Saplings Class at Wenhaston Primary School had a creative afternoon in Grove Woods working on the theme of what makes a celebration. They collected food from the wood that woodland creatures would enjoy, like berries, seeds, nuts, leaves and grains. Then they each coated a slice of wood in apricot jam and constructed a winter picnic for the creatures of the wood. It looked very beautiful and on revisiting the display the next day a squirrel scampered off, leaving several plates disturbed and partially eaten. 

Other celebration activities included making a decorative wreath by weaving leaves, berries and seed heads into a hazel wreath.

Some of the class chose to invent games to play in the wood using sticks they found there. A simple game of ‘Pick up Sticks’ was one idea, using a bundle of collected sticks. Other more complicated hoop-la games were devised, involving throwing a hazel quoit onto a balancing stick and bouncing quoits off the tree trunk to land over vertical sticks. There were also elaborate scoring systems that took some remembering!

Hopefully the class will have happy memories of their visit as well as developing a closer bond with the wood and the creatures that live there.

St Peter’s Pightle

On 1^st December 2025 Blyth Woods signed a 25 year lease allowing us to develop and care for St Peter’s Pightle. The land will become a wildlife area close to Wenhaston village centre where indigenous trees and wildflowers will be cultivated along with a dispersed orchard. In time the area will support a host of insects and small creatures, feeding and nesting birds as well as becoming a habitat for larger mammals.

The morning was wet and windy but the black poplar that we planted close to the pond to mark the occasion was happy enough, black poplars like wet ground. Black poplars are quite rare in Suffolk, so we chose this tree to help restore the presence of this native species.

For more information on Black Poplars click here

Back in the shelter of the church, with some festive nibbles, we raised a glass of warm mulled wine to celebrate the signing of the lease. 

The first session of the new school year at Wenhaston Primary was with their Reception Class and parents. They went on an Acorn hunt and were blessed with them in abundance. The class then walked to St Peter’s Pightle where they planted their acorns along with some sweet chestnuts and hazel nuts in the new tree nursery. Prior to planting they tested the nuts to find out which ones were suitable for planting, those that floated contained air which is a sign of damage. The saplings from the original tree nursery at the school will be planted at St Peter’s over the next couple of months. Thank you to the, pupils, parents and Mrs Sacco for their help.

The woods were surveyed during 10 early morning visits between 29^th March and 26^th May. A total of 24 species were recorded nesting or holding territory. A total of 5 other species were recorded but only on single visits and therefore are not regarded as holding territory.

The additional bird species recorded just on single occasions were common buzzard, swallow, redwing, goldfinch, linnet. 

A nice surprise on one morning we could hear the bugling calls of cranes and two birds flew over heading north.

No major changes to species totals but the large boxes had interesting occupants, stock doves nested in both the barn owl and tawny owl boxes and tawny owls nested in the stock dove box. The tawnies raised just single young to fledging, the second nestling disappeared possibly eaten by his sibling, however the survivor was ringed and unfortunately was found dead a few months later having been hit by a car at Bramfield. The overall trend is for the number of territories to gradually rise indicating a more favourable habitat than the barley fields the site was just 7 years ago. The increase in scrub is starting to show effect with the steady increase in the numbers of blackcaps, wrens, robins and long tailed tits.

Just 5 of the now 15 tit boxes on Grove Piece and 15 out of 24 in Vicarage Grove were occupied resulting in a total of 145 blue tits (some 40 less than 2022) and just 8 great tits (21 in 2022) fledging, several broods died just before fledging presumably because of a lack in food supply. Thanks to Barry and Gus who continue to monitor the boxes in Vicarage Grove

Alan Miller

This year we focused on invertebrates. The day was sunny but windy and everywhere was very dry. This was perhaps why the invertebrates were very hard to find! The sweep net technique seemed to work best and at the end of the session we had recorded 15 species, of which 11 had not been recorded before in Grove Woods.

These events always turn up interesting new finds, don’t be put off by not being an “expert”,  there is always someone who will suggest where to look in the reference books. The smartphone app Obsidentify can also be useful as a starting point, even though some of its suggestions are unlikely to say the least!

The star of the occasion was probably Nick’s Wasp Spider, the second that he has found in Grove Woods.

Invertebrates recorded

Bugs - Hemiptera
(These are the true bugs, with piercing mouthparts to suck juices from plants and other animals)
Bishop’s Mitre Shield Bug Aelia acuminata
Birch Shield Bug Elasmostethus interstinctus
Grass Bug Stenodema laevighata
Long-legged Plant Bug Phytocoris varipes

Flies - Diptera
Common Globetail (hoverfly) Sphaetophia sp

Ants, bees wasps and relatives - Hymenoptera
Large Red-tailed Bumble Bee Bombus lapidarius

Grasshoppers and Crickets - Orthoptera
Oak Bush Cricket Meconema thalasasinum
Meadow Grasshopper Pseudochorthippus parallels

Spiders - Araneae
Spider Metallina spec
Money spider Linyphia Triangularis

Harvestmen - Opillones
Harvestman Opilio canestinii

We also saw some invertebrates that we have previously recorded, these were:
Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi
Hawthorn Shield Bug Acanthosoma Haemorrhoidale
Small White Pieris rap
Seven Spot ladybird Coccinella septempunctata

Oak class’s activity was called ‘How to sell a nest to a pigeon or a hole to a mouse’ and was a fun speaking and listening activity. Children convinced their partners (who were pretending to be various woodland creatures) that Grove Woods was a good place for them to live. Supporting the school’s recent focus on oracy, the students produced convincing and persuasive conversations demonstrating their knowledge about woodland habitats which were often very humorous and entertaining. Marie and Jo said ‘good bye’ to year 6, thanked them for their contribution to Blyth Woods and encouraged them to come back and visit

The annual Teddy Bears Picnic was enjoyed by Sapling class who took a leisurely walk through Vicarage Grove taking in the surroundings and looking for the 15 hidden teddy bears. Once found they all sat down in the shade of Grove Piece for a picnic of Ginger Bread biscuits, made in class that morning and fruit.

Seedlings class and their parents helped collect mulch (crumbly leaf mould) in Grove Woods and transported it to St Peters Pightle where they mixed it with soil and spread it in the newly built planters in the Seed Nursery. They also had time to admire their hedge planting by the pedestrian entrance completed earlier in the year and dig in some manure.

Thank you  Mr Stone , Miss Sacco, Miss Welby and all the teachers at Wenhaston Primary for their own going support – Marie and Jo are looking forward to the next school year.

Grove Woods was a lovely place to spend a sunny morning in June. The grasses were beautiful and varied and we all roamed the paths in Grove Piece admiring them. The hedge gave some welcome shade in which we worked on our drawings, photography and relief rubbings to produce images that demonstrated the beauty we had found. Then there was cake, a tasty assortment, to round off an enjoyable morning.

Wander down the path along the North side of Grove Piece and close to the newly restored pond you will find a short detour that leads to a bench seat with a beautiful view of the pond. The bench is our memorial to Serena Inskip who was one of the founders of Blyth Woods. Serena had an infectious enthusiasm for life and the natural world in particular and enjoyed seeing our vision of a community wood coming to life with Grove Piece

Thanks to Alan Miller for making the bench beautifully and for installing it with help from Nick Jarvis

Wenhaston primary Schools invited a local environmental education group, Natural Habitats, to work with Oaks Class on mapping and surveying St. Peter’s Pightle to capture the start of the project. Some of Blyth Woods volunteered at the activities .The children were challenged with exciting activities like ‘take 200 interesting photos of St. Peter’s Pightle’ while others directed drone flights. Artefacts from digging ditches and ponds were collected and plants were surveyed. With the help of film maker Lewis Wickwar they made a stop frame animation film and we have a unique record of the field in spring 2025.

Following the planting of 3,500 trees and hedging over winter, the field has been enclosed with a pedestrian gate off the footpath and a further gate for vehicular access.

At the beginning of April the remaining ground was turned and then seeded with wild flower seed mix. The gates are currently locked, however once the grass & seed is established, we will cut paths and formally open the site. Meanwhile everyone can enjoy the view from the path as it all takes shape.

The next project is to ‘fence off’ a dedicated area for the Tree Nursery and then build planters. Watch this space!

March has been a busy time for activities at Wenhaston Primary and finished with 2 of the regular termly sessions which fit in with their curriculum.

Years 5 & 6 and their parents enjoyed a ‘Tracks and Trail’ session at Merton /Woods identifying signs of wildlife. They also planned their own trails and hid pictures of animal tracks for their classmates to find. They finished off the session by producing some fun environmental art

Years 1 &2 had fun learning how and where insects, bugs and mini beasts live. They built bumble bee houses, made a stumpery and left food for the animals and insects on a beautiful Rangoli motif.

We are looking forward to our next school sessions in June

Every child at Wenhaston Primary School planted at least one tree in St Peter’s Pightle last Tuesday. Thank you for the trees Woodland Trust!

Key Stage 1 visited in the morning and quickly got stuck into planting beside the pedestrian gate. They didn’t get too distracted by the tractor cultivating the rest of the field , ready for wild flower seed planting at a later date. It was great to think that those children will grow up with the trees and through school visits they will be able to see the hedge develop. In the afternoon Key Stage 2 arrived to finish the planting of over 200 trees in the hedge with a thicket at the far end. The local horse manure was used to thickly mulch the plants and to keep water in the soil. Now we hope for mild, damp spring weather to help the young trees grow strong.

We have upgraded our website to give us more storage and to allow us to upload videos. Jo Jarvis has just sent me a video of planting in St Peter’s Pightle so here it is!

A series of successful planting days have transformed St. Peter’s Pightle. All the areas designated for woodland now have most of their trees planted. The latest session, on Saturday 8th February was very well attended with around 25 people (including four families with some very enthusiastic children) busily planting trees.

If you haven’t yet planted any trees in St Peter’s Pightle you still have a chance – there will be another planting day on Saturday 8th March so come and join in what will probably be the last planting session this year. There will be some tools available but do bring a spade if possible.

We have now planted well over 3,000 trees in St Peter’s Pightle, with around 500 more to go in before the end of March. The species and approximate numbers are listed below.

Photos – Joanna Jarvis

For more details of St Peter’s Pightle click here

There are now several pieces of environmental art strewn around Grove Woods which we hope you will enjoy and perhaps feel inspired to add your own piece of artwork. Marie and her sister Claire spent a happy day making these.

Merton Wood Community Orchard

This summer the Red Miller’s Seedling, the St. Edmund’s Pippin and the Laxton Superb all did well and the fruit was enjoyed in the community. The nut bushes are romping away and this year’s  fruit trees are getting established. We recently held a work party in Merton Wood Orchard to weed around the trees and top up the bark mulch on the youngest trees. A couple of trees had to have tree guards put back in place because of damage to the bark from grazing animals. Another couple of tree guards were full of soil from ant excavations and they had to be emptied.

The hedge that was replanted has lost a few trees so we will aim to replace those this winter. The hedge line was weeded and the dogwood and wild rose are looking strong.

Some of us went on to dig up 16 small oak trees in the new piece of land near the church. These naturally regenerated trees have been put in pots so they do not get damaged when the field is prepared then we will replant them .

Please look out for the next work party date and join us, there is plenty to do!

Launch of a new project for Blyth Woods       

We are always grateful to ‘Friends’ of Blyth Woods for their support and by way of a thank you we invited them along with other interested parties to an evening gathering where Alan explained the aims of the project and presented possible ways of achieving them. There was a useful exchange of ideas and thoughts as well as discussion about proposals we had previously gathered from school children and visitors to the Climate Conference in Halesworth, all helped along by helpings of autumnal soup, a variety of cakes and a glass of wine or juice.

We now have plenty of ideas to consider at our next steering group meeting where we will hope to agree a plan of action and detail a way forward with approximate timings and costings.

Church Field is 1.83 ha (4.52 acres) owned by Wenhaston Town Estate Church Charity and is a former arable field and that has been in cultivation for many years. The owners of Church Farm no longer wish to lease the land from the Church Charity and so Blyth Woods is taking on a 25-year lease to create a community asset and a site for wildlife. 1927 OS maps list the site as allotments and the 1945 aerial photos show it in arable production with the same boundary as we are leasing. Hedges were removed in the past 60 years and the field enlarged to join with the adjacent farmland owned by Church Farm. As can be seen from the map above the site is linked to Grove Woods by good hedgerows with only a small gap at Bramfield Road

Plans for the site

We are still planning exactly what will happen. Following consultations with Blyth Woods Friends and children from Wenhaston School we have lots of ideas, but the general outline is as follows.

The soils are free draining, slightly acid, soils with some clay content at varying levels, an overgrown ditch runs along the southern boundary and soil compaction through continued farm use has resulted in issues of run off in times of heavy rain. The field slopes towards the ditch and so it is proposed to dig one or two small attenuation ponds to retain water and create a wildlife resource. Their ability to retain permanent water will be subject to soil conditions and test holes will be dug first.

The hedge line that was removed in the 1960’s will be replanted along with the rest of the boundary that has no tree cover.

Five small blocks of new woodland will be planted using native deciduous trees and shrubs with grassland rides separating each area providing a footpath through the site.

The remaining area will be restored to grassland using natural regeneration, green hay and spreading of wildflower seed. Around this area it is proposed to plant a scattered orchard of local provenance fruit trees for use by the community. In addition, an area will be used as a tree nursery to supply trees for the site and surroundings in the village managed by the group and the local school children as the school nursery is difficult to manage in out of school times (hot dry summers when the school is closed).

An access field gate will be installed for management and a pedestrian gate leading from the public footpath will act as the entrance for members of the public.

(open only to Friends and those who would like to become Friends)

The Friends events give us a chance to say thank you to the Friends for their support and to share our latest news. This year we will be telling you about the new piece of land and the ideas we have to develop it into a wildlife area.

Opportunities for Friends to share ideas and make suggestions.

Autumnal soups, sourdough, apple cake and wine provided.

Let us know if you are coming so we have an idea of numbers for catering.

The Friends Evening

Friday October 18th at 6.30 pm for 7 pm

Wenhaston Village Hall

RSVP to:

blythwoods1@gmail.com

or contact anyone on the steering group

A work party on Monday 5th didn’t take long to rake up the hay that Alan had cut.

Dorothy Casey joined a team of people that gathered to find out what was growing and living in the wood. Dorothy’s knowledge of plants was very helpful in identifying the wide variety, particularly when it came to grasses. A total of 100 plants were recorded during the two hour session and of these 23 were species that we had not before recorded. These were added to our main list which has been built up since 2017 and now stands at 160 plants. It is interesting to see how the succession of plants has changed over time, in the first year or two Grove Piece was covered in Bristly Ox-tongue but now the dominant plants are grasses

In addition to plants, we recorded 6 new insects and 1 fungus at this year’s bioblitz.

A pond dip demonstrated the success of the pond restorations, we found a good mix of water plants, larvae and newts.

So the biodiversity of the wood is increasing and it is becoming a richer habitat, supporting more and more wildlife.

Wenhaston Primary School Reception Class, Acorns, found twelve teddy bears hiding in Vicarage Grove today and took them along with their teddies from home to a picnic in Grove Piece. The weather was unsettled so we spread out the blanket under a gazebo and enjoyed a cup of elderflower cordial, made from flowers collected during a forest schools session. The raspberry jam sandwiches made in school by the children did not last long and then there was plenty of fruit to follow, apples, oranges and strawberries. Most picnickers even found room for a few potato sticks. Rested and fortified the class then made their way back to school in the rain.

Twenty faces appeared on the trunks of trees in Vicarage Grove today. They varied from terrifying to mischievous but all had a common purpose, to protect the trees and woodland. The ‘Tree Guardians’ know what threatens trees and they intend to keep the woodland safe from extreme weather, disease, animal grazing, human damage from leaving paths, dogs disturbing the habitat and pressure to turn woodland into food production areas. So if you visit Grove Woods, take care not to upset The Guardians.

Four of us were very lucky to have a wonderful sunny morning on February 1st to plant some new apple trees in Merton Wood Orchard to replace some that had died after the severe summer drought in 2022. It was surprisingly strenuous work. The grass was long and rough and tough and it was difficult to cut through and make the one metre diameter clear circles that will give the trees a good start. In addition all the mulch had to brought in by barrow and heavy containers of water on a sack barrow. It took us nearly three hours to plant 9  trees! We have been put in touch with an expert who has experience of planting orchards in the Sandlings and she will visit the site soon.

We found that several trees that we had previously thought were dead appeared to have survived after all, it will be interesting to see how these fare in the spring. The new trees that we planted looked in much better shape than the ones we had before with stronger root systems. They were all apples and were:

Adam’s Pearmain, Blenheim Orange, Cox’s Orange Pippin, James Grieve, Lawton’s Superb, Newton Wonder, Peasgood’s Nonesuch, Pitmaston Pineapple and Ribston Pippin.

At the end of the Christmas term 2023, year 5 and 6 walked from Wenhaston Primary School across Blackheath and then into the new Fox Hill plantation and finally  on to Bartholomew’s Lane. They had been invited to plant new trees beside the barn. 

After a brief introduction by Mike Gower the children got busy planting a range of native species trees with several adults to assist and supervise. They worked with great enthusiasm and by the time we had to leave , 80 trees had been planted.

Thank you to Mike and Trish who allowed the children to be part of their ambitious tree planting programme.

Saplings class of year 3 and year 4 children of Wenhaston Primary School gathered in Grove Woods with sparkling winter weather.

Jo Jarvis took a group to decorate slices of wood prepared by John for the activity. The children smeared apricot jam over the wood and then placed seeds and berries decoratively over the surface. The discs were lined up along mossy, fallen tree trunks and left for the wildlife to enjoy. 

The other group worked with miniature wreaths made out of elm twigs and raffia. The children collected, seed heads, grasses, twigs and leaves and attached them by binding raffia around the stems. Quite a fiddly job but the children persevered well and took home wreaths to remind them of the winter wood and wildlife, even if some needed finishing off at home.

Thank you to Jo for a lovely set of photos.

Marie

……….. and the next morning the platters were bare, someone had a tasty meal!

Not the biggest turnout we have ever had  for a work party but nevertheless we managed to get some useful jobs done. A stack of tree guards were removed from trees that were robust enough to manage without or trees that were needing to be rid of guards that were hosting ant hills or fungi. It was encouraging to see sweet chestnut and hazel trees growing well in the coppicing area of Malster’s and the hedge that was planted by the school is thickening up and creating a good boundary. The natural regeneration of trees like oak and hornbeam is filling up spaces and even becoming congested in places. The colours of field maple, dog wood, guelder rose and oak are glorious at the moment, it’s a colourful place!

We moved the meeting time into the afternoon to avoid the worst of the rain and we kept fairly dry but the three ponds were brimming. So it was particularly special when Judy found a great crested newt hiding in the grass.

Since the first interpretation board was designed, we have acquired three new pieces of land, Malster’s Little Field, The Copse and Vicarage Grove. So the map needed redrawing and we needed a name to cover the whole area, Grove Woods. We celebrated the new interpretation board with rock cakes and mulled wine and wondered what the next Blyth Woods celebration would be about.

There is still another hedge and some more trees to tend so look out for another work party date. Marie Rolfe

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful October day when nine of us gathered to mulch the fruit and nut trees in Merton Community Orchard. Thank you to Jo Small for the mulch she donated, we quickly spread it around the trees and added in some wood chip as well. The severe drought of recent years had killed several two-year-old trees and we hope that by mulching we can help the others survive. We will replant some of the trees in the spring and make sure they are also well mulched. 

29/10/23

Toadstools, mushrooms, puffballs, brackets, fairy rings and all things fungal!

Last year we tried to arrange for a fungi expert to spend a day with us helping us to identify the fungi of Grove Woods. Unfortunately for our plans, the early autumn was dry, and so a few days before our planned date, as there were very few fungi visible, we had to cancel the day. Of course, as soon as we cancelled, it started to rain and the fungi shot up! 

This year we decided to have a DIY session and see what we could discover.

 On October  14th a few of us slowly worked our way through Vicarage Grove, trying with the aid of Field Guides and mobile phone apps to identify as many species as we could. We soon found that many fungi were just as difficult to identify as we had expected but at least the apps could save some time by getting us quickly to the right group of fungi. A few hours later we had a list of fungi that we felt confident that we had identified correctly, together with photos. Finding two deadly poisonous fungi was a very good reminder to make absolutely certain of the identify of any fungi before eating them!

We added 13 new species altogether, listed below. We hope to add many more to this list as they appear and as our expertise increases!

The children at Wenhaston Primary School have some new activities to look forward to this year, as well as the familiar woodland management.

We have been running the Woodland Care activities since 2012 and they involve collecting tree seed and planting it in the school tree nursery, planting out saplings, tree care like mulching and weeding, learning about woodland ecosystems and identifying trees along with games like ‘Bat and Moth’, ‘Tikki , Tikki Touch’ and ‘Squirrels’.

So, if you like the sound of helping on any of those Woodland Care days please get in touch it is always good to have enthusiastic adults around to talk to the children about the trees they are working with.

Alternatively, you may prefer to imagine some magical tales set in woodland, perhaps you have ideas for a mini beast winter celebration, or messages of welcome for the special features of spring to display on a branch. We have a teddy bear’s picnic planned as well as craft ideas like small winter wreaths and migrating swallow darts. Wherever you skills or interests lie please come and work with the children and help us to pass on our love of the natural world.

Contact marie@yafflecottage.co.uk  for dates and details

There were two particularly pleasing aspects to this year’s Bioblitz. The first was finding that the newly restored pond in The Copse is already teeming with life. Alan found the waterweed soft hornwort, and a variety of aquatic animal life, smooth newts,  water boatmen, pond skaters, chironomid larvae and mayfly larvae. In addition broad bodied chaser and large red darter dragonflies were hunting over the water. As the pond matures I am sure we will find many more species.

The second pleasing aspect was the variety of insect life and spiders that Myles found with a sweep net, including 5 different species of ladybirds, 2 crickets and 3 spiders, most of which we had not previously recorded.

Marie and I set a moth trap the night before the bioblitz and recorded 6 new species

In all 77 species were recorded in little more than an hour of activity and of these 34 had not been recorded before. The new species are listed below.

As always the picnic food was delicious and the conversation informative and entertaining!

The new species recorded take the total number of species recorded in Grove Woods to 269, split between the various groups as shown below

Flowering plants 137

Stoneworts 1

Birds 40

Fungi 6

Insects 70

Spiders 3

Lichens  1

Molluscs 3

Reptiles and Amphibians 2

Mammals 6

Total 269

New species in this year’s Bioblitz

Flowering Plants

Our annual meeting was held on 25th May in the Village Hall. The first part of the meeting was taken up with Alan Miller delivering his Chairman’s report and Marie Rolfe giving her report on the continuing work with Wenhaston Primary School. These reports can be downloaded here:

Chairman’s Report

Marie’s Report

After a break with wine available and delicious free home-made refreshments, Alan Miller went on to talk about Wilder Wenhaston, first mooted in last year’s Annual Meeting, and all it has achieved in its first year.

Wilder Wenhaston

When we took over the management of The Copse (the small triangle of wooded land on the North side of Grove Piece) one of our priorities was to restore the pond, which had become very overgrown and silted up, so the pond supported very little life. We were lucky to have Crispin Chalker, who is an expert in pond restoration, living nearby, so we asked him to restore the pond for us. Crispin dredged out the silt, that was up to 1.5 metres deep, cleared some of the surrounding vegetation to let in some light, and felled a couple of large dead ash trees on the boundary with Grove Piece.There was a problem in know what to do with such a large amount of silt but Jon Hunt, who owns the field adjoining Grove Piece, kindly allowed us to spread it out over the uncultivated part of the field. There will be a long dormant seed bank in and around the pond so we are looking forward to seeing what appears, not only in the pond, but also on the spread out silt. Stoneworts, which thrive in newly dredged ponds, are one group that we will be watching for, especially as one rare species grows in the Malster’s pond and even rarer species have been found in other recently restored local ponds. This spring, primroses, which had been almost hidden on the edges of the pond, burst into flower and around them a host of new seedlings promise an even better show next year.

Coppicing is an ancient woodland management technique that was once used to ensure regular supplies of timber and firewood. Trees are cut close to the ground on a regular cycle. They regrow from dormant buds at the base of the stump (known as the stool) to create dense stands of multi-stemmed trees. The new stems grow back faster to provide a sustainable timber supply rather than harvesting more mature, thicker branches.

Traditionally, the long straight poles produced by coppicing would have been used for fencing, building and in the garden as bean poles.

These days, coppicing is primarily a way of improving the health and biodiversity of a woodland area by opening it up to the sunlight and allowing a wider range of plants to flourish.

In Vicarage Grove, the Wenhaston Commons Group carried out some very small scale coppicing in the 1990’s, but the last large scale coppicing was carried out just after the Second World War.

Visitors will notice that we are currently experimenting with a small area or ‘coupe’ to monitor the rate of regrowth and see what other woodland plants emerge from seed that has laid dormant for many years. Because the young shoots are very palatable to deer and hares a protective dead hedge of cut holly has been woven around the perimeter.

The AONB volunteers made a really good job of making the dead hedge using holly that they had cut on their last visit.

Then, in early February, a Blyth Woods work party coppiced the trees in the enclosure, cut the wood into manageable lengths, ( 4 ft is the traditional length) and stacked it. The cut stumps were covered with crashing from the trees to give further protection from any deer or hare that pushed through the Holly.

We continued with our programme of cutting and raking off the grass in the meadow areas and rides which will encourage the growth of other plants. The yellow rattle that was spread about as seed last year has been successful and there are now several patches of it in Malster’s Little Field and Grove Piece. Yellow rattle should help to reduce the grass and that will leave space for other plants to flourish. The ragged robin plants raised from local seed and planted in some of the damper areas also bloomed well and they will hopefully have seeded themselves to increase the number of plants next year. We hope the piles of cut grass will invite grass snakes and others to live in the area.

The central ride that crosses Grove Piece had a wonderful display of vetch, birds foot trefoil, marsh thistle and other plants from seeds in the green hay collected in Reydon Wood the previous year and spread in Grove Piece. Since we first started working in Grove Piece in 2017 we have been steadily adding to the lists of flora and fauna to be found there. In July this year we ran a Bioblitz and picnic for the Friends of Blyth Woods. This was an enjoyable social event, and also added a variety of species to the lists. The day started well with a first record for Grove Woods, an Essex Skipper butterfly that managed to get itself caught under the gazebo as it was being erected!  Other notable records included 12 species of butterflies, two species of pond snails and an unusual alga, Fragile Stonewort (Chara globularis). The stoneworts are a group of algae that get their name because most of them build an external skeleton from calcium carbonate. Fragile Stonewort is known from only a handful of other sites in Suffolk, including ponds at Broad Oak farm in Bramfield. The stonewort in the Malster’s pond was first noticed by botanist Dorothy Casey when she carried out a plant survey in Grove Woods which added more plants to our records, including a several new grasses.

The school tree nursery was in need of repair so we approached Kings Landscaping in Halesworth and they kindly donated bark for the tree nursery paths and sold us the other materials at a reduced price. The school now has three new beds and the fourth will be completed when we have taken out the young trees for planting with the top class in December. There was more bark than we needed for that job so we used the rest to make a bark area in Vicarage Grove where we hope fungi may grow. So far this year it has been too dry for lots of fungi.

 After bark spreading we were treated to watching Alan ring three barn owl chicks. The barn owl box we erected in Grove Woods obviously suited them very well. 

Alan Miller once again carried out a Breeding Bird survey in Grove Woods, click here to see the detailed results. 

Picnic and Bioblitz for the Friends of Blyth Woods

Sunday 10^th July, 3 pm to 5, meet in Grove Piece at 3 pm

Come and join us for another session exploring the natural riches of Grove Woods.

In the Bioblitz last year we recorded

41 species of flowering plants, 4 grasses, rushes and sedges, 6 aquatic plants and 12 trees and shrubs 6 butterflies, 3 dragonflies, 9 terrestrial insects and 5 aquatic insects 1 amphibian, 1 crustacean and 1 bird.

all in one hour.

Let’s try to add lots of new species this year!

We will provide identification sheets and books, collecting equipment and…….

a picnic tea at about 4 pm

7pm Thursday 7^th April 2022 at Wenhaston Village Hall 

Short business meeting

Wenhaston Wildlife 2020/21 , presentation by Alan Miller

Refreshments

Wild Wenhaston Forum

Working together for the benefit of our environment

We hope to work out how we can best help the environment and encourage species diversity. Local environmental groups and interested individuals have been invited so it should be a chance to chat to each other and share ideas.

for further details: blythwoods1@gmail.com 

The winter work parties kicked off with some planting and some removing. Back in the spring a shake of a few local ragged robin seed heads produced many seedlings and some were planted on the west side of the pond edge in Malster’s Little Field. We hope to establish an area of wetland flora in the soggy edge of the pond.

 In Vicarage Grove the success of holly growth had to be curbed in order to encourage the germination of ground flora and other saplings that needed light. Areas of holly were removed by pulling or digging out small rooted plants and cutting back more mature growth. There is a lot of holly in the wood and we do not aim to remove all of it, it provides valuable roosting sites for birds and the berries are a food source. The brashings were gathered up into a loose dead hedge along the edge of the wood perhaps helping to deter Muntjac deer from entering and providing shelter and food source to a variety of insects and small mammals.

A group of six volunteers from the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty offered to work in the wood and we allocated them a patch of holly to clear. They worked hard all day and made such an impact on the holly clearance creating a neat and substantial dead hedge on the perimeter. We are very grateful for their support and we would love to take up their offer of more help next year. Another bonus for us was that we gained a new volunteer from the group at our regular work parties. 

We have been fortunate to receive a large number of trees this year from the Tree Wardens Scheme and Woodland Trust as well as the Conservation Volunteers. The trees have been planted in the northern end of Grove Woods to thicken up a scrub area and to fill in a depleted hedge and in Grove Piece dead trees were replaced and the scrub areas defining the edges of the natural regeneration were added to. Some standalone trees were planted in the natural regeneration area on the eastern side where regeneration has been absent or slower. In the main we have planted trees found in the immediate locality however there are some additions of varieties to broaden the variety and to experiment with trees that can tolerate climate change. In Malster’s little Field the boundary hedge planted by the school had dead trees replaced and in places the hedge was made thicker. More trees were planted into the coppicing area scrub varieties were planted between standalone trees.

We planted five more fruit trees in the community orchard at Merton Wood and also replaced the section of hedge that was removed by adjacent developers. We look forward to the autumn and a bit of scrumping!

The art works from February 2021 have ‘dissolved’ into the environment so we are now inviting you to enjoy and create some art beside the footpaths of Grove Woods in 2022. A few pieces have already arrived, we hope you will discover them.

Please

Keep it natural

Use nothing living

Keep to the path

Raking hay on a late summer evening while chatting to like- minded folk who enjoy being out in the woods is a pretty good way to spend some time. Watching swallows feeding over the meadow, identifying plants that have appeared since the barley cultivation ceased and planning ways forward to support the regeneration of woodland were all part of the work party in Malster’s Little Field. We raked off an area beside the pond that had been cut the day before and piled the vegetation to one side in a heap that grass snakes might find attractive. Our intention is to create a damp, wild flower meadow but it will take time to establish. We hope to help the process along by seeding the area with local wild flower seed and by transplanting seedlings grown from local plants. Cutting and raking should reduce the vigorous growth of grass and give other plants a better chance.

Last year we cut four patches in Malster’s, two areas were controls and two areas were seeded with local wild flower seed collected from paths, verges and field margins near- by . We aim to repeat the process this year and so we raked the four patches that had recently been cut for a second time. It is too soon to see any dramatic change but some yellow rattle plants were spotted so that is encouraging.

It only took us an hour to do that so we then introduced April, a new ‘Friend’, to the copse that leads off Grove Piece on the north side. It took a bit of bramble cutting and branch trimming to uncover the small entrance but we were soon inside where we found a good sized parasol mushroom.

Another interesting evening was spent in Grove Woods earlier in the summer when we weeded the hedge planted by the school and also the trees planted for coppicing. The hazels have survived well but some of the sweet chestnut will need replacing this autumn. We all became aware of how well the bristly ox-tongue was faring when we looked at our socks. In fact we all had to spend time removing the barley seed and prickles but it was worth it!

If you would like to join the next work party it will be held on

 Saturday 9^th October , meeting in Grove Woods at 10am, you would be most welcome.

On Sunday afternoon last week twenty-five of the Friends of Blyth Woods turned up at Grove Woods for a Bioblitz and Picnic Tea.

This year we focussed the Bioblitz on Malster’s Little Field where we hoped to see a greater variety of wildlife species following the pond restoration and some management of the rest of the field. Everyone went off with clipboards and searched and recorded for over an hour. Then John lit the Kelly Kettle to make tea and coffee and the rest of the steering group uncovered a  table full of delicious picnic food. The Kelly Kettle smoked, flamed and steamed, the tea was made and trays of food offered around. Judging by the amount eaten and the favourable comments we think that we maintained our reputation of being the group that provides the best food! 

There was much discussion on the finer points of identification as we looked to see what had been recorded. We were not disappointed in the diversity, many new plant species for this year were found that had germinated from the seed bank that must have been in the mud at the bottom of the pond. Some were found in the spoil that had been spread over part of the field and more at the pond edges and in the pond itself. Everyone commented on the large numbers of dragon flies and damsel flies all around the area.

A full list of what was found will be in the next Friends newsletter and will be posted on the website.

We had a full house (allowing for Covid restrictions) in the Village Hall for our AGM on 30^th June.

Our Chair, Ann Edwards, reported that the last year had been a strange and difficult time, but in spite of that, the Blyth Woods group had continued working when we could. 

We cleared the pond in Malster’s Field last autumn. The pond is now holding water and plants are beginning to grow. Water Crowfoot is flowering in the pond itself. We replanted some of the new trees there that hadn’t made it in last spring’s dry weather and will do more this year.

We built a new footbridge from the corner of Grove Piece onto the field leading down to Back Road, as the ditch had become impassible following heavy rain. We also installed a new bench in Grove Piece. 

Our bird boxes have been well used, with blue tits the dominant species. Barn owls and kestels are frequent visitors, though not nesting yet. Badger tracks and brown hares have been spotted. The floral diversity continues to increase.  

We encouraged ‘Footpath Art’ during the long winter.

We planted some new fruit trees in Merton Woods orchard and cleared and mulched the existing ones. We also planted new hedging in the gap between the old Woottens site and the orchard.

Blyth Woods has now taken over the management of Vicarage Grove on a lease agreement with the Church, which means we can manage Grove Piece, Malster’s Little Field and Vicarage Grove as one unit, which we are calling Grove Woods.

Projects for the future include activities with the school, reassessing the ash dieback situation, plotting and photographing the significant trees in the area and continuing to look for other areas that might be better used for woodland or rewilding.

Our Chair finished by thanking the team and encouraging those who are interested to join us, either as a member or as a volunteer.  (blythwoods1@gmail.com)

Our Guest Speaker was Argus Hardy of WildEast.  

Argus is a farmer, architect and committed conservationist, with a passion for the Wild East of England, its landscapes, people and wildlife, and one of three founder trustees of WildEast.

Apart from a 50 year project to bring back the lynx, WildEast’s mission is to ‘rewild’: to recover what we lost fifty years ago by encouraging farmers to restore hedges and create wildflower meadows, wetlands and areas of scrub on their land. Village and city communities can help by providing wildlife ponds and areas for wildlife in school playgrounds and churchyards. Even the individual can make space for nature in our gardens, balconies and rooftops. 

In only a year WildEast has already achieved much for nature recovery across East Anglia. It has been working with farm shops, the East of England Co-op, the National Trust, farmers, schools, whole villages; and with overwhelming enthusiasm all have taken up the WildEast Pledge to restore and rewild. WildEast’s ‘Map of Dreams’ is taking shape. (www.wildeast.co.uk)

Argus ended his inspiring and invigorating talk by praising our village conservation groups and urging us to unite in projects to create our own ‘Wild Wenhaston’. 

Patricia Elliot

Grove Woods, 3 pm Sunday 15th August

Come and enjoy some picnic food in lovely surroundings and help us to find out just how many more plants and creatures are living there. We know that the number of species has dramatically increased, particularly in Malster’s Little Field, so there should be lots to record.

This will be held at Wenhaston Village Hall on

Wednesday 30^th June 2021 at 7pm

We are very pleased to have as guest speaker Argus Hardy, founding trustee of WildEast, a group dedicated to 
conservation projects across East Anglia.

Their website is www.wildeast.co.uk

for further details of the AGM contact us at blythwoods1@gmail.com

Way back in 2012 the newly formed Blyth Woods group, together with the Commons Group and children from Wenhaston School, helped Suffolk Wildlife Trust to plant a Community Orchard/Nuttery of 29 trees at Merton Wood. The trees have not flourished as we had hoped they would and so we invited Paul Read of the Suffolk Traditional Orchards Group, to visit and give some advice on ways forward with the orchard. It seems that the main problem is probably that the trees originally planted did not have a suitably vigorous rootstock to grow well in grassland. Last Saturday we started to prepare for interplanting the existing trees with some that have a rootstock that should create stronger growth. Eight trees should be arriving soon from a specialist nursery and so on Saturday we cleared the grass from small patches of ground and pre-dug the planting holes to give these new trees a good start.

The existing trees have not been abandoned. The grass around their trunks has been cleared for a one metre circle and they have been given a good straw mulch. We hope that this will encourage them to produce some fruit while the new trees are growing.

February Artwork

From the beginning of February there will be a treasure trail of wild and wonderful natural creations left along the footpaths of Grove Woods (the new umbrella name for Vicarage Grove, Grove Piece and Malster’s Little Field).

The Blyth Woods Group invite you to add your own.

Use anything you can find in the local surroundings, such as twigs, leaves, pebbles, feathers or dead moss, and leave it to the side of one of the paths. (Don’t use anything alive and growing.) If it’s easiest, bring your chosen pieces home and assemble them there first.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. From a toddler’s offering to your own, it’s just an acknowledgement and celebration that, as we struggle on during this bleak time, nature survives. The seasons will surely turn and spring’s not far behind.

We’ll post photographs of the most striking creations here on our website and in the next issue of the Warbler.

Vicarage Grove is the area of ancient woodland that adjoins Grove Piece and Malster’s Little Field, as shown on this map. It contains some lovely trees, is beautiful with Bluebells in May and has an unusually high number of breeding Blue Tits. 

Vicarage Grove is owned by  Wenhaston Town Estate Church Charity and in recent years has been managed by Wenhaston Commons Group. We have assisted them in the last year or so and from January 1^st this year we are taking over the management responsibility. We have negotiated a “right to occupy” Vicarage Grove for the purpose of “planting, maintaining and managing the woodland” and the agreement was signed in time to start with the new year.

We have already agreed a management plan with the owners, so later this year we should be able to get started on some of the most important tasks.

We are very grateful to the Church Charity for this opportunity which means that we will be able to manage the whole area, Grove Piece, Malster’s Little Field and Vicarage Grove in a unified way.

One of the first things we need to do will be to find out as much as we can about the present flora and fauna. If you would like to help with this work, please contact any of the steering group.

8th January 2021

It was cold, wet and windy this morning when four of us went to plant trees in the community orchard at Merton Wood. However, it was remarkably enjoyable to be out doing something positive for the future. The boundary hedge of the orchard had a gap which we filled with dog rose, hawthorn and dog wood. We also planted some standard trees, an oak, some wild cherry and crab apple to one side of the hedge. In the main orchard we planted a wild service tree to add variety to the fruiting trees.

If you would like to spend some time planting trees or managing woods please get in touch.  

Ann Edwards (Chair Person) annedwards@furrowsworks.com                                                      

Geraldine Lines (Secretary) geraldine.lines@hotmail.co.uk

The Community Orchard in Merton Wood was planted in 2012 by Wenhaston Commons Group, Blyth Woods and Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The trees have not flourished as we had hoped they would and so we invited Paul Read of the Suffolk Traditional Orchards Group, to visit and give some advice on ways forward with the orchard. We will be talking over the options in the near future to work out the best plan of action.

The restoration of the pond in Malster’s Little Field is underway. Over the years ponds become shaded by trees and vegetation, silt accumulates and reduces the depth of the pond, plants take root in the shallow water and rotting vegetation changes the profile of the water. So we have removed some trees that were shading the area, the digger gouged out a lot of silt and nutrient rich mud which has been spread on tree planting areas and habitat piles have been made with the willow trees that were growing in the pond. It has left a large space for water to fill on top of the clay which lines the bottom of the pond. It will be very interesting to see what moves into the pond and takes up residence over the next year. One area beside the pond has been left without silt to keep it more suitable for flora that prefers less nutrient rich soil, so watch that space!

To get the best regeneration please keep dogs out of the pond . They disturb wildlife and water clarity and can destroy delicate plant colonies. In addition the chemical treatments used to control fleas and ticks on dogs also washes off in ponds and kills the microorganisms which the pond ecosystem depends upon. Something to bear in mind.

We hope you will enjoy watching the development.

On Saturday October 17th the Steering group continued clearing willow from the pond in preparation for its restoration in November. It was much better weather this time and we were able to finish the work so that all is now ready. When the sugar beet in the adjoining field has been harvested the digger will be able to reach the pond and the restoration can take place. We were all surprised to see how big the pond is now that the edges are clear. Some of the cleared willow had to be dragged across the pond with a rope but our tug-of-war team managed it very well!

The steering group turned out in pouring rain on Saturday 3rd October to start work on the pond in Malster’s Little Field. In recent years the pond has been slowly reverting back to dry land as Reedmace and Goat Willow took over. We are removing some of this so that the thick layer of sediment can be cleared by machinery. Then we hope that the water plants and creatures will return. Plant seeds can lay dormant in the silt for many years just waiting for an opportunity to flourish again so we should see results quite quickly.

While Alan worked on the bigger willows with our new electric chainsaw (much quieter than the petrol sort!) the rest of us dragged out the cut branches, sorting out the logs to make habitat piles for beetles and other insects.

On Saturday March 21st a small group of us planted willow rods in two of the wetter areas of Malster’s Little Field.  Osiers were planted in the very wet patch in the south east corner, and basket making willows in the wet corner near to the gateway between Malster’s and Grove Piece. These will provide some useful resources as well as demonstrating how coppicing works but on a much shorter timescale than most other coppiced trees. Also two long willow rods were planted in the new hedge, these will be managed as pollards so the tops will be cut off shortly to encourage a number of branches to develop at the top.

Alan had been making bird boxes and erected these in hedgerow trees. He also set out some reptile sheets, it will be interesting to see what we find under those.

The work party on last Saturday (February 22nd) saw more trees planted in Malster’s Little Field. Twenty-seven Sweet Chestnuts are now going in an area at the eastern end of the field. in future these will be coppiced every twelve years or so to provide timber and firewood. Sweet Chestnut coppice is a favourite habitat of Nightingales so here’s hoping! 

We also planted the two Wild Service trees donated by Heather Philips, one near the footbridge at the entrance to Malster’s and the other in Grove Piece between the seat and the pond.

Ken and Joan from Norfolk visited us. They are are in the process of setting up a group to plant woodland in Filby, just north of Great Yarmouth. Ken is an expert in the group of micro moths whose caterpillars feed by tunnelling in leaves, the leaf-miners. We are hoping that he will return in the autumn to identify some of those that live in our woods.

While this was going on at Grove Piece and Malster’s Geraldine and Liz were looking after our display at the “Our Shared Earth “ display at Halesworth library and answering lots of questions from many interested visitors. 

It’s amazing how much nine people can do in a couple of hours. At our first work party in Malster’s Little Field we got busy cutting, planting and constructing. We planted over 60 hazels for coppicing and 17 crab apples (I’ve just found a recipe for rosehip and crab apple jelly). I’m sure the birds will take their share of the fruit harvest too. We cut a path from the footpath through Malsters to Grove Piece to encourage people to keep to a route so that wildlife is less disturbed. In time we may well extend the pathways. The cut path now links with the footpath by a bridge we put in place over the ditch. A hot drink from the Kelly kettle, chocolate cake and flapjack were all very welcome at the end of this activity. Thank you to all who helped today and to John Hill for delivering the matches that we forgot to take. Marie

Thanks to all who contributed items, made cakes, setup tables and did all the other things that contributed to such a successful sale. Not forgetting, of course, all the customers that came and bought the jumble, I hope they all found a bargain!

Nothing was wasted, the Helping Hands charity in Halesworth took everything that was left over at the end except for the books and these went to be sold at the Oxfam bookshop in Woodbridge. (Two car-loads of them!)

Financially it was extremely successful, we don’t have a final figure yet but it will certainly be over £700.

We hope that we shall soon have some new residents in Grove Piece, Barn Owl, Tawny Owl and Kestrel.

It is amazing what can be made from a pile of greenery! On Saturday Camilla demonstrated how to construct a wreath and then everyone got busy, Camilla circulating with advice and assistance. Fortified with homemade cakes and hot drinks, cajoled by Christmas music and a buzz of friendly interaction, there was a lovely atmosphere. By 4.30pm an array of wreaths were  being photographed displaying such a range of styles. Horace was helping his aunt but said he wanted to make his own wreath next year. Let’s hope we can repeat the event in 2020, it was a great way to start celebrating Christmas.

Blyth Woods are happy to announce that the purchase of Malsters Little Field has been completed.  We would like to send a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has given so much support and contributed to our fundraising efforts.

We haven’t allowed the grass to grow under our feet and have already put our management plan into action with children from Wenhaston Primary School squelching through the mud to plant the boundary hedge.  Many thanks and apologies to whoever is responsible for their laundry.  The fundraising will continue to cover ongoing costs of trees to plant, maintenance and equipment, with the first event of 2020 being a Grand Jumble Sale at 2pm on 18 January in Wenhaston Village Hall. 

Please come along to one of our Saturday work parties at Grove Piece at 10am on 25 January and 22 February and find out more about plans for our expanding community wild spaces

Christmas Wreath Making

(in aid of Blyth Woods funds)

Sat. 14^th Dec.   2 pm – 4.30pm

All levels of skill and experience are welcome. Basic kit provided but bring any spare greenery, secateurs and your favourite items to include.

Festive raffle. Hot drinks and cakes.

Tel. 07709923160 to book a place £20

If you would like to pay by bank transfer sort code 30 90 91, account number 72562960 and reference your name WM or you can send a cheque made out to Blyth Woods to Blyth Woods, C/o Wenhaston Post Office,The Village Hall, Hall Road, Wenhaston, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 9EP. Please make sure your name is on the list of booked places!

Latest information from Camilla, course tutor.

Please bring a variety of greenery.  Leaves larger than a bay leaf or anything that is flat isn’t very useful.  The ideal foliage to bring – hebe’s, conifer (except leylandii), holly berries, Scots pine, Pittosporum, trimmings from a Christmas tree, Christmas box, ivy berry heads, box etc.   Variegated varieties will look particularly nice.  If you have loads in your garden, then please prune away and bring it in to share, as the wreaths do look lovely with a good selection of different foliage.  You can also bring in dried hydrangea’s, thistles, rosehips,  berries or anything that you think would look nice in a wreath.

Judy Miller sent us the letter below after she finished her fun run.

Hi,
Just thought I’d let you know I WAS faster than sitting on the sofa (Just!)I’m delighted to inform you that I completed the Saxmundham 5 mile fun run on Sunday 13/10/19 in one piece and 1:06:48- slow & steady!
Many thanks to all who donated to Blyth Woods while I did the running. Sponsorship to date has raised £300.00 for Blyth Woods to date- of which I have approx £100.00 left to collect, as lots of you lovely folk used the Paypal link.
If you meant to sponsor me but never got round to it- here’s the link:
https://www.paypal.me/BlythWoodsFunRunFund?locale.x=en_GB

Jo Small visited Grove Piece after Sunday’s rain and took this photo. Thanks Jo, it’s lovely to see the pond like this again.

It’s time to brush the cobwebs off my trainers & improve my fitness again, so I’ve entered the Saxmundham 5 mile run on 13th October 2019, 11am. As I love to motivate myself by supporting a good cause, I’ve offered to make this a sponsored run for Blyth Woods (our Wenhaston community Woodland project) to aid the fundraising to purchase Little Malster’s Field thereby extending the woodland.

If you would like to support me in this fundraising project sponsor forms will be available in the Blyth Woods folder in Wenhaston village hall (next to the bookshelves) or I’ve created a Paypal account into which any funds paid will be be acknowledged and passed on in full to the treasurer.

https://www.paypal.me/BlythWoodsFunRunFund

I will update via the Wenhaston Warbler in Nov/Dec (depending on deadline) the total amount raised. Many thanks for reading this & I hope some of you will support my efforts for this worthy cause that benefits the village.

Judy Miller

report by Geraldine Lines, Blyth Woods Secretary

The highlight of my week at junior school was Sister Bernadette’s nature walks when we would roam the countryside identifying anything in our path and displaying our finds on the nature table.  I felt like I had been transported back to those happy days at Grove Piece today when Blyth Woods organised a hedge exploration session.  

Marie and John Rolfe set up an identification post with reference sheets, books, magnifying boxes and a laptop with attached microscope and we spent a couple of hours exploring the hedges from high to low and noting our findings.  Experts were on hand to share their knowledge and the results will be published on this website under the Grove Piece menu. 

I now know how to differentiate between dog and field roses, common and woodland (or Midland) hawthorn, prickly lettuce and bristly ox tongue as well as learning much more about local flora and fauna to make future walks much more interesting. We enjoyed hedgerow bounty at the coffee break with sloe gin, bramble and apple pies and berry muffins.  Look out for future events – everyone is welcome.

Christmas Wreath Making Course

(in aid of Blyth Woods funds)

Sat. 14^th Dec.   2 pm – 4.30pm

WenhastonVillage Hall

All levels of skill and experience are welcome. Basic kit provided but bring any spare greenery, secateurs and your favourite items to include.

Festive raffle. Hot drinks and cakes.

Tel. 07709923160 to book a place £20 each

If you would like to pay by bank transfer sort code 30 90 91, account number 72562960 and reference your name WM or you can send a cheque made out to Blyth Woods to Blyth Woods, C/o Wenhaston Post Office,The Village Hall, Hall Road, Wenhaston, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 9EP. Please make sure your name is on the list of booked places!

Latest information from Camilla-

Please bring a variety of greenery.  Leaves larger than a bay leaf or anything that is flat isn’t very useful.  The ideal foliage to bring – hebe’s, conifer (except leylandii), holly berries, Scots pine, Pittosporum, trimmings from a Christmas tree, Christmas box, ivy berry heads, box etc.   Variegated varieties will look particularly nice.  If you have loads in your garden, then please prune away and bring it in to share, as the wreaths do look lovely with a good selection of different foliage.  You can also bring in dried hydrangea’s, thistles, rosehips,  berries or anything that you think would look nice in a wreath.

These are now in the Archives Section

Church Rooms, Wenhaston, Saturday 13^thJuly 2019

(a fundraiser to purchase and develop Malster’s Little Field as an
 extension of the community wild space provided by Grove Piece)

Wow, what an evening! When we embarked on the idea of an auction tied in with a meal as a fundraising event, we really couldn’t have dreamt that our coffers would be increased by a whacking great sum of £2,106.50!

Diners were greeted on arrival with a glass of fizz attractively set off by a string of red currants and a plumptious blackcurrant sitting daintily at the bottom (try this at home – it gets the party off to a good start).

Our guests were invited to look at the auction sheets on which they were to make their written bids and to look at some of the splendid items on offer, whilst quaffing their aperitifs and chomping some hors d’oeuvres. We already had bids for all 10 generously donated auction items ahead of the evening. Guests were encouraged also to read the beautifully presented information board which showed, amongst other things, a fundraising “tower” of over £4,000 already received for this project. Little did we know that by the end of the evening this would have increased by 50%!

The 32 diners were invited to take their seats at the four decorated tables and it was apparent that the Bach violin music about to play, in order to provide the right atmosphere, would not be required as conversations between guests were already in full swing (our apologies to the Church Rooms’ neighbours for the babble!).

Diners were treated to delectable vegetarian starters, kicking off with Geraldine’s Spanakopita, followed by Marie’s Zingy Summer Pate and by Liz’s Vegetable and Chick Pea Tagine. A plentiful supply of green salad and seemingly endless slices of beautiful bread, kindly donated by the Two Magpies Bakery at Darsham, complemented the dishes. The recipes are available on this website.

There followed a lull in proceedings while tables were re-laid, allowing guests to consider their written auction bids. Before the puddings arrived there was an open auction for a bottle of prosecco kindly donated by Wendy and Peter.

The luscious trio of puddings was then served, consisting of Claire’s Chocolate Truffle Torte, Liz’s Frangipane Slice and Ann’s Blackcurrant Cheesecake all helped down by the obligatory pouring cream. These vegetarian recipes are also here on this website.

Further time was allowed for auction bids during coffees, teas and petit foursand the remaining Two Magpies Bakery loaves of bread were auctioned – food as good as this cannot be wasted. As if this wasn’t enough, birthday boy Norman was presented with a birthday cake accompanied by lusty singing from one and all.

Then came the evening’s next big moment with the announcement of the winning auction bids:

• Trish Gower’s donation of a 4 person 3 night self-catering stay – won by Ellie Smithwith a bid of £225
• Liz Hill’s basket of homemade scones and jams – Janice Claxton £50
• Alan Miller’s guided bird and wildlife walk – bids of £150each were accepted from Tony Gowand from Nickand Sally Amery
• Mick & Rose Hart and John & Marie Rolfe’s River Alde trip – Gus Jones £100
• Liz Hill’s 2kg of Spanish raw almonds – Laura Edwards £15
• Darsham Nursery’s ‘Opal’ plum tree – Kate Archibald £53
• Claire Ross-Masson’s Grove Piece inspired pit fired ceramic art work – Judy Miller £60
• Ann Follows’ 6kg mixed wild bird feed – Sallyand Nick Amery £30
• Jill Daines and Caroline Way each donated a day in a different Southwold beach hut –Trish Gower £50and Julia Wilson £40
• Woottens gardening course for two people with lunch at The Star Inn – Trish Gower £60and Kate Archibald £40

Additionally, a “whispering auction” bid of £200from Michael Gowerwon the “Canterbury Bells” painting, so kindly given to Blyth Woods by well-known local artist Tessa Newcomb.

Other extremely generous donations were made on the night and, with some sales of Liz’s delicious preserves, we reached that staggering total of £2,106.50.

A huge, huge thank you to everyone for their generosity of donations in whatever form they took and to all our dinner guests who made it such a rollicking success with their very happy demeanours.

The fireworks at the conclusion of the event, by the way, were not provided by Blyth Woods, though it’s an idea ……………………..

Oh, and sorry for all the damp tea towels we left behind after the clearing up!

Ian Bigwood

P.S. Just in – £500 donation from an anonymous ex-Wenhastonian to further swell those coffers – we are truly blessed to have such Friends of Blyth Woods.

The weather was beautiful on the day we had chosen for our clay activity and I think we may have been in competition with the beach! A small group of us enjoyed playing and making with the clay that came out of the pond area in Grove Piece. Some lovely items were made and on Monday we hope to fire them in a sawdust pit at Grove Piece. 13/7/19

Years 1 and 2 at Wenhaston Primary School worked hard on Friday afternoon looking after the oak trees planted by their school in Grove Piece. Tree guards were removed from sturdy, vigorous trees, weeds were removed or cut down and a mulch of straw was placed around the base of trees to help them survive any drought and to reduce the growth of weeds. Back at the school tree nursery the very small oak, sweet chestnut and hazel trees were weeded, watered and mulched with grass cuttings to help them on their way. A very good afternoon’s work Class 2.

We are pleased to say that the event is sold out and we’re looking forward to providing guests with a pleasant evening at the Church Rooms in Wenhaston on Saturday, 13^thJuly. We’ll kick off at 7pm with a drink on arrival (bring your own bottle for the rest of the evening) followed by delicious vegetarian starters and puddings interspersed with your bids in our exciting auction. If you aren’t coming to the evening, you can leave a BID in advance, details here More information Prizes range from homemade scones and jams, through a semi-mature plum tree (to make your own jams in the future!) to a guided bird walk, accompanied boat trips and a three-night stay in a Wenhaston cottage; and there are more besides.

Blyth Woods is raising funds for our latest project which is to acquire Malsters Little Field, adjacent to Grove Piece, and turn it into another community wild space.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to grab yourself a bargain and help us raise funds!

Yesterday evening several of us met at Grove Piece to remove weeds from the protective tubes and remove tubes completely from some young trees that were big enough to stand on their own or were being constricted by the tubes. The big event of the evening however was the installation of a seat so that visitors can rest and contemplate the young wood. Crispin (from Big Wood) provided hefty chunks of sweet chestnut and Alan fashioned them into a simple and pleasing design.

As you will see from the picture the pond is completely dry following the very dry weather we have had recently. No doubt it will fill again when the weather changes.

We have a chance to buy Malster’s Little Field, a 1.6 acre field between Grove Piece, Vicarage Grove and the public footpath. We have all sorts of ideas for the field which shares a hedge with Grove Piece. The hedge would be allowed to seed into the space and we would also plant some trees along the ditch beside the footpath. We would like to restore the pond, encourage wetland flora, plant an area of coppicing and also native fruit and nut trees. The network of footpaths would be extended with a footbridge from the public footpath. The benefits to the existing wild space and to people would be considerable and we hope you will feel able to help us raise the money to purchase the field.

Click here to make a donation

On a recent walk in Grove Piece we found a large patch of Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) near to the north hedge. Ground Ivy is, or was, also known in East Anglia as Tunhoof. Before the introduction of hops Ground Ivy was the main means of adding bitterness when brewing, or tunning, beer. The Old English name is Hofe , so Tunhoof came from combining the two words.

All over the field Common Field-Speedwell (Veronica persica) is opening small bright blue flowers. One petal (usually the lowest) of the flower is paler and smaller than the other petals, a useful way of telling it from other speedwells

On the surface of the pond were several Common Pond Skaters (Gerris lacustris). I got close enough to one of them to photograph it and when I looked at the photo later found that it was holding prey in its front legs, a small insect that had probably dropped onto the water.

It was lovely to welcome old friends as well as new faces to our AGM on Wednesday 24th April. After a summary of the Blyth Woods year we had a talk by Alan Miller on the fascinating Bats of Suffolk. Like other insect eaters these creatures are having a hard time and need insect rich habitats along with dead trees, tunnels, attics and barns to rear young and hibernate. I didn’t realise that some bats live for twenty years but only rear one young one a year. Let’s hope we can support them through our work with Blyth Woods. Refreshments and chance to chat brought the year to a close and fired us up for new challenges in the year to come. Raising money to buy Maltster’s Little Field beside Grove Piece will be our focus for a good part of the time ahead and we would be grateful for any support folks can offer whether that is money, time or ideas.

Blyth Woods community woodland 7th AGM will be held on Wednesday 24 April 2019 at 7.30pm in the Wenhaston Church Room (next door to the church).

Everyone is welcome to come along and find out more about our activities and plans. Alan Miller of Suffolk Wildlife Trust will give a talk on Bats of Suffolk. Refreshments will be provided.

After several years of rearing oak trees from local acorns the four beds in the  grounds of Wenhaston Primary School needed some attention. The rotting wooden surrounds were replaced with new wood, the beds were weeded and then topped up with peat-free compost and horse manure. Hopefully the small trees will flourish and be more able to withstand any dry weather. The paths between the beds now have a deep layer of bark  and the nursery is ready for another year of planting and growing.

February 16th 2019 Marie

The Blyth Woods’ stand was made ready on the morning of the Bazaar and just as well that it was as excited visitors jumped the 2 o’clock gun making for a frantic start to the event.

We were delighted to have so many people visiting our stand throughout the afternoon and showing an interest in Grove Piece community woodland. Our display board had photographs of the clay day held in October in Grove Piece and there were plenty of excellently sculpted clay products from the event for sale. Chalk sieved from the clay was also available for purchase with a chalk board.

Tree forms from the Grove Piece workshop in September were also displayed and for sale.

Our popular jams, pickles and chutneys flew off the shelves and the “Guess the number of holly leaves in the jar” competition drew in many punters in the hope of winning a Christmas hamper. Well done to our winner, Trish Gower. Lots of sympathy was expressed for Marie who had the task of filling the jar with the holly leaves and is still feeling the effects in her damaged fingers – that’s what happens when you come up with a good idea!

A good time was had by all, especially Father Christmas(who didn’t look a day older than last year) and his Fairy helper and we say thank you to all those who visited our stand and generously contributed to our charity.

Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in Grove Piece in 2019!

Ian Bigwood

Preparations for the clay day had been going on for some time. When the pond was dug some clay was put aside to use for pots. At this stage, because of the summer drought, it looked more like a pile of rocks than clay!

The white flecks in the clay are particles of chalk, which is not good news in clay to be used for pots. To get rid of most of the chalk we first pounded the “rocks”  into smaller pieces with a sledge hammer, and then mixed them with lots of water to make a thin sludge of clay and water (a “slip”, in potter’s language) and then poured and persuaded this through an ordinary household sieve. The sieved slip was then poured into large plaster moulds which absorb water from the slip so that you end up with clay again, but minus the chalk and stones!

At last we had some clay that could be used, now for the clay day in Grove Piece on October 6th!

The weather forecast was not good, heavy rain from 11 am to 6 pm, (and we were starting at 10.30 am) but we decided to go ahead and trundled clay, water, the gazebo, firewood shavings, sawdust and other paraphernalia down to Grove Piece, a job that was made much easier by using a four-wheeled garden trolley.

The first job was to fill the pit kiln with some pots made earlier, surrounding them with a mixture of sawdust and shavings, Then a fire of dry sticks was lit on top to light the sawdust and shavings and burn down slowly to the bottom of the kiln.

While we were doing this the first families began to arrive and soon all manner of pots and creatures were being made ……….

At the end of the morning all the creations were collected together to be fired when they had dried out.

There was a queue for hand-washing and then the children helped to improve the bottom of the new pond by stomping the clay to make a smoother and more waterproof bed.

John Rolfe

Report on the day from Liz Hill

On 6 October John and Marie Rolfe and Marie’s sister Claire (a seasoned potter!) led a workshop utilising clay dug from the new pond at Grove Piece.

The event was very well attended by local families and everyone took part in making all manner of splendid objects. The clay was easily manipulated and we created birds, hedgehogs, dogs, heads, dishes, pots and beads.  These were set aside to dry prior to firing.

A fire pit was used to bake items made previously, which had had time to dry out. The pit was filled with shavings, sawdust, the dried clay items, paper and dry sticks. After some persuasion the fire took hold and burned for several hours. All items were successfully baked with no breakages. Today’s clay made items were stored at Grove Piece to dry out but the tarpaulin failed in some places and the rain got it. Marie undertook some rescue modelling then left all to dry out fully. These items will be fired next weekend.

After a good clean up, the children assisted with “stomping down” the inside of the new pond by breaking down the earth.  They also gathered some chalk which was of good writing quality.

As this was such a successful event, another will be planned for next year.

Liz Hill

It was quiet in the wood and making tree shapes turned out to be a therapeutic and contemplative activity.

“It makes you look at trees in a completely new way”

“I didn’t realise that the barks of trees were so different to each other”

“It’s good to spend some time in the wood enjoying the trees”

Some of the shapes we made will be on sale at the Wenhaston Christmas Fair.

Report on the workshop from Liz Hill

Blyth Woods Tree Sculpture Workshop

On 22 September Marie Rolfe led a very therapeutic tree sculpture workshop for a few lucky attendees.

The event consisted of learning how to create a “cast” of part of a tree by using, tissue, water, parcel tape, patience and a bit of creative knowhow.

We spread out around the wood looking for interesting bark patterns. Once selected we placed tissue over the pattern we wanted to capture. Using wet strips of parcel tape we lay strips over the tissue shaping it as we pressed. We added further layers by placing strips in the opposite direction. Once we have a good stable structure, we let it dry.

The sculptures we made varied in shape and size. We lifted them gently off the base and took them home. Gentle trimming, adding a curtain hook on the back and a spray with paint created the finished articles. Some will be sold at the Christmas bazaar to raise funds for Blyth Woods and the rest will decorate our homes.

The weather was kind and although some of us ended up with bites from unforgiving mosquitoes, we all thoroughly enjoyed our sculpture day in the woods.

Liz Hill

Come and make something from Grove Piece clay. You do not need to have any experience of working with clay just come and enjoy it. The clay has come from the hole that was dug to make a pond.

We have sieved the clay and removed much of the chalk and we have experimented with firing the clay in a pit. So come along and see the results and have a go.

SATURDAY 6TH OCTOBER 10.30AM AT GROVE PIECE

All welcome – no charge.

We now have a pond in Grove Piece. Alan Miller organised the digging as soon as the ground was soft enough and now we need some rain to fill it up. It will be fascinating to watch what naturally arrives once there is enough water.

Phew! We were glad of some shade from the gazebo and hedge but the heat didn’t spoil our appetite.  We soon polished off some tasty picnic fare and enjoyed a relaxed summer afternoon together.

Tree spotting

Using leaf shapes to identify trees

Class 2 made a good job of weeding, watering and mulching the school tree nursery on Friday 22nd June. The four beds looked much better by the end of the afternoon and we found some hazels had germinated this year for the first time along with the oaks and sweet chestnuts.

We had a lovely evening in this beautiful wood. Thank you Crispin for showing us round!

Here are some photos that Liz took that give the atmosphere and highlight the importance of dead wood as well as the living! Click on them to see them larger.

Interpretation Board 2018

The new interpretation board has been unveiled in Grove Piece, thank you to all the folks who came to celebrate the purchase of this new community wild space. The bubbles and buns were delicious and there was plenty to talk about. We managed a half hour bioblitz and in that short time we discovered 57 varieties of plants and creatures with lots of people sharing their sightings from other occasions.

The rain stopped, the sun shone on the bluebells and Alan arrived with the board and some nifty tools for digging narrow 70 cm deep holes. The chunks of solid oak from Crispin have been made into a smart frame by CW Ellis from John’s drawing that was inspired by the Millennium Green board designed by Nicky. What a team!

Grove Piece        Saturday 12th May   3pm

Come and celebrate the purchase of Grove Piece, unveil the new interpretation board and discover some of the plants and creatures there. Everyone welcome.

Our AGM has moved to April to make accounting simpler and this year it coincided with our purchase of Grove Piece – so a good excuse for a celebration!

Thank you to Bernard, Harvey and Phoebe from Wenhaston Primary School for delivering the Powerpoint presentation that explained what they had enjoyed about working with Blyth Woods , how much they had learnt about trees and woodland and for helping us out with the cheese puffs. Thanks to  Analisa Jenkins and Chloe Welby  for accompanying the children, it was lovely to have them sharing the occasion.

We launched the website and invited everyone to join us up at Grove Piece to unveil the new interpretation board. (Date still to be arranged but it will be soon).

It was with the most amazing pleasure that  we heard towards the end of March 2018 from Matthew Breeze at Norton Peskett solicitors that Blyth Woods had become the owner of the land known as Grove Piece, beside Vicarage Grove.

The original concept for buying the land to create a community woodland started in 2012. Establishing legal ownership was a major task and some on the original Management Committee spend many hours researching the historical background to Grove Piece but even identifying the land by name or location on ancient maps or in ancient texts was problematical. Some documents appeared to identify the land as far back as 1650 and it seems that the land  (or part of it) was used to provide an income for the vicar and to provide funds for local charitable causes.

Early negotiations with the Trustees of Wenhaston Town Estate Church Charity, resulted in the Blyth Woods agreeing to take a lease on the land which would run for year to give Blyth Woods the opportunity to raise funds to buy the land.

Blyth Woods sought to raise the necessary funds by applying for grants and donations, running competitions, attending local events to sell home-made charcoal, home-made preserves, flowers, plants, craft items and delicious cakes and biscuits. The creative spirit and ingenuity in seeking out funding sources was hugely successful and resulted in the target being surpassed within the year allotted.

Due to the fact establishing legal title to the land proved difficult, it took the parties involved some time to get to the point of finalisation, however the completion statement was delivered on 28 March 2018. Just in time – right at the end of the first financial year of the charity which was formed in March 2017.

The Spring is now bringing life to all the trees planted in Grove Piece during the lease period. The plantings were made by the children of the village school and by the many volunteers who have supported Blyth Woods in its objectives. The Trustees wish to thank you for championing the cause and providing your muscles, talents and funding when needed. Help us continue to make the growing wood a place for our entire community to use, share and enjoy for decades to come.

finished hotel

hotels to take home

search for sticks

empty hotels

saw and workbench

open for business

The bugs of Grove Piece would like to thank the children from Wenhaston School for making such impressive bug hotels.

On a rainy day in March, a group of volunteers – teacher and children, parents, carers and a few dogs – trudged along muddy paths to Grove Piece to make one huge bug hotel and individual smaller ones to take home. No stone was left unturned in the children’s search for sticks, from hollow stemmed twigs for stuffing into cardboard rolls to heavy logs and fallen branches.  Children used a saw to cut larger pieces to size.  They drilled holes before piling them up and finishing the hotel off with a cosy thatched roof of dried grass.

Blyth Woods monitor the wildlife in Grove Piece and report sightings on the website.  We wonder what bugs will be checking in to the Wenhaston Ritz…

Last Saturday, when there was still lots of snow about and although it was cold it was nothing like the two preceding days with their arctic blasts, four of us walked over the fields to Grove Piece carrying six nest boxes, a hammer and a pocket full of nails. It was an easy walk with no drifts to negotiate and on the way we saw fox tracks and two hares that sped off into the distance. Even though there are lots of trees in the hedges around Grove Piece it wasn’t easy to find good sites for the boxes and Judy went back to the car to fetch secateurs so spaces could be cleared to give a good flight line into the boxes. Having found good sites it was easy to fix the boxes so we felt satisfied with the morning. Then, just as we were packing up a Woodcock flew low across Grove Piece and pitched down into the bottom of the hedge. As Alan said, a proper woodland bird for our new wood. John.

Blackbird tracks

Recently we have been helping at the Wenhaston Commons Group Work Parties in Merton Wood and Vicarage Grove.
On Sunday 18th February Ann had a wet time in Merton Wood opening up more of the new main ride and on 25th February five of us joined the Vicarage Grove session. The weather was much kinder on this day, although a cold wind was blowing it was sunny and bright. It was rewarding to see a big difference at the end of the day when lots of the invasive holly had been cleared. Bluebell leaves were springing up under our feet and this year there should be enough light for them to flower. – John

Last Tuesday (20th February) four of us set to work with the nest box “kits” that Alan had produced for us and with his help made six nest boxes in the space of an hour or two We were not the best of pupils at times but Alan was very patient and the boxes are now ready to fix in the trees (the old ones that is, not our little saplings!

I have just finished checking all the Blyth Woods planting for February. Grove Piece trees needed some canes straightening and pushing in but apart from that all looked good. At Blowers the seven oaks look fine and they are easy to find at this time of year. Lots of snowdrops beginning to show on the heath near them. On the playing field behind the school the hedge looks great, the hawthorn has lots of buds. The seven oaks on Blackheath are also fine.

In Merton Wood the wood xylophone has rotted and lost its tone. I think it is time to take it down. Amazingly the Becker boards are still covered in charcoal drawings and writing, perhaps a little faded now. I think it might be an idea to scrub and/or sand them this year and start again. Marie

We had our first meeting of the year on 25th January and started making plans for 2018.

Grove Piece is coming to life and the saplings we planted in the cold days of November are showing signs of new life.  It’s worth taking a walk up to Vicarage Grove and crossing over the bridge to Grove Piece to see the catkins.