Enhancing the Valley for wildlife and informal recreation
Matthew Davies, the Norwich Fringe Project Officer, is warning of a temporary closure of one of the paths on Marston Marsh. It is close to the point known locally as “the golf crossing” Matt writes:
“We will be pollarding some willow trees on Marston Marshes:
The trees are located at the kissing gate which leads onto the hoggin path at the Eaton end of Marston Marshes. what3words /// The simplest way to talk about location”
Signs have been put up locally:
After much delay planting is now underway on the green space adjacent to the McCarthy Stone development on the Bluebell Road. The landscaped area will have links to the Strawberry Field and to the Yare Valley Walk and will open up opportunities for new green circular walks.
The planting of trees and other environmental mitigations for achieving biodiversity net gain for the development were a condition of the planning approval. From the start of the development the Yare Valley Society has pressed for the completion of the landscaping of the green space and the other required ecological improvements. It has monitored its progress, and provided reports to the Norwich City Council Planning Department. A recent survey by YVS found that most of the environmental mitigations are now in place. Some, such as hedgehog gaps in the boundary fence, and boundary hedgerow infill planting, are still outstanding, and are being followed up.
At most points of entry to the green space there is fencing, and it is probably as well that general public access is restricted until the planted meadow areas have been given time to become established. People have been seen inside the area already. There are surfaced paths, and it is to be hoped they remain on the paths and treat the newly planted areas with respect. Moles already have access:
Much of what we enjoy in the Yare Valley is overseen by the Norwich Fringe Project ; supported in many of its projects by a band of volunteers. The volunteers get valuable experience in aspects of conservation work. In January they were at work on Eaton Common:
Here they are pollarding a Crack Willow Tree. An explanation of why this has become necessary, and for more pictures of their activities go to the YVS Facebook Page.
A consultation is now open on Norwich’s first parks and open spaces strategy. It is at Get Talking Norwich where you can read the draft strategy and respond to questions and say what you think about it. You have the opportunity to use an interactive map to comment on areas of particular interest to you. You will see from the map there are a lot of green spaces in the Yare Valley that you can comment on. The river marks the Norwich boundary. Remember that these green spaces tell only part of the story, because much of the green space of the Valley Corridor lies on the other side of the river, outside of Norwich. What may seem like small insignificant disconnected green spaces on the Norwich side of the river, become linked up once the bigger picture is viewed.
The Yare Valley Society has already taken part in workshops on formulating this new Greater Norwich Green Infrastructure Strategy, and will make further comment on the resulting draft. Please support us by responding to ensure the Yare Valley receives the attention a major Green Infrastructure Corridor deserves.
The consultation is open until Thursday 2 January 2024.
The Yare Valley Meadow Makers has recently been busy preparing the ground for next year’s crop of wildflowers. A lot has been done, and a large area of UEA meadows is now ready for seeding.
In the upper picture, look beyond the workers and to the right and you will see lurking in the background “The Reapers” Three in all, they are an addition to the Sainsbury Centre Sculpture Park.
The Artist Ivan Morison says “In gaming circles Reapers are a synthetic-organic alien race, connecting us to the fear we share of the mutant monsters sure to come from human techno meddling in plant biology. …” The works are an outcome of the artist’s research residency Towards the Weird Heart of Things at The Sainsbury Centre.
The development of the McCarthy Stone site saw a significant bite taken out of the green space of the Yare Valley corridor. To compensate, environmental conditions were placed on the planning application approval. In early 2024 the Yare Valley Society became concerned about the slow progress being made towards fulfilling the conditions. It sent a report to the Norwich City council detailing deficiencies. The council acted swiftly, and progress has been made. In October YVS submitted a second report drawing attention to what remained to be done. YVS is pleased to note that most of the promised on-site habitats such as bird boxes, bee bricks and bat boxes had been installed. So far so good, but much remains to be done including planting the green open space to the southwest of the site, the hedging on Bluebell Rd, and the openings for hedgehogs in the boundary fence. While work proceeds there is no public access to the green space.
On the positive side the green open space has been part seeded, paths laid out and seats installed. The chance must not be missed in the present season to plant the promised trees in the green open space.
When work is completed, the increase in habitats and the landscaped green space will make a valuable contribution to local biodiversity and to accessible public green space. The green space will link with the Strawberry Field meadow, and its north and south ends will have links to the Yare Valley Walk and so increase the options for short circular walks.
The Yare Valley Meadow Makers invite you to join them in improving the Yare Valley wildflower meadows. In November (weather permitting) there will be work parties on Saturday the 9th 10 – 12 am and Sunday the 17th 2– 4 pm. Join them on the UEA broad hay meadow at the picnic area by the lake W3W ///ripe.keys.vocab.
They will be doing some raking and creating bare earth patches with mattocks to prepare the meadow for the sowing of more wildflower seed shortly after.
All help will be much appreciated. They will have plenty of seed thanks to their own collections and some kind donations from High Ash farm and Norwich City Council earlier this year.
The Yare Valley Meadow Makers direct most of their efforts at improving the Strawberry Field meadow and the UEA hay meadow and the hedgerows that link them.
Eaton Village Residents Association (EVRA) are hoping to launch a new project to manage a section of the hedgerows along Marston Lane on the Yare Valley Walk, from its junction with Lindford Drive to the Golf Course crossing. The Project would manage the excess growth of some species, including ivy, and plant suitable species to fill gaps. The project was suggested by Keri Williams.
EVRA have agreement in principle from Norfolk Highways and hope to have support of Eaton Golf Club for any work on their side of the lane. EVRA are planning to start work in the autumn. Keri will lead the project, but will need some volunteers to do the work. If you would like to help with the project, please email evra.vc@live.co.uk
In recent years, and particularly since Covid, there has been a marked increase in public use of our green spaces, as evidenced by the increase in wear on the paths of the Valley, and the increase in the number of new paths. YVS is getting reports of a decline in wildlife in the Valley (e.g. disappearance of water voles) and the suspicion is that the wildlife of Norwich is becoming degraded as a consequence of greater human intrusion.
The good news is that some relief is on its way. The green space of Norwich is being extended with the addition of marshes that will be managed for a balance between wildlife and people. After much preparation, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT), is opening its new 36 hectare (90 acre) Norwich nature reserve, Sweet Briar Marshes.
The marshes will become open free to the public, and the NWT invites you to free opening activities on Sunday 12th May. You are invited also to lunchtime and evening drop-in walks each day from Monday 13th to Friday 17th May.
An added attraction is that NWT have partnered with Norfolk and Norwich Festival, to create “On Our Doorsteps”, part of a nationwide project exploring the relationship between urban communities and the green spaces around us. You can view the newly commissioned temporary artworks from Friday 10 May-Sunday 9 June.
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:
Come along and support us and other environmentally friendly organisations at the Fair.