Come and join us for one of our free interpretative woodland walks taking place as part of this year’s ‘Spring in the Woods’ event at Ecclesall Woods. To book your place please use the contact form.
Tag: ecclesall woods
Free Ecclesall Woods walks – Sunday 21st October
Come and join us for one of our free interpretative woodland walks taking place as part of this year’s ‘Feast in the Forest’ event at Ecclesall Woods. To book your place please use the contact form.
Talk: “The Changing Wildlife & Fauna of Sheffield Area Woods”
Talk: “The Changing Wildlife & Fauna of Sheffield Area Woods” by Bob Croxton.
Date: Tuesday 21st August.
Time: 2.15pm at the Discovery Centre, Ecclesall Woods.
Friends of Ecclesall Woods have arranged a public talk which should be of particular interest to those who want to learn more about ecology in Sheffield’s woodlands.
Bob has been taking photos in certain areas on a regular basis for many years and has observed the changes that take place when more dominant species move in. Are brambles and holly more of a threat to our bluebells than any invasion by the Spanish variety? Come and see Bob’s photos showing changes in the incidence of bluebells and many other species as well.
Bob is an active member of the Sorby Society and has contributed to the recent Sheffield State of Nature report published by the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust.
Ecclesall Woods, coppiced area in Wood 2
It is a few years since this large area to the east of Abbey Lane underwent coppicing. Several large sycamores were cut down and many lapsed hazel coppice stools were recut to allow more light to reach the understory. This encourages regeneration of the ground flora, the seeds for which lie dormant within the soil of this ancient woodland awaiting the opportunity to germinate.
When visiting in late May I spotted the following plant without leaving the path: English bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta; herb robert Geranium robertianum; greater stitchwort Stellaria holostea; yellow archangel Lamium galeobdolon; enchanter’s nightshade Circaea lutetiana and tufted hair grass Dechampsia cespitosa. All but the last of these are ancient woodland indicator species and the hope is that the management strategy will increase their numbers. Brambles Rubus fruiticosa have not yet taken over the site, as often seen with other clearings, however a close eye will have to be kept on the emerging bracken Pteridium aquilinum.
Bracken and bluebells are both woodland species, although they are sometimes found on moors and grasslands where no trees are present. They often indicate that there was previously woodland at the location and these missing woods are known as ‘shadow woods‘.
photograph © Fran Halsall.
Planting our ‘Legacy Tree’
The Woodland Trust kindly offered a ‘Legacy Tree’ to any Tree Charter branch that wanted to plant one. Sheffield Woodland Connections requested a hornbeam and we planted it at the end of January in a new area of woodland being created on Whirlow Playing Fields, off Limb Lane in Sheffield.
The site adjoins the Limb Brook section of Ecclesall Woods and has been planted by Sheffield’s Community Woodland team with help from many volunteers. Although it does not look like much at the moment, several hundred new trees were planted in one day. It will look very different in just a few years time.
Our hornbeam sapling is keeping good company, as it is planted only a few metres away from the Save Dore, Totley and Bradway Trees group’s ‘Legacy Tree’. Both have a metal plaque to help identify them.