Conservation Matters
The Gardens here at Dunge Valley, which
were bought along with the house and have been in development since 1976, represent only a small part of our total land
holding. In 1995, we were able to acquire the land that originally belonged to Dunge Farm making a total of nearly 120
acres or around 50 hectares.
The great value of this land is its
diversity. As you can see from the map it runs from the high ground near Windgather Rocks at some 415m (1,360ft) down to
265m (870ft) nearly to the main valley river, Todd Brook, and incorporates pastures, meadows, scrub, woodland, streams,
marshes and bogs. This provides a range of habitats for a wide variety of flora (plants) and fauna (animals).
Our strategy for the land has been to
protect and enhance the existing habitats, revert some of the pasture to a more natural state and, for the rest of the
land, relieve the impact of farming (grazing and haymaking from the meadows) to encourage wildlife to return and
flourish.
We have begun to achieve this process by
obtaining grants and assistance from government, environmental and conservation organisations such as Natural England,
the Forestry Commission and the RSPB. The process of conservation has had to be balanced with our need to obtain an
income from the land, which we achieve by renting it out to local farmers, but with stipulations in place to manage the
effects on the natural habitats and wildlife.
It is important to keep in mind that the
income from the Gardens enables us to enter our land into Natural England’s Environmental Stewardship Scheme, which
offers grants for reducing grazing, ceasing fertiliser use and actively managing wildlife. We must emphasise that,
although the huge 1,000+ acre farms make big money, the average hill farm of 150-200 acres only generates a living (with
the help of subsidies), so conservation projects like ours are just not possible or financially viable for most
landowners. Your input and donations as Garden visitors help to ensure that our conservation scheme can continue into
the future.
The Conservation Story So Far
Our first major undertaking was a Woodland
Planting Scheme under the Forestry Commission. We proposed to plant a wide variety of trees and scrub. Unfortunately the
officials did not like our proposals, mainly because the focus of their schemes is on the planting of trees, not shrubs
and other plants that provide scrub. Scrub is actually some of the best wildlife habitat and includes shrubs such as
Gorse, Roses, Blackthorn, Elderberry and Hawthorn – all of which provide nesting sites, shelter, cover and food for
wildlife. However, after talking with the Forestry Commission about our reasoning and long term plans for the land, we
came to an agreement for the planting scheme.
Oak had been the predominant tree since
prehistoric times in the woodlands of this country and therefore integral to the habitats of most native wildlife. That
was until recent times when the decimation of the local woodlands by farming, house and barn construction has
left very few Oak trees alive in this area. For this reason, we planted around 3,500 Oak as part of our 6,000+ total
planting scheme. The rest were: Birch; Betula pubescens, Mountain Ash or Rowan; Sorbus aucuparia, Alder;
Alnus glutinosa, Bird Cherry; Prunus padus, Hazel; Corylus avellana, Elderberry; Sambucus nigra,
Blackthorn; Prunus spinosa, Willow; Salix alba. The idea was to provide a varied habitat for all
wildlife with berries and nesting scrub for birds.
To help with the strenuous task of
actually carrying out our rather ambitious planting scheme we were very grateful for the assistance of the students from
Wilmslow College
Once planted, the trees and shrubs
required ongoing protection and management so that they could become established. We found that deer were a problem in
the early days of our young woodland, with between 5 and 10% of the trees were smashed to the ground by stags, but now
the woodland is much more established and even those trees have regenerated.
We did not want to revert all of the land
back to woodland because, as we’ve said, the value of the land is in the diversity of habitats it provides for wildlife.
Therefore, in order to enhance the more open habitats on the land, such as the meadows and pastures, these have been
carefully managed and grazed in a controlled manner as an integral part of our conservation management regime. This
greatly restricts the number of animals grazing the land from March until the end of July, giving the ground nesting
birds a chance to nest without too much disturbance and for the rarer plants to grow and seed. There are also
restrictions on how soon the meadows can be cut for hay, thereby allowing the wild flowers to go to seed.
The application of fertiliser is the
primary destroyer of natural meadows. Wild flowers, herbs and grasses evolved in a habitat with relatively low, but
balanced, levels of minerals and nutrients. The addition of nitrogen rich fertilisers to the land destroys this balance,
favouring the growth of grasses that quickly outcompete wild flowers. In only a short amount of time, you are left with
a monoculture of grass – great for feeding livestock, but devastating to all wildlife.
On our land, after 16+ years of being
fertiliser free, the wild flowers are slowly but surely returning. Our meadows are now home to clusters of Orchids (see
the picture at the top of this page), on the steeper land Moonwort; botrychium lunaria, Adder’s Tongue Fern;
ophioglossum vulgatum and Mountain Pansies; Viola lutea are in abundance with Bog asphodel; Narthecium
ossifragum in the high wet flushes. This is a real testament to the rewards of conservation and managed farming for
the enhancement of wildlife, flora and fauna.
One of the best ways to establish a good
species rich hay meadow is the introduction of Yellow Rattle; rhinanthus minor. This is a parasitic species on
the roots of grasses, thereby greatly reducing their vigour and allowing other species to thrive. After a while
additional species of flowers, herbs, etc. will need introducing in order to become re-established within a meadow.
Plugs are probably the best way, as seed is quite hit and miss depending on location. However, we have been able to do
very little in the way of species reintroduction, mainly due to the lack of grants or funding available for such
projects.
In 1996, we excavated three wildlife ponds
on an area of semi-marshland where grazing had been restricted. We also blocked up the drainage pipes that had been put
in by the previous farmer and dug out shallow scrapes. These steps enabled the marshland to regenerate and created open
water, which has encouraged wetland birds like Curlew, Snipe and Lapwing to take residence and nest. Together with
similar works carried out by neighbouring farmers, the valley has a growing population of ground nesting birds.
One bird that has not returned is the Grey
Partridge. This is primarily due to the release of thousands of Pheasants (an introduced species) in neighbouring Goyt
Valley. The problem is known as egg dumping, whereby some Pheasants lay their eggs in Grey Partridge nests, which then
sense that something is wrong and abandon their clutch. Over time this completely devastates the population of Grey
Partridge. Very few people realise that over 40 million Pheasants are actively bred and released in the countryside each
year. These are competing directly with many of our resident birds for food, particularly in winter. Many of us are
quite thrilled to see them on our bird tables, but their sheer size and numbers now mean they represent a serious threat
to our native birds.
See
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/images/pdf/kfps.pdf for some research and a really detailed report.
Another real threat to our birdlife comes
from corvids, in particular crows, magpies and jays, which prey on ground nesting and other birds. Their numbers are
high primarily due to their ability as scavengers to obtain food from where other birds cannot – our human waste.
The Return of Wildlife
Overall we have seen a remarkable return
of bird, animal and plant life to our land:
The beginning of the year, with the Curlew
returning; the sound as they call overhead flying from their feeding ground to the wet meadows is wonderful in the still
crisp air of a spring morning.
Lapwings have also returned in good
numbers and watching them cartwheel through the sky with their acrobatic display is a great sight.
In the last few year Buzzards have been
nesting in the valley. Their persecution by farmers thinking they were killing lambs and by gamekeepers raising Pheasant
and Grouse was the main reason for their decline. They principally eat small rodents, but also take birds, reptiles,
amphibians, larger insects and earthworms. Prey up to 500g is taken by active predation; anything heavier is usually
carrion.
See
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/buzzard for more details about Buzzards.
Raptors (e.g. Hawks and Kites) have nearly
always been present in the valley, but the increase in rough grassland, which encourages mice and voles, has allowed
them to be much more successful and we see them hovering and scouring the ground searching for prey all year round.
Tawny Owls have been resident ever since
we moved here in 1976. They used to be seen perching in the large old Horse Chestnut tree at the back of the house, but
this was devastated by a storm a few years ago, so they have had to move to other trees for roosting. We are considering
putting up a custom built Owl box for them, as we think they are struggling to bring up young and find sufficient
shelter in the existing woodland. A lot of people don’t realise how vocal Tawny Owls are in the spring and summer months
– even in the daytime they call to each other and their young. The Little Owl can often be seen perching on a wall or
fence post, surveying the ground for prey. They were an introduced species in Roman times.
We have always had Badgers on the land and
in the last ten years numbers have greatly increased throughout the valley. They can have a detrimental effect of ground
nesting birds, so we are seeking to try to fence out the main nesting areas with fine mesh but it will be a huge job.
There are also Foxes in the valley, but
there is such a thing as a balance of wildlife. They tend to be controlled by the available food supply, so as the
Rabbit numbers increase so do the numbers of Foxes.
We often see Stoats and Weasels; again
they tend to predate on mice and voles, but it’s an incredible sight to see a tiny weasel tackle a fully grown Rabbit
and drag its body away. Mink which have also been seen in the valley infrequently can have a detrimental affect on the
Water Vole population.
When we acquired the land it had been
massively overgrazed, but many of the rarer plants managed to hang on and return once grazing began to be managed. On
the high land below Windgather Rocks, Bog Asphodel; Narthecium ossifragum thrives in the wet flushes and reed
beds. The worst haymaking fields we have, owing to the poor soil, are an absolute mass of orchids and wild flowers and
illustrate only too well the dichotomy between farming and wildlife where grass production is the aim. We get huge
pleasure in the summer wandering through a proliferation of flowers, which support a diverse range of butterflies and
moths.
Another unusual plant in these uplands is
the Bay Willow; Salix pentandra whose shiny glossy leaves have the scent reminiscent of washing up liquid in the
spring.
One plant we expected but have failed to
see re-establish itself is the Wood Anemone; Anemone nemorosa, which for a time had a fragmented population of
just a handful of plants, but we have not seen any now for some time. This is a real quandary, as they tend to be so
prolific in favoured woodland, such as just those around the canals in Whaley Bridge.
Our wildlife ponds are visited by a good
range of ducks, coots and wildfowl, although the Canada Geese can be a problem as they can dominate the area to the
detriment of smaller birds.
Solitary Herons are often seen on the edge
of the ponds; they must be after the frogs, as we have kept the ponds clear of fish so far. However, it would be
wonderful if with the introduction of fish we could entice Kingfishers to hunt at our ponds.
There are Water Voles about and in fact we
saw one taking stray seeds from around the bird table one winter, but they are very shy and easily predated upon by
small carnivores.
The Future of Conservation at Dunge
Valley
The countryside is forever changing and if
land is left without being grazed it will slowly revert back to woodland. We manage the land here to create the widest
possible range of habitats and our aim is to share the experience and let people gain an understanding of how
conservation works.
David & Elizabeth Ketley.
Common Lizard Lacerta vivipara.
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