As well as pruning stoned fruit trees such as plums and gages, we shall also be attending to odd jobs on the reserve.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US, 10.00am.

The flowers, butterflies and other insects are at their best now. Pick a dry day and walk through the long grass on either meadow or the strip alongside the Common. Here’s a small selection of what you can see at the moment.

We had a very good species identification walk today, led by Pauline Wilson. We walked around both meadows, trying to identify trends in the species we saw.

There was a marked range of colours in these Common Spotted Orchids. It was a pleasure to walk though the grassland and to be suddenly surrounded by a flock of butterflies.

We also found out a bit about distinguishing green things:
Rushes are round
Sedges have edges
And grasses have knobbly knees!

The next Shire Way Conservation Group meeting will be at 7.00pm on Tuesday 20th June 2017 at Shire Way Community Centre.

The aims of the meeting will be:

• To adopt a Constitution and elect a committee
• To agree several policies that are needed so that the Group can apply for grants
• To plan future project and events

There will also be a short talk on Solitary Bees.

A small band of enthusiasts – the Lilliput Conservation Group – is spending a couple of hours on the first Tuesday of each month, and also some Saturday mornings, tidying up the hedgerows and plantings in Lilliput Park.

We’ve recently weeded the rockery and nearby shrubs (see above) and started clearing overgrowth on the stream (supervised as usual by our local robins), but everything is growing really quickly now – especially the weeds! Our wildflower seeds have germinated and the perennials are coming up well.

We’ve entered for South West in Bloom again, so there’s lots of work to do to prepare for judging.

The July work mornings will be on Sat 1 July and Tue 4 July.Please come along and help us improve this historic park. We shall be meeting at the Kingfisher Road gate at 10.00 am. Please wear suitable footwear.
You can check out the Lilliput Conservation Group on Facebook for more information. 

We shall be taking an afternoon tour of this wildlife-rich local nature reserve to look at, and identify, many of the wildflower and grass species which are in the meadows. Anyone is welcome to join us. Please wear stout footwear.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US, 2.00pm

In June the Tuesday session will be on the 13th because quite a few of us will be attending a funeral on the 6th. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The newly-formed Shire Way Conservation Group has got off to a flying start with a well attended first meeting. “It was exciting to hear the wide range of ideas that people were coming up with” said acting Chair Clare Woodman. “We have lots of potential projects, all aimed at supporting and promoting wildlife in our area”

“We’ve already made a good start with practical work carried out on our ‘Eco Garden’ at the Top Shop on Shire Way (see photo).  We are maintaining ‘verge’ bird feeders and have started to record wildlife we see along Shire Way and in the area nearby”

“What’s more we’ve planned our first public event. On Saturday 10th June we will be running ‘Walk and Watch – Wildlife on our Doorsteps’, starting at 7 pm at the Top Shop on Shire Way at the entrance to Badgeworth, BS37 8YJ. This will be a great opportunity to see our amazing wildlife in action and as the evening progresses hopefully there will be bat, owl and fox sightings too. It will be good fun for all the family”

Dodington Parish Councillor Paul Hulbert, who has been advising the group, said “It’s good to see this new Conservation Group starting off so well. I’m hoping that they will be able to attract more members from roads around Shire Way and Rodford Way, and then start applying for funding so that they can take on more ambitious projects”

“Shire Way Conservation Group already has a lively Facebook group – it’s well worth checking out to find out more about the range of nature on our doorsteps”

The next group meeting will be on Tuesday 20th June at Shire Way Community Centre, starting at 7 pm.

Note:

For further details please contact either Clare or Mat Woodman by phoning 07907 733056 or emailing clare_woodman@yahoo.co.uk or searching for “Shire Way Conservation Group” on Facebook.

A small band of enthusiasts – the Lilliput Conservation Group – is spending a couple of hours on the first Tuesday of each month, and also some Saturday mornings, tidying up the hedgerows and plantings in Lilliput Park.

This month the Tuesday session will be on the 13th because quite a few of us will be attending a funeral on the 6th. Sorry for any inconvenience.

We’ve recently weeded the rockery and nearby shrubs (see above) and started clearing overgrowth on the stream, but everything is growing really quickly now – especially the weeds! Hopefully we’ll get enough rain for the wildflower seeds we planted recently to germinate as well.

We’ve entered for South West in Bloom again, so there’s lots of work to do to prepare for judging.

Our next work mornings are Sat 3rd June and Tue 6th June. Please come along and help us improve this historic park. We shall be meeting at the Kingfisher Road gate at 10.00 am. Please wear suitable footwear.

You can check out the Lilliput Conservation Group on Facebook for more information. 

Here’s an update with full details of what we know about dogs with poisoning symptoms at Wapley and elsewhere.

During the bank holiday weekend local vets dealt with a number of dogs with symptoms of poisoning. Three of those dogs had been at Wapley Common. In one case the vet suggested that the dog had eaten something natural like very mouldy food, mouldy poop etc. We have established that at least two of the dogs had eaten poop in the same location, the picnic field. So we now suspect that this was from an infected animal. The area has been checked and nothing else has been found, and no weedkiller etc is used in the area.

There have been some other cases in the wider area recently. In one place – not Wapley – some chicken carcasses had been thrown out on public land. Elsewhere at least one dog tried to eat something that looked like dog food, and was immediately violently sick. Add to this the number of common plants that are poisonous to dogs, all we can suggest is that owners keep a very close eye on what their dogs might try to eat while they are out and about.