On 23rd May 2018, a meeting was held at Castle Park to create a group to help look after Hob Hey Wood, Frodsham’s ancient semi-natural woodland. The Hob Hey Wood Friends Group was born! Today the group is one year old. I thought it was worth looking back over the past 12 months and see what we’ve achieved.
We can summarise the group’s activities in three areas: social media, administration, and practical work.
We used social media to promote the wood and try to ensure that people know where it is and how special it is. This website has been very active and contains lots of information and the Facebook page now has 207 members clearly showing the interest in the wood. The number of visitors to the wood has increased, too. Through social media, we’ve witnessed and shared autumn colours, a winter wonderland, beautiful spring flowers, and the wonder of nature’s breeding birds.
It is clear from the number of responses to posts that Hob Hey Wood is valued by many people in Frodsham and that we should continue to look after it.
The administration side is always less fun than ‘getting our hands dirty’ but is important. We’ve set up a committee, written a constitution, organised a bank account and commenced with a funding programme that has so far helped procure the much-needed tools for the group. For much of last year, we were ably supported by the Mersey Forest team of Ben Greenaway and Yendle Barwise (we could not have done it without them!)
With everything in place, we’re now able to focus on the practical work. The fun stuff…
So what have we actually DONE in the wood in the last year? Loads!
We’ve put up several yards of ‘dead hedge’ to limit access just to pedestrians (i.e. not bikes or horses), to prevent damage or erosion. This is made of wood cut from the wood and looks good, blending in with nature, rather than formal metal or timber fencing.
Three hundred trees went into the creation of a new hedge, edging the orchard. Hedges are incredibly important for wildlife and are being lost from Britain every day so it was with a sense of pride that we put this hedge up. We’ll see it grow and mature over the years becoming a haven for wildlife.
The community orchard has been extended with new apple, plum, greengage, cob nut, and pear trees all planted. In a couple of years, these trees will be hanging with luscious fruit in the autumn. I can’t wait…
Path repair and maintenance has been one of our key activities. We’ve replaced the mesh on much of the boardwalk, repaired a gravel path after being washed away, and made safer the south-west path which isn’t currently surfaced.
We also hosted a walk as part of the Frodsham Festival of Walks that was very well attended (over 40 people). We took the opportunity to talk to this large audience about the importance of the wood as well as show them its beauty. The two Llamas that ‘gatecrashed’ the walk were an unplanned bonus!
I think I speak for most of us when I say that membership of the group has been enjoyable and worthwhile. I’ve learned loads about the wood and managing woodland, much of it from our resident expert Brian (who I see as a sort of cross of David Bellamy and Alan Titchmarsh!) who leads the practical activity days. Knowing more about the wood enhances every walk I do there.
Is there more to do? Yes, of course.
We’d like to replace the boardwalks with permanent paths (and we’re looking into funding for this, it’s not cheap). The south-west path needs surfacing, too.
We are in discussion about putting in a couple more paths in the wood (e.g. from the main bridge to the northbridge allowing a ‘loop walk’. This could be a long term project.
Our bluebells are an important part of the wood and we’re looking to make some areas of the wood more attractive to these beautiful flowers for future visitors to enjoy.
There are a couple of areas of the wood that would really benefit from having benches installed so that we can sit and enjoy the sounds of nature for a few minutes. We’re discussing exactly how to do this and will hopefully have some plans for next year.
Improving the wood for wildlife. Control of some invasive species, clearance of bracken, and selective bramble removal will enhance the environment for wildlife and hopefully increase the number of plants and animals that live here.
So, I think you can see that we’ve had a fantastic year! It’s only the start, however. As always anyone who wants to get involved is welcome! There are no skills required (I certainly had NONE when I started) as volunteers are trained in the tasks being performed. If you’d like to get involved contact us via Facebook or this website and help improve this wonderful woodland for all to enjoy.
