Ten years ago this week, on a cold and frosty morning, a dozen volunteers from Winkleigh and Hollocombe Parish came together to plant the first trees on the top of The Mound. These trees were planted to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
This area had been given rent-free to a group of interested people to develop as a space for nature by the Trustees of the Winkleigh War Memorial Recreation Field. At that point it was rough ground, covered in thistles, docks and nettles which had been left alone since the building of the Sports Centre in 2003. At first, we had romantic visions of a wild flower meadow, but our first work-parties showed us just how fertile the ground was and how it would be very difficult to restore without using pigs or stripping off all the topsoil. Initially there was no fencing or rent to pay, as the rest of the field had not yet been let out to a sheep farmer. This blog tells our story of joys and challenges over the past decade in more detail. Thanks to the many people have been involved, of all ages, in so many ways to support this project. Just look at these photos to see the Area's development!
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Before we started in
2012 |
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| First trees planted 1st December 2012 |
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| Sheep invasion in May 2014! |
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| Involving young people June 2015 |
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| Volunteer topping the grass May 2017 |
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| Families tree-planting in January 2020 |
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| View from field in June 2021 |
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| Wild Cherry 2022 |
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| Silver Birch |
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| Knapweed and Yarrow |
We welcome everyone to join in our maintenance work-parties and citizen science events.
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