Category: Wenvoe Wildlife Group

Goldsland farm has a great story to tell. A working farm of around 200 acres producing milk with a herd of 180 mixed Holstein Friesians and Dairy Shorthorns and regularly winning awards at the Vale of Glamorgan Show, such as Best Holstein Exhibit and First, Second and Third in the Best Dairy Cow category (2016). It is farmed by Abi Reader who was Welsh Woman Farmer of the Year in 2016. The farm has a viewing platform above the milking parlour and regularly receives visits from school parties and other groups.

But there is also plenty of history. Excavations at a nearby cave in the woods revealed the 5,000 years old remains of humans along with a flint saw blade and other tools. One of the barns is a Grade ll listed building dating from the 1800s and described as a larger than average early to mid 19th century barn from the age of agricultural improvement. Around the same time watercress beds were introduced, fed bys. The three sections could be split into different habitat types, possibly one of mainly open water, a second with water plants and the third reeds. Two benches have been put in along with a noticeboard and large bee hotel.

With the help of money from Tescos a Nature Trail is being created which takes you from fields to ponds, to woods via a sunken lane, to meadows and finally an orchard. The orchard will consist of old varieties planted traditionally, many dating from Victorian times and including a variety we have not planted before, Gabalva, a cooker from Cardiff. We also have a couple of appropriately named Holsteins. Some Perry pears are being grafted for the autumn. The wildflower planting will include a small meadow and raised beds with annual arable flowers.

Also in the pipeline is a project to create a series of reed-beds to process slurry from the farm. The outflow will be much cleaner water and this will help to improve the water quality in the Goldsland Brook which runs through the farm and the Weycock River which the brook feeds. It also creates yet another habitat which should benefit wildlife in the area.

A Public Right of Way runs through the farm and if this has whetted your appetite to see more the farm opens its doors to the public on Open Farm Sunday which takes place on Sunday 11th June. This popular event which attracted 2,000 visitors in 2015 gives an opportunity for everyone to see the farm in action, to watch the cows being milked and for children in particular to get close up to animals. For more information about the wildlife and history projects, contact the Wenvoe Wildlife Group.

We are doing the Easter Egg Trail again this year so from Good Friday why not take the youngsters up to the Upper Orchid Field to follow the trail and answer the questions. Take your completed form to the Wenvoe Village Shop – the first 30 correctly completed forms will earn you an Easter Egg or similar. Thank you to Kam and Punna for supporting this event for the third year.

With our Tesco’s money we have installed two benches at the watercress beds at Goldsland farm along with a noticeboard and bee hotel. We have placed 4 hedgehog 'homes' around the orchards to help these rapidly declining animals. Why not put one in your garden? – they cost between £20 and £30 and come with full instructions on what to do. They are not just for hibernation but can be used all year round.

More nest boxes are being put up along with insect homes and also butterfly boxes. All of these can be bought for around £3 or £4 each and are in local shops. With 5 ponds to keep an eye on we now have pond-dipping nets, trays and magnifying glasses. This is a great activity for children so if you are interested in learning what to do either with children in your family or as part of group activities run by the Wildlife Group, please contact us. We shall be arranging training sessions in the coming months.

Members of the Group helped out with a litter-pick in Barry in an area known as Tree Tops, near Holm View Leisure Centre. Over 120 bags of rubbish were collected in just under two hours. Clearing litter is not just about making places look better. Many animals both wild and domestic suffer or are killed by plastic bags, cans, glass jars, plastic can holders, rubber bands and balloons. Whilst Wenvoe has nothing like the litter problem that some areas have, we still have litter and it only takes one misplaced item to maim or kill a hedgehog, bird or your cat or dog. It is great to hear that the Community Council are considering the issue of litter-picking and we look forward to joining an event in the parish in the coming months.

We held our 10th AGM in January with 28 attending – not many organisations get such a good turnout. However we still need practical help from people who might be able to contribute the odd hour here and there. So if part of your New Year's resolution is to get fitter and healthier and help to Save the Planet, do get in touch. Absolutely no experience necessary.

Much of our work in January was concentrated on the Wild Orchard – so where and what is it? This orchard runs along the edge of a field at the eastern edge of St Lythans. It is a public footpath that runs from the road between Twyn yr Odyn and St Lythans (metal kissing gate by metal gate and ST 1115/7324 if you have a GPS) and eventually reaches another footpath which connects Wenvoe Woods and St Lythans Church. From the road, walk through one field, over a stile and the orchard starts just beyond this point. It is a linear orchard running along the edge of the field and currently has around 60 trees planted, marked with bamboo canes. There is a bench and noticeboard.

The orchard is called 'Wild' because all the trees are of native fruit, including Crab-apple, Wild Pear, Wild Plum, Wild Cherry, Bird Cherry, Bullace, Cherry Plum, Chequers Tree and Hazel. We are gradually introducing a labelling code where each bamboo cane will have a colour tape corresponding to the type of tree and the code is on a notice on the noticeboard. The canes are there so that we can find the trees throughout the year – there are some vigorous nettles growing here and in the past we have lost some of the shorter trees in the vegetation. Hopeful-ly we now have it under control. The public footpath is becoming more and more popular with walkers and it is nice to see the bench being used regularly

In October's issue we mentioned that we had been fortunate to have been selected as one of the three charities that you can vote for at Tescos with all three receiving grants. After the print deadline for Whats On we heard that Tescos had postponed the start of the scheme until the last week in October so you should find that by the time you read this newsletter the scheme should have commenced. So look out for the voting boxes in Tescos. It runs to around the 12th November and it should not be too long after that before we hear the results.

For our conservation work we have been planting Bluebells (native of course) and Primroses in the Elizabethan Orchard along the 'primrose path of dalliance'. On the Upper Orchid Field we have liberated the wooden bench that disappeared into the undergrowth, given it a lick of timber preservative, and opened up other paths which had become blocked. You can see the 'spruced and scoured' bench in the photo. The two wild pear trees are growing steadily, the taller of the two now around 4 metres tall and, hopefully, we should be seeing some of its fruit before long. A few years back we planted an Elm as part of a UK-wide scheme to monitor how they were coping with Dutch Elm disease. Ours did little at first but this year it has taken off and gained about a metre in height. For those interested in trees ours was Ulmus minor.

Our bat walk in Grange Park indicated that a shower of rain does not stop the bats feeding. We saw (or heard) mainly Pipistrelles with one individual putting on a virtuoso performance up and down Pound Lane, often flying to within a few feet of us. We are gradually replacing fruit trees that have died; this year four out of the 88 we have planted. We are also beginning to see our first, albeit modest, crops. Outstanding this year has been Bardsey, originally discovered on the island of Bardsey, which is producing very tasty and very large apples. One cannot help noticing that at the time of writing it is difficult to find any British fruit in the shops. Apples from South Africa and New Zealand, pears from Italy and strawberries from the Netherlands.

If you are interested in taking part in our wildlife projects we would love to hear from you. Or if you just want to follow what we are doing take a look at Facebook – search for Wenvoe Wildlife Group.

If you find yourself in Tescos up till around 9th October you will have an opportunity to vote for us under the Bags of Help scheme. We were delighted to have been one of the three charities to be supported in the latest round and our project involves the development of wildlife habitats and education at Goldsland Farm near the Golf Course. So you are looking for the charity that is likely to include ‘Goldsland’ in the title. The scheme works by offering you a token at the check-out and you can then vote for the charity of your choice. There should be containers normally near the exit.

If you have not been to Goldsland Farm (the annual open day has attracted thousands of visitors), it is a working dairy and arable farm with a lot of history. One of the barns is a Grade 2 listed building dating back to mid- Victorian times and the ponds which extend to just under an acre are referred to as watercress beds on old maps. There is a viewing area where visitors such as school parties can watch the cows being milked. Our project will involve putting up a notice board and bee hotel like the one on the Community Orchard, installing benches, creating a nature trail and planting wildflower areas and an orchard. We hope to put in a nest-cam and install equipment to monitor the local bats. Much of our conservation work will focus on clearing the undergrowth that is covering the watercress beds.

If we come last in the voting we will still receive £8,000 making it the biggest grant we have received. Second is worth £10,000 and first is £12,000. If we are lucky enough to be first or second the additional money will be used for visiting school parties and special needs groups of both children and adults who we are already working with.

In a separate project, Abi Reader, who farms Goldsland is working with the Welsh Government on a project which hopes to install reed-beds to process the slurry from the farm-yard – an initiative with potential major ecological significance. This provides an opportunity to tell a fascinating story starting with the pollinators who ensure our crops grow and wildlife prosper, through the dairy herd which provides the milk and ending with how the waste products are safely disposed of and the processed waste put to good use. As with all the Wildlife Group’s activities if you would like to get involved in any way (no knowledge or experience is necessary) do get in touch. You can follow us on Facebook (Wenvoe Wildlife Group), check our notice boards of which we have 5 or look at our website wenvoewildlifegroup.co.uk

Green Flag Award Ceremony

The photo shows Sue Hoddell receiving our Green Flag awards at a ceremony for Vale of Glamorgan winners. We have decided that our fourth entry next year will be the Welsh orchard near Maes y Felin. This is our largest orchard and includes fruit trees of Welsh origin. If you would like to be involved with the development of this orchard please contact the Wildlife Group.

A number of people have mentioned that they are not clear on where our community orchards, woodlands and meadow are situated so we shall be featuring each of them in turn starting with the Upper Orchid Field.

First where is it? Also known locally as the Sledging Field it is midway between Wenvoe and Twyn-yr- Odyn and can be approached by footpath from either end. From Wenvoe go round Walston Road until you come to the sharp turn at the northern end and follow the public footpath and Upper Orchid Field signs through woodland. Cross a road which is used by lorries filling Whitehall Quarry and the Upper Orchid Field is the other side of the gate. From Twyn-yr-Odyn cross the road to the Quarrymens’ Tribute and follow the new public access footpath which brings you into the top of the Upper Orchid Field. There are other footpaths leading into the field if you look at a map but most people use the two described here.

What is it? The Upper Orchid Field is a traditional meadow of 4-5 acres covered in wildflowers, not least orchids, and with a high concentration of wildlife. In Britain we have lost most of our wildflower meadows and with them the insects, birds and small mammals that are associated with them. It is one of very few left near Cardiff. There are paths around the site, noticeboards with information and features such as Molluscopolis where you can find out about snails and slugs. It is owned by the Vale of Glamorgan Council (VoGC) and managed under licence by the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. The licence obliges the Council to cut the field every year but since 2014 it has been a victim of budget cuts and we have relied on the help of local farmer Robert Reader to get it mown. If this was not done it would revert to woodland, scrub and bramble which was very much the state it was becoming when we first became involved just under 10 years ago.

You will also hear references to the Lower Orchid Field. As you emerge from the bottom of the Upper Field heading back towards Wenvoe this is the field to your left running alongside the quarry access road. It is also owned by but is not managed by anyone although a hay cut is often taken. There are no public rights of way through it although a path down the southern boundary is often walked.

The Upper Orchid Field can be accessed at any time and visitors are most welcome. If you are new to Wenvoe why not wander over and take a look. If you would like to get involved with conservation work either here or at our community orchards get in touch with the Wenvoe Wildlife Group. For more information look at our website www.wenvoewildlifegroup.co.uk or Facebook (Wenvoe Wildlife Group).