We have recently had the good news that the Heritage Lottery Fund has agreed to meet the majority of the costs of the second phase of the Community Commons Project. This phase, which officially started on the 15th December 2006, will run for three years until the end of December 2009. The main aim of this second phase will be to implement the management plans for each of the twelve commons that were produced during the first phase of the project.
In the autumn 2006 George and Sheila Spence surveyed Cefn Hill and Vagar Hill Commons, on the edge of the Black Mountains, for fungi and also did guided walks at Ewyas Harold and Brimfield Commons.
At Cefn Hill some interesting finds turned up, in particular Poronia punctata, commonly known as the nail fungus. This is on the national Biodiversity Action Plan list and has not been recorded in Herefordshire since the 1800s. It only grows on the dung of ponies and is normally found in the New Forest area or where New Forest ponies have moved out to other places. Although some of the ponies on Cefn Hill Common may have been descended from New Forest stock in the past it does not appear that any ponies have been bought from the New Forest area and grazed on the common recently. Rare finds included on Ewyas Harold Common the pink waxcap Hygrocybe calyptriformis, and a tiny yellow cup fungus Cheilymenia fibrillosa which is believed to be the first record for the county. Hergest Ridge Common in October had one very exciting find, the date waxcap Hygrocybe spadicea, also only recorded once before in Herefordshire.
Ewyas Harold Common is nationally important for the pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly, which is another Herefordshire and National Biodiversity Action Plan species. This butterfly is associated with violets growing under bracken. Unfortunately, on some areas of the common, thickets of scrub and small trees have invaded this habitat. Therefore, to optimise the habitat for the pearl-bordered fritillary, local volunteers have started clearing some of this scrub.
To help with the management of trees and scrub, the project recently paid for four volunteers to be trained in the use of chainsaws, and all four were successful in gaining their certificates.
Ewyas Harold Common is also of importance for adders and over the summer a number of site visits were arranged to discuss the future management of the common. The aim is to agree a zoned plan that will allow the commoners to exercise their rights for grazing and harvesting of bracken whilst at the same time safeguarding the common's incredibly rich ecological interest including butterflies, moths, birds and reptiles.
On Merbach Hill Common a number of the footpaths had become very overgrown and were impassable in places. Work parties are currently being held once a month and a tremendous amount of hard work and enthusiasm has resulted in the opening up and widening of substantial lengths of paths.
We are also working with Clifford Primary School and, with the help of local craftsman Chris Armstrong, the children recently made about twenty bird boxes. These boxes will be sited on Merbach Hill Common and we are hoping to recruit a local volunteer to be trained to monitor the boxes as part of the county-wide nest box monitoring scheme.
Groups of local people at both Garway Hill and Merbach Hill Commons have been practising butterfly monitoring techniques during the summer. To assist with this, in conjunction with Butterfly Conservation, a butterfly identification training day is being organised for March 2007. The aim is to begin a formal butterfly transect on each common in April. This involves walking a set route once within every seven-day period between the beginning of April and the end of September and identifying and counting the butterflies that are seen. As well as increasing our own knowledge of the butterfly interest of the commons the data will also contribute to Butterfly Conservation’s national picture of trends in butterfly populations.
At Badley Wood Common the first contract of the second phase of the Community Commons Project is underway. Tree surgeons are pollarding a number of old willows. This is a traditional practice whereby branches are cut back to the trunk of the tree at a height that would prevent any re-growth being eaten by livestock. This should prolong the life of the trees and reduce the likelihood of branches falling onto cables, paths or the access road. The timber produced will be stacked in piles, which can form excellent habitats for mice, voles, nesting birds, reptiles and fungi. Some of the brashings produced will be chipped and it is hoped that the resulting piles of chippings will be used for egg-laying by the grass snakes which are known to be present on the common. It is then hoped to bring a group of children from Whitbourne Primary School to the common and Nigel Hand of the Herefordshire Amphibian and Reptile Team will describe the work that is being done to provide additional habitats for reptiles and amphibians on the common.
» For more information contact Tim Breakwell at the Trust's Lugwardine office. Phone 01432 853205.