Friends of Parkwood Springs

9/3/2025 0 Comments

Newsletter back catalogue

0 Comments

26/2/2025 0 Comments

Minutes of the Open Meeting - February 2025

Open Meeting held at 7pm on 11th February 2025 at St Catherine’s School, Firshill Crescent, Sheffield.

Attendees: 31, including Jon Dallow, Alan Seasman and Ryan Atkin (all Sheffield City Council)

1. Louise Bull, Chair of the Friends of Parkwood Springs, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. Peter Bull, Treasurer, reported (with photos) on the many and wide-ranging Friends Group activities since the last Open Meeting in May.Monthly Conservation Sessions

Monthly Forest Garden Sessions
Representation at events such as the Abbeyfield Park Festival in July
Visit from Move More and Sport England
Sports events such as the Steel City Trail 10 run in June
and on the same day Penny Philcox's tree walk
In July Penny's second wildflower walk of the year
Tree of the Month posters and web pages every month
Val Clinging from Sorby Natural History Society small mammal survey in August
Move More cycling event for children linked with the Tour of Britain in September
History walk and Deer Park talk as part of Heritage Open Days
Mowing of the wildflower meadow in October
Lantern making
Lantern Festival with contributions from the Sheffield Samba Band the Junior Samba Band and Storm in a Tea Cup Circus
Construction of the kestrel lantern financed by the Sheffield Town Trust
Fungi walk led by Ziggy Senkans of Sorby NHS
Hedge planting by Watercliffe Meadow Primary School and Community Forestry
Tree planting by Community Forestry helped by the Ahmadi Muslim Community
Hedge planting by Kids Plant Trees
Participation in the Sheffield Heritage Fair

What is happening with the £19.4 million government grant

3. Alan Seasman, Sheffield City Council, reminded people of the background to the project. The project will include a new access road to the old Ski Village site and improved cycle and pedestrian access, clearing the the old Ski Village site and dealing with issues such as Japanese knot weed, and other improvements.

4. The original Levelling Up Fund (LUF) bid in 2022 was rejected, but in November 2023 the Council was told by the Government that the bid was successful. Negotiations have had to take place – delayed by the change of Government and the need to sort out governance arrangements for the Project. Funding of £19.4 million has now been agreed, but the Council still does not have the money in the bank.

5. A number of surveys have already been carried out, including a transport assessment, utility connections, topography, drainage, technical issues, unexploded ordnances (for any unexploded bombs from World War 2), trees, ecology and a preliminary archaeological survey).

6. A Parkwood Area Board has been set up to manage the LUF Project and overall developments of the whole Parkwood Springs site. This Board is chaired by Gill Furness MP and Councillor Ben Miskell, with appropriate Council officers and stakeholders, including community groups such as the Friends of Parkwood Springs, the Friends of Wardsend Cemetery, SOAR and KINCA. Sub-groups will cover particular aspects.

7. The Council has been in discussion with Skyline about the redevelopment of the Ski Village site for over 5 years. Skyline is a New Zealand company which has built recreational facilities in many parts of the world, focussing on ‘luges’. They are still interested in redeveloping the old Ski Village site, but to do that they needed the site to be cleared and access improved. The LUF project addresses this, so Skyline is now preparing a Masterplan, working towards a Memorandum of Understanding with the Council. Skyline have made a number of visits to Sheffield, and they will present their proposals to the Parkwood Area Board at the end of March.

8. Planning permission will be needed for the development, and there will be formal processes for people to comment. It is clear that a Skyline site would not be a fenced off facility – there will be things people will pay for, but it will also be possible for people just to wander across the site. The access road will be only the start of improvements.

9. The Area Board is planning a newsletter to give the project more publicity, and there will be future meetings for public engagement. But there will also be formal consultations.

10. Questions and comments
a) It can be confusing whether we are talking about the old Ski Village site, or the whole of Parkwood Springs. We need to be clear that the Friends Group is concerned with the whole site.
Response: Alan confirmed that the Parkwood Area Board covers the whole site, not just the old Ski Village.
b) Is there a contingency plan if Skyline were to drop out?
Response: If that were to happen, the Council would have to go out to the market again and see what the interest was.
c) There was concern about the boundary of the development site being discussed with Skyline.
d) Local people had heard about preliminary agreement for access to the old Ski Village site through the Industrial Estate.
Response: Alan was not in a position to comment on that.
e) Is there information about who might be Skyline’s partners on the site?
Response: Skyline is talking to a number of potential partners, but no further information is available.
f) Can regular users be involved on the Area Board?
Response: A number of community groups are represented on the Board. .
g) Can we have access to the surveys that have been carried out?
Response: They will all be reflected in the eventual planning application for the old Ski Village site, and will be accessible through that. The ecological survey of the whole site will be widely available outside that process.

Other developments

11. Jon Dallow is now Woodlands and Countryside Manager at Sheffield City Council. He noted that the Parkwood Area Board is an important development, helping to get things done.

12. There are now two new Rangers working on Parkwood Springs - Katy Knight, mainly focussing on the southern end of the site, and Ryan Atkin, present at the meeting and largely focussing on the northern end including Wardsend Cemetery. Together this means that there will be a ‘full-time equivalent’ Ranger just for Parkwood Springs for two years. This will really make a difference.

13. Cycling4All is starting a base on Parkwood Springs, running adapted bike sessions 2 days a week. This will build on the sessions that they have been running at Hillsborough Park for some while.

Similarly Access Sport is starting to work with a number of local schools, including Watercliffe Meadow, St Catherine’s and Parkwood Academy, using the bike trails. These two developments should build up the use of the trails.

14. There is now the money to start a parkrun on Parkwood Springs, but agreement is still needed from the national parkrun organisation. It’s not possible to say yet when the parkrun will start. Other running groups are also interested in using the space.

15. There have been two issues with the Kiosk. Firstly, the electricity supply is not adequate. This will be dealt with in the next few weeks. Secondly, shelter is needed in bad weather, and that is being looked into. But Bekir, the cafe operator, is still involved, and posters will go up when the kiosk is re-opened. (We were all pleased to see Bekir at the meeting!)

16. The flooded path behind the houses on Cooks Wood Road has been investigated, and attempts made to clear out the culvert. (The culvert runs under the houses, across Cooks Wood Road and down through Burngreave. Increased rainfall due to climate change has changed the hydrology and made the situation worse.) The best solution at the moment seems to be to try to hold back the flow of water, through felling trees and creating ‘leaky dams’. The path is important and is on the planned parkrun route.

17. The problems with off-road motor-bikes are recognised, including the use of quad bikes for illegal purposes. The Council are looking to put in bigger concrete bollards in particular places, and are working with the Police off-road teams. It is important also to raise the problem with the Local Area Committee (LAC). The Council can also try to provide more positive activities. It is important for members of the public to continue to report bikes through 101, either by phone or online.

18. The Valencia site (the closed Landfill) is in the restoration phase. Lots of people are using it, but there has not been any progress on making the new paths. The Council’s Planning Department is now engaged, as it is a matter of enforcing planning conditions.

19. Questions and comments
a) It is important to see some progress on the restoration of the Valencia site. Winter is obviously a bad time for work such as this, but there was no progress last summer either. Valencia do not seem to be engaged.
Response: Gill Furniss MP, as Chair of the Parkwood Area Board, is writing to Valencia.
b) All the improvements that are taking place are great for the community. Is it possible to monitor the increased use made by people of the site?
Response: It’s important to do this, and monitoring is taking place.
c) Is there a time-scale for providing a shelter at the kiosk? Couldn’t local people help? There needs to be consideration given to not attracting anti-social behaviour.
Response: there is red-tape to be gone through, and it needs to be done well, but the Council recognises that it’s important.
d) Is there one website for all the activities that are happening on Parkwood Springs?
Response: The Area Board’s Newsletter will help with this, but a website would be a good idea.
e) If you report off-road motor-bikes to the Police, they want an address. Can we get one?
Response: the Council had to get an address and postcode for the kiosk. This will be shared with people. Also, the Police can accept ‘what3words’ locations.
f) The new bike-track area at the north of the site is getting litter-strewn. Can anything be done?
Response: the rangers will look at it, and Riverlution are also going to be working on the site regularly.
g) The new paths are great, but some of the old paths are getting over-grown.
Response: The Rangers can look at cutting back the vegetation on some of them. Part of the thinking for the site is to have a range of types of paths, from very easy to ‘explorer’.

20. Louise thanked Alan and Jon for coming and speaking, and everyone for their attendance. Louise and Peter were thanked for their inputs. The meeting closed at 8.30pm.

0 Comments

24/11/2024 0 Comments

Voltage Management System off Club Mill Road

The application was withdrawn in December 2024, but here are our earlier comments:

There has been a recent planning application for the construction of a Voltage Management System (VMS) on the site of the former Neepsend Power Station cooling towers. The system will be of significant size and occupy quite a large area. The site is between the industrial area and the travellers camp on Club Mill Road. The development is required to manage the effects of the increase in renewable power generation on the national electricity grid. You can see full details on https://planningapps.sheffield.gov.uk , look for application 24/01514/FUL.

Our attention was drawn to the proposal in June, and as an interested neighbour the Friends group felt we should comment on the application. We discussed the matter with the Upper Don Trail Trust (UDTT) and the Friends of Wardsend Cemetery, and agreed to follow the lead of the UDTT in jointly objecting to the proposal.

We don’t object to the need for the VMS installation, but we do feel that the proposed implementation requires the loss of a significant area of green open space and fails to fully address its location in one of the most important green-blue corridors in the city. We have sought modest mitigation measures to the proposal which would greatly increase its contribution to enhancing the Upper Don green-blue corridor and its contribution to active travel and wider amenity without affecting the operational functions of the facility. In particular we feel that such measures would be complementary to the work being proposed in connection with the Parkwood Springs LUF 3 award to continue the development of the Country Park in the City, as incorporated in the forthcoming Local Plan.

The application has yet to be decided by the Planning Committee, but we understand that a similar proposal for an alternative site between the Owlerton Stadium and the Mondelez site has already been given permission and there is also an outline application being considered for the site of the car scrapyard at the end of Livesey Street. Neither of the latter two applications requires the loss of green open space, so we do not have the same objections to them, but nor do they offer the same opportunity to contribute to active travel and wider amenity. Each of these proposals is by a different organisation, we believe that they are all competing for the contract to install the equipment, and that the contract award will be decided shortly. We will monitor the situation and keep people informed about the outcome.

0 Comments

1/10/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: October 2024 - Aspen

The Aspen, or Quaking Aspen is native to the UK. It was an early coloniser along with Birch and Willow, arriving around 12,000 years ago as the Ice Age ended. Aspen grows quickly, and is tolerant of many soils. Able to grow to around 25 metres, individual trees can live for at least 100 years. However, Aspen spreads by underground root-systems so, while individual trees may not live long, new trees sprout from the root systems and can spread for over 40 metres, forming a ‘colony’ which is recognised as one single organism. The most numerous tree in North America, producing stunning stands of yellow trees in autumn, there is one Aspen colony that is older than any Sequoia: a colony in Utah Fishlake National Forest has been estimated at 80,000 years old weighing an estimated 6,600 tons. If Aspen trees are felled or burned down the roots can lay dormant and regrow.

The round, wavy-edged leaves, paler on the underside, are a good way to identify Aspen. Also look for the flattened leafstalks. It is this feature that allows the shimmering of the leaves and the whispering sound associated with Aspen, which give rise to its scientific name ‘Populus tremulus’.

Wildlife value of the Aspen: The Aspen tree enhances biodiversity. It can be an indicator of ancient woodland in areas like the Caledonian Forest, though our small stand of trees on Parkwood Springs are relative newcomers.

A wide range of moth larvae feed on the Aspen, including the Figure of Eighty and the Poplar Hawkmoth.

There are over 50 species of invertebrates associated with Aspen, including beetles, flies, sawflies, the Poplar Leaf-rolling Weevil and, specific to the Aspen, the Aspen Hoverfly, the Scarce Aspen Knot-horn and the Scarce Aspen Midget. Many of these feed on the leaves but some, including the larvae of the Hornet Moth, feed beneath the bark.

The pale grey bark of the Aspen is pitted with diamond-shaped pores or ‘lenticels’. The inner layer of the bark, being full of sugars, attracts many animals to feed on it. Overgrazing by deer can cause problems by damaging individual trees and more especially by grazing off the new shoots generating from Aspen’s underground root-system. Aspen is also a favourite tree of the beaver. Voles and mice seek out the bark of the tree for its nutrient-rich food. As it ages, the bark supports many types of lichen and moss.

Fungi, including Scalycaps, will grow on Aspen. Mutually beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the soil exchange nutrients with many trees but this especially benefits Aspen, helping to nourish and protect the widespread root-systems from which new clones of the original tree will grow into mature trees.

Aspen Flowers: Though spreading by their root systems, Aspen is also spread by seed. They are dioecious (male and female flowers are produced on different trees). The reddish male catkins appear between February and April. Pollen is carried from these by wind to the female catkins which, when pollinated, produce fluffy seeds in summer, which are, again, dispersed by the wind.

Human uses of Aspen: The soft, light-weight, close- grained timber neither burns or splinters easily. These qualities, plus its lack of taste or scent and its buoyancy explain its many uses. Aspen has been made into matches, paper, chopsticks, paddles, milk-pails, surgical splints, herring barrels and packing cases. The inner bark has been dried and ground for flour for bread and to thicken broth. The sugar rich sap, tapped in spring, has been used in drinks.

Herbal Uses: Because Aspen bark, like that of Willow, contains the aspirin-like salicin, it has long been used medicinally to treat ailments like rheumatism, neuralgia and to reduce swelling and inflammation. Many Native Americans and others still value its analgesic and antiseptic qualities.

Myths and Symbolism of Aspen: For Celts the Aspen was linked with transformation and regeneration. An Aspen stick was known as a ‘stick of woe’, signifying the Underworld was nearby. In Ireland the mythical hero Cuchulain was said to carry a shield of Aspen to protect him from fear while Irish heroes were buried with Aspen wands to give life after death for their souls. Linked to their whispering sounds an Aspen leaf under the tongue was thought to bestow eloquence, gifted by a faery queen. In Christianity, Aspen was believed to have formed the cross carried by Jesus to his crucifixion.

Interesting fact about Aspen: When defoliated they are believed to emit natural herbicides to deter further predation of their leaves. Research is revealing that how protections and signals of threat are produced and transmitted by plants.

The Aspen tree in poetry: Gerard Manley Hopkins, one of the most important poets of the Victorian era, wrote this powerful lament on ecological destruction when a stand of Aspen were cut down at Binsey, on the banks of the Thames, near Oxford.

Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844-1889
Binsey Poplars (felled 1879)
My aspens dear, whose airy cages quelled,
Quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun,
All felled, felled, are all felled;
Of a fresh and following folded rank
Not spared, not one
That dandled a sandalled
Shadow that swam or sank
On meadow & river & wind-wandering weed-winding bank.
O if we but knew what we do
When we delve or hew-
Hack and rack the growing green!
Since country is so tender
To touch, her being so slender,
That, like this sleek and seeing ball
But a prick will make no eye at all,
Where we, even where we mean
To mend her, we end her,
When we hew or delve:
After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.
Ten or twelve, only ten or twelve
Strokes of havoc unselve
The sweet especial scene,
Rural scene, a rural scene,
Sweet especial rural scene.

Edward Thomas,1878-1917: Aspens
All day and night, save winter, every weather,
Above the inn, the smithy and the shop,
The aspens at the cross-roads talk together
Of rain, until their last leaves fall from the top….
The whisper of the aspens is not drowned,
And over lightless pane and footless road,
Empty as sky, with every other sound
Not ceasing, calls their ghosts from their abode….
Whatever wind blows, while they and I have leaves
We cannot other than an Aspen be
That ceaselessly, unreasonably grieves,
Or so men think who like a different tree.

0 Comments

1/9/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: September 2024 - Elm

The Elm dominated many rural scenes in the past. Living for hundreds of years and reaching a height of 40 metres the Elm is either native or was introduced to the country during the Bronze Age. Some Elms survive, mostly as hedgerow shrubs. However an estimated 30 million Elm trees were lost, mostly between 1964 and the late 1980’s, due to Dutch Elm Disease caused by a microfungus spread by a beetle.

The leaves of Elm, which are fed on by a range of caterpillars and other insects, have asymmetrical bases, the two sides joining the main leaf stem at different heights (see photo on left). They also have a double-toothed edge (see detail, left), are roughsurfaced and tough.
An old country rhyme goes:
“When the elm leaf is as big as a mouse’s ear
Then sow barley, never fear”

We now have our own Dutch Elm Disease resistant variety of Elm - a Wingham cultivar chosen for its similarity to the lost English Elms. Planted in 2023, we hope it will attract the beautiful White-letter Hairstreak butterfly to lay its eggs on the leaves and fly high among its upper branches as the tree matures.

The Chelsea Road Elm is one Elm that has proved resistant to Dutch Elm Disease. It is home to the White-letter Hairstreak Butterfly, the population of which has declined by 97% since 1976. Over 100 years old, this Sheffield tree became famous when threatened with felling due to the damage it was causing to the pavement. Local residents successfully campaigned against the felling and seven new resistant Elms were also planted nearby, hopefully increasing the chances of the Whiteletter Hairstreak Butterfly colony surviving.

The wildlife-value of Elm: As well as being the food plant of the White-letter Hairstreak butterfly caterpillar, Elm leaves are eaten by other insects, including Elm Sawfly larvae and the tiny Common Candy-striped Spider. This spider spins a protective web to wrap a leaf around its egg-sac.

The winged seeds, called samaras, provide food for birds like Woodpeckers and Jays. The rough bark of mature trees are also a habitat for small mammals and birds.

Symbolism of the Elm: It is a sad irony, given the devastation wrought by Dutch Elm Disease, that the Elm was a symbol of resilience, but also of hope and renewal. Since they formed imposing landmarks in the past, traveling preachers would often preach and judges hold their courts beneath mature Elms.

Uses of Elm timber: Elm wood has a very distinctive grain and is remarkably durable. It is pliant, bending easily when heated, gives a good tone to stringed instruments and, even when wet, lasts a very long time. These qualities led to its use for a wide range of items including furniture, flooring, violins and guitars and, in Scotland, for Shinty sticks. It was the traditional timber for the bottoms of narrow boats and for wheel hubs. Elm was used in the original construction of London Bridge.

Branches and whole trunks of elm were hollowed out by auger for use as water pipes in many British towns. Recently, workers in Edinburgh unearthed 200 year-old elm pipes which originally supplied water to the city.

Other human uses of Elm: The ability of Elm to survive in polluted environments led to it being planted along city streets. The inner bark was chewed or boiled to treat colds and sore throats, as well as for treatment of burns.

A yellow dye can be made from Elm and that was used to dye wool in the past, with the inner bark of Elm made into twine to tie the wool into hanks. If other food was scarce the leaves of Elm were fed to stock.

The Elm in mythology: The Elm is associated, in mythology, with death which could be due to the habit of mature Elm dropping large branches without warning. Equally it could be linked to the popular use in the past of the water-resistant, durable Elm timber for coffins.

In Celtic mythology and in Greek myth the Elm is linked to the Underworld. The Celts believed the Elm had an affinity with Elves and guarded burial mounds, allowing safe passage to the underworld after death.

In Greek mythology Orpheus rescued his beloved wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld by enchanting others with his harp-playing. The Elm was believed to grow at the point he serenaded his love. Around the ‘dancing Elms of Devon’ Mayday dances were traditionally held.

The Elm in poetry: Unsurprisingly, given its beauty and status, the Elm appears in many poems. Here are extracts from some well known poets.
Carol Ann Duffy:
Seven sisters in Tottenham
long gone, except for their names,
were English Elms.
Others stood at the edge of farms,
twinned with the shape of clouds
like green rhymes;
or cupped the beads of rain
in their leaf palms;
or glowered, grim giants, warning of storms.

A.E. Houseman
When green buds hang in the Elm:
When green buds hang in the Elm like
dust
And sprinkle the lime like rain,
Forth I wander, forth I must,
And drink of life again,
Forth I must by hedgerow bowers
To look at the leaves uncurled,
And stand in the fields where cuckoo
flowers
Are lying about the world.

John Clare: The Fallen Elm, 1830:
Old Elm that murmured in our chimney top
the sweetest anthem Autumn ever made
And into mellow whispering calms would drop
When showers fell on thy many-coloured shade,
And when the dark tempests mimic thunder
made
While darkness came as it would strangle light
With the black tempest of a Winter night
That rocked thee like a cradle to thy root,
How did I love to hear the winds upbraid
Thy strength without, while all within was mute;
It seasoned comfort to our heart’s desire
We felt thy kind protection like a friend…
With axe at root he felled thee to the ground
And barred of freedom- how I hate that sound…
Such was thy ruin, music making Elm.

A verse from the traditional song - ‘Oak, Ash and Thorn’ references the tendency of the mature Elm, mentioned above, to drop a limb without warning:

“Ellum [Elm] she hates mankind and waits
’Til every gust be laid
To drop a limb on the head of him,
That anyway trusts her shade.
Whether a lad be sober or sad
Or mellow with ale from the horn,
He’ll take no wrong when he lieth along
Neath Oak and Ash and Thorn.”

0 Comments

4/8/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: August 2024 - White Poplar

The White Poplar can reach a height of 30 metres and is a very fast growing tree, capable of adding a metre a year to its height. Spreading by suckers as well as seed it can become invasive. It thrives in poor soils including those that are salty and sandy. This has also made it a popular tree to grow under difficult conditions. It was introduced into the UK as a decorative tree for parks and gardens, probably from Holland during the 16th Century. It is native over a vast area, from the Atlas Mountains, through southern Europe to Central Asia. A shallow-rooted tree, when young the bark is smooth and silvery grey but as it ages it develops a characteristic pattern of dark, diamond-shaped pores.

The White Poplar, as its name suggests, is most easily recognised by the white appearance of its leaves, the undersides of which are coated by dense white hairs. These, together with the flexible stems of the leaves, give the tree a silvery appearance and a whispering sound as the leaves flutter and shimmer in even a light breeze.

Wildlife value of the White Poplar: The White Poplar is dioecious which means the male and female flowers are held on different trees, the male trees being much rarer in the British Isles than the female trees. Because it flowers from late winter to early spring it provides valuable early food for insects. The female flowers, as with other Poplars, become fluffy later in the year and catch the wind, spreading far and wide, very visible as they are caught by the wind. Birds eat the seeds, which, like all seeds, are highly nutritious, packed as they with all the seed needs to develop into a plant. The leaves of White Poplar are the food-plant of many moth caterpillars, including the Poplar Grey, Poplar Hawkmoth, Dingy Shears, Sallow Kitten and the Goat Moth. The latter can weaken the tree through its habit of laying eggs beneath the tree-bark.

Human Value of White Poplar: The fast growth and tolerance of poor soils characteristic of White Poplar make it useful for windbreaks, stabilising soils and riverbanks and for reforestation projects. It is being researched as a biomass fuel. The shallow roots also help increase soil aeration. The dense white hairs on the leaves help prevent the pores being clogged by pollution so it can grow in highly polluted habitats. The White Poplar is also being researched for ‘phytoremediation’ as it appears effective in breaking down heavy metals and chemical pollutants in the soil.

Timber: White Poplar wood is light-weight and easy to use for furniture-making, paper, plywood, packing boxes and matches.

Herbal uses: Like Willow the bark of White Poplar contains salicin, a natural aspirin and was long used to treat headaches. fevers and skin conditions as well as a poultice for wounds and to treat tooth decay.

The bark and leaves are being researched as a source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory treatments.

The White Poplar in Myths and Symbols: Persephone, the Greek Goddess of spring and queen of the Underworld, was said to have turned herself into a White Poplar to escape the attentions of Hades, god of the Underworld.

Also in Greek mythology Heracles (Hercules in Roman mythology), famous for his strength and intrepid adventures, was in battle with Cerebus, the multi-headed hound of Hades. A garland of Poplar that Heracles wore during this battle was said to have been black until his sweat turned it white.

Some Native American cultures hold the White Poplar to be sacred due to its healing powers.

Manmohan Ghose (Indian poet 1869-1924, the first Indian poet to write in English) picked up on the shimmering, whispering leaves so characteristic of a grove of White Poplar in full leaf:
Extract from his ‘Poplar, Beech and Weeping Willow’:
“Shapely Poplar, shivering white, Poplar like a maiden,
Thinking, musing softly here, so light and so unladen
That with every breath and stir, perpetually you gladden,
Teach me your still secrecies of thought that never sadden”

0 Comments

2/7/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: July 2024 - Beech

The Beech, the third most common tree of British woodlands, grows to over 40 metres and can live well over 300 years, or up to 500 years if pollarded. It is truly native in South East England and South Wales, colonising as the ice retreated after the last ice age. It has naturalised and been planted elsewhere in the UK. Mature beech woods can form a cathedral-like high-arched canopy. Beech are shallow-rooted and many old trees were lost during the hurricane of 1987.

Some Parkwood Springs Beeches are multistemmed and may be survivors of older trees which were cut for firewood by impoverished local people during the 1930’s Depression. Beech is a favourite decorative hedge having beautiful foliage and leaves that linger on well into winter. These act as shelter for birds and small mammals.

The distinctive hairy edge to the leaves is more noticeable when young. Lime-green in colour, the glossy leaves darken as the season progresses. They are so densely arranged that by early summer little light and rain penetrates. Few plants are able to thrive under the summer canopy. The autumn display of gold, copper and bronze, however, is stunning.

The Wildlife value of Beech: Beech woods are valuable habitats for flowers like Wood Anemones and Bluebells that flower early in spring before the dense canopy of leaves reduces the light. Fungi like Cep, Lion’s Mane, Death Cap, the Earthstar and our native Truffle also grow in the dead organic matter in the soils under Beech trees, where the rich network of ectomycorrhizal fungi beneath the ground help the host trees gain nutrients in exchange for sugars. The smooth, grey bark of younger Beech trees becomes gnarled and split as the tree ages, providing habitats for many mosses and lichens as well as nesting and sheltering sites for bats, rodents and holenesting birds like the Nuthatch and Woodpecker.

The foliage is a food-plant for several insects including the caterpillars of the Barred Hook-tip, Clay Triple-lines and the Buff-tip Moth, whose adult is beautifully camouflaged. The larvae of the Small Beech Pygmy moth feeds only on Beech.

Beech Mast (beech nuts), small triangular nuts, provide highly nutritious food for wood-mice, squirrels, voles, jays, nuthatches and finches, including Siskin and Brambling.

Every few years, as with Oaks, a heavy crop is produced. These are known as ‘mast years’ and provide a glut of food and many surplus seeds for germination. Research shows that Beech seedlings will grow well in the shade of the trees and are favoured by the parent trees, surviving better than other seeds on the woodland floor.

The Human Uses of Beech: Beech timber, fine-grained and largely knot-free bends easily and turns well, These qualities mean it has long ben used for furniture. The original ‘Bodgers’ were skilled green-woodworkers in the Chilterns who worked on pole-lathes in the woodland, often making chairs and other everyday furniture. Beech seasons quickly and has a shock-resistant, durable quality which led to it being used for rifle-butts, shoe-heels, hammer and mallet handles and hockey-sticks. Beech also burns well, and is used for firewood and smoking food.

The leaves were used as a poultice to relieve swelling and the forked twigs valued for divining. The nuts can be toxic in large quantities but fine in small quantities, though small and fiddly to access.

Beech Myths and Symbolism: The Beech has long been regarded as the ‘Queen of the woods,’ with Oak as king. A piece of Beech carried with you would act as a good-luck charm while washing in the water caught in the hollows of an old Beech would wash away your cares. Druids believed carving symbols and runes in the smooth, grey trunks gave you magic powers. The ease of carving into the bark has made that activity a long and still practiced activity for lovers and sweethearts, but it’s not to be encouraged as it can weaken the tree.

The Anglo-Saxon word, ‘Boc’, for Beech, similar to ‘Buche’ in German, became the word ‘book’ in English - thin slices of the wood were used for writing on in the past.

The way Beech roots are often exposed led to an association with snakes, referenced by Tennyson in a poem in which he writes of the “serpent-rooted Beech trees”.

The Beech Tree in poetry: Several poems that refer to Beech reference some of the qualities described above. The first reminds me of the wonderful word for the smell of earth and leaves after rain- ‘petrichor’.
‘A Prospect of BeechTrees' by Stephen Boyce:
“Sometimes a tree becomes a stoup, a font the threshold of winter, its gnarled joints
offering the blessing of damp beechmast,
leaf and twig and husk,
And lingering there the sweet musk of decades of mulch trampled by the feet of drovers, huggers, lovers
and some who found respite in shade,
took shelter from a squall….”

Robert Frost: Extract from ‘A Boundless Moment”
“We stood a moment so in a strange world,
Myself as one of his own pretense [sic] deceives;
And then I said the truth (and we moved on).
A young beech clinging to its last years leaves”

In 1597 John Gerard, the
English priest and herbalist
writes of the mast: with these
mice and Squirrels are much
delighted, who do mightily
increase by feeding theron;
Swine also be fattened
therewith, and certain other
beasts, also Deere do feed
thereon very greedily: they be
likewise pleasant to Thrushes.

Edith Nesbit (Writer of children’s books.)
From her poem The Beech Tree:
My beautiful beech, your smooth grey coat is trimmed
With letters. Once each stood for all things dear
To foolish lovers, dead this many a year…
My beautiful beech, I came upon you here
The master-letter which begins her name
Through whom, to me the royal summer came,
And nightingale and rose, and all things dear”.

0 Comments

5/6/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: June 2024 - Horse Chestnut

The Horse Chestnut was introduced to England in the 16th century from Türkiye and became very popular for avenues and specimen trees in Stately Homes and urban parks from the 17th century. It was especially valued for its decorative flowers, commonly known as ‘candles’. The fruits have long been popular with children playing the game ‘conkers’. There are nearly half a million in Great Britain and Capability Brown planted 4,800 on just one estate in Wiltshire. Horse Chestnut trees can grow to a height of 40 metres and live for 300 years. The tree grows rapidly and in a range of soils. There is a decorative pink flowered cultivar often grown in parks.

‘Sticky buds’, ‘palmate’ leaves (like the spread fingers on a hand), ’candle’ flower spikes and conkers are all easy ways to identify Horse Chestnut trees through the seasons. In winter the way branches upturn at their ends also helps.

Wildlife value of Horse Chestnut: While this tree doesn’t support as much wildlife as many native species its rich supplies of pollen and nectar do support insects, especially Bees. The caterpillars of some moths, like the Triangle Moth, feed on the leaves and deer can eat the conkers. When mature the tree provides shelter and nest sites for some birds, including Woodpeckers.

A bleeding canker is sadly now affecting the trunks of some mature trees and since 2002 many of our UK trees have become blighted in autumn by the numerous larvae of the Chestnut Leaf-Miner Moth. These larvae affect the leaves in high numbers, are unsightly and may weaken the tree over time but Blue Tits, Goldfinch, Robins and other birds are learning to feed on them- an autumn boost for an increasing number of our birds.

The relationship between Bees and Horse Chestnut flowers: Young flowers have a blotch of yellow- a ‘bee guide’ that directs bees to the rich nectar source at the neck of each flower. Once the flowers have been successfully pollinated the bee guide becomes deep pink. The loss of the yellow guide signals to the bee that nectar production in that flower has ceased, it doesn’t waste its energy trying to feed at empty flowers and turns to those flowers still showing the yellow patch. The Horse Chestnut benefits by increasing the chance of cross-pollination which makes the seed and then the tree more resilient.

Did you know? Bees don’t see colour, and particularly red, the way we do. Research is ongoing as to how they see it - maybe when in contrast to green, but in general they aren’t so attracted to red flowers.

Human uses of Horse Chestnut: Conkers have been used as cattle feed when other foods were scarce and in Turkey, where Horse Chestnut trees are indigenous, conkers were fed to horses to treat various medical conditions and to cure their wind. Leaf extracts have been used to treat bruises and strains in people - they contain the anti-inflammatory chemical aescin. It is still in use as a herbal remedy.

There are Victorian recipes for conkers ground into flour but it is mildly toxic in large quantities and needed to be leached to reduce the bitterness.

One of the Soapberry family, the Horse Chestnut contains saponins - just scrunch up the leaves in water and see the foamy results - a simple way to wash if you are out in the wilds! Horse Chestnut is still added to cosmetics and shampoos and halved conkers are being used by some as a natural washing agent in washing machines (look online for the technique). Due to its gentle soapy qualities Horse Chestnut was used to wash delicate fabrics like tapestries.

The timber is creamy-brown and, being weak, has few uses except for carving. However, until the recent development of manufactured materials, being both light-weight and easy to shape it was used to make artificial limbs. Being absorbent, the wood was also used in the past to hold stored fruit. In 1917 children were offered money by the Ministry of Supply to collect conkers for “the war effort” but the reason was kept a secret. It was later revealed that it was hoped to use the starch in the conkers to produce acetone to supplement a shortage of cordite. In the end it proved too heavy to transport the huge quantities needed.

Myth: the longheld belief that conkers brought into the house in autumn would keep spiders away has unfortunately been found to be ineffective.

Playing conkers: Before our version of conkers, a name derived from ‘conquerors’ or ‘conquer- to knock out’. the game was being played with snailshells and hazel nuts. This is recorded by Robert Southey in his memoirs of 1821. The first record of it being played with conkers is in 1848 from the Isle of Wight. The World Conker Championships, held annually in October in Ashton, Northamptonshire began when a group of anglers, having to abandon their fishing trip in 1965, decided to hold a conker competition. Traditionally a string is threaded through the conker -to cheat and make the conker harder they are variously baked or soaked in vinegar. You start with a none-er and every time you win with that conker it is renamed- a one-er. two-er etc until someone else’s conker knocks it off its string.

The Horse Chestnut in poetry, art and history: Contrary to some press reports conkers was not banned in English schools. Michael Rosen recites his prose-poem on his school visits:
“And you Conker! Always up for a fight, aren’t you? Let me get at him, let me get at him- that’s you. Heh. Well I know your little secret: There you are, lying about in your little green house and then, when the walls are split, out you pop like you think you’re some shiny new car cruising out of the garage. But I’ve seen inside your little green house. You lie there for weeks all tucked up in a soft white bed, don’t you? Ha! Hardman! Ha!”

Anne Frank could see a Horse Chestnut tree from the small window in her family’s secret annex in Amsterdam, where she hid from the Nazis during World War Two. She recorded its changes through the seasons. An entry on 13th May describes her pleasure at seeing it “in full bloom”. A successful campaign prevented it being felled and, after it was blown down in a gale, saplings from the original tree were distributed around the world.

Extract from John Clare: My Early Home:
The red-breast from the sweetbriar bush
Drop’t down to pick the worm;
On the horse-chestnut sang the thrush.
O’er the house where I was born,
The moonlight, like a shower of pearls
Fell o’er this bower of bliss
And on the bench sat boys and girls:
My early home was this.

0 Comments

29/4/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: May 2024 - Sycamore

The Sycamore Tree, Europe’s largest Maple species, is not native to Britain. Some think it was introduced by the Romans, others that it was introduced around 500 years ago from Central Europe. Sycamore can live up to 400 years and reach 35 metres in height. It grows in many different habitats and is especially resilient to pollution and salty winds. Sycamore is perhaps best known for the winged fruits (called ‘samaras’) which are very fertile and, when ripe, spin through the air, allowing the wind to carry them over distances.

This way they spread widely as any gardener will know from the dozens of seedlings which emerge the following spring. For generations children have enjoyed tossing these winged seeds into the air to watch them ‘helicoptering’ down to the ground.

This fast-growing tree, with its smooth grey bark, can quickly colonise an area and crowd out other species. The large spring shoots open to five- fingered (palmate) leaves with flowers hanging beneath in racemes. Sycamore does have wildlife value, though less than many native species like Oak.

Wildlife value of Sycamore: John Evelyn, the prominent 17th century diarist and landowner, thought the Sycamore should be banished from gardens and avenues because of the many aphids it attracts. These aphids emit honey-dew on the leaves, turning them, and things it drips onto, mouldy and unsightly. Despite this Sycamore has been widely planted in parks, gardens and along streets, due to its resilience and fast growth. The aphids do provide food for many insect-eating birds.

The hanging racemes of flowers in spring provide nectar and pollen for many flying insects, including bees. The leaves are the food plant for several caterpillars including the Sycamore Moth, and the hard seeds are eaten by birds like Goldfinches and Greenfinches which have strong enough bills to break into their outer coating.

When the trees mature they can provide shelter for small mammals, including bats, and nest sites for Blackbirds, Robins and Blue Tits, as well as some butterflies, beetles and ladybirds.

Human uses of Sycamore: The dense canopy and quick growth of Sycamore has led to them being planted around farmhouses in areas like Derbyshire and the Scottish lowlands, especially near dairies, to cool and shelter the buildings.

After about 60 years Sycamore can be felled for timber. The creamy, hard, fine-grained wood is favoured for carving. As the wood doesn’t stain, it has been used for ladles and spoons as well as for toys and furniture. When Sycamore wood is ‘rippled’ and highly decorative it has been used for the sides of violins.

Sycamore timber is being researched as a possible timber for agroforestry. Because it is so invasive trees would need to be vegetatively propagated from male specimens as males could not then spread by seed.

In autumn, as well as the seed ‘helicopters’ becoming ripe, many leaves of Sycamore become affected by a fungus commonly known as Tar Spot. Although this may look dramatic the leaves fall and the fungus doesn’t damage the tree itself. In fact Tar Spot is a good indicator that air pollution levels are low. One of the redeeming features of Sycamore in our landscape is that, as yet, they are less affected by disease than many of our other deciduous trees.

Symbolism and myths associated with Sycamore: In Europe Sycamore have long associations with beauty, strength and resilience. In ancient Greece Sycamore, such prolifically-seeding trees, were a symbol of fertility and abundance, and linked to Hera, the goddess of marriage and childbirth. Norse myths link the tree to Freya, their goddess of fertility, love and war. She was often pictured as seated in a Sycamore.

In Wales there is a long tradition of giving love spoons as a symbol of love and commitment. They were carved by sweethearts and, being a wood that is easy to carve, even with basic tools like penknives, were traditionally carved from Sycamore.

Early Celtic myths held the Sycamore to be sacred, linking heaven, earth and the underworld, and a home to fairies and spirits. In Ancient Egyptian lore, (the ‘Book of the Dead), two Sycamores grow at the eastern gate of Heaven. The sun god Ra rises between them each morning. Sarcophagi were often made from Sycamore and one planted beside a tomb as for them, as for many cultures since, it symbolised protection.

The Sycamore in history

The Tolpuddle Martyrs: The Tolpuddle Martyrs met under a Sycamore tree in Dorset in 1834 to form a society to fight against starvation wages in rural communities. Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister at the time, was bitterly opposed to Trade Unions and he didn’t oppose the harsh sentence given to 6 protesters of 7 years transportation to Australia. They became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a symbol of working class struggles ever since. They were pardoned and given a free passage home two years later. The tree, known as the Martyr’s tree, still stands in the village of Tolpuddle.

The Sycamore in the arts: The resilience of the Sycamore is referenced in Wendell Berry’s poem, The Sycamore:
“In the place that is my own place, whose earth
I am shaped in and must bear, there is an old tree growing, a great sycamore that is a wondrous healer of itself.
Fences have been tied to it, nails driven into it,
hacks and whittles cut in it, the lightning has burned it,
There is no year it has flourished in that has not harmed it...
Over all its scars has come the seamless white of the bark. It bears the gnarls of its history healed over. It has risen to a strange perfection...
It is a fact, sublime, mystical and unassailable.”

The most famous current Sycamore, the ‘sycamore gap tree’ on Hadrian’s wall was, sadly, felled by an act of vandalism. There was an international outcry, showing the importance of mature trees in our landscapes The National Trust is using its seeds to grow new trees.

Even Ella Fitzgerald sings to the Sycamore in ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me, a ballad written by Gus Kahn in 1931:
“…Night breezes seem to whisper I love you
Birds singing in the Sycamore trees,
Dream a little dream of me…”

0 Comments

2/4/2024 0 Comments

Tree of the month: April 2024 - Apple

Apple trees are not native to Britain. Domestication of Apples probably started around 10,000 years ago and they are now grown world-wide, with many thousands of varieties. DNA analysis shows the earliest form of Apple is native to the mountains of Kazakhstan where it is still flourishing. No Apple variety comes true from seed. All cooking, eating and cider Apples have been developed from selective cross-breeding over thousands of years. The only reliable propagation of any variety is from clone-grafting.

The few Apple trees we have on Parkwood Springs are probably descendants from the orchard planted by the tenants of ‘Shirtcliffe Hall Farme’ described in 1637 as ‘a dwelling house, and ancient Chappell, one Barne, one Oxhouse, one orchard’. In the 19th Century the old Hall was demolished and ‘a good modern house’ was built nearby, later also demolished, on what is now the car park for Parkwood Springs. Our Apple trees, like any that are unmanaged, produce blemished, diseased apples which are still valuable for wildlife. The blossom is also a great source of pollen and nectar for many insects.

The Romans bred varieties that would ‘keep’ and they could carry as valuable fresh food throughout their empire. Some think our UK varieties originate from these times. Apple trees can grow up to 10 metres high and wide but many are now grafted onto special dwarfing root-stock. Apples have long been grown into shapes that suit particular sites - including ‘espalier’, fan, pillar and even step-over apples which around half a metre high. The Victorian craze for ‘family trees’, with several varieties on one trunk, can still be obtained - there’s an Apple variety now for most growing situations.

Deciding on the Apple tree to grow: The 5-petalled Apple blossoms, varying in degrees of white and pink, emerge from April to June, depending on the variety. For best results two or more cultivars from the same or adjacent flowering groups need to be grown to maximise cross-fertilisation. You also need to consider things like whether you want ‘eaters’, ‘cookers’, apples to eat off the tree or to store to eat over the winter, what size and shape tree you prefer etc. The RHS website explains what you need to consider and Sheffield Fruit Trees, a social enterprise tree nursery, provides advice, for communities or individuals. with tree varieties that grow well locally.

Apple leaves, which appear simultaneously with the blossom, are roughly oval in shape, with serrated edges and lightly woolly undersides. If untreated, a wide range of pests and diseases affect the Apple, including scab, mildews and the codling moth.

The grey bark, initially fairly smooth, becomes gnarled and split as the tree ages, providing habitat for many invertebrates, lichens and mosses.

Apple Day, held on the nearest weekend to 21st October, was initiated by Common Ground in 1991 to celebrate the rich diversity of species that are known to exist in many localities. Over 80% of our traditional orchards have been lost in Britain, along with many unique local species. The Brogdale Collection in Kent helps find, identify and preserve these species. If you think you have an old variety there are instructions on their site for you to get help with identification.

Wildlife value of the Apple: Apple blossom has long been known to be of value to honey bees but research by Reading University found 70 different species of invertebrates feeding on Apple Trees, including 25 different bees and hoverflies. The most common species were the solitary Mining Bee family (Andrena). On Parkwood Springs we are developing special habits for these ground-nesting bees, of which one known locally occurring species is the beautiful Tawny Mining Bee. You may recognise sites of these in early spring from the small ‘volcanoes’ of dirt that appear for a few days as the female excavates the nest. she then builds several cells below ground, which she lines with supplies of pollen and nectar ready for the larvae as they hatch.

Bullfinches feed on the nutrient-rich buds of Apple and other fruit trees in spring. Mature Apples and windfalls provide good food for Badgers, Foxes, Mice, Voles, Hedgehogs, Winter Thrushes and other birds. Their sugars feed Butterflies, Moths, Bees, Wasps, Ants and Spiders. Fungi and moulds also grow on the old apples and Apple Trees are a favourite for the hemiparasitic Mistletoe.

Human uses of Apple Trees: For millennia Apple varieties have been developed for eating, cooking, wine and cider making, and juicing. The saying ‘An Apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is thought to have originated in 19th Century Pembrokeshire. Another version: ‘An apple day, no doctor to pay’ reminds us of the times when any doctor’s visit would have been costly. Recent research shows Apples can improve the health of gut bacteria, blood vessels and brain activity due to the fibre vitamins and flavonoids contained, especially in their skin. (BBC Sounds, Dr Michael Moseley - ‘Just One Thing’) Apple wood burns very hot and clean, with a lovely scent, hence its use for smoking of foods, and for fuel. It has a uniform, hard grain and is used for wood-turning, carving of spoons and bowls and tool-handles.

The Apple in mythology: All fruits in early times tended to be generically referred to as ‘Apples’ so untangling symbols and myths can be inconclusive. In Norse mythology the Apple is a symbol of fertility and immortality while Greek mythology has one of the 12 labours of Heracles (Hercules) as travelling to the garden of Hesperides to pick the golden apple of the Tree of Life, echoed in early Christian tales of the Apple as the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Some think the latter association may have grown from the Latin- Malus- meaning both Apple and evil. An Apple, labelled ‘to the fairest’ was said to have started the Trojan War. One tale in the Arabian Nights has the Apple as able to cure all human illness. Another Ancient Greek tale holds that a man should toss an apple to the woman he loves, who has to catch it to confirm their betrothal. Nearer to home, an Apple hung in a tree was thought to dispel evil spirits.

Crab Apples, one of the ancestors of the modern apple, and often found in the wild, produce small, sour, hard crops. High in pectin they make a lovely, tart jelly by themselves or can be added to other jams to help them set. Many domestic varieties of Crab Apple have been developed for their attractive blossoms.

The Apple in art and literature: Christina Rossetti: ‘An Apple Gathering’ “I plucked pink blossoms from mine apple tree And wore them all that evening in my hair: Then in due season when I went to see I found no apples there”.

Dylan Thomas: Fern Hill
“Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb Golden in the heydays of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light.”

The “apple of my eye” saying, appearing in the Old Testament and Shakespeare, is the early name for the pupil of the eye..

The Costard Apple was a common variety grown in the 13th Century and gave rise to the name ‘Costermonger’- a seller of goods especially fruit.