Our ethos

Our ethos is one of low intervention. As much as possible we’re going to be hands off, and I think we can do this because we already have some brilliant pockets of habitat just waiting to expand if given the chance.

I’d like to say we chose The Meadowlands because of the amazing corners of habitat it harbours, but that would be lying. It was the views and tranquility that we fell in love with, without knowing much about the habitat itself. We had other criteria of course - low grade agricultural land, existing woodland, contiguous (i.e. not intersected by a road) - which the site met, but it was only after we had agreed to buy that we began to discover how amazing some areas are. We used the data on DEFRA’s MAGIC Maps to identify a small area of meadow and areas of ancient woodland, but early plant surveys by the excellent Stuart Hedley found far more species-rich, unimproved grassland than were previously known.

What this means is when we create woodland, we shouldn’t need to plant. By setting aside fields adjacent to existing ancient woodland we can allow natural colonisation from the neighbouring trees, casting their seeds far and wide. Similarly, in the grasslands we have lots of plant diversity - 241 vascular plant species recorded so far - and hopefully with cattle moving across the site they will spread the seed without us intervening.

There are, of course, interventions that we do have to make. If we want ponds we need to dig them. If we want to keep our hedgerows as hedgerows, rather than lines of trees, we will need to cut or coppice on a certain cycle. But we’re going to avoid planting trees, we’re not planning to reseed meadows, and that means it’s all going to take longer. But the outcome should be a lot more natural, and self-willed, which is what we’re trying to achieve.

Further reading

Natural Regeneration guidance from The Woodland Trust