Working a wetland wonder

Green-fingered youngsters from the Ellistown Primary School Gardening Club have been helping to restore a wetland area by planting around 50 willow cuttings at Battram Wood in the National Forest in Leicestershire.

The project is part of a scheme by the Royal Forestry Society (RFS), which owns the wood, and by Northamptonshire-based forestry management experts Lockhart Garratt, who manage it, to encourage wildlife and improve access to the area. The works have been funded through grants provided by Leicestershire County Council and the National Forest Company.

Labour Co-operative MP for North West Leicestershire David Taylor joined the youngsters at the planting.

Primary School Head Margaret James said: “The Gardening Club is very popular in the school with the children helping to maintain our hanging baskets, the frontage to the school and growing salad and vegetables in our raised beds.

“The club is all about learning to nurture and care for the plants. Helping in the wetland restoration project is an exciting opportunity to apply those principles outside the school environment and to see how trees can be used to improve the countryside.”

The restoration of the pond has already seen bulrush removed to increase light levels and encourage other plants to colonise, and shallow areas and wetland scrapes created to encourage amphibians and wet grassland plants and species.

David Taylor commented: “I was at the original launch of Battram Wood a decade ago and have been delighted on numerous subsequent visits such as this one to see how well it is developing.

“It is extremely popular with local people for recreation and rambling as well as with those exploring the former mining heritage which is plentiful in the vicinity.

“I really enjoyed spending time with the members of the Ellistown Primary School gardening club planting young willows to beautify the area around the pond.

“The nearby communities in Battram and Ibstock have taken this wood to their hearts and the Royal Forestry Society are to be congratulated on the management, vision and effort they are investing in this site in the early years of its life.”

Lockhart Garratt Forestry Consultant Liz Sharkey said: “We are delighted to have had the help of such an enthusiastic group of youngsters. The works will encourage a range of species to colonise the area, including butterflies such as the Dingy Skipper, which is on the Leicestershire Biodiversity Action Plan, dragonflies like the Rudy Darter and a variety of bats.”

The Royal Forestry Society, an educational charity, started to plant trees and create Battram Wood on former farmland on the outskirts of Battram village ten years ago. It has been designed as a multi-purpose woodland to demonstrate to today’s and future generations how commercially viable and productive woodlands can also enhance wildlife, landscape, and recreation.

RFS Chief Executive Officer Dr John Jackson said: “We are delighted that Ellistown Primary School children are so involved in the development of the wood and we hope that as they grow up, they, their families and friends will continue to visit the wood to see how the trees they have planted have fared.

“The first ten years of Battram Wood have been very exciting, with many people from the local community talking part in planting and other events. Whilst the woodland is still too young to produce any commercial returns, it is proving its worth as a local amenity, not only for local residents but also for those walking the long distance Miners Way and National Forest Birthday Walk which take in through Battram Wood.”

The next stage in the wetland restoration will be to sow a special wildflower mix in the area and to create interpretation boards which will help all who visit to appreciate how the fauna and flora of the area is evolving.

Our photograph shows: far left, teacher Rachel Smith and Lockhart Garratt Forestry Consultant Liz Sharkey with David Taylor, MP, far right, and members of the Ellistown Primary School Gardening Club who have been helping plant willow at Battram Wood