Our AGM took place this evening.
The chair delivered a report on the last twelve months’ activities – see below.
In the treasurer’s absence, the secretary delivered the treasurer’s report. As at 31st March 2022, FOAW held funds of £475, of which approximately £157 will be spent on insurance in July. The chair said that a further £70 or so will be spent on mini-mattocks which members have found very useful when working on Adel Moor.
After the chair’s and treasurer’s reports, appointment of the officers and committee took place.
All the committee members and officers stood for re-election and were duly re-appointed. In addition, two more people, Steve Joul and Sue Chambers, agreed to join the committee, bringing the number on the committee up to eight out of a possible ten.
Roger Gilbert was re-appointed chair; Judith White was re-appointed treasurer; and Stephanie Clarke was re-appointed secretary. Rob Hall agreed to act as auditor.
The committee members are now: Roger Gilbert; Judith White; Stephanie Clarke; Rob Hall; David Hampshire; David Smith; Steve Joul; and Sue Chambers.
A vote of thanks was passed for the work of Steve Joul, who retired from Leeds City Council in March, and David Preston, who was Meanwood Valley Ranger for three years, and has been appointed full time ranger as Steve’s replacement.
David has been assigned to work with Friends of Adel Woods four days a year and will probably work with us on tasks which FOAW can’t do on their own – eg tasks which need machinery rather than hand tools. He said that he will also be doing a lot of work with corporate groups. We discussed plans for work on Adel Moor, Adel Pond and Adel Bog and Adel Crag. David will also be able to assist with applications for grants for tools and the like.
The Chair’s report
Our last AGM was on the 26th May 2021 in the middle of a covid 19 lockdown. At that time, we hadn’t had any FOAW events since 13th December 2020. So our first event in 2021 was on the 25th July, shortly after what was dubbed at the time “Freedom Day”, the 19th July!
On the 25th July we litterpicked; repaired the Stairfoot Lane steps; removed a fallen tree from the path by the stream and created some drainage channels; and Steve Joul and Roderic cleared the drainage channel by the picnic area.
Since July we have had a further fourteen events – thirteen “work parties” and one birdsong walk. I have adopted the term “work parties” since David H used it to describe what we do: it sounds better than “task”, or “chain gang”! Our work parties have included the following:
- seven mornings of litterpicking
- two mornings of raking mowings off the orchid meadow (after it had been mown by Steve Joul)
- three mornings working on Adel Moor – removing bracken, brambles and saplings
- one morning on Adel Pond
- one morning on Adel Bog
- three mornings of path clearing
- a day and a half of surveying and cleaning nest boxes
- one morning of working on the hospice woodland, including removing a large tree which had fallen across the footpath
The birdsong walk took place on the 8th May. It was led by Steve Joul, and attended by twenty four people, raising £53.50 for FOAW funds. We saw or heard 19 species of birds. You can find out more about all these events by reading the entries on this blog.
Nature notes during the year
The blog entry for July 2021 asked: Is Stairfoot Lane carpark the most fragrant part of Adel Woods? This was not a ridiculous question. There is a beautiful, fragrant, yellow azalea just below the carpark. It blooms in May and was still in bloom last Saturday and it casts a wonderful fragrance around the area. To find it, start down the steps leading down to the stream; after the fifth step, turn onto the path on the left, and the azalea is about 25 yards along. There is also a large lime tree in the Stairfoot Lane carpark and it will be coming into bloom and exuding a sweet fragrance in the next few weeks.
I am also pleased to be able to say that Green Hairstreak butterflies were spotted on Adel Moor again last month – the third April in a row. They are not a rare butterfly nationally, but locally they were previously only known in this area on Otley Chevin.
Steve Joul
In March 2022, Steve Joul retired from Leeds City Council and we wish him a very long and happy retirement – and a retirement where he continues to be involved with Friends of Adel Woods!
Steve has worked with Friends of Adel Woods since the group was formed in July 2009 and his first event was to lead a walk around the woods on 4th August 2009 to establish the kinds of tasks which FOAW can usefully carry out.
Since then he has been a regular mentor, leading us on many work parties, in particular:
- making nest and bat boxes in 2009 and 2010, and helping us to put them up
- teaching us how to make Christmas wreaths which we made each year until lockdown
- helping us to survey and clean the nest boxes each year
- improving the Stairfoot Lane steps
- guiding us and helping us with work on Adel Moor, Adel pond and Adel Bog
- working on the orchid meadow.
He has also led numerous walks and talks over the years including:
- birdsong walks
- bat walks
- nature walks
- newt safaris
- tree walks
- wildflower walks
- a small mammal safari
- fungal forays
- how to carry out a habitat assessment
So, on behalf of all at Friends of Adel Woods, I want to say a big thank you to Steve for all he has done for us over the years.
But all is not lost! He has continued to work with FOAW as a volunteer since he retired – and this evening he has joined our committee!
David Preston
Another reason that all is not lost is that Leeds City Council has appointed David Preston as a full time ranger to replace Steve, and he has been assigned four days a year to work with us.
You may well know that David was Ranger for the Meanwood Valley for three years, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, when he did a lot of fantastic work up and down the Meanwood Valley, including Adel Woods.
We are delighted that David will now be working with us, and already has a list of “work parties” lined up for later in the year. We are looking forward to working with him.
So finally…
All that remains is to thank our committee for all the work they have done over the past year. Likewise to all our amazing volunteers. Friends of Adel Woods would not exist with out the committee and volunteers.
Thank you too for Old Leo’s Rugby Club for letting us use their car park over the last year.
Let’s look forward to another year of fun, laughter and friendship.
It is that time of year again: the time of year when certain people get the urge to put on their waders and frolic in the mud of Adel Pond. And despite a dire weather forecast of rain all morning as Storm Callum hit the UK, we had a great turn out of eight Friends to help Steve Joul dredge Adel Pond and pick up litter.
One of our intrepid litter pickers – in retro punk style!
Friends of Adel Woods 