Tag Archives: nature

Saturday, 16th March 2024: litterpicking and path clearing

Posted on March 16, 2024 | Leave a comment

Today, despite a further month of seemingly daily (or nightly) rainfall since our last event, Spring seemed to be almost here. It was a mild, dry day and the sun actually came out at midday!

This morning’s activities were litterpicking and path clearing. We met in the Stairfoot Lane carpark at 9.55 am and although we had a slow start, in the end thirteen Friends turned up – five litterpicking and eight working on clearing paths. And it was really great that we had three first-timer Friends, two of whom were young people!

The path clearers made our way to the picnic area near Adel Crag and trimmed back holly which was narrowing the entrance to the Meanwood Valley Trail and then made our way down the trail.

Friends of Adel Woods and the Meanwood Valley Trail on the 16th March 2024 — ***The Meanwood Valley Trail viewed from the picnic area in Adel Woods***

About fifty yards down the trail, a large birch tree had fallen across the path. It was too big for FOAW to deal with, but three of us removed branches which obstructed the path and trimmed back some of the branches from the “top” of the tree to reduce the weight pushing the trunk towards the ground.

Friends of Adel Woods working on the Meanwood Valley Trail on the 16th March 2024 — ***The birch tree lying across the Meanwood Valley Trail***

We have notified Leeds CC’s forestry department about the tree trunk.

After working on the tree, we joined five other members of our team who were pruning back holly further down the Meanwood Valley Trail.

Friends of Adel Woods working on the Meanwood Valley Trail — ***Clearing holly from the entrance to one of the side paths***

We don’t have any photographs of the litterpickers, but between them they picked up three bags of rubbish which was a great achievement.

A big thank you to all who took part today and helped to look after our 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 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.

Our next events

Our next work party will be on Sunday the 21st April when we will be litterpicking and working on Adel Moor from 10 am to 12 noon.

On Sunday the 5th May, our committee member and expert naturalist, Steve Joul, will be leading a birdsong walk – from 7 am to 9 am.

Further details are given on our homepage and will be sent out via our mailing list.

A birdsong walk with Steve Joul of Friends of Adel Woods on 14th May 2023 — ***A birdsong walk with Steve Joul on 14th May 2023***

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Sunday, 18th February 2024: litterpicking and path clearing

Posted on February 19, 2024 | Leave a comment

A mild overcast day, yet with the promise of Spring: lots of bird activity and song.

Ten of us met in the Stairfoot Lane carpark at 10 am and agreed to split into three teams: four litterpickers; three to tidy up and clear brambles from the trees in the Hospice Woodland; and three to clear encroaching holly and branches from footpaths.

All three teams had a successful morning. Unfortunately, only the footpath team(which included your correspondent) took any photos, so this report will focus on work done on footpaths. However, the litterpickers collected eight bags of rubbish and the Hospice Woodland team freed many trees from the stranglehold of brambles!

Friends of Adel Woods clearing footpaths in Adel Woods — ***A branch removed from over Crag Lane bridleway near the picnic area***

The footpath team started by clearing a few overhanging branches around the car park and then made our way along Crag Lane, a public bridleway, to the picnic area. Here we removed some overhanging branches which would be obstructive to horse riders.

We then continued along Crag Lane towards the Rugby Club pruning back holly from the path on our way.

Friends of Adel Woods path clearing in Adel Woods — ***Crag Lane, with the disused rugby pitch on the left***

Shortly before the Rugby Club a branch from an elder tree had snapped and was hanging across the path at high level. We stopped to remove this.

Friends of Adel Woods removing a fallen branch on Crag Lane in Adel Woods on 18th February 2024 — ***If brute force doesn’t work…***

From there we continued along Crag Lane and then turned left onto the path which runs adjacent to eastern end of the disused rugby pitch. We cut back holly at the junction of Crag Lane and the path and then made our way up the path, cutting back encroaching holly.

Friends of Adel Woods: path clearing in Adel Wood on 18th February 2024 — ***Before: a large tree over the path leading north from Crag Lane***

Finally, we removed a large tree which had fallen across the footpath.

Friends of Adel Woods: path clearing in Adel Woods on 18th February 2024 — ***Man conquers nature***

Friends of Adel Woods: path clearing on 18th February 2024 — ***After: the sun came out as we finished our work***

About Friends of Adel Woods

Friends of Adel Woods on the Buck Stone on 16th September 2024 — ***Friends of Adel Woods at the Buck Stone on 16th September 2024***

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Friday, 2nd February 2024: putting up two new nest boxes

Posted on February 2, 2024 | Leave a comment

Friends of Adel Woods putting up a tit box on the Meanwood Valley Trail — ***Putting up a nest box for blue tits on the Meanwood Valley Trail***

When we surveyed the FOAW nest boxes on the 13th and 14th January, we found that three needed replacing, but only had one spare nest box to put up in their place. The committee therefore agreed to purchase two Schwegler tit boxes from Ark Wildlife. We purchased one with a 32 mm hole which is suitable for blue tits, great tits and nuthatches, and one with a smaller 26mm hole which is suitable just for blue tits.

They arrived yesterday and Steve Joul and your correspondent put them up this morning. We already have one Schwegler nest box near Old Leo’s clubhouse and we have been very impressed with it. It was donated to us in 2010 by our member Tina and it is very well designed and as good as new.

Friends of Adel Woods: a nest box on the Meanwood Valley Trail — ***The blue tit box on an oak tree by the Meanwood Valley Trail***

This morning we put up the first nest box on the Meanwood Valley Trail about 100 metres north of the Seven Arches aqueduct. While there, we took the opportunity to have a look to see how the Seven Arches looks following work carried out by its owner, Yorkshire Water, to remove trees and brambles growing on the structure. A few weeks earlier, our local ranger, David Preston, and the Meanwood Valley Volunteer rangers had cleared scrub from the Scotland Wood side.

Friends of Adel Woods and the Seven Arches and the Meanwood Valley Trail — ***The Seven Arches photographed from the Scotland Wood side*** ***and looking good!***

We put up the second nest box on the Meanwood Valley Trail just north of Adel Pond.

The Schwegler nest boxes are made of a mixture of woodchips, concrete and clay and are long-lasting- expected to last for up to 25 years. We are looking forward to see how our new nest boxes have fared when we survey and clean them next January.

Friends of Adel Woods: snowdrops — ***Snowdrops by the side of Buckstone Road***

On the way home afterwards it was a pleasure to see the snowdrops by the stream running alongside Buckstone Road.

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 morning a month to carry out various ”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. Please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website if you would like to take part in our activities.

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Tagged Adel woods, birding, birds, conservation, Friends of Adel Woods, Meanwood Valley Trail, nature, nest boxes, wildlife

Saturday 20th January 2024: path clearing and litterpicking

Posted on January 20, 2024 | Leave a comment

Sunrise over Alwoodley on the 20th January 2024 — ***Sunrise over Alwoodley***

A glorious sunrise over Alwoodley at 8 am, after several days of intense cold.

This morning, five of us met in the Stairfoot Lane carpark at 10 am. Although the weather had started to thaw, the carpark was still a dangerous sheet of ice.

Our goals this morning were path clearing and litterpicking.

Friends of Adel Woods clearing paths and litterpicking in Adel Woods — ***Clearing holly along the “middle” path***

We all set off together to the steps down to the stream and took the path to the left about four steps down. As we went, we trimmed back holly and removed as far as we could branches which had fallen across the path.

Friends of Adel Woods clearing paths in Adel Woods

Just before we reached Adel Bog, we found a couple of trees had fallen across the path. They were too big for us to tackle, but we removed branches which were not supporting the trees. As we did so, we found an old blackbirds nest among the branches.

A blackbird's nest in Adel Woods — ***A blackbird’s nest in Adel Woods***

When we reached the Slabbering Baby, we went down to Spring Hill bridge and made our way back along the path alongside the stream all the way to Stairfoot Cottage.

While we were making our way along the paths, Peter picked up a bag of litter.

Thank you to all who took part this morning!

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 morning a month to carry out various “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. Please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website if you would like to take part in our activities.

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Tagged Adel woods, environment, Friends of Adel Woods, litterpicking, nature, outdoors

Sunday, 10th December 2023: litterpicking and path maintenance

Posted on December 10, 2023 | Leave a comment

Yesterday we had heavy rain all day – not a day to encourage people to come out in the woods today. However, we still had an excellent turn out of eight volunteers (including yours truly) – though two didn’t find us till quarter to twelve!

We met in the Stairfoot Lane car park. Our objective today was to clear paths and we split into two teams. The ladies set off to cut back holly and do some litterpicking as required; the gentlemen set off on some muddier (though probably not much muddier) tasks.

Friends of Adel Woods; path maintenance — ***Working on clearing the drainage pipe on Crag Lane***.

The gentlemen’s first job was to unblock the drainage pipe under Crag Lane, near the picnic area. In all the recent rain, the pipe had become blocked with mud and leaves and there was a large pool across most of the path. It was a matter of a couple of minutes to unblock the pipe so that the pool could drain away. However, it took another twenty minutes or so to clear away all the mud so that it would not block the drain again.

Friends of Adel Woods; path maintenance on Crag Lane, Adel Woods, Leeds — ***Clearing away mud on Crag Lane***.

From there we made our way to the Stairfoot Lane steps which are much used by walkers. On 30th September we had replaced some of the timbers and generally tidied them up. However, since then the Autumn leaves had fallen on them, moles had created a number of mole hills, and the heavy rain of the last few months had washed a lot more mud onto them.

Friends of Adel Woods maintaining the Stairfoot Lane steps in Adel Woods — ***Tidying up the Stairfoot Lane steps – before.***

We cleared away the leaves and levelled the surfaces of the steps and – as can be seen from the photograph below – restored them to a beautiful pristine state. We also cut back some of the holly growing over the steps.

Friends of Adel Woods working on the Stairfoot Lane steps in Adel Woods — ***The Stairfoot Lane steps – after.***

The two work parties met up at 12 noon in the Stairfoot Lane car park. In addition to cutting back holly, the ladies had been road testing two different types of plastic rings for litterpicking – they help keep the mouths of plastic bags open when litterpicking. You can see one of the rings in the photograph below.

Friends of Adel Woods litterpicking — ***Checking out one of the litterpicking rings***.

Unfortunately, the ladies did not take any photographs of any of the paths where they cut back holly, but did supply a number of “after” photographs taken on the 12th December – one of which appears below.

Friends of Adel Woods: a path in Adel Woods — ***Friends of Adel Woods: one of the paths worked on on the 10th December.***

All in all a very successful and satisfying day!

Friends of Adel Woods: litterpicking and path maintenance — ***A happy band of 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 morning a month at the weekend to carry out various jobs, and we also put on educational events – such as birdsong walks, bat walks and fungal forays.

Our next events will be on 13th and 14th January when we will be surveying and cleaning the FOAW nest boxes, and on the 20th January when we will be picking up litter and improving paths.

Further details will be published on our home page over the Christmas holidays. In the meantime, the committee of the Friends of Adel Woods wish you a very merry Christmas and all happiness in 2024!

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Thursday 30th November 2023: further work on Adel Bog

Posted on November 30, 2023 | Leave a comment

adel bog, Friends of Adel Woods 30th November 2023 — ***A crisp morning on Adel Bog on 30th November 2023***

A wintry surprise this morning when we woke to find half an inch of snow on the ground. Nevertheless, we had a clear blue sky which meant it was a beautiful crisp morning.

Our local ranger, David Preston, and his fellow ranger, Heather Wagstaffe, had scheduled this morning for carrying out some trimming of the trees on the southern boundary of Adel Bog and requested the help of Friends of Adel Woods in using the off-cuts to make a “dead hedge”.

Adel Bog is a special habitat in Adel Woods: home to a healthy population of heath spotted orchids, bog asphodel, rushes, flag irises, cotton grass, tormentil and crossed leaf heath, to name a few plants found there. Friends of Adel Woods have done a lot of work over the years to preserve it and improve its condition – removing brambles, tree saplings and bracken and I am pleased to say that this Autumn and Winter the bog is looking great. It is the wettest it has been for years – every footstep risks sinking six inches into the mud!

Bog asphodel on Adel Bog,June 2014,
Friends of Adel Woods, — ***Bog asphodel on Adel Bog, June 2014***

The purpose of trimming the trees was to increase the open area of the bog, to create a clear boundary, and to reduce the problem of trees dropping seeds into the bog, and thus turning the bog into woodland.

Five Friends responded to David’s call for help, and joined David and Heather at 11.40 am, by which time they had completed their work and were ready for the clear up.

We worked till 1 pm using some of the off-cuts to make stakes for future dead hedging around the bog, and using the rest to create a dead hedge to make a clear boundary along about 10 metres of the southern perimeter.

Adel Bog in Adel Woods, Leeds, on 30th November 2023. Friends of Adel Woods — ***Adel bog, showing the dead hedging on the southern boundary***

A dead hedge is a barrier made of natural materials, usually held in place with stakes, though on this occasion, due to time constraints, we wove the materials between the trees around the edge of the bog. Whilst the hedge is called a dead hedge, it is possible for off-cuts to take root or for plants to grow within it, so that it becomes a living hedge.

The purpose of creating a barrier around the bog is to keep it safe from disturbance, particularly from dogs whose droppings are very damaging to the bog flora and fauna.

At completion of our work, we put a couple of notices up in the dead hedge explaining its purpose.

Friends of Adel Woods and dead hedging on Adel Bog, 30th November 2023 — ***Four Friends of Adel Woods standing next to the dead hedging on Adel Bog***

Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one morning a month to carry out various jobs, and we also put on educational events. Recently, we have had a bat walk, and a fungal foray.

Our next “work party” is on Sunday the 10th December, when we will be litter picking, and carrying out path maintenance.

If you would like to take part in our activities, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should find a button below.

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Saturday, 12th August 2023: litterpicking and mowing the orchid meadow

Posted on August 12, 2023 | 2 comments

***The Orchid Meadow, Adel Woods, 14th June 2023***

Today we had a magnificent turnout of twelve volunteers to litterpick and to help Leeds City Council ranger, Rachel, work on the Orchid Meadow.

Three of our number chose to litterpick and ranged widely through the woods from Buckstone Road, where we met, to the pond, Crag Lane and the Stairfoot Lane carpark. They picked up up three bags of litter on the way.

The rest of us set off to the Orchid Meadow with Rachel, armed with a brush cutter, scythes, rakes and tarpaulins.

The existence of the Orchid Meadow came to our attention in Summer 2014 when our treasurer Judith discovered lots of orchids flowering there. At that time there were lots of young trees growing in the meadow and it was surrounded by swathes of himalayan balsam. Since then we have done a lot of work on the meadow, under the leadership of Steve Joul, and it has blossomed into a wonderful wildflower meadow – as can be seen from the photograph above.

What you cannot see in the photograph are the many common spotted orchids concealed among the buttercups.

Here is a photograph of one of them.

***Common spotted orchid, Adel Woods, 14th June 2023***

Traditionally meadows were mown in mid to late Summer. The cuttings were then allowed to dry and removed after a few days to produce hay to feed livestock. This allowed flowering plants the chance to set seed, and the removal of the mowings reduced the nutrient levels in the soil and allowed flowers to compete with more vigorous grasses.

Much of Adel Woods was originally farmland, as evidenced by the many dry stone wall field boundaries – the farmhouse for Crag Farm used to stand in the area now used as a picnic area. Without regular mowing meadows will soon turn into scrubland and eventually woodland as shown in this photograph of the same field, taken in July 2016.

Friends of Adel Woods, the orchid meadow, Adel Woods 16th July 2016 — ***Steve Joul in the Orchid Meadow, Adel Woods, 16th July 2016***

So over the last few years, as a ranger with Leeds City Council Steve Joul has mown the orchid meadow in late Summer – and last year as a private citizen he scythed the meadow and raked off the cuttings on his own!

Last week, Rachel cut about half of the meadow with a brush cutter last week, and our task today was to continue the mowing – Rachel with a brush cutter and three of us with scythes – and rake off the mowings.

Friends of Adel Woods working on the orchid meadow on 12th August 2023 — ***Friends of Adel Woods working on the orchid meadow***

None of us had used a scythe before and Rachel showed us what to do. One essential part of using a scythe is to sharpen it with a whetstone every five minutes or so to keep it cutting well.

Friends of Adel Woods: sharpening a scythe in the orchid meadow on 12th August 2023 — ***Friends of Adel Woods: sharpening a scythe with a whetstone***

Friends of Adel Woods, scything the orchid meadow, 12th August 2023 — ***Friends of Adel Woods: scything the orchid meadow***

Due to the fact that we are a volunteer group, we are not able to leave the cuttings to dry, so the next step today was to rake up the cuttings and transport them to compost heaps in the adjacent woods.

Friends of Adel Woods: raking mowings on the orchid meadow, 12th August 2023 — ***Two happy workers*** *raking up the mowings*

Friends of Adel Woods working on the Orchid Meadow in Adel Woods — ***Two more happy workers putting the cuttings onto a tarpaulin for transfer to a compost heap.***

Friends of Adel Woods are a friendly group and we are always looking for new members. If you would like to help look after our woods, get some fresh air and exercise in beautiful surroundings, and make new friends, please get in touch.

Our next work party is on Saturday the 16th September 2023 when we will be clearing scrub from around our local landmark, the Buck Stone.

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Wednesday, 17th August 2022: bracken pulling on Adel Moor

Posted on August 17, 2022 | 1 comment

Friends of Adel Woods pulling bracken on Adel Moor, Leeds, on 17th August 2022

This was our second Wednesday “work party” during August in which we focused on pulling bracken on Adel Moor. Again we had a very good turn out of nine “Friends” and it was another lovely morning. We have one more bracken pulling session this year – next Wednesday, the 24th.

If you are wondering why we pull up bracken, it is because it eventually smothers all other plants and diminishes bio-diversity. This was very evident in some parts of the area we worked on today where there no other plants living under the bracken. However, in other parts, we found lots of heather and bilberries still managing to carry on – as can be seen in the “before and after” photographs below.

Friends of Adel Woods pulling bracken on Adel Moor, 17th August 2022 — *Before…*

Today we focused on a triangular area to the east of the main path crossing the moor from North to South. Again you can see from the photographs below that there was still a lot of heather growing under the bracken and it was very satisfying to bring it to light. In the area beyond and to the left of the area shown in the photographs, there was little growing as can be seen in the last photograph in this post.

As we pulled the bracken, we had a lovely surprise when one of our party found a bird’s nest suspended in the top of some bracken fronds. There were empty egg shells in the nest which we identified as a robin’s nest. The fact that the egg shells were still in the nest is probably not a good sign as birds usually remove shells from the nest once the chicks have hatched.

Friends of Adel Woods, Adel Moor, Robin nest 17th August 2022 — *A bird’s nest found in the bracken fronds on Adel Moor*

Friends of Adel Woods on Adel Moor on Wednesday the 17th August 2022 — *Three* *Friends of Adel Woods on Adel Moor: 17th* *August* *2022*

Another lovely morning. In the foreground, you can see how bare the ground can be once the bracken has been removed. Hopefully, other plants will now have a chance to repopulate the moor.

Fortunately, you can also see lots of heather and gorse in the background.

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Saturday, 18th June 2022: litterpicking and path clearing – and an unexpected encounter!

Posted on June 18, 2022 | Leave a comment

It has been a beautiful week weatherwise, with soaring temperatures yesterday. Still a nice day today, but fortunately a lot cooler at 10 am this morning.

Twelve Friends today: four of us to pick up litter and eight of us clearing paths.

Having furnished the litter pickers with equipment and bags, the path clearers set off with the ultimate aim of widening the path that runs South across the meadow between the picnic area and the Meanwood Valley Trail.

First, though, we made our way to the path heading north off Crag Lane from the back of Old Leo’s clubhouse. The entrance to this path had become much narrower due to encroaching grass, nettles, brambles and other plants, and so we widened the entrance and trimmed back the more prominent holly further up the path. We also removed a large fallen branch from the path.

From there we made our way back to Crag Lane, heading in the direction of the picnic area. However, we had only gone a few yards when one of our Friends made the amazing discovery of a mole snuffling around in the foliage at the edge of the path.

mole in the open, Adel Woods, Leeds. 18th June 2022 — *A mole wandering about on Crag Lane*

We all stopped work to have a look at him or her. It was the first time your correspondent had ever seen a mole – and probably the first time any of us had! We didn’t touch the mole but watched it wander around. It seemed completely unaware of our presence, but also seemed not to know where it was going. We speculated that it had lost its way and could not make its way back underground because the ground was so hard. One of us poured out some water for it and it immediately lapped it up. We were worried for its safety as we could hear dogs nearby, but fortunately it made its way into the undergrowth and we left it to its own devices. What an exciting start to the day!

As we made our way along Crag Lane, we cut back foliage which was encroaching most onto the path.

Once we reached the picnic area, we took the path down to the Meanwood Valley Trail which had become very narrow. But first, two of us made a detour to ensure that the drainage pipe under the path just beyond the picnic area was clear. We dug out the mud from the entrance and exit ditches, and cleared the mud from the pipe.

clearing a drainage pipe on Crag Lane, Ade Woods, Leeds 18th June 2022 — *Clearing the drainage pipe near the picnic area*

By now, the sun was out and it was hot work clearing the path. One or two of our Friends were extremely pink in the face! However, we made good progress before finishing at 12 noon.

Friends of Adel Woods, Path clearing, Adel Woods 18th June 2022 — *Widening the path from the picnic area down to the Meanwood Valley Trail*

Having finished work, some of us went to have a look at the orchids in the orchid meadow (otherwise known as the cricket meadow).

Friends of Adel Woods path clearing in Adel Woods, Leeds 18th June 2022 — *Friends of Adel Woods in full colour after a very enjoyable morning*

The meadow was an absolute picture, full of buttercups and orchids, clover and all sorts of grasses and other wild plants.

Heath spotted orchid in Adel Woods, Leeds, 18th June 2022 — *Common spotted orchids, buttercups and clover in the orchid meadow, Adel Woods*

We first discovered this meadow in 2014. At that time it contained a large number of common spotted orchids but it was in a poor state: trees and Himalayan Balsam were beginning to take over. We began work on the meadow under the supervision of Steve Joul in 2016 and it has been transformed into a wonderful haven for wild flowers and insects. We have removed the trees and most of the Himalayan Balsam, and Steve has mown the meadow each Autumn for the last three years. Our new ranger, David Preston, is planning to mow the meadow again this Autumn.

You can see what the meadow looked like in 2016 here.

Thank you to all the Friends who joined us today. The litter pickers picked up about three bags of litter.

The orchid meadow, 18 June 2022. Adel Woods, Leeds — *The orchid meadow, 18 June 2022. There are a lot more orchids than you might think!*

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Thursday, 27th May 2021: Annual General Meeting

Posted on May 27, 2021 | Leave a comment

We held our Annual General Meeting this evening by Zoom. All the current committee members stood for re-election and were duly appointed.

Roger Gilbert was appointed chair, Judith White treasurer and Stephanie Clarke was appointed secretary. Rob Hall agreed to check the annual accounts.

The constitution provides for a committee of 10 members. Currently, we have six committee members, so we are keen for new volunteers to join the committee. If you are interested in joining the committee and having an input into the work done by Friends of Adel Woods please put yourself forward – you can do this by contacting Roger Gilbert by posting a comment on this website. The duties of the committee are not onerous. In a normal year we have about four meetings when we decide on our program of work, discuss and approve fund raising and expenditure, and deal with the matters which arise from time to time.

The Chair’s review of activities from May 2019 to May 2020

Our last AGM was on the 9th May 2019. We couldn’t have an AGM in person in May 2020 due to Covid 19 restrictions and it has been put off until today. So we have two years to review.

May 2019 to May 2020

From May 2019 to May 2020 we carried out the following:

eight litterpicking mornings
three mornings working on Adel Moor
two mornings working on Adel Bog
four mornings of path clearing including repairing the Stairfoot Lane steps
one morning clearing mud and debris from Adel Pond
one morning working in the hospice woodland
two days of nest box cleaning and surveying with S Joul
one day when David S and I replaced a missing nest box by the bridge below the pond – this particular location being a popular one for nuthatches to nest in.

In addition Steve Joul let a very successful Fungal Foray in October.

We also had a stall on the village green in August when Kibitz played.

In addition it is worth saying that 2019 was our tenth anniversary year and we celebrated this with a meal at the Olive Branch attended by 58 people, and the sale of a FOAW 2020 calendar which sold 50 copies.

Friends of Adel Woods; 2020 calendar — *The Friends of Adel Woods 2020 Calendar*

Our last event in this year was the path clearing in March 2020. However, we had a great discovery when Lisa and Andy Worrilow found a colony of green hairstreak butterflies on Adel Moor – hitherto the only colony in the Leeds area was on Otley Chevin.

May 2020 to May 2021

Our activities were severely curtailed from March 2020 due to the Covid 19 lockdown.

We were not able to have our AGM or our annual birdsong walk in May 2020. We did, however, manage to have some events from May 2020 to today.

In September we spent a day raking mowings from the Orchid Meadow after Steve and a volunteer, Jim, mowed it. We also had a morning in December when we extended the northern boundary of the meadow. I should say that the Orchid Meadow has been a great success after all the work which FOAW and Steve have done on it. See the pictures on the blog for June 2020.

In October we had a morning of dredging Adel Pond, working on the ditches draining into the pond, and Judith cleaned out the Slabbering Baby.

We also had a day in the Autumn path clearing, but I don’t seem to have put a blog entry or have any photos!

Other notable events are the installation of the new interpretation boards – Adel Moor, Alwoodley Crag, and Buckstone Road entrance and the planting of a new orchard in the practice rugby field.

The Interpretation boards: in June, David Preston helped some of us choose sites to place them. In September, we helped Steve Joul clear the sites and mark them. In March David and his colleagues installed them for us – and they look wonderful.

*David Preston putting the finishing touches to one of the new interpretation panels in Adel Woods*

Steve has planted ten fruit trees – eight apple and two conference pear trees – in what used to be the practice rugby ground to the north west of Old Leo’s clubhouse..

Oh, and I should say that the Green Hairstreaks were seen on Adel Moor in April, but we are concerned that they may not have been able to breed before the rather wet weather we have had in the last month.

Apart from that, I have put some entries in the blog about ring necked parakeets in Leeds and murmurations of starlings, badgers and yellow hammers

One thing is clear is that Adel Woods has been a very popular recreational spot during the lockdowns – as evidenced by the large number of extra paths that have appeared for the first time in the last year.

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