Highwoods Preservation Society
Reg. Charity No:
282289
Britain's remaining natural woodlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. They are an asset which, if lost, cannot be replaced.Bexhill has one of the few surviving examples of traditional coppiced woodlands left in East Sussex in the 87 acres (35 Hectares) of the Highwoods. The Society arranges periodic coppicing work.
Since the early 1980's Highwoods Preservation Society volunteers and others have, under a management agreement with the Rother District Council, safeguarded this local beauty spot and wildlife habitat for the benefit of YOU the public--and the birds, animals and plants
Under the agreed management programme footpaths have been widened, drained and waymarked. A horse ride has been cleared and signposted so this long-established public use of the woods can continue without risk to walkers or damage to the area as wildlife habitat. More recently a disabled path has been added.
Overgrown ponds have been cleared and returned to use as a valuable part of the ecology of the woodlands. A dry heath has been cleared of bracken and encroaching silver birch. Regular surveys are taken of wildlife seen in the woods. As a result of careful and planned woodland management their number and variety is rising.
For the benefit of Highwoods Preservation Society members and many other interested organisations, regular conducted walks around the woods are now organised. Local schools also use the Woods as part of their environmental education. The woods are designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the 'Sessile Oak Coppice' is said to be the finest in southern Britain.
Since the early 1980's Highwoods Preservation Society volunteers and others have, under a management agreement with the Rother District Council, safeguarded this local beauty spot and wildlife habitat for the benefit of YOU the public--and the birds, animals and plants
Under the agreed management programme footpaths have been widened, drained and waymarked. A horse ride has been cleared and signposted so this long-established public use of the woods can continue without risk to walkers or damage to the area as wildlife habitat. More recently a disabled path has been added.
Overgrown ponds have been cleared and returned to use as a valuable part of the ecology of the woodlands. A dry heath has been cleared of bracken and encroaching silver birch. Regular surveys are taken of wildlife seen in the woods. As a result of careful and planned woodland management their number and variety is rising.
For the benefit of Highwoods Preservation Society members and many other interested organisations, regular conducted walks around the woods are now organised. Local schools also use the Woods as part of their environmental education. The woods are designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the 'Sessile Oak Coppice' is said to be the finest in southern Britain.
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New liner for main pond
SOMETIMES Nature can have a will of its own. Once, it filled with faithful regularity what the Society in its infancy confidently name the “Main Pond.”
True, the water level varied greatly between summer and winter but in the earlier days of the Society’s custody of the woods a large Oak near the periphery of the pond was the customary yardstick; a seasonal marker when rains filled the pond to the brim and an adjoining winterbourne (i.e. seasonal) stream added its contribution.
Many years ago, the Society used the traditional “puddled clay” method to ensure that the pond retained a fair amount of its winter bounty throughout the year. For reasons that have never been fully explained, however, pond levels have been dropping year by year. Climate change? Possibly.
Another possible cause was thought to be failure of the puddled clay measure.
Work-party members had also waded in to remove saplings after advice that the thirsty young trees might be helping to drain the pond.
Now the Society is investing in a new approach.
Stage one: contractor Ray Forward kindly used his excavator to dig out a large depression in what was already the lowest section of the pond. Then the Society had the not inconsiderable task of taking in hand an enormous roll of pond-liner.
Forget the comparatively easily-manoeuvred butyl liners bought at garden centres for home-pond use. This was a gigantic roll of heavy, thickly-woven, material impregnated with clay.
Despite having been cut into sections, it took a combination of scaffold poles and rollers just to begin the process of transporting the material from the dealership at Robertsbridge to temporary storage courtesy of Dave German.
Stage Two will be to find a way of transporting the heavy material to the pond and to instal it.
Photos courtesy of Jim Foster and Christine Wilden.
SOMETIMES Nature can have a will of its own. Once, it filled with faithful regularity what the Society in its infancy confidently name the “Main Pond.”
True, the water level varied greatly between summer and winter but in the earlier days of the Society’s custody of the woods a large Oak near the periphery of the pond was the customary yardstick; a seasonal marker when rains filled the pond to the brim and an adjoining winterbourne (i.e. seasonal) stream added its contribution.
Many years ago, the Society used the traditional “puddled clay” method to ensure that the pond retained a fair amount of its winter bounty throughout the year. For reasons that have never been fully explained, however, pond levels have been dropping year by year. Climate change? Possibly.
Another possible cause was thought to be failure of the puddled clay measure.
Work-party members had also waded in to remove saplings after advice that the thirsty young trees might be helping to drain the pond.
Now the Society is investing in a new approach.
Stage one: contractor Ray Forward kindly used his excavator to dig out a large depression in what was already the lowest section of the pond. Then the Society had the not inconsiderable task of taking in hand an enormous roll of pond-liner.
Forget the comparatively easily-manoeuvred butyl liners bought at garden centres for home-pond use. This was a gigantic roll of heavy, thickly-woven, material impregnated with clay.
Despite having been cut into sections, it took a combination of scaffold poles and rollers just to begin the process of transporting the material from the dealership at Robertsbridge to temporary storage courtesy of Dave German.
Stage Two will be to find a way of transporting the heavy material to the pond and to instal it.
Photos courtesy of Jim Foster and Christine Wilden.
