A beautiful morning and fourteen of us gathered to work on Adel Moor and to pick up litter through the woods.
Adel Moor
Today eight Friends worked on the moor, using our three tree poppers purchased with grants from Alwoodley Parish Council. These tools can be described as a lever with a jaw on the bottom: we put the jaw around the trunk of a tree and then lever it out of the ground. Tree poppers save a huge amount of time in removing small trees.
We have been working on Adel Moor for seventeen years. It is the last bit of heathland in Leeds and it hosts all the typical heathland plants like heather, gorse, and bilberries. Our objective in working on the moor is to preserve the heathland by removing incoming trees (principally birch and oak), bracken and brambles.
In recent years green hairstreak butterflies have been found on the moor – not a rare butterfly nationally, but rare in Leeds. The moor probably still has a population of viviparous lizards, though Friends of Adel Woods have not seen one for a few years.
Today we focused our work on the western end of the moor where very many oak and birch seedlings were coming up: if left to grow into trees they shade out all the heathland plants and turn the area into woodland.
Litterpicking
Today six Friends picked up seven bags of litter throughout the woods from King Lane to Stair Foot Lane, and from the top of the woods down to Adel Beck. Two of the Friends also picked up litter on both sides of The Avenue, all the way up to Alwoodley Community Association.
The litter included lots of glass, especially around Adel Crag; wrappers; bottles; cans and wipes; a pair of trousers; and a large mat!
About Friends of Adel Woods
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us. The mental and physical health benefits of getting out in the countryside and social contact are well-known.
Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks.
We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air, exercise in the woods, and make new friends.
If you would like to take part in our activities, keep an eye on our Home Page. You don’t need to book to come along to one of our work “parties”: just come along!
If you would like to join our email mailing list, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment box at the bottom of this page.
Friends of Adel Woods 