2025.12.14 Nosehill farm quarry

Our 3rd visit to the Quarry this year to tackle the fast growing scrub along the bottom of the quarry face. The site is a beautiful spot and a sun-trap, providing winter warmth in the middle of December. With the leaves now fallen the view across the lake and birds of prey hovering above were quite a distraction

This time, Roger, Sian, Candy and Dave tackled the brambles, shrubs and small trees taking root along the foot of the rocky cliff. A big thank you to all the volunteers that have helped on this year’s Nosehill visits.The tranquil site has SSSI status as it boasts a dinosaur footprint and nearby barrow and the site is also an important habitat for blue butterflies and other less common species. The sandstone craggy cliff and meadow beneath provide unusual habitat; critical for rare wild flowers upon which the butterflies rely. Thus it’s important to keep the scrub under control to ensure the eco-system can be sustained.

There is a lot more work needed along stretches of the bank that we’ve not recently tackled. Several more visits are planned for 2026 and volunteer help greatly appreciated.

On Sunday 2^nd November 2025, a large group from GVCV convened at the Pocket Wildlife Park in Churchdown to complete the annual pond clearance. Regular clearance of the ponds helps to maintain open water and a good mix of vegetation. These ponds in turn support a range of animal species including dragonflies and newts.

The group was greeted by Ann, our host, who kindly provided a nice big box of biscuits to keep the group going.

Many hands and perfect weather made for very good progress. With a large group we were able to clear all four ponds which required clearance in addition to a spot path widening works.

Thank you to various group members for photos.

For several years Gloucester Vale Conservation Volunteers (GVCV) has teamed up with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) to help restore heathland in the Forest of Dean.

This year GVCV enjoyed an October residential weekend working at Woorgreens nature reserve, with the majority of the group staying together in nearby Pillowell.

The reserve includes a seven-hectare lake and over 50 hectares of mixed scrub, woodland and open heathland. The site has previously been used for commercial forestry. GWT are working with volunteers to remove trees and scrub to restore rare lowland health land. This habitat type is important to a range of plant, fungi and animal species including adders. According to GWT, the UK has lost of over 85% of lowland has been lost in the last 150 years due to land use changes.

The group returned to the lowland heath site we worked on in 2024 to continue clearance of birch and scrub. As with previous years the long horned highland cattle paid a keen interest in the group, our truck and any fresh leaves they could reach from felled birch trees.

The group enjoyed two days working to help restore this important heathland site, despite heavy rain leading to a shorter workday on Sunday.

Thank you everyone who joined GVCV for the weekend away.

2025.09.21 Kemerton raking off meadows

On a beautiful sunny day 5 of us gathered at a site on the Kemerton estate to carry out several tasks of raking up cut sedge/reed to form habitat piles, raking up and carrying off hay from a wildflower meadow to remove nutrients, and cutting Typha reeds to prevent spread.

What previously used to be boggy marshland where the Typha reeds flourished the area was very dry but equally challenging with uneven ground and varying heights of vegetation cutting when clearing the meadow. What appeared to be a small task on the raking front transpired to be a full mornings work for us all and resulted in multiple very large hay and sedge habitat piles.

After a lunch stop by one of the lovely lakes we took on the task of pulling and cutting the Typha reeds, again a more demanding job than imagined but we managed to achieve a large area of this and finished the day satisfied with a good job done.

A few photos of before and after, although sadly difficult to see much difference but the habitat piles are evidence.

2025.08.10 Phil Hermes walk

We had a good day today. Great weather ofcourse.

We worked in the morning on the Bill Smylie butterfly reserve on Cleeve Hill with Serena Meredith from Butterfly Conservation who supplied all the tools.  The task was to remove unwanted small hawthorn saplings which were growing up through the grass. The cattle which had been brought in to graze this grassland reserve had turned up their noses at the long grass on many of the slopes.

At lunchtime we adjourned and walked a mile or so past the radio masts on Cleeve Hill and on to the ‘lone tree’ where long time GVCV member Phil Hermes’ ashes were scattered 7 years ago after his untimely death. There are plaques on the wall around the tree commemorating a number of people.

We enjoyed picnic lunches around the tree. The consensus was that people like this year’s format of task plus walk to the lone tree plus picnic.

On Saturday 23^rd August 2025, GVCV held its annual Hay Day Social.

Volunteers spent a sunny morning raking to remove cut grass from a limestone meadow in Rodborough, near Stroud.  This annual activity is important to maintain the low nutrient levels needed by rare plant species found on limestone meadow e.g. purple spotted and fragrant orchids.

The group also cut back encroaching tree branches and brambles to help maintain the meadow habitat.

Following a good morning of raking the group produced 10 large dumpy bags of well packed hay. Given the dry weather conditions subsequent and poor grazing this year, the hay was donated to a local farmer as feed for her cattle.

As normal the group enjoyed a BBQ in the sunshine following a morning hard at work.

2025.06.01 Quedgeley LNR

Returning to Quedgeley Nature Reserve, 9 of us gathered to spend the morning and early afternoon, help keeping this little nature oasis it’s best. After a tour to take in the wildlife, identify jobs and show 2 volunteers who were 1st time visitors around, we got to work

As usual we concentrated on the boundary hedge we planted about 6 years ago, keeping it weed free, mainly nettle and bindweed and trimming it back in line with the adjacent fence.

One volunteer cleared the dried up pond (due to summer drought) of debris, whilst others spread bark chippings onto the main thoroughfares. This is essential to prevent too much mud in the winter.

A volunteer bagged the litter picking task, collecting a good black sack full.

Next up we identified several very narrow diameter dead trees for cutting down, and chopping up. The wood was left neatly stacked. Quite a few trees have been overwhelmed with very thick ivy. In the past we have cut the ivy branches and we continued to cut several more we identified.

There’s always plenty to do at Quedgeley and we look forward to visiting again in 6 months.

2025.06.29 Nosehill Farm

Eight of us turned out early on a hot Sunday morning to clear thick vegetation from a south-facing slope next to the quarry-face site at Nosehill Farm in East Glos.

We call this the ‘butterfly slope’ because it is a good spot for several species of butterfly, particularly the Common Blue and the Small Blue. Their caterpillars feed respectively on Birds-foot Trefoil and Kidney Vetch, small yellow flowers which grow in grassy areas rather than thick undergrowth. By clearing the slope of hawthorn and brambles we connected it up with the grassy area at the side of the lake where the caterpillar food plants and the butterflies are seen.

Other species of butterfly we saw were Marbled Whites, Ringlets, Skippers and a Brimstone. All in all a good few hours work

 

5 volunteers came out to Kemerton on  a perfect sunny day to prune /, cut back and tidy new damson and other plum trees which had been overcome with weeds and grass and sprouted endless rogue  branches. 

We had to loosen the tree guards to access the overgrowth and then re-connect,  all of which we managed to complete  with all of them manicured and hopefully they will go on to produce lots of plums . 

Three of us cleared about 1/3 of the ‘butterfly slope’. So 6 volunteers could hopefully finish clearing the remaining 2/3 so that it could be returned to grassland and encourage birds foot trefoil and kidney vetch, the food plants for the Common Blue and Small Blue butterflies.

“Before “ photograph

“In progress” photograph

“After” photograph.

Future tasks identified are clearing the quarry face = two tasks at least and the bowl barrow requires strimming and removal of incipient hawthorn bushes 

Quarry face – another task

 

Bowl Barrow – yet another task