To see last year’s work go to Diary 2023
December 2024
Dial Hill – a section of rough grassland brush-cut & raked off and brambles cut back to preserve semi-natural grassland and promote species diversity
November 2024
Autumn hedge trimming & cutting back of vegetation along the paths at Marine Lake. Controlling invasive wild cherry saplings encroaching on Church Hill grassland. Planting out a donated oak tree in the Baytree School community area.
Poets’ Walk – cutting out invasive, non-native Holm oak and Turkey oak. Seaward-side vegetation trimmed back opposite the seats to improve views towards Wales.
Refurbishing a flight of woodland steps behind the cricket club on Dial Hill.
October 2024
Quinney’s Wood – mowing tree suckers beside the top hedge after pulling brambles. Cutting out tree suckers, mainly blackthorn, in a grassy glade.
Bug hotels, provided by Willmott Dixon Construction and filled by Baytree School pupils, are put up in the Millenium Community Orchard. A bramble hedge is cut hard back.
Clearing brambles from the top hedge and under the trees in Quinney’s Wood
September 2024
The Millenium Community orchard – mowing before the October cider apple harvest. Brush cutting blackthorn suckers but leaving regrowth of 3 former blackthorn trees
Dial Hill – the front slope is brushcut and raked. Awaiting tractor mowing on the hilltop
Baytree School community area – third (last) section brushcut and raked off
August 2024
Dial Hill – late summer mowing starts on the front slope along with some scrub clearance
Mowing the viewing corridor on Dial Hill for the second time this year
July 2024
Reopening the path at the foot of Wain’s Hill, behind the town cemetery allotments
Brush-cutting a further section of the community area beside Baytree School
Dial Hill – mowing & raking up rank vegetation to create a wildlife- and visitor-friendly clearing to include two young walnut trees, accessible from the path
Mowing & raking up under the feature walnut trees on Dial Hill to restore access. Meanwhile, invasive everlasting pea, now flowering, is pulled to control its spread.
June 2024
More work at the Baytree School community area towards restoring the grassland
Contractors have left the Baytree School community area in a bad state. Woodcutters place stakes to mark tree whips and mow the path edge in hope of improving the site.
Summer mowing at the Millennium Community Orchard to improve access and reduce competition from over-vigorous or invasive species. Arisings are raked off.
May 2024
Over a number of years, non-native everlasting pea has invaded valuable grassland on Dial Hill and must be regularly pulled to restrict its further spread.
Dial Hill – mowing rank vegetation in the viewing corridor and removing the arisings to reduce species competition and gradually re-establish a grassland slope
Quinney’s Wood – cutting out blackthorn and aspen suckers to prevent competition with grass and other smaller species. Some minor tree work is also carried out.
April and May 2024
Dial Hill – grubbing out bramble crowns from a recently cleared area. Brambles are also cleared from a hawthorn tree in the grassland and a small wooded area nearby.
April 2024
Grubbing out bramble crowns beside Baytree School following scrub clearance by contractors. Remedial pruning of apple trees in the Millenium Community Orchard
Strawberry Hill woods – a fallen tree trunk is shortened to widen access along the main path. Pulling & cutting back young brambles along another path
Strawberry Hill woods (the Fir Woods) – the banks of the path from Thackeray Road are cleared of brambles. A large and untidy brash pile left by contractors is much reduced.
February and March 2024
Coppicing some overgrown blackthorn to rejuvenate it and also to create more space for fruit tree planting in the Millennium Community Orchard
February 2024
A second session of scrub clearing beside Baytree School opens up an informal trail.
The Woodcutters embark on a fresh assignment in a small community area beside the newly built Baytree School off Brookfield Walk. Rubbish is removed, access to the wooded area enabled, and brash, brambles & branches used for habitat piles.
Poets’ Walk – the shrubby vegetation above Marine Lake is mechanically trimmed to improve the view to the pier and over the lake to the promenade.
Poets’ Walk – vegetation is trimmed along the path to Marine Lake. A broken woodland step is fixed, and brambles removed from adjacent Salthouse woodland.
January 2024
The Woodcutters receive a donation of £1000 from the construction company Willmott Dixon at Baytree School in appreciation and support of their ongoing work to enhance the natural environment in sites across Clevedon.
Dial Hill – reducing the size of a large bramble patch to restore grassland and removing a non-native holm oak competing with a hawthorn
Coppicing hazel in Quinney’s Wood to produce a succession of growth.
ClevedonConservationVolunteers 