Heathland Restoration
Eleven years ago, working closely with the Sherwood Forest Trust, we first successfully applied for a stewardship grant from ‘DEFRA’ (Now Natural England) and then began our Heathland Restoration Project. This involves the ongoing work programme:
Tree Removal – large numbers of scrub birch were removed along with the thinning and then clearing of several pine plantations.
Bracken control has been instigated by crushing stems with a roller. This mechanical process almost totally eliminates the need for chemical treatment. This sits comfortably alongside our sensitivity to the natural environment.
Gorse is managed by cutting back to the old wood and then maintaining healthy young bushes by trimming every five to ten years.
Heather regeneration - At the onset of the project the heather (‘Ling’ or ‘Calluna Vulgaris’) was in decline, but has proved relatively easy to re-establish by cutting and collecting ‘heather brash’, clearing large areas of rough grass, and then spreading the heather seed over the bare ground. This practice has also extended to the areas where trees have been removed. The consequence of this policy has been a considerable increase in heather cover particularly with healthy young plants which we now maintain at varying heights for the benefit of the invertebrates.
Tree Seedlings/ Self set Birch and Oak - We have used a combination of methods to control self set trees;
a) Cutting
b) Herbicide- ‘weed wiping’
c) Grazing
Because we have cleared such extensive areas, we needed to find an efficient method of control and now work in conjunction with Nottingham Wildlife Trust to graze extensive areas of the out of play heathland with Hebridean Sheep (Black, horned and very hardy). The sheep eat the grass and self sets with enthusiasm and also trample the bracken. We have also made use of Dexter cattle which are particularly useful at crushing the Bracken. We are planning to introduce New Forest Ponies which are reported to be efficient grazers of gorse.
As we have progressed with the Heathland Restoration Project, we have used the opportunity to create habitat for wildlife. Unusually for Heathland, we are fortunate to have natural water on the course, including the ‘Hollinwell’ which feeds into the water course and flows down to Newstead Abbey. At the same time as building two new holes 8A and 9A, we have excavated new ponds and streams. A healthy stock of fish provide food for resident Kingfishers and occasional visits from Herons. We maintain a wide strip of vegetation around the ponds and are fortunate to have water vole on site.
