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It is around 13 years since the Wildlife Group first got involved in looking after the Upper Orchid Field.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n At that stage it was quite neglected and the sloping area was covered in self-seeded Ash trees. At first the Vale of Glamorgan Council were prepared to cut the field but financial issues soon meant that they could no longer help. Currently the field is cut by a contractor with removal of debris and the costs are shared between the Wildlife Group and the Community Council. The field is important because it is one of the last wildflower meadows in and around Cardiff and Britain has lost around 97% of its meadows in the last 100 years. We have plenty of fields but these are mainly just grass with a few nettles, creeping thistles and docks and relatively devoid of wildlife. In contrast the Upper Orchid Field has records of over 400 species of plant and animal and that is without having any expert surveys done. Also the field is a popular spot for walkers, joggers and families with great views and plenty of colour from Spring on, including several thousand orchids in the Summer.<\/p>\n We have noticed that Bramble has been creeping in from the perimeter and we have lost in excess of 5% of the area of the field to this recently. Hence the combined efforts of the Wildlife and Environment Groups to reclaim this land in the last few months and the large bonfire piles awaiting a good dry spell.<\/p>\n There are also 7 immature Oak trees (see this month’s Nature Notes) in the middle of the field and as these grow larger we estimate that we will lose 25 square metres of wildflower area each year. We decided to remove three of these to maximise the space for wildflowers although we are planting 16 more trees on the perimeter of mixed species which will greatly increase the biodiversity on the site – including Black Poplar, Cherry, Buckthorn, Aspen and Rowan.<\/p>\n However, with some creative work by Mike Tucker we now also have a small area set aside for young families where you can picnic.<\/p>\n We shall celebrate National Meadows Week with a tour of the site on 6th July – check What\u2019s On nearer the time for more details<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is around 13 years since the Wildlife Group first got involved in looking after the Upper Orchid Field. At that stage it was quite neglected and the sloping area was covered in self-seeded Ash trees. At first the Vale of Glamorgan Council were prepared to cut the field but financial issues soon meant that they could no longer help. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2m4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10345,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10345","url_meta":{"origin":9056,"position":0},"title":"The Upper Orchid Field","author":"Alan Williams","date":"19th September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Upper Orchid Field Last\u00a0month we discussed Meadows - how important they are and yet how they are fast disappearing. This month we shall give some background on the Upper Orchid Field and how we got to where we are today. The history of the Upper Orchid Field beyond\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6706,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6706","url_meta":{"origin":9056,"position":1},"title":"Upper Orchid Field","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Upper Orchid Field Visitors to the Upper Orchid Field will have noticed that the field has been cut and the cuttings removed which is essential to keep the meadow in the best condition for wildflowers to flourish. It is just over 10 years since some residents expressed concern that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":712,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=712","url_meta":{"origin":9056,"position":2},"title":"GROUP NEWS","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st August 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Green Flag Award Ceremony \u00a0 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10165,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10165","url_meta":{"origin":9056,"position":3},"title":"National Meadows Week","author":"Alan Williams","date":"24th August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We celebrated National Meadows Week in July with a 'walk and talk' around the Upper Orchid Field. We are fortunate to have this facility on our doorstep and it is well used by visitors, dog-walkers and joggers whilst providing a haven for wildlife. The UK has lost around 97% of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/OrchidField.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/OrchidField.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/OrchidField.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11424,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11424","url_meta":{"origin":9056,"position":4},"title":"Last Wildflower Meadows Near Cardiff","author":"Alan Williams","date":"16th April 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group Visitors to the Upper Orchid Field will have seen that the field has been cut. This is one of the last wildflower meadows near Cardiff so is an invaluable resource for wildlife as well as being a popular recreational location for walkers, joggers and other visitors. An\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Picture9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12347,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12347","url_meta":{"origin":9056,"position":5},"title":"The Vale Biodiversity Team","author":"Alan Williams","date":"12th October 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group \u00a0The Vale Biodiversity Team At this time of year, you will see a lot of activity around our sites cutting the grass and wildflowers. The Vale Biodiversity team own a seed-harvesting machine, and this is being deployed on the Community Orchard and small meadow at Goldsland Farm.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Wildlife Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=48"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Picture9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9056"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9056"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9062,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9056\/revisions\/9062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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