April 2014 : Parkhayes Plantation wildlife area, and elsewhere

Wildlife area

Parkhayes Plantation is the triangle of land lying between Parkhayes and Lower Road, and accessible from both on foot.  The Residents Association, in consultation with the Parish Council who owns it, is working to support and promote the Plantation as a wildlife area.  

View of Plantation from Parkhayes entrance

View from Lower Road entrance

Some history

Historically there were a couple of farms on what is now Parkhayes (the road), going back at least to 1605 when one Richard Ducke was listed as a free tenant of Parkhayes (the farm).  At the same period either he, or one of his family, founded Ducke’s almshouses in Heavitree Fore Street, at the junction with Butts Road, (since rebuilt in the nineteenth century).  

In 1704 the land passed through marriage to the Pyle family, who – typically for an era of incredible continuity – were still farming it more than two hundred years later in 1923!  No.1 Parkhayes was built by the family in 1921 to replace the original farmhouse, which was badly damaged by fire and left derelict until later demolished in the 1930s. 

The land which is now the Plantation (sadly not in view in any of the historic images below) seems to have been rough pasture, with a pond at the corner nearest to Parkhayes.  Old maps show a saw pit on the opposite side of the path in the late nineteenth century. 

Parkhayes Farm before re-development
[photo supplied by the late Margaret Wilson
to Roger Stokes of the Woodbury History Society]

Entrance to Parkhayes before and after re-development
in 1986 (above) and 1990 (below) [photos by Sally Elliott]

At one time there was a shop at no.1 Parkhayes, and before the modern redevelopment, the lane was therefore known locally as'Shop Lane'.

'Shop Lane' in 1986 [photo by Sally Elliott]

After the Parish took over this parcel of land, trees were planted in 1978 to commemorate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, thanks to fundraising by Woodbury Salterton Women’s Institute.  They include ash, birch, oak, hazel, rowan, and wild cherry, and a lime tree, planted later in 1993.

Now very well grown, some trees have recently been pruned at lower levels to allow more light to reach the woodland floor, and to encourage a wider variety of organic life to thrive there.  

View within the Plantation

Along Lower Road there are some older trees, such as this Scots Pine (below).  These were planted in the 1890s by the then owner of Greendale House, in an ambitious scheme to delineate his boundary with alternating Scots pines and oaks.  In general, the pines have lasted longest, and are a distinctive feature of the nearby lanes, for instance along Lower Road and at its junction with Oil Mill Lane at Heathfield Cross, and along Greendale Lane.

Projects

The Residents Association has very recently installed ten nesting boxes (for smaller birds such as varieties of tits), three bat boxes, and an owl box (made from a recycled packing case) – and other wildlife habitats such as a 'bug hotel' will follow.  These have been funded by a donation from the Woodbury Music Hall (the Follies), 2013.  Future projects also include a notice board to draw attention to the variety of wildlife here.  Many thanks are due to local resident Dave Rose and helpers for organising this project.

Small bird box

Bat boxes

Owl box

Badgers

This path in the Plantation is in fact a badger run.  In a future post we hope to include images made by Dave Rose of badgers feeding in his neighbouring garden.

Plants and flowers

The woodland floor has a dense carpet of emerging Cow Parsley, ground elder, nettles, brambles, goose grass, and grasses.  At the edges, where there is more light, celandines are still in full flower, as also are daisies, dead nettle, and dandelions.  Many of the plants here and in the road verges are commonly regarded as weeds, but – quite apart from their wild natural beauty – they are incredibly important as food for pollinating insects as bees and butterflies. 

Red Dead Nettle

Cow parsely is one of the defining flowers of May.  Coming into bloom now, it is the first of several umbellifers that grow in spring and summer.

Celandines have been in flower for several weeks.

Dandelions are also putting on a brilliant display.  Not a single species, there are in fact hundreds of microspecies - all quite similar in appearance - that flower almost continuously throughout the year.  The name means 'lion's tooth' - from the French dent-de-leon - and there is an equivalent name in almost all the European languages.  But it is uncertain whether this derives from the shape of the petals or of the leaves.

Ground elder.

Dock

The emerging flower of Lords and Ladies.

Elder tree coming into leaf.

In the hedge alongside the path from Parkhayes, hazel is coming into leaf.  There are still ivy berries here, a significant food source for birds throughout the winter.  Its flowers are important food for bees.

Hazel

Ivy berries

Elsewhere in the village

Lanes and hedges

In the lanes, Greater Stitchwort is in flower, one of the most ubiquitous plants of country roadsides in spring.

Greater Stitchwort

Blackthorn is in blossom everywhere in hedges and as individual trees.  Although its blooms can easily be confused with hawthorn (which flowers later) and other Prunus, it is distinctive for flowering on bare black stems before the leaves form.

Blackthorn (above and below)

Elsewhere along Village Road we also spotted white dead nettle, common field speedwell, pink purslane, and cuckoo flower (lady’s smock).

The Village Road Plantation

In the centre of village,bluebells are showing – almost certainly a hybrid of the native and Spanish forms – and the horse chestnut buds are opening.

Bluebells

Horse chestnut

The Churchyard

The churchyard has been a glorious sight with its array of primroses (some tending to pink) and celandines.  There are also a few violets.

Primroses in profusion, above and below.

Violet

Birds and butterflies

In addition to the birds mentioned last month – robin, blackbird, song-thrush, chaffinch, goldfinch, dunnock (hedge-sparrow), great tit, and greater spotted woodpeckers – skylarks and chiffchaffs were first heard in the middle of March.  Skylarks used to be considerably more widespread, and have not been heard here at all for the last two years, so this seems to be good news.  Blackcap warblers, with their distinctive musical song, were also heard in the middle of April.  Soon after, willow warblers and white throats were heard, and swallows and house martins are again in our skies.

Butterflies have included the distinctive yellow brimstone, which has been seen on warm days for several weeks now, peacocks, and the very pretty orange-tip.  Both brimstones and peacocks hibernate in buildings through the winter, emerging on warm days.  Like some other butterflies, the brimstone can be very territorial, and watching one seeing off a peacock can be quite a sight!