Another beautifully sunny morning as we head into our fifth heatwave of the Summer! Today we had two projects: litterpicking and working with Joe Craig-Jackson on the orchid (or cricket) meadow.
Litterpicking
This morning four Friends chose to pick up litter.
One didn’t make it to the meeting place in Old Leo’s car park! He got distracted by all the litter outside the shops on King Lane, so he picked up litter there and then made his way up The Avenue and Alwoodley Lane, collecting two bags of litter altogether.
Two of our Friends worked together and in two hours picked up a bag of litter – mainly in the King Lane car park. Someone had dumped builders waste in the car park and there were several piles of garden waste. One unusual find was a six litre water reservoir for pets plus a dog bowl left at Adel Crag.
Our fourth litter picker started off by going through the practice rugby field to the picnic area; then down to the pond and the Slabbering Baby; then up to Adel Moor and around the Village Green, picking up a bag of litter.
The orchid meadow
Seventy years ago, some of the area we now know as Adel Woods was part of Crag Farm. The farmhouse was in the area of the picnic area near Adel Crag (also known as Alwoodley Crag), and the dry stone walls we see today within the woods are the old field boundaries.
The orchid meadow is part of one of the former fields and Friends of Adel Woods and the Leeds City Council rangers have been looking after it since 2014. At that time, the meadow had a large population of common spotted orchids, but it was in danger of being lost to woodland. Thanks to work by then ranger, Steve Joul, and later David Preston and Joe, the meadow is now in excellent shape.
In the week leading up to today, Parks and Countryside rangers Joe and Catherine Clarkson mowed approximately two thirds of the meadow. The rest was left un-mown for the benefit of small animals. A few small “islands” were left so that Friends of Adel Woods could have a go at scything.. Next year we will mow a different two thirds of the meadow.
The mowings are left lying on the grounds for a few days to allow the seeds to fall to the ground and our task today was to rake up the mowings and pile them in a compost heaps in the surrounding trees.
As well as collecting the mowings, two of our volunteers, Peter and Sylvia, did a great job of pulling up Himalayan balsam from the undergrowth around the edge of the meadow.
Click here to find out more about the work we have done on the meadow since 2014.
About Friends of Adel Woods
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 