BVCT Newsletter – April 2025

NATURE HUNT IS RELEASED INTO THE WILD!

We’ve very excited to be releasing the first of our new Nature Hunts at Hawley Meadows this month. Aimed at families with children 8-12, we’ve packaged the excitement of exploring the Blackwater Valley with the joy of learning about local wildlife into an interactive guided trail.

This project combines the best of what the Trust has to offer; expert wildlife knowledge, connections across the valley and expertise to deliver big projects. But it also makes use of engaging content including drone videography and expert wildlife photography.

The release has been many years in the making, with the idea and thinking for Nature Hunt developed in 2020 but as with so many things, Covid got in the way! We’ve started simple so we can learn and improve as we go. We still have big plans, with Hunts at Rowhill Nature Reserve and Southwood Country Park coming later in the Spring.

Here are some sneak previews of what is in store for our explorers!

Look out for details of the full launch at Hawley Meadows and releases at future sites on our Facebook page! We’d love to hear what our members think so please do drop us a message at dan.lemarquand@bvct.org. uk if you have any feedback!

FRIENDS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK TAKE BVCT AWARD

Queen Elizabeth Park is a 24-acre (9.5 hectare) woodland park in Farnborough with two play areas, a pond and two car parks. The trees are mainly beech, sweet chestnut, oak, and a few Scots pines. We also have lots of rhododendrons!

Friends of Queen Elizabeth formed in 2019 when Esso announced their plan to install a new aviation fuel pipeline through the park. Many local people considered the plan to be too invasive and therefore, a pressure group was formed to protect the park’s trees. Friends of Queen Elizabeth Park emerged from the group to look after the park, its plants and wildlife. We work with full support from Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership and Rushmoor Borough Council.

The group focuses its activities on encouraging people to use the park and enhancing the visitor experience. We do this by organising free community activities in the park. As well as focusing on family fun, our events always include an element to hel!p educate young people about nature. These include our annual Easter Trail, the Where’s Rudolph Christmas Trail, poetry trails, summer picnics with music and games, art competitions and bat walks. We also hold monthly Work Parties which are led by Steve from Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, and our monthly Amblers walks for anyone who feels unable to walk in the park by themselves.

It was a real surprise and a thrill to find out that we won the BVCT Access to Nature award. A big thank you from Stella, Sue and Lynne

Got a great project but don’t have the funds?

BVCT can help. We are pleased to announce the Trust’s Small Grants Fund for 2025 is now open for applications.

We are keen to support any group in the Valley who is carrying out a project that will improve the local environment or access to it. Grants are available in the range of £100-£3,000 and can be up to 100% of costs. Application is simple and they are reviewed monthly, so you’ll soon get a decision.

Examples of previous projects we have supported include

  • Benches and bridge materials to improve access to local greenspaces
  • Native woodland and meadow flower seeds
  • Tools for groups managing sites, including litter pickers and a mower
  • Bird and bat boxes
  • Equipment to test the water quality of the River Blackwater
  • Erection of a swift nesting tower
  • Plants for community centres, school and church wildlife gardens

Further details are available on our website at Small grants scheme - Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust

If you want to discuss the project you have in mind before applying, please get in touch and someone will be pleased to help - email us at Chair@BVCT.org.uk or telephone 01252 331353.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Two natural history stories of possible interest to BVCT members have appeared in the national press recently. One is good news, and one is bad, so which would you like first? Let’s go with the bad.

Under the cosh Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported as saying that she wanted businesses to “focus on getting things built and stop worrying about the bats and the newts”. A directive to Natural England to take advice from the Bat Conservation Trust out of a planning document was one of a number of things that had Chris Packham among others up in arms.

Reason to be cheerful, on the other hand, is news that the government have finally announced the introduction of a GCSE in natural history. It is meant to equip young people “to understand and respect the natural world and contribute to the protection and conservation of the environment locally, nationally and internationally.” The efforts of many for over a decade for this seem to have finally borne fruit. Opportunities for BVCT with local schools, maybe?

North Camp adoption

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BVCT awards

After our AGM on the 14th January 2025, we hosted our first edition of the BVCT awards, celebrating the successes of volunteers, local groups and particular species across the length of our valley.

We were kindly joined by the deputy mayor of Sandhurst, Cllr Paul Widdowson and the chair of the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, Cllr Adrian Collett, who presented our awards.

We presented awards in four categories, with the winners giving presentations on the night.

Conservation Project of the Year

Nominees:

  • Bog Rescue at Rowhill Nature Reserve
  • River Restoration at Shawfields
  • Grassland enhancement at Runfold Ridge

And our winner was Floating Pennywort eradication at sites along the River Blackwater. The award was presented to Martin from the Loddon Fisheries & Conservation Consultative

Access to Nature Project of the Year

Nominees:

  • Blandford Sang, a joint project between the BVCP and the Land Trust
  • Cove Greenway Fun Day
  • Tice’s Meadow social media

And our winner was Queen Elizabeth Park community events. The award was present to Lynne from the friends of Queen Elizabeth park.

Local Group of the Year

Nominees:

  • BVCP Thursday volunteers
  • Moor Green Lakes group
  • Southwood Woodland improvement group

And our winner was the Friends of Brickfields group. Sadly, they were unable to attend the event but their award will be passed on.

Species of the Year

Nominees:

  • Coot, the proud representative of the Valley
  • Greater Yellow rattle, a rare species that was found in the valley for the first time this year
  • Self-Heal, a common grassland species that was abundant this year
  • Southern Marsh Orchid, which put on a fine show at Southwood country park thanks to the damp summer

And our winner were Noctules, with one of the biggest colonies in England residing in Wellesley Woods. We were unable to get a single representative from the bat population, so the award was presented to Steve Bailey on their behalf!

There was also a Lifetime achievement award for the Trusts very own Bernard Baverstock. For very many years he has been involved with conservation work across the Valley drawing on his knowledge and his considerable practical skills to protect and promote the Valley’s wildlife. He has an unparalleled breadth of knowledge across many species, both faunal and floral, and sites. He is always willing to share this, and to help others to understand the wonders of nature which so fascinate him.

For a long time he was the chair of Camberley Natural History Society organising meetings, talks and field trips. Until recently he was mammal recorder at Moor Green Lakes.

He has been a trustee of the BVCT since 2008, heading the Trust’s work on conservation projects and surveys, among other things leading bird- and bee-box making days and bat walks, enthusing children with pond-dipping and owl pellet dissection, leading our swift project, and helping to establish community gardens in a variety of locations. He has organised, led and taken part, for the Trust and other organisations, in very many practical tasks including planting trees, meadow plants and hedges, heathland and pond clearances, and carried out surveys of trees, reptiles, birds and bats. He also manages his garden in the suburbs of Camberley as a haven for wildlife.

Congratulations, Bernard. Very well deserved.

200 years of railway

2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. A British innovation that’s continued its journey across the globe. Through a year-long series of activities and events, Railway 200 will explore how rail shaped Britain and the world. And, as today’s railway modernises and gears up for growth, Railway 200 will also look to the future, encouraging more people to take the train and inviting the next generation of pioneering talent to join the railway and become the history-makers of tomorrow.

North Camp station, through the years 1924-2009

Best WordPress Gallery Plugin

With thanks to Tony Smith, Clive Ayling and Liam Feeley for the photos above

Holy Trinity

It’s been 5 years since work started on the community garden at Holy Trinity, Aldershot, with the aim of creating a wildlife friendly area in the Victorian church’s grounds. Information was gathered from various nature oriented trusts and with much help from local volunteers the garden started to take shape. Now visitors are greeted by flowering rowans or cherry trees at the church’s entrances.

The wildlife hedge from Woodland Trust is beginning to mature and the nectar bars are attracting pollinators. The old yew garden has become a haven of flowers and trees and the vegetable beds have flourished.

Last year the church was successful in its bid to acquire one of the Queen’s jubilee trees. The Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire wielded a spade  and joined with volunteers to celebrate the apt arrival of a native  alder tree.

This year the church was thrilled to be awarded its silver Eco church award!

 

Rail to Trail walk success

On Sunday 22nd October 2023, BVCT hosted the Rail to Trail walk, starting from North Camp station and covering the 8 miles to Sandhurst station. A great morning was had by the twelve people and two dogs who joined us on the trip, meandering through the wonderful countryside the Blackwater Valley has to offer. Even the weather was kind!
There are great parts of the Blackwater Valley you can explore without a car so check out our Rail to Trail and other walks.
A huge thanks to Sarah for organising and leading the walk!

Rushmoor trees

Over the last year the Trust has been working with Rushmoor Council to develop a project to address a lack of tree cover in their urban areas.

Rushmoor targeted the Urban Tree Challenge Fund administered by the Forestry Commission. This offered 80% of costs to plant larger trees (to give instant impact) in areas that were short of them. Larger trees are much more expensive to establish with the extra protection and watering required to make sure they survive in urban areas.

Rushmoor identified 14 areas across Farnborough and Aldershot that could take a total of 200 trees with a budget of £156,000, but this required match funding of 20% – which is where the Trust stepped in. As possibly the only body in a position to ‘bridge the gap’ we submitted a bid for the necessary £26,000 to the Farnborough Airport Community Environmental Fund, which Rushmoor themselves would be unable to do – and were successful.

After a wait Rushmoor has now heard that their grant bid has also succeeded, with two years to plant all 200 trees. At time of writing 30 trees have been planted in three sites across Aldershot; Ivy Road Recreational Ground, Redan Hill Gardens and Whitchurch Close.

Look out for further details for the 24/25 planting season as all help will be welcomed.

Steve Bailey

Happy Birthday BVCT!

It is twenty years since, on 15 September 2003, the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust was incorporated as a limited company. We registered as a charity in 2006.

Dave Pilkington was our founding chairman and treasurer and our initial aim was to tap into funds which public bodies such as the Partnership could not access, and use them to improve the 23-mile Blackwater Valley Path and the Valley environment more generally. Dave’s enthusiasm guided us until his death in 2014, but there have been many others who have donated their time and skills.

Raising funds and supporting projects remain among our key activities. Over the years, fuelled by the various enthusiasms of our trustees and other helpers, we have also taken a more handson approach in some areas. We have contributed over £250,000 (and over £20,000 in small grants to organisations whose aims match our own) and much time and expertise to:
• build and install roosting and nesting boxes for various birds and mammals. This includes 261 bat boxes and 3 hibernacula, 150 dormouse boxes, hedgehog boxes, around 100 swift boxes, and innumerable boxes for other birds;
• enrich the native flora along the Valley, particularly in degraded woodlands;
• improve reed beds;
• erect 50 stumperies where stag beetles can mature;
• resurface paths and install seats and signage along the Valley;
• promote wildlife-rich community gardens and churchyards.

We have organised walks and talks so people can enjoy the environment and learn more about it. Major walks have attracted over 250 participants, many of whom used the walk to raise money for charities. We have provided links between wildlife, access and local interest communities along the Valley, organising the Forum in 2017 and the Blackwater River Festival
in 2019.

Within the last few years, we launched a Rail to Trail campaign to encourage people not only to get out into the countryside more, but to do so using one or more of the railway stations along the Valley. (Of course it would be as beneficial to the environment to use local buses or your own pedal power, rather than drive the car.) We adopted North Camp station in 2021.

With your help we can achieve as much, maybe more, during the next twenty years.

Urban tree project success!

The Trust is pleased to announce it has been awarded £26,000 by Farnborough Airport Community Environmental Fund to support tree planting in Rushmoor. This is a joint project with Rushmoor Council aimed at increasing tree cover in urban areas. We have agreed that the Council can use this amount as match funding for their bid to the Urban Tree Challenge Fund which if successful would significantly increase the funds available.

Bat boxes in the valley

Under Steve Bailey, the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership has been putting up bat boxes since 1990.

As most woodland sites within the Valley are relatively young or immature there are few natural roosting sites for bats. The provision of artificial roosting boxes also has the benefit of allowing us to monitor the bat population in the valley, at least to some degree.

When the Trust was formed one of the annual fundraising subjects was “Homes for Bats”. This enabled us to fund new boxes and also encouraged contributions from other sources such as the Surrey Bat Group, Hampshire Bat Group and some local authorities. The number of bat box projects within the valley was boosted, and altogether there are now 13 bat box schemes along with five development mitigation schemes. Among these are 6 sites with 130 bat boxes which were erected as part of the Trust’s bat box project, plus 3 hibernation sites with another 30 boxes.

We aim to monitor bat boxes regularly to check that we are putting them in the best locations, and to learn about the local bat population. During the covid pandemic monitoring was put on hold as there was a fear that the virus could be passed into the bat population. More recently it has become possible to check boxes again but with strict protocols and of course with the appropriate licence. We decided to try and check all our bat boxes during 2022 – 248 boxes to check, and we added or repaired another 13.

The species most often found in boxes is the Soprano Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pygmaeus (see right). This bat is closely associated with watery habitats, unlike the Common Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, which is the species you are likely to see around your house.

The other bat which you will find over water is Daubenton’s Bat, Myotis daubentonii. This is known as the Water Bat. It feeds on insects emerging from the lakes, rivers and canals, and we get them regularly on one site. We have only recorded two other species using our boxes, the Brown long-eared Bat, Plecotus auratus, and Natterer’s Bat, Myotis nattereri.

Bat boxes have proved to be a very important tool for monitoring and probably protecting the local bat population. In the first few years around 5-10% of boxes were used, now at our established sites, it is over 50%. This shows the very real difference that the generous supporters of the BVCT have made to local conservation. Thank you all.