Many of us enjoyed the last year’s AGM talk by Matt Tomlinson about the work he is doing, with the help of volunteers, to promoting wildflowers on the Strawberry Field and UEA Dev Farm meadows. Matt has now sent us a March update on progress:
“I hope you all had a good start to 2023, now the clocks have changed and spring feels much closer. The wildflowers on the meadows are now showing the first signs of life.
A few developments to let you know about –
We had the results of the soil analysis back from the lab, for the UEA meadow (next to the lake) we are helping with ….
Over the last few days Yellow rattle (the important meadow maker) has started germinating on the UEA Dev Farm meadow. This is very encouraging – big thanks to all who came and sowed the wildflower seeds last autumn, I can also see some wild carrot coming through as well. It will be a gradual change, but if we persist we can help transform the UEA meadows to become rich and diverse.
I will be giving a talk and guided walk around Strawberry Field on the 13th of May as part of St Andrews church Eco Fair ….”
Strawberry Field wild flowers. Photo: Matt Tomlinson
The “Friends of Strawberry Field” is a local community wildflower meadow project. It helps to manage the Strawberry Field, the bank on the Bluebell Road cycle lane, and the Dev Farm meadow at UEA – around 5.3 hectare (13 acre) of potential wildflower meadow. Find out more on their Facebook Page.
Some Friends of Strawberry Field. Matt is on right. Photo: Matt Tomlinson
Following the success of last year’s Eco Fair, St Andrews will again be holding an Eco Fair in the Church on Saturday 13th May between 10 am and 2pm.
The focus this year will be on the biodiversity of our local neighbourhood.
The Eco Fair will have stalls of eco friendly product, and talks and walks exploring the local ecology.
“Our Eco Day will explore what can be done locally to safeguard and protect our own part of God’s creation.”
As can be expected the Yare Valley features strongly in the Fair with a birdwatching walk on Marsden Marsh and a walk to the Strawberry Field to see the developing wildflower meadow. Of the several talks at the fair there will be a talk by Matt Tomlinson of the Friends of Strawberry Field.
YVS will again have a display stand highlighting the importance of the Yare Valley in supporting and restoring local biodiversity.
YVS display at last year’s Eco Fair Photo: Marilyn Evans
The Environmental Agency is funding Norfolk Rivers Trust to work on schemes that will increase meanders in the river, increase the speed of flow of the water, and trap more of the sediment that it transports. At the same time the schemes will improve water quality and provide marginal cover and habitat for river dwellers, such as water voles.
Newly constructed Berm Photo: John Elbro
Woody berms are being installed at various points along the banks of the River Yare between Cringleford Bridge and the UEA campus. The Woody Berms are made up of woody material, mainly alder, layered at the river margins and held tightly in place by stakes and cross braces. In places this has necessitated cutting back some of the vegetation on the banks to provide the materials.
As time passes reeds and other marginal vegetation will become established in the berms to give a more naturalised appearance and create habitat. An idea of what the mature berm might look like can be seen in a Wessex River Trust booklet.
Yare Valley Water Vole Photo: Lynda Clarkson
The Norwich Fringe Project has also been using natural materials to restore sections of bank that have become eroded at Marsden Marsh. It has inserted Faggots at places with serious bank erosion, these will help to consolidate the bank and reduce further erosion.
Bank restoration on Marsden Marsh
Explanatory notices have been put up to explain the works. A clearer map can be found here.
As a further improvement to the Strawberry Field, selected gaps through the hedgerow between the Field and Bluebell Road have been given a hardcore surface. This is a great improvement on the mud that is often to be found there. They follow existing desire lines, and so presumably are gaps people will want to use. Hopefully they will become the access points, and there will be no further forcing of gaps in the hedgerow.
The gaps offer a way to join the Strawberry Field Track and by-pass the cycleway and the noise of the Bluebell Road traffic.
Planning application for hole in the ground “Pond” reduces public green space
Another application, 22/01567/F, has been made relating to the McCarthy Stone phase 3 development on Bluebell Road. The application is for enlarging the attenuation pond constructed for water runoff of phases 1 and 2 to cope with phase 3. The use of “pond” although not technically incorrect may give a misleading picture of what is being proposed. Attenuation ponds for developments can be unsightly and potentially dangerous. An attenuation pond in a public access green space linked into the projected Yare Valley Parkway should be more than a hole in the ground. It should be safe and add to the amenity of the open space rather than detract from it.
Existing Attenuation Pond for phases 1 and 2.
The Yare Valley Society has several concerns about the proposals:
Restriction of public green space
The pond extension as positioned would further restrict the Public Access Green Space being made available under phase 2 of the development (now under construction). It should be a separate pond contained within the original Phase 3 development area.
Size
Insufficient attention has been paid to measures that could reduce the size of the attenuation pond e.g. by a greater use of water permeable surfaces of drives, roads and parking areas etc., and by use of rainwater harvesting (e.g., rainwater tubs, rain gardens) within the site.
Design and Planting
Insufficient attention has been given to its design and planting. It is a large feature in a public green space and so itshould be sculpted to create a natural setting. It should then be planted with trees, shrubs and other plants to improve visual appearance, provide safe public access, and provide habitats for wildlife.
Water Quality
It is not clear what steps are to be taken to ensure the water entering the pond is of sufficiently good quality to avoid hazard to wildlife or to the public.
Management
A Management Regime will need to be put in place to maintain and improve biodiversity, amenity, and water quality of the attenuation pond into the future.
What is possible?
The attenuation pond is a SUD (Sustainable Drainage System), and modern designs for SUDs in public green spaces maximise the potential for SUDs to contribute to the ecology and amenity of their surroundings. Key design principles for SUDS can be found on p 11 of the RSPB publication “Sustainable Drainage Systems – Maximising the potential for people and wildlife” . The publication shows what is possible with foresight and planning.
If you share the YVS concerns, please respond to this application by going to the Norwich Planning website, and inserting the reference 22/01567/F for details. Please make clear in your response why a properly designed and sited attenuation pond is important to you personally. Please act ASAP.
The Yare Valley Society’s submission on the application is here.
Norwich City Council are “seeking your feedback and ideas to inform” their Biodiversity Strategy for 2022 to 2032 and their associated Biodiversity Action Plan.
A copy of the Strategy is available at https://gettalking.norwich.gov.uk/biodiversity-strategy The Yare Valley Green Infrastructure Corridor can be expected to play a key role in the strategy, linking as it does five of the eight Norwich local nature reserves. But there is also an opportunity to make suggestions as to how climate change and biodiversity decline can be tackled at a smaller scale. Your ideas can join the Big Biodiversity Conversation at https://gettalking.norwich.gov.uk/big-biodiversity-conversation.
The river valley has woken to Spring. A soft green haze over the trees has begun to appear.
Yellow gorse, dandelions, celandine and Marsh marigolds shine golden in the sun. Swans are nesting and the birds are singing. Butterflies are emerging now, and the marsh walks are being enjoyed by all.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal for funds to purchase and manage Sweet Briar Marshes (36.6 hectare) in the Wensum Valley green corridor.
The Wensum green corridor, in common with the Yare Valley green corridor, is threatened by the surrounding urban development, and the purchase of the marshes by NWT would be a valuable contribution to safeguarding the future of the corridor. The Wensum joins the Yare at Whitlingham.
“Close to the heart of Norwich lies Sweet Briar Marshes: 90 acres of fen, rough meadow, grazing marsh, old hedgerows and young woodland. This mosaic of habitats, unusually for a city centre, was arable farmland until as recently as the late 1990s, and today provides a treasure trove of nature, wildness and peace.
But this uniquely wild place is increasingly surrounded by urban development, and its sensitive ecology – including a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – is in danger of being lost forever…
Today, with the chance to secure the land, restore its biodiversity, and enhance it for people and wildlife alike, we have the remarkable opportunity to rewrite the story of Sweet Briar Marshes.
We want to create A Wilder Norwich For All with Sweet Briar at its centre an urban green space that is both rich in wildlife and enriching to the lives of the communities it serves; accessible to and valued by all the species who share it.”
More about the appeal is here and there are also some FAQs. The appeal is for £600,000 and Aviva has offered to match £ for £ every donation up to £300,000.
A new Danby Wood display board casts light on the woods industrial past.
Danby Wood Display Board
From the late eighteenth century to the early part of the twentieth century Danby Wood was an industrial site for chalk and flint extraction and had limekilns burning chalk to form quicklime. The chalk and flint was extracted via an extensive network of tunnels that still exists. The tunnels are not open to the public, but some accounts of past explorations of the network are available on the web e.g. EDP article.
Danby Wood is one of five Norwich Local Nature Reserves in the Yare Valley. Details of the other nature reserves are on our Yare Valley Walk page.
More than 20 people of Eaton responded positively during lockdown by creating a work of art and sharing companionship through Zoom. The outcome was an embroidered quilt and a knitted blanket to show the good things that had been experienced, even in hard times. Quilt and blanket were assembled from squares created by individuals.
The embroidered quilt and the knitted blanket were exhibited in November 2021 with an audio-visual presentation of the thoughts behind the squares. The Yare Valley features as one of the good things experienced.
Kingfisher
More people going for walks and appreciating the natural world, a Kingfisher spotted beside the river Yare at Eaton Common
Walkers on Marston Marsh enjoyed the sight of a great variety of wild flowers
