Our plan today was to litter pick and to work with Leeds City Council ranger, David Preston, on Adel Pond. However, as Robert Burns so aptly wrote:
“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley” [go awry].
Yesterday we woke up to find an inch of snow on the roads, the roofs and our gardens, with snow and sleet continuing to fall. Whilst the temperature rapidly rose to double figures during yesterday morning, the sleet turned to rain, and the snow disappeared by yesterday evening, Storm Bert brought further heavy rain overnight, with the forecast being for heavy rain which would continue until this afternoon.
Amid this weather, it was not surprising that David was not able to make it to Leeds due to flooding.
A decision was therefore made to change our plan to an hour or so’s litterpicking.
In the event, whilst Storm Bert caused havoc and mayhem elsewhere across the UK, in Alwoodley and Adel the rain had stopped by 10 am, and eight volunteers met up at the Slabbering Baby entrance to the woods – four old hands, and four newbies. It turned out to be a very pleasant morning.
We separated into two teams.
Two of our regulars set off and picked up litter from the banks of Nanny Beck (the stream running alongside Buck Stone Road), the recreation ground and the trees around it. They picked up two and a half bags of litter including a child’s wooden rattle.
The remaining six of us started by picking up litter from the path down to the Slabbering Baby – an unusual find being a fire extinguisher! We then made our way back to the cricket pavilion, taking a look at Adel Moor on the way.
Adel Moor in August 2024
From the cricket pavilion we picked up litter along the path up to Crag Lane, along Crag Lane, around Adel Crag, and in and around the Stairfoot Lane car park. Just outside the carpark we found four car number plates – no doubt discarded in the course of criminal activity.
From there we made our way back to Buck Stone Road, having collected five and a half bags of litter – making the total haul eight bags.
JOIN 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.
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 and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our second Fungal Foray with Steve Joul this Autumn.
We met in Alwoodley Village Green carpark at 2 pm and Steve gave an introductory talk about Adel Woods and fungi before we moved on to the area just behind the cottage adjacent to the car park.
Having pointed out a sparrow hawk perched in a nearby tree, Steve explained that there are about 13,000 different species of fungi in the UK and new species are arriving in the UK through travel and trade.
Blushing Rosette (Abortiporus biennis)
Whilst there are many thousands of species in the UK, there are about two hundred common species which we are likely to find in Adel Woods. These days we identify or categorise species of fungi by their DNA rather than by their morphology (ie their shape and structure).They often have more than one name and so it is best to identify them by their Latin name, or by their recommended English names.
Many species are associated with particular species of trees – for example, you will see on many birch trees in Adel Woods, the birch polypore (fomitopsis betulina).
A small specimen of the common earth ball (Scleroderma citrinum)
The part of the fungus that we see is the fruiting body, while most of the organism is underground or within the dead wood of the tree. The part of the fungus within the soil or wood is called the mycelium, an interconnected network of thin threads called hyphae.
Ganoderma bracket (ganoderma sp.): the brown powder that looks like cocoa is made up of spores dropped from the brackets above.
The fruiting body produces millions of spores which, when spread, will grow into new individuals. Some species allow their spores to drop from the fruiting body into the air below: others (like the puff balls) forcibly eject spores allowing the spores to travel long distances.
Fungi may reproduce asexually or sexually. Sexual reproduction is complex: there may be more than six different sexes!
During the afternoon, we made our way from the cottage, through the Plantation on the north side of Crag Lane, and eventually reached the Stairfoot Lane car park. From there we made our way back along Crag Lane to King Lane.
As we made our way, adults and children enthusiastically searched for specimens which they brought to Steve to identify.
Steve examines a specimen of rooting shank found on Crag Lane near Old Leo’s clubhouse
In the course of the afternoon we found eighteen species of fungi, some of which appear in photographs below. Here is a complete list – the species in red being a new one for Adel Woods:
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us.
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 and 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 and just come along to one of our work parties.
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 button at the bottom of this page.
Our next event is on Saturday the 14th December, when we will be litterpicking and working with David Preston, our local ranger, on Adel Pond.
An overcast and damp day, but a good turn out of ten Friends met at 10 am in Buck Stone Road by the Slabbering Baby entrance to the woods. Our mission to pick up litter and remove fallen trees and encroaching brambles from paths.
The Litter Pickers
Rubbish found at Adel Crag
Three of our group chose to pick up litter and made their way up to Crag Lane and along Crag Lane to Adel Crag and Stairfoot Lane carpark.
The bulk of the litter was by Adel Crag where someone seemed to have held some sort of event, leaving a lot of rubbish behind – including wood and large lumps of foam from a bed or settee.
All in all, our valiant litterpickers picked up four full bags of rubbish plus large lumps of foam which wouldn’t fit in them. They were unable to remove the heavy wood. They also spotted a buried bag of rubbish by Stairfoot Lane car park but they were unable to unearth it.
The path clearers
Two of our number set off to Alwoodley Plantation (on the northern side of Crag Lane) with the intention of clearing holly which has grown across the paths there. However, they found that paths were also obstructed by trees and branches which had fallen across them during Storm Lilian on the 22nd August. They had a productive time, but there is still lots to do.
Clearing a fallen silver birch in Alwoodley Plantation
At the same time, yours truly and the remaining four path clearers made our way down past the Slabbering Baby to the bridge over Adel (or Meanwood) Beck. From there we followed the path by the side of the beck leading towards Stairfoot Lane.
Storm Lilian on the 22nd August had blown over a number of trees along this path. In addition, the path had been made narrow in various places by encroaching brambles.
Taking a breather after cutting back bramblesAnother fallen tree: before….…and after
We got about three quarters of the way to Stairfoot Cottage before it was time to finish and return to Buck Stone Road. Another great work party in Adel Woods!
Three happy Friends of Adel Woods
JOIN 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.
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 and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Our next educational event is a Fungal Foray with our expert naturalist, Steve Joul, on Sunday 17th November 2024.
Our next work party is on Sunday the 24th November 2024 when we will be litterpicking and working with David Preston, our local countryside ranger, to dredge Adel Pond and clear the ditches feeding it.
For further information, please have a look at our home page.
Adel Crag, partially concealed by two fallen oak trees. Photo taken by Val Compton
Two teams today: one to pick up litter, and the other to clear up some of the trees toppled by Storm Lilian on the 23rd August. Two trees which are beyond our capacity to tackle are two mature oaks blown over onto Adel Crag. We are hoping that the Forestry Department will clear the trees away.
The tree team
Five of us set off from the Stairfoot Lane car park along Crag Lane. Our first target was a fallen tree about 50 yards along which someone had partially cleared from the path. We spent ten minutes clearing it fully from the path, before moving on to the picnic area.
The picnic area, looking southwards down the Meanwood Valley Trail
At the picnic area a large silver birch had blown over the course of the Meanwood Valley Trail. It had also fallen onto a small oak tree, breaking some of the branches from the oak. The branches from the trees covered one of the picnic tables, rendering it inaccessible.
A tangle of birch and oak branches
We set to with loppers and bow saws and it turned out to be a much bigger job than anticipated, taking us nearly an hour and a half to clear the debris.
The picnic table covered in birch and oak branches
After we finished, the picnic table was completely cleared – and it was a pleasure to see some people sitting at it enjoying a picnic a few days later.
Happy Friends of Adel Woods relaxing after a job well done!
We ran out of time to clear away all of the birch, but the tree trunk was really a job for a chainsaw. We are hoping that if and when the forestry department clear away the oak trees from Adel Crag, they will spend an extra five minutes removing what is left of the birch tree.
The litter pickers
While the path clearers were with saws and loppers, our happy team of litter pickers were busy on Stairfoot Lane and in the woods – picking up five bags of litter.
Sadly, they found a lot of flytipping – two carpets, tyres, tiles, garden waste, and bags of rubbish.
Tyres dumped in Adel WoodsRubbish awaiting collection in the Stairfoot Lane carpark
JOIN FRIENDS OF ADEL WOODS
We hope that you have enjoyed reading of our activities.
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 and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Our next work party is on Sunday the 13th October 2024 when we will be litterpicking and working with David Preston, our local countryside ranger, to dredge Adel Pond and clear the ditches feeding it.
On Saturday the 2nd November we will be litterpicking and working with David on Adel Bog
For further information, please have a look at our home page.
At 10 am today two Friends joined David Preston, Leeds City Council ranger, in carrying out further work to improve the orchid meadow (aka “the cricket meadow”).
FOAW had spent a couple of mornings mowing the meadow already (see our blog posts for the 16th August and the 18th August) but had only managed to mow about a third of it. Mowing is important because it encourages bio-diversity and in particular a range of wildflowers.
Pulling up Himalayan balsam
While David set to with the brush cutter, yours truly got to work with a scythe, and our second plucky volunteer, Sharon, got to work pulling up Himalayan balsam around the northern edge of the meadow.
Scattering yellow-rattle seeds
Although it was a lovely day, heavy rain the day before made the mowing heavy going as the grass lay flat along the ground and so, after about an hour, David ceased mowing and he and Sharon raked up the mowings and turned to other tasks.
Part of the meadow had largely turned to a dense crop of grass and so, having mown it this morning, David and Sharon scarified the area and then scattered yellow rattle seeds.
Yellow-rattle is an annual that thrives in grasslands, living a semi-parasitic life by feeding off the nutrients in the roots of nearby grasses. For this reason, it is now often used to turn grassland back to meadow – by feeding off the vigorous grasses, it eventually allows more delicate wildflowers to grow. It is called Yellow-rattle because it has yellow flowers and when they turn to seed the seed pods give a distinctive rattle. If you would like to know more, click this link
Sowing wild flower seeds
Having scattered the yellow-rattle seeds, they scarified another area of the meadow and scattered some woodland edge wild flower seeds.
In the meantime, yours truly was still scything away.
We finished work at about 12.30.
JOIN 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. We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Our next work party is on Saturday the 21st September when we will be litterpicking and path clearing.
Our next educational event will be on Sunday the 29th September 2024 from 2 pm to 4 pm when local naturalist Steve Joul will be leading a fungal foray. Please note, this is not an event for collecting mushrooms to eat, but an opportunity to learn about the many species of fungi to be found in Adel Woods.
For further information, please have a look at our home page.
A fine evening for a bat walk led by our local council ranger, David Preston, ably supported by fellow ranger Toby Amos from Gotts Park in Armley. We had thirty five attendees – twenty six adults and nine children.
We met in Alwoodley Village Green car park at 7.15 pm and, after introductions, David distributed bat detectors and information about the seventeen species of bats which breed in the United Kingdom.
Bats come out at dusk and fly around silently (to the human ear) at great speed. Unless you are a real bat expert, the only way to identify bat species is by using a bat detector.
A pair of electronic bat detectors
Bat detectors pick up very high pitched sounds made by bats in flight and convert them to a pitch which humans can hear. Different species of bat make sounds of a specific pitch so that it is possible using a detector to identify the type of bat you can see whizzing through the air above you.
The seventeen species of bat which breed in the UK
Armed with our bat detectors, we made our way along Crag Lane to Old Leo’s Rugby Club’s car park. Here David gave us some tuition on how to use the bat detectors.
David explains how to use a bat detector
Bats are able to see, but do not have very good night vision, so they use send out regular high pitched shouting sounds which we can’t hear and use the echos that come back from the objects around them to navigate their way through the trees and around their local area, and hunt for insects while flying. This is a process called echo-location and it is the high pitched shouting sounds which bat detectors pick up. There are various types of bat detector and we were using ones which you can adjust to different frequencies to identify bats in the vicinity.
Listening for bats in the vicinity of the bat boxes in Adel Woods
From Old Leo’s we made our way into the woods to look at some bat boxes put up by Friends of Adel Woods In January 2010. While having a look at the bat boxes, we got our first clicks from some of the bat detectors, but we were unable to spot any bats flying around.
Bats don’t build a nest but find somewhere they can roost or raise their young in holes in trees, caves or buildings – or in tailor-made bat boxes. Bat boxes are different from nest boxes for tits and sparrows in that they don’t have a hole in the front. Instead, there is a thin slot in the bottom of the box and bats land below and crawl up into the box through the slot.
Having said the above, bats will sometimes roost in bird nest boxes. A few years ago, when Friends of Adel Woods were cleaning and surveying our nest boxes, we were amazed to find a noctule bat hibernating in one of them. We were even more surprised the following year to find a noctule bat – presumably the same one – hibernating in the same nest box. On each occasion we immediately closed the box and put it back up causing as little disturbance to the bat as possible.
In the picnic area: “Look – there’s a bat!”
From the bat boxes we made our way along Crag Lane to the picnic area where we got our first clear clicks from the bat detectors and sightings of bats in flight. It is always an exciting moment to hear the bat detectors start to click away and spot a bat flitting to and fro as it hunts for insects around the canopy of the trees. A pipistrelle bat will eat 3,000 tiny insects in a single night and it is awe-inspiring that it catches these insects using only sound echos to identify where they are, their size and shape, and their direction of travel.
Adel Crag
From the picnic area we made our way to Adel Crag, where we saw and “heard” more bats.
An interesting fact about Adel Crag, is that the sculptor Henry Moor said that the landscapes which most influenced his work were the slag heaps of Castleford and Adel Rock. Today the Crag’s magnificence was partly obscured by a huge oak tree which had fallen over it, blown over by the recent Storm Lilian.
Looking for bats in the disused practice rugby pitch
From the Crag we made our way back to the picnic area, along Crag Lane and around the disused rugby pitch, where we spotted more bats. Finally, we went down to the cricket pavilion before returning to the Village Green car park at about 9.10 pm.
On our journey through the woods we detected four different species of bats: pipistrelle; soprano pipistrelle; Nathusius’s pipistrelle; and noctule, our largest species. Nathusius’s pipistrelle is a surprise: the Bat Conservation Trust say that Nathusius’s pipistrelle is a rare bat in the UK though its numbers have increased in recent years.
All in all it was a very enjoyable and exciting evening, and we are grateful to David Preston and Leeds City Council for making it possible – and grateful to all our enthusiastic participants.
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. We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Have a look at our Home Page for details of our next work party
Our next educational event will be on Sunday the 29th September 2024 from 2 pm to 4 pm when local naturalist Steve Joul will be leading a fungal foray. Please note, this is not an event for collecting mushrooms to eat, but an opportunity to learn about the many species of fungi to be found in Adel Woods.
A lovely morning for litterpicking and mowing the orchid meadow.
Our three litter pickers had a bumper morning, picking up five bags of litter. Starting in Buck Stone Road.
Their very first task was to pick up two large piles of dog poo on the path down to the Slabbering Baby – kudos to them for doing it, but it is something that they should really not have to do. After that, they made their way along Crag Lane to Adel Crag. The worst area for litter was around the picnic tables near Adel Crag, where assorted litter had been mown into little pieces.
Mowing the meadow with scythes
While our litter pickers were doing tasks beyond the call of duty, six of us joined David Preston, our local countryside ranger, in mowing the orchid (or cricket) meadow with scythes and raking up the mowings. David and yours truly had started mowing the meadow on Friday – as can be seen in our blog report for 16th August which gives a hint of how the meadow looked before mowing.
Looking southwards across the meadow – some of it mown and raked and some pendingFive of our seven mowers and rakers (or movers and shakers!)
The haystack in the foreground of the photograph is a small fraction of the total shifted into the woods for composting.
Looking northwards, a clear line between the area that has been mown and raked and the area yet to be done.
We have managed to cut and rake about a third of the meadow. We may put in another session this Autumn to do some more. This is why we do it….
Some of the wildflowers in the meadow in June 2022
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. We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Have a look at our Home Page for details of our next work party
Our next educational event will be on Sunday the 29th September 2024 from 2 pm to 4 pm when local naturalist Steve Joul will be leading a fungal foray. Please note, this is not an event for collecting mushrooms to eat, but an opportunity to learn about the many species of fungi to be found in Adel Woods
Steve Joul guiding a group in the orchid (or cricket) meadow in June 2024
Friends of Adel Woods have been looking after the orchid (also known as the cricket meadow) since 2014. It is home to many beautiful common spotted orchids which flower in July each year, as well as other wild flowers.
The northern boundary of the orchid meadow on 15th August 2024
To keep it in good condition, we need to mow it in August each year and rake off the mowings. As you can see in the photograph above taken today, by August, it is in a pretty unruly state.
Today, your correspondent and David Preston, Parks and Countryside Ranger, spent the morning mowing the meadow – your correspondent using a scythe, and David using a brush cutter – so that Friends of Adel Woods can rake off the mowings in two days time, on Sunday. It was a beautiful morning.
In the course of our work, David came across a number of toads in the vegetation including the little toadlet in the photograph above, and the mature toad in the photograph below.
We worked from 9 till 12.45 in which time your correspondent had scythed the area shown in the photograph below (the same area shown in the second photograph above)…
The northern boundary of the orchid meadow after a morning’s scything
…and David had mown with the brush cutter a much larger area as shown in the photograph above.
You can find out more about the meadow by clicking here
On the way home, your correspondent went to have a look at Adel Moor – another area where Friends of Adel Woods have done a lot of work over the last fifteen years – and it was looking magnificent!
Adel Moor today
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. We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Our next work party is on Sunday the 18th August 2024 when we will be litterpicking and working on the orchid meadow.
Our next educational event will be on Wednesday the 28th August 2024 from 7.15 to 9 pm when David Preston will be leading a bat walk.
This afternoon Steve Joul, a local naturalist and FOAW committee member, led a Stream and Pond Safari in Adel Woods.
At 2 pm, we met in the Village Green carpark. Steve gave an introductory talk to an enthusiastic group of adults and children, and handed out various fishing nets and containers for transportation to our first port of call – the “beach” next to the bridge across Nanny Beck behind the cricket pavilion.
Once there, Steve moved a few stones in the bottom of the stream, collected a sample of mud and emptied into a tray so that we could see what he had collected.
What have we got here?
What seemed at first to be inanimate organic material soon turned out to be full of life – as can be seen from the video below.
In the video we can see freshwater shrimps darting about. Other creatures in the sample were water mite, bloodworms and sludge worms. In the video Steve can be heard to mention “bullheads” – small fish, similar in size to minnows and sticklebacks. We did not find any in Nanny Beck, but we did later on in Meanwood Beck and there is a photograph of one below.
When we had all had a good look Steve returned the creatures to the stream and we made our way down to Adel Pond.
Adel Pond
At the pond one of our party soon spotted a newt and Steve caught a couple so that people could have a good look. In the UK we have three species of native newts: the great crested newt, smooth newts and palmate newts. In Adel Pond we have palmate newts, so called because the males have webbing on their back feet. Another distinctive feature is that the males also have a a thin filament at the end of their tails during the breeding season.
A palmate newt
We also caught some fearsome dragonfly larvae in the pond.
A dragonfly nymph
Finally, at 3.30 we made our way down to the bridge over Meanwood Beck leading to Spring Hill. Here Steve collected a further sample of material from the bottom of the beck.
Looking the sample from Meanwood Beck
Among the creatures found in this sample was a bullhead – a small fish which lives on the bottom of fast stony rivers and streams, feeding on such things as mayfly and caddisfly larvae and the eggs of other fish.
A bullhead from Meanwood Beck
By now it was 4 pm and time to make our way home.
In case you are wondering, no creatures were harmed in the course of our safari, and all were returned safely to their natural habitat.
Thank you to Steve for a very interesting afternoon which certainly caught the imagination of all who attended – not least the youngsters.
Pond dipping in Meanwood Beck
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. We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Our next work party is on Sunday the 18th August 2024 when we will be litterpicking and working on our orchid meadow (also known as the cricket meadow).
Our next educational event will be on Wednesday the 28th August 2024 from 7.15 to 9 pm when our local countryside ranger, David Preston, will be leading a bat walk.
Further details will be given on our homepage and sent out via our mailing list.
The Buck Stone is a local landmark from which the local housing estate gets its name. It has appeared on local maps for at least two hundred years. Until about twenty years ago it was a place where children could play, and where you could sit and enjoy nature, but over the years it became concealed under the spreading branches of an oak tree.
In 2012, responding to requests from local residents, Friends of Adel Woods restored it to its former glory, and we have carried out further maintenance work in the years since. You can find out more in our entries for 18th March 2012 and the 30th March 2012.
As you can see from the photograph below taken on the 6th July 2024, nature moves in quickly! So today it was time to do some further tidying up!
The Buck Stone on 6th July 2024
If you don’t know where the Buck Stone is, it is in Adel Woods just behind the houses on Buck Stone Avenue. About twenty yards from the junction with Buck Stone Way, there is a ginnel marked by a public footpath sign between two bungalows. Go down the ginnel and follow the path to your right, and you will find the Buck Stone.
A small but international group of us met in Buck Stone Avenue at 10 am. International because one of our number, Jen, a former stalwart of Friends of Adel Woods, had flown in from her home in Australia, just to help Friends of Adel Woods!
As can be seen in the photographs, the bracken and Himalayan balsam surrounding the Buck Stone and on either side of the path was very thick and as much as eight to ten feet tall. We started by clearing bracken and Himalayan balsam from around the Buck Stone and then cleared it from the paths. Disappointingly, a dog owner had used a small area in front of the Buck Stone as a dog toilet, so we had to start work by removing as much as we could and covering the rest with a layer of bracken and balsam.
Deep among the Himalayan balsam we found this perfect nest – no longer in use, so we assume that its occupants had successfully fledged. It was a very small nest – the inside of the cup was about 5-6 cm across – so our guess is that it was a robin’s nest. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let us know!
The path running along the back of the houses on Buck Stone Avenue had been overgrown until it was almost invisible. We opened it up again as can be seen in the following photographs.
Looking eastwards along the path behind Buck Stone Avenue on the 6th JulyThe same path at 11.44 on the 20th July
Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers for the work they did this morning – and to Jen for joining us from Australia!
Friends of Adel Woods
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. We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods and make new friends. If you would like to take part in our activities, just come along to one of our work parties or get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.
Our next events
Our next work party is on Sunday the 18th August 2024 when we will be litterpicking and working on our orchid meadow (also known as the cricket meadow).
Our next educational event will be on Wednesday the 28th August 2024 from 7.15 to 9 pm when our local countryside ranger, David Preston, will be leading a bat walk.
Further details will be given on our homepage and sent out via our mailing list.
Friends of Adel Woods 