Avon Wildlife Trust go to Hartcliffe and discover bug hunting, bluebells and bees at Dundry Slopes!

On Sunday I had a lovely morning out in Hartcliffe at the Dundry Slopes Discovery Day.  What an amazing amenity this community have on their doorstep?!  Driving out of the city towards the green hills,  which are a much loved, integral part of the Bristol skyline, countryside and town literally embrace each other.  It’s one of the things I most love about Bristol.

The event, organised by Kelly Bray from Avon Wildlife Trust, took place at the foot of East Dundry Slopes.  When I turned up, it was a hive of activity, not least because of the presence of local beekeeper, Dave Gillard from Dundry, who apparently produces THE best honey and who was selling a variety of bee related products on a stall near the entrance.  Small children were having their faces painted and making their own wildlife badges, while parents gathered in the tent and enjoyed the free tea and cake that were generously provided.  The colourful bunting was blowing in the increasing wind, but the good weather was holding out – just!  Further away, at the foot of the slopes, I could see Tony Smith from Bristol Naturalists encircled by a group of fascinated children, who were keen to examine the catch in his sweep net, while others peered, quietly fascinated,  at moths and midges in magnifying bug pots.

Tony Smith on one of his walks, at the foot of East Dundry Slopes.

I spoke to several mums, some who were unaware such a place existed on their doorstep and one, who lived right on the edge of it but had never explored it.  Until now.  Keith Way, from the Dundry Slopes Group, who is a real ambassador for the area was on hand to talk about the local history, and explained to me that the Slopes are the source of Brislington Brook – something I was quite unaware of?  Justin Smith, Woodland & Wildlife Officer for Bristol City Council took a group up into the woods to see the bluebells, which are apparently quite spectacular?  And as a lovely gesture, Kelly had potted up english bluebells she had been growing, for the visitors to take home with them.

Kelly Bray from Avon Wildlife Trust with her potted bluebells!

In the last half hour, the weather, true to recent form, deteriorated, the wind picked up and it started to drizzle.  But it didn’t matter.  The local community had got together to celebrate this amazing space – a real haven for children and adults alike, and could now go home to Sunday lunch, in the knowledge that they’d enjoyed some fresh air during the best part of the day, learned some new things about wildlife and maybe made some new friends with whom to further explore this lovely bit of Bristol in the future?

Many thanks to Avon Wildlife Trust, in particular Kelly, for putting on such a great event!

Uncovered and undiscovered – Bristol’s Thirty Acre Woodland.

Thirty Acre Woodland.  You can’t find out much about it if you google it!  Where is it?  Well, it’s situated on the edge of the Kings Weston ridge and backs onto the residential area of Lawrence Weston.  It’s not particularly well signposted – either to get into, or out of  – as I soon discovered!  Take binoculars along with your OS map (you probably won’t need the latter, you will need the binoculars to keep an optimistic eye out for footpath markers in the distance!)  The Severn Way does run through here, which makes it part of a 224 mile walk, starting in the wild Plynlimon mountains of Mid Wales.

So what’s the wood like?  Well, the perimeter is a little disappointing if I’m honest, as it seems to be an overflow for peoples back gardens and their rubbish.  But then you get the impression it’s not used much, and maybe there aren’t many people to protest?  However, as you walk away from here, there is this feeling of escaping to somehere quite rural, even remote. And most certainly ancient.  It reminds me of places I played as a child, and has the sort of meandering paths, hiding places and steep slippery banks you could have a lot of fun with!  Ecologically, it’s a really nice example of broad leaved woodland, so it is no surprise that the bluebell leaves are reaching skywards and I can imagine this wood is going to be stunning when they eventually flower – in time for bristol99!  The floor is rather suffocated by an impenetrable blanket of ivy however, which seems to be running amok.   But there were still a decent patch of winter hellebores that were staking their claim which was nice to see.  I’m definitely going to return early one morning when I imagine the birds will be really vocal, and see the bluebells at the same time.  It will be very interesting to see when the first ones flower – last year it was ridiculously early as I remember – but we were experiencing uncharacteristically warm weather.  Hmmm, not much chance of a repeat of that then!!  Now I must go and turn up the thermostat!