger, Neil Mutch and John Lee accompanied him. Representatives from other Wirral heathlands maintainers (e.g.Heswall Dales, Cleaver Heath, Caldy Hill, Grange Hill) also went to the meeting, the aim of which was to share and develop best practice in lowland heath management. This was the first meeting of its type and became the inaugural forum of the Wirral Heathland Partnership. The exchange of ideas was most useful and it is likely other meetings will be held in the future.

During this period of eight work days, forty-five persons attended and approximately ninety hours were spent on heath maintenance.

John Lee, Volunteer Warden

10th March 2020.

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