Hello All and welcome to the Spring 2015 Outdoor Partnerships Volunteer Supplement. This supplement contains useful information for existing volunteers as well as details about what volunteer opportunities are available if you think you’d like to get involved. You can also find out what our existing volunteers have been up to. Our contact details are included throughout and we would love to hear from you if you have any questions about volunteering.

Volunteer Development and Branding

Encouraging more people to get involved

In a bid to get more people involved with volunteering in the great outdoors, new branding has been developed for the range of volunteer opportunities within Outdoor Partnerships. It is hoped that a new, fresh look will encourage new people to join in and get active.

The family of brands come together under the ‘Shropshire’s Great Outdoors’ banner, which will be the title of a new website currently under development. The website will replace the Shropshire Walking and Riding websites, pick up leisure cycling from Travel Shropshire and encourage people to get out and about on their local Rights of Way and their parks, countryside sites and play areas. It will also have a section on outdoor volunteering and the aspiration is to bring together the wide range of opportunities across the county for outdoor volunteering with a number of different organisations. The website is due to be completed by the end of June 2015.

These developments are in response to the Volunteer Development Plan, which has been written following consultation with volunteers in the autumn.  The main aims of this plan are to establish more volunteering groups around the County particularly in Ellesmere, Wem, Sellatyn & Gobowen, Mainstone, Chelmarsh Wistanstow, Cardington, Rushbury, and Worthen & Shelve.  Better support for existing volunteer groups will also be a target in addition to a real focus on working together with Parish Path Partnerships to establish their local priorities and access needs.    

Acton Scott Amble Gets Revamp

The Acton Scott Amble is a 6.5 mile circular walk starting from Acton Scott Working Farm Museum. During the Spring of 2014 major issues were reported on this promoted path, once checked it was found that in some sections nearly every stile, gate and bridge needed replacing.

Unfortunately this area does not have any active P3 groups to help restore the route to a good condition. Luckily however, we have our very own “roving” P3 group who undertake Rights of Way work around the County, the Shrewsbury Ramblers P3.   This autumn they have carried out work to replace stiles, gates, sleeper bridges, waymark posts and clear vegetation blocking the route. At one point near Hatton a ditch had been greatly widened so that the old sleeper bridge was not sufficient. Agreement was reached to replace this with a 14ft wooden kit bridge and the Ramblers P3 group came out on what turned out to be one of the wettest days of November to install it.  Continuation of the path work will now resume in the drier conditions of spring.  Great work guys!

To keep up to date with all that the Shrewsbury Ramblers are up to visit their Facebook page. 

Volunteers Step Up To Improve Rectory Wood Footpath

Connecting the Long Mynd to the centre of Church Stretton is the 16 acre Rectory Wood and Field. As the name suggests these were the grounds of the former rectory but have been owned by Shropshire Council since 1960. There are numerous paths through the woods which are much used by locals and visitors. As well as management of the woodland by selective felling and clearing of invasive species such as cherry laurel the paths have been improved by revetments and laying stone chippings. About ten years ago a new path was built connecting the pool to the track on the topside of the wood. As this route climbed a steep hillside it was necessary to put in a flight of steps. Time has taken its toll on these steps and many had rotted away so that the path was reverting to a muddy slope. Outdoor Partnership staff, led by David Hardwick, spent four sessions this winter to replacing the steps. They were helped in this work by up to fifteen volunteers from Church Stretton Parish Paths Partnership P3 and the local National Trust Tuesday Task Force. The weather was not always kind and on one particular day we were working in ice and snow. However, on the last day we were rewarded with a beautiful scene of late winter sunshine filtering through the bare trees on to a carpet of snowdrops. One hundred and six steps were replaced and the surface repaired in places with additional stone. A new kissing gate will be installed at the top of the path later this year. In addition the main path through the wood has been improved by scraping away the years of mud and fallen leaves that had built up into a soggy mass on top of the chippings. Writing in the Independent John Walsh wrote,”By a series of twisty byways and capricious diagonals, I'd discovered the least stressful location in England: its name is Rectory Wood, Church Stretton” (Full Article). We hope that the improvements to the paths will make this an even less stressful place. Dick Ward - Church Stretton P3

Improvement to Cwmmawr Dingle Footpath

Bishop’s Castle P3 were busy in December with access improvements to Cwmmawr Dingle, an idyllic wooded valley situated in easy walking distance from Bishop’s Castle.The Dingle boasts a beautiful carpet of bluebells during April and May which compliments the tranquillity of the babbling stream.

The group got together to replace a stile for a kissing gate to aid ease of access and reveted 120m of path where use over the years had created an adverse camber which made the path precarious to negotiate. Debris was also removed from under the footbridge to ensure it would not be washed away by high water levels.  Many thanks to all for their hard work.   

New Groups

Welcome to some new Parish Path Partnership groups.

• Alveley and Romsley
• Clee St Margaret
• Llanfair Waterdine
• Tong
• Wheathill
• Bicton

We're all looking forward to working with you and helping you make the improvements you want to see in your parishes.

Winter Warming Tasks Around Bridgnorth

This winter our four volunteer groups at Severn Valley Country Park (Alveley), Eardington Local Nature Reserve, Stanmore Country Park (Bridgnorth) and Donington Pool Local Nature Reserve (Albrighton) have been keeping warm with some proper winter tasks.

Severn Valley Country Park

Our volunteer numbers average between 10 – 15 and we meet every Tuesday from 9am – 3pm. Our main job this winter has been to open up views from the Visitor Centre down the valley to the River Severn. We have had many comments on how the less able are unable to get down to the river and back up again. We hope that the new viewpoints may enable them to see into the valley and to the river from the many seats around the Visitor Centre. We have left better specimens of trees to grow and raised their canopies so that a view may be obtained under the tree.  In addition to the coppicing work a new boundary hedge has been planted between the SVCP and the neighbouring farmer. This will be laid in the future to form a good thick stock proof hedge.

Eardington Local Nature Reserve

Our volunteers at Eardington meet monthly and have recently been working on a number of jobs. A new fence has been installed to allow for grazing to take place.  A number of bird and bat boxes have been put up in the trees around the site with the help of Jonathan from the Natural Environment Team. The locations of these has been recorded so that they can be monitored and any occupants recorded. Finally a new footpath has been created through a small area of woodland and on our latest volunteer day the path was covered in a thick layer of woodchip to form a good walking surface.  To find out more information about the site and activities there see Friends of Eardington LNR.

Stanmore Country Park

Our volunteer group at Stanmore continues to grow, they meet once every two months and this winter the have been coppicing in one of the many plantations. When the trees were planted they were done so in regimental rows and now there is a need to remove the poorer specimens to create glades to allow sunlight in and make the plantation look less linear. This simple management regime has already paid dividends with the appearance of blubells on the woodland floor last May, let’s hope we get more of those this year!  For information on the site follow Stanmore Country Park.

Donington Pool Nature Reserve

Our Donington Pool group meets monthly and have been keeping the water channels clear and cutting back vegetation from the paths. The Friends of Group have recently purchased a small boat so that we can maintain the watercourses with more ease and this has proved very useful. A wildflower area is due to be sown in the next few weeks and we hope this will bring colour to St Cuthbert’s Meadow.  For more information on the site click Donington & Albrightpn LNR 

As you can see being a volunteer is very varied and is great for making new friends. If you are interested in joining any of our group please email James Brookes or call 01746 781192 and you will be made very welcome. Thank you to all our volunteers for their support and hard work over the wintertime.

Corbet Wood Volunteer Day

The inaugural work task at Corbet Wood was a resounding success! 12 people and 1 dog turned out on a fresh but sunny Saturday morning amidst the gale force winds sweeping across the County. Fortunately the area the team were working in was sheltered from the elements and we were able to get on with the clearance of ‘Mrs Embrey’s Garden’.  It is well known by locals that Mrs Embrey made her husband go out into this garden to play his Fiddle, as she was not a fan of the ‘noise’.

This garden is what remains of the old stone cottage where Mrs Embrey and her husband once lived. Unfortunately, the cottage can only just be made out by the remnants of the four corners of the building. However, two members of the group uncovered the original brick path leading up to the front door of the cottage (see below). This was very exciting and makes you wonder what else is hiding under the years of leaf mulch!

The group were keen to start a fire to keep warm, so in fact they made two! These were constantly being topped up with brash and wood that had been lying on the ground or just been coppiced. Also, a number of trees were felled as they were posing a danger to the public. The larger pieces of wood were stacked up in a line to create a ‘wildlife corridor’ to create safe cover for small mammals to migrate through the woodland.

All in all we were amazed how much clearance work we did in one day, this just shows how many hands make light work. Another day’s work on this area will clear all the undergrowth away and encourage more people to explore the remains of the cottage and let their imagination run wild!

Future tasks will be to clear the undergrowth off the original stone walls in the surrounding area, and rebuild with the excess stone found lying around. Also, there are a few trees lying over the fence line, which need cutting up and stacking out of the way.

A big thank you to everyone who turned up and we hope to see you all again for the upcoming work task days! If you are interested in being involved in future volunteer events please contact Clive Dean, Parks and Greenspace Officer.

Bees, Bugs and Blooms at Ellesmere

Over the last few years staff and volunteers at The Mere have been going the extra mile to enhance conditions for bees, bugs and wildflowers in addition to the continual management of the grassland and woodland areas on site.  The plight of our bees has become a national issue in recent years and this has prompted a number of initiatives to make the Mere and its surrounding area an attractive site for our stripy friends.  The Mere boasts around 250,000 visitors a year and this provides a great opportunity to teach by example and inspire others to help protect biodiversity and natural history. Here are just a few of the things we’ve been doing....

Cubs and Beavers Open "Bug Hotel" The Ellesmere Cubs and Beavers spent a day building a bug hotel on the Mere edge that will provide nesting facilities, shelter and refuge to a variety of different species including solitary bees.  The work also involved planting native nectar plants including mint, chives, wild marjoram, lemon balm and other food plants to encourage species to take up residence.  More invertebrate accommodation has also been created around the Ellesmere site by simply drilling holes in standing deadwood creating the perfect home for a variety of insects.  Similarly, recent felled trees are to be put to good use with the construction of a Bee Metropolis, consisting of a collection of logs stacked upright in a sunny spot and drilled with multitudes of different sized holes for solitary bees to populate. The structure will be capped with turf and not only will look good but will hopefully provide a home for hundreds of bees.

Flowerbed Bee Garden Elsewhere around the Mere an insect friendly flowerbed bee garden has been created using plants such as catmint, nasturtium, verbena and buddleia. We haven’t forgotten the humans either with the planting of edible herbs for people to take a sprig of lavender, rosemary or sage.  A hibernaculum for insects was also added together with some branches with holes in for solitary bees - both constructed by local children with the help of Shropshire Wildlife Trust and placed in a sunny sheltered spot.  A big thank you to all those who helped.  To find out what's happening at Ellesmere Country Park please visit the Mere Journal facebook page.

Oswestry Racecourse Management Association Winter Works

ORMA members are busy all year round doing a range of different things, from litter picking to monitoring species and keeping a photographic record of the site but there are some jobs that need a few more hands.

Friends of Oswestry RaceCoursE or The FORCE are volunteers who help to maintain and enhance the Racecourse Common. We have now held a number of winter work parties on the Racecourse and have had mixed numbers attending but each time the group have made real progress. The first work party held cleared the dead and dying bracken from among the bilberry, heather and gorse on the North common.  Much more heather, gorse and bilberry was discovered (all be it very short growth) along with many ferns. There was also a lot of dead shoots on the gorse, lower down where it had tried to regrow from the base but it appeared to be smothered by the build-up of bracken brash.

The second work party cut back some of the encroaching ash, willow and sycamore saplings and brambles from around the South Common pond.  The pond itself was heavily overgrown with flag iris and reed and too big a job for our work party so this has been passed on to county as a possible winter job, funds willing.

The following session saw an energetic group armed with saws and loppers thinning out trees and clearing saplings in order to maintain the space around the Janus Horse statue on the south side of the grandstand.  After a couple of hours sawing and snipping the signpost to the Candy Woods was visible and there was clear space again around the Horse.

The fourth work party, despite the cold weather, cut back some of the gorse around the North Common bunds. Some had grown sparse and leggy and selectively cutting back to just above new growth on some plants should ensure a mix of old and new.

The fithth work party will attempt to clear the accumulation of bracken brash from the old paddock. By clearing this area now the group can more effectively tackle the new growth to come in June/July and hopefully start to push it back out of the paddock, although this will take a number of years. There are a number of fallen trees and branches here and over the rest of the site so no doubt there will be a few more sessions planned to cut the dead wood and stack to make habitat piles for bugs and beetles etc.

Our last scheduled winter work party will be coppicing some of the Willow around the pond on the North Common, this has not been done for a few years. A fifth of the willows need coppicing in rotation annually to ensure enough light gets to the pond and surrounding vegetation. ORMA members may well have a few summer work parties on the Racecourse this year, all of which we will advertise in the Gobowen Roundabout and on the Racecourse notice board, volunteers are always welcome. Anyone wishing to take part in some light conservation work for a few hours on a volunteer work party day (interested parties will be notified of these days via email or telephone) is invited to email ORMA or 01691 688865. If someone has web skills and could help with creating a web page, that would be greatly appreciated.

Get Involved in Archaeology, Wildlife and Conservation with LPS

Archaeology, wildlife and conservation...these are just some of the things you can get involved with through the Stiperstones & Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme. A big thank you to all the volunteers who have joined our Tuesday task days this winter to help with practical work on heritage and wildlife sites around Pontesbury, Snailbeach and Shelve. Tasks have included clearing vegetation at Poles Coppice and Earl’s Hill to improve the habitat for dormice, rare bats and butterflies, and survey work at Callow Hillfort to conserve this local monument. Our Community Archaeology projects continue this spring with dates set in March (21st & 25th) for fieldwork investigations at Eastridge Wood, Stapeley Common and the Stiperstones, so if you’re interested in exploring local route-ways or old settlements please get in touch. You are also invited to our series of Community Wildlife Group evenings in March (17th, 18th & 23rd) to hear the results of the 2014 bird surveys and find out how to get involved with wildlife monitoring and recording this year. For more information about the Scheme and details of all the events and volunteer opportunities follow this link Stiperstones and Corndon LPS, or contact us on 01938 561741.

How Many Bin Bags Can You Fit in a Vauxhall Agira?

...This many!

After years of neglect Shelf Bank is now owned and managed by Shropshire Council and last year was designated a Local Nature Reserve. Work to improve the site for people and wildlife is spearheaded by the hard work of local people and members of the Friends of Shelf Bank.

It might not be a pleasant job but someone has to do it, and thanks to these local people Shelf Bank is now a whole lot nicer to visit. Friends of Shelf Bank have recently been scouring the site for litter and came away with an astonishing 20 bags worth. Let’s hope their hard work sets a precedent and discourages litter louts on our areas of greenspace.

If you would like to help volunteering at Shelf Bank email Shaun Burkey or call 01691 624448 and if you'd like to see what else the Friends of Shelf Bank have been up to there why not visit their Facebook page. 

Oswestry Hedgelaying Course

During February a series of training courses were arranged for local volunteers to attend in Oswestry. Hedgelaying is the ancient art of managing hedges to make them stock proof by cutting each stem and lowering to form a close-knit series of diagonals.  Hedgelaying is also excellent for local wildlife as it thickens the base of the hedge retaining it as a good wildlife corridor.  There are many styles around the country, the hedges in Wales for example tend to be layed low to stop lambs getting out. As with any traditional country craft there are added benefits in terms of supporting local skills, maintaining a connection with the land, wildlife and the seasons.   

Allan Housman is a master craftsman hedgelayer and an excellent tutor. His style was very well received by the volunteers, some of whom, from previous years, have gone on to enter hedgelaying competitions. The hedges laid were either side of an old green lane into Oswestry which lies between Henley Meadow and Broadlands Way, two Outdoor Partnership sites in eastern Oswestry. Not only have local volunteers learnt a new skill but we have restored two hedgerows and highlighted a forgotten old lane that used to brings troops from Park Hall training camp into the centre of Oswestry.

Gill Oldaker commented:

“Thanks for giving me the chance to learn how to lay hedges. I’ve really enjoyed the course. Alan is a wonderful instructor. We were all really pleased with what we achieved over two weekends.”

David Hayes commented:

“I enjoyed the last two weekends thoroughly and if you need any help in the future on hedgelaying or anything similar please let me know. It was great to learn a new skill, to get outdoors and do something constructive and gained a real sense of achievement. The people who came along were all of a similar mind set.”

Volunteers Leading the Way

Last year we were able to run a programme of guided walks in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty thanks to our volunteer walks leaders.  Participants on these walks got the chance to explore the length and breadth of the AONB from the Wrekin and Wenlock Edge, to the Clee Hills and Clun Forest.  Volunteers are leading the way once again this year and our programme of walks start on the Home Front with Keith Pybus (19 April).  This is a walk from Stanton Lacy to Stokesay Court, which links in with the World War I Red Cross Centenary weekend at Stokesay Court.  For more information on guided walks in the AONB, or leading one yourself, please get in touch with us at the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership or 01588 674080.

Walking for Health

New Group in Bishop's Castle In late last summer two keen walk volunteer walk leaders got together to discuss ideas for setting up a Walking for Health group in Bishop’s Castle. Further to this, having been encouraged by one of the existing walk leaders, two more volunteers trained as walk leaders to help the group. After a lot of hard work from everyone putting up posters, spreading the word and working out routes and risk assessments the walks started in September. It has been a varying picture, and a slow start, but gradually the word is spreading with 4 -7 people coming on the walks in the last few weeks and new people contacting to find out more. The walks start from Enterprise House and we are very grateful to them for their support with this project. Walks are every Monday, commencing at 10.30 am from Enterprise House and last for 30-60 minutes at a gentle pace, walk leaders vary the route each week, so that it is interesting and suits the people who coming along. After the walk it is off to a local café for those who wish to come along, which enables people to continue chatting and enjoy getting to know one another further; which to many of the people who come on the walks is as important as the exercise and walk itself. We hope to increase our advertising by promoting the walks on the electronic screen at the surgery which will be great way to let people know about the opportunity. As with all our Walking for Health and Next Steps walks across the county, this walk is able to run because of the dedication and time of the Volunteer Walk Leaders so a very big thank you to all our Volunteers.

Hadnall Group Celebrates 10th Year! Hadnall Walking for Health group celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 14th.  There are regularly 20 walkers each Tuesday at 10am meeting at the village hall.  Hadnall offers 2 walks, a level 1 walk which lasts about half an hour, and a level 2 walk, lasting up to 1 hour and the walks always finish at the village hall for a well earned cup of tea. So, a big thank you to all the walk leaders, but especially Tom Slack and Shirley Pemberton for organising the group and its administration.

Shropshire Wild Team

Shropshire Wild Team is a pilot programme to support people with mental health problems and/or learning and physical disabilities to engage in countryside management volunteering and other outdoor based activities. The pilot will provide a six month (one day a week) diary of various small projects around the County. The primary goals are to increase physical activity, skills, confidence and social inclusion and to encourage sustainability beyond the programme.

The Wild Team got off to a challenging start and braved the winter conditions for the first few months of volunteering but has since gone from strength to strength with a number of volunteers getting out to a variety of sites around Shropshire to undertake countryside and heritage management. The work has been varied including scrub clearance, tree felling, hedgelaying and gate installation with some recreational activities, like mammal tracking and walks, thrown in for good measure.  March also saw a start to training with a brushcutter course so the team will now be ready to take on the annual battle with vegetation through the coming months If you are interested in joining the team either as a member or in a supporting role please email Simon Brown or call on 01743 255055.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about any of the articles in this issue or have been inspired to volunteer yourself please email Helen Beresford or phone on (01743) 255957 for more information about the opportunities we have available.