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Yare Valley Meadow Makers AGM 2026

The Yare Valley Meadow Makers will hold their AGM Meeting at Warwick Arms Public House (upstairs room) on Wednesday the 15th of April 7:30-9:30pm.

The YVMM continue to extend their activities. Amongst the past year achievements were

  • An interpretation/notice board erected at the top of UEA Broad Hay meadow,
  • Received a Norfolk Biodiversity award in the spaces for nature and wellbeing category.
  • Over 5kg of wildflower seeds sown on the UEA Broad hay meadow
  • Further planting on Strawberry field to better establish yellow rattle.
  • Trial sowing of wildflower seed on the old donkey sanctuary to see how this might develop.
  • Planting of 165 native trees on the UEA meadows to help provide better support for wildflowers in times of drought.

Amongst the activities proposed for next year are botanical surveys, more tree planting, Yellow rattle and Red Bartsia seed collection, and a review of the old donkey sanctuary.

The Agenda for the AGM is here, and the Annual Report for 2025-2026 is here.

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Conservation Volunteers April 2026

Mark Webster of the Conservation Volunteers writes:

“Not sure if it’s Spring or not yet?  The weather is variable but we will be staying out all month, although we do have our semi-indoor Jolly Trips this month too: these are our much-loved and much-anticipated ‘works outings’ where we go to places chosen by some of our regular volunteers for a work-free day out.  These ‘thank you’ days are open to all existing volunteers (including Easton students) although if any day is oversubscribed then preference will be given to those who have done the most task days with us already.  Please do ask any eligible people to book for these days as soon as you can by contacting me ( 07740 899 691 / mark.webster@tcv.org.uk ) or telling their leader during a task day.

There are still some actual practical tasks to do as well though, including wildflower planting at two new Broadland sites, removing invasive species (no, not balsam yet!) and various jobs to keep pathways open across Norfolk so that people can get into their local green spaces even when the weeds start to grow up!

Whether volunteers are joining us at Sainsburys in Norwich or on-site, please can I suggest that you ask them to leave enough time to get to the meeting point BEFORE the minibus arrives.  We usually have to get on to the work area as soon as we do arrive, and we don’t want them to miss their chance to join us.  At some sites it can be difficult to find us once we have left the meeting point, but if they are lost or running late they can call or text (or whatsapp) 07740 899 691.  I will see if I can direct them on to where the team are – or get someone to come and find them (if we can do this without disrupting the rest of the team too much).  It is also worth noting that parking can sometimes be extremely limited near to where we are actually working, hence the need for a meeting point with spaces, but perhaps some distance from where we are working.”

The full programme can be found here.

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Conservation Volunteers March 2026

The Conservation Volunteers are looking forward to Spring with their activities this month. The hedge cutting season will end shortly to avoid the main bird nesting season from March to August, but hedge planting will continue apace. There are plenty of other conservation activities as well. If you would like to give your support the monthly programme from Mark Webster is here.

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Conservation Volunteers December 2025

Even in December the Conservation volunteers are out and about giving their hand to nature. Several tasks close the green river corridor this month, helping to create stepping stones for nature to the wider world. In Eaton on the 1st and in Cringleford on the 12th, 15th, and 16th.

The usual entertaining programme from Mark is here.

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UEA Boardwalk a step closer

Some welcome news on the UEA Boardwalk. Norwich City Council have agreed to sponsor the UEA application to the Greater Norwich Growth Board (GNGB) for a grant to replace and improve the UEA Yare Valley Boardwalk. If the UEA application to the GNGB is successful, the funding could become available from April 2026.

Part of the unsafe existing boardwalk Photo:UEA

To avoid the bird nesting season, which spans March to September, work to remove the old boardwalk and replace it with the new one will not take place until October 2026. In the meantime, when possible, the UEA grounds team will clear vegetation and cut back along the pathways to make the project easier for when it finally gets underway.

If you have not already done so there is still time to show community support for replacing the Boardwalk by donating to the UEA fund: under “Our Causes” be sure to select “Restore our Boardwalk”.

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AGM and UEA Campus Ecology

At a well-attended Yare Valley AGM, following the business matters, Tom Everett, the UEA Landscape Manager, gave a talk explaining how the Ecology of the UEA was being managed.

Photo: Lisa Morgan

The large number of questions from the audience revealed the interest there was in what he had to say. A sign of how managing the ecology had changed, was his own career progression at UEA. From an early job on a tractor close mowing the Campus grass areas, to now overseeing, as Landscape Manger, the same areas being transformed, with the help of volunteers, to wildflower meadows. It demonstrated how the UEA management of the Campus has been evolving in line with the increasing concerns of biodiversity decline. He also made the important point that, for biodiversity to improve, some of our green space needs to be protected from human and dog intrusion. This was well illustrated by the increase in wildlife, such as of water voles, that were observed to occur after a section of duplicated riverside path was closed. The university campus is on both sides of the river, and forms a significant section of the Yare Valley Green Infrastructure Corridor. It was re-assuring to hear of the efforts being made to improve the ecology of the campus. Walking trails on campus enable you to see what is being achieved.

Interpretation Board on UEA Green Trail
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Eaton Parish Eco Fair Saturday 11th May

Following the success of previous Eco Fairs, St Andrew’s Eaton hosts again an Eco Fair:

The day will begin with an early morning birdwatching walk with Phil Atkinson along the River Yare – meet in Waitrose Car Park at 7am. The fair itself will be opened at 10 am by Rachel Sowerby, the Bishop of Norwich’s Environmental Research Officer and will be open until 2.00 pm. The day will end with an evening talk hosted by the Eaton Village Residents’ Association. Helen Baczkowska, Senior Manager Nature Recovery at Norfolk Wildlife Trust, will be speaking on ‘Bringing back Norfolk’s wildlife – what is happening and how you can help?’ Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.

More details are here.

Part of the Yare Valley Society display at the Fair explains why Eaton is well placed to be in the vanguard of the fightback to halt, and eventually reverse, biodiversity loss:

A panel from the YVS Eco Fair Display

Come along and support us and other environmentally friendly organisations at the Fair.

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The Yare Valley Society Annual General Meeting and Talk

Go to Newsletter N119 on the Newsletter page for all the AGM papers.

The formal part of the AGM will be followed by a talk “Restoring the River Yare” by Sarah Gelpke of the Norfolk Rivers Trust. Sarah is overseeing the current works on the river designed to improve water flow patterns and provide wildlife habitat

Wednesday 21st June 2023 at 7.30 pm

Cringleford Sports Pavilion

(Entrance via Recreation Ground at end of Oakfields Road Cringleford)

All who value the green space of the Yare Valley are welcome.

Modifying river flow with a woody berme
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Cringleford Meadow Path and Car park Improvements completed

The City Council improvements to Cringleford Meadow are now complete except for an Interpretation Panel that is yet to be added. The new car park has a much improved water permeable surface.

Cringleford Meadow Path Improvements

The improved path can be expected to link with other path improvements that are due to come into being as a result of a condition on the McCarthy Stone Phase 2 development on Bluebell Road, Eaton.

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Path upgrade for Cringleford Meadow

The path in Cringleford Meadow has long been muddy and difficult in times of bad weather. Both the path and the carpark are having their surfaces improved by laying compacted hardcore. The new all-weather path surface should make it easier to stay on the path and avoid trampling the vegetation in attempts to bypass the mud.

Present hard path end

The Meadow will be closed from Monday 16th May for 8 weeks. On site notices give the  diversion details. YVS understands the contractor will enable evening and weekend pedestrian access to the riverside path when and where safe to do so.

The full works comprise improvements to the path surface of the existing Yare Valley Walk alongside the river between Cringleford Meadow Car Park and the footbridge just north of the A11 flyover. The car park will also receive improvements with a gravel filled plastic grid system, similar to that at Danby Wood carpark, to regularise the surface and make the car park easier to use.

One of the alternative routes uses the not so widely known path alongside the flyover that was brought into being as part of the McCarthy and Stone development.