Great Wood School - Bare
We have worked on this site since 1985 and it has been amazing to see the changes over that time. The school are very fortunate to be the custodians of one of the few small woods in Morecambe and although it has the name ‘Great’, it has never been very much larger than now. Old alder trees made up the woodland site when we first took it on but any understorey was grazed by the donkeys, who over wintered in the fields surrounding the wood and school. Since 1985, housing was built in the fields threatening encroachment into the wood, so we stepped in to fence the site, plant hedges and start work on regenerating the whole woodland. Many of the trees were coming to the end of their lives and we have planted oak and alder as the upper canopy. These tolerate the very wet conditions and will live for a long time after we have all gone! In addition willows, hazel and in particular, holly now form significant understorey which is fantastic for nesting birds and small mammals.
In addition to the wood there is an adjacent pond with dipping platform and we have also planted many trees around the school grounds. These are now creating quite an impact.
Beginner, Sarah, is a natural pleacher, using the billhook to shave off wood to enable the tree to be bent down and woven with other trees to form a hedge which will produce new shoots. The cuts have to be precise and the tree held until it gradually becomes flexible enough to be lowered gently without breaking off.
Following a management plan suggested by Lancashire Wildlife Trust, we spent a day thinning an area of holly which had densely covered one corner of the wood. This has opened up a space enabling us to plant more oak and hazel. Hopefully, we will also see a more varied range of ground flora. Great work by our team of volunteers.