Ely Local Group

Back in the 1970s when the Trust was Cambridge and Isle of Ely Naturalists’ Trust (CAMBIENT) a group of local members met to carry out conservation work on Chettisham Meadow and Roswell Pits and held Open Days at Chettisham Meadow. At this stage Peter Evans was Honorary Warden of both sites. Later after CAMBIENT became Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust the conservation work continued and the group called itself “FenNats” and organised talks, as well as helping Peter with conservation tasks. After a while membership dropped and the group faded.

In 2006 a couple of enthusiastic Wildlife Trust members booked the Methodist Church Hall, gave a talk “Wildlife Around the Fens” and organised a couple of local walks exploring the natural history of the city. Having generated a renewed interest, in 2007 the Ely Local Group was officially formed with an eight-strong committee arranging walks and talks and carrying out conservation work at Chettisham Meadow and Roswell Pits.

In January 2018 we celebrated 10 years of the group with The Wildlife Trust Chief Executive, Brian Eversham, giving a talk and cutting the celebratory cake. Unfortunately we no longer work at Roswell Pits as the Environment Agency terminated the Wildlife Trust’s lease on the areas we used to manage for the Trust and then sold the land.                   

Peter Evans continued as honorary warden of Chettisham Meadow until well into his eighties aided by his two sons and occasional help from the group. When Peter retired his son Richard and local group committee member Darren were appointed as joint wardens of this and Muriel’s Meadow. Richard is now also a valuable member of the local group committee.

In addition to arranging walks, talks and conservation tasks the group has helped publicise the Wildlife Trust locally by having a presence at events in Ely including the 2012 Apple Day when we were presented with the trophy for the best apple themed stall. More recently Wildlife Trust staff have attended events and we have supported them.

A typical year for the group starts in January with the first of three evening talks on the third Friday of the month in the Aedwen Room at Ely Museum. These are followed in the warmer months by evening visits, again on third Fridays, to nature reserves or other places of wildlife interest near Ely. After a break in August we reassemble in September for an evening Bat Walk at Roswell Pits. The year ends with two more indoor talks and a “Midwinter Wildlife Walk” between Christmas and New Year.

Two members of the committee are volunteer wardens for two Wildlife Trust nature reserves near Ely. On occasions they request help from the group to carry out tasks including hedge cutting in winter and orchid counting at Chettisham Meadow in May.

Examples of past events...

Elms workshop: Brian Eversham, The Wildlife Trust BCN CEO, introduced us to some of the elms found in Cambridgeshire and had us examining quite subtle differences before investigating elms in the hedgerows near Little Downham.

Annual Roswell Pits walk: At dusk, armed with bat detectors, we search and listen out for soprano, pipistrelle and noctule bats.

Mid Winter Wildlife Walk:  A walk which has previously revealed sightings such as; a spotted grey wagtail, gadwall, kingfisher and great crested grebe.  

A series of interesting talks on topics including:

“Where is the Wood Wide web taking us”. Terry Moore explored some of the latest research on the “Wood Wide Web”, the symbiotic network of fungi, bacteria and roots that run beneath our feet.

“Spring forward, fall backwards”. Tim Sparks’ spoke about phenology, the study of the timing of natural events such as bud burst and leaf fall.

”The Life of a Wildlife Ranger”. Ajay Tegala shared stories from his work as a Ranger at Blakeney Point.

Anyone with an interest in wildlife is welcome to attend our indoor talks and walks and by doing so make friends, learn about wildlife and support the Wildlife Trust.

To get involved see our events listings below or contact Will Burdett to register your interest.

You can also ask to be added to our mailing list to receive updates about upcoming events and occasional newsletters.

Event Organiser: Will Burdett

• Telephone: 01353 661339
• willburdett@btinternet.com