Reserves Team Update on Strawberry Hill

Chantelle Warriner, Reserves Officer, gives a summary of recent works at Strawberry Hill

The reserves team at Strawberry Hill have begun small scale habitat management with the help of our dedicated volunteer team. The volunteer team has been gradually expanding, with new recruits from the local area interested in assisting with the work being carried out at Strawberry Hill and learning about the wildlife and habitats it supports. Many volunteers and wildlife trust members have shown great interest in our work at Strawberry Hill and support our long term vision for the site.

Some of the reserves work we have carried out in the first year of management includes:

Small scale scrub clearance has begun, creating scallops along paths and opening up some of the existing glades. The aim is to create some open space within the scrub habitat resulting in a structured habitat that benefits a wide range of species. Some of the cut material is stacked to create habitat piles.
Conservation grazing of grasslands begun on a small scale using highland cattle. Fenceless grazing was trialled successfully in fields by house – this will allow us greater control over livestock when grazing the whole site without the need for extensive internal fencing. This technology can also provide us with valuable data on the grazing patterns across the site, for example if an area is preferentially grazed by cattle.
The team worked hard over the summer to enhance and maintain the public rights of way to ensure easy and safe access to the site for staff, volunteers and visitors.
The farmhouse garden was once a loved ornamental garden. The volunteer team have worked hard to begin sensitive restoration of ornamental elements while maximising benefits to nature. Recently the team worked to clear overgrowth which was shading and restricting access to a number of fruit trees. We aim to identify and restore these fruit trees with the aim creating a productive orchard.

Using old google earth images we have identified a number of old farm tracks and access routes across the site. We have begun work uncovering disused tracks and culverts with the intention of reinstating them to allow better navigation of the site by staff and volunteers.