Calendar of Events - March to July 2010
It is a good idea to contact the organizer or task leader of the events before attending so that
we can cater for numbers and arrange lifts if needed.
All telephone numbers are Basingstoke area (01256) unless the code is given -
you should also be able to contact the leader during the 2 days leading up to the task
on the leader's mobile phone (the number is in the newsletter).
Meet at 10am at the project site or at the toolshed at 9.30, unless other times are given.
The numbers are OS grid references of the meet up point for the projects.
Some of the sites are difficult to find, so if it's your first visit to a site,
we'd recommend meeting us at the toolshed and then following the leader
(who should know where he/she is going!) to the site.
Details in red are changes from the programme published in the newsletter.
Spring is here and March sees the last coppicing tasks at Pamber Forest until Autumn.
Pamber features heavily in the new programme, providing not only several tasks (consisting of
coppicing and deer fencing in equal measure), but also a social event as we go hunting for adders and
wild daffodils in March.
Away from Pamber, we'll be working on a new site to BCV - Bassett's Mead, which is close to Bartley Heath.
We also have a couple of visits to Foxlease Meadow and our first task for a while at Noar Hill, in Selbourne, where
we'll be installing a couple of stiles.
Other social events include a dusk search for nightjars, a quiz night, a bluebell walk and a chance to see some woodland
moths up close and personal. Full details below ...
The tables below give a quick overview of when events are happening - click on the month
name in a table's header to jump to details of events happening during that month,
or click on the date to jump straight to details of that event.
Hover your mouse over the 
icon to get brief pop-up info on the event.
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| Colour key : | Social | Project | Meeting | Cancelled/moved | Residential Project | Multiple |
| February 2010 | |||
| social | Sat 6th | Lynn's House | Themed Food evening |
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Lynn is the latest in a long list of people who have kindly agreed to open their doors to host a BCV food night.
The idea is for everyone to bring along some (hopefully) home-made food for all to share.
Lynn's chosen theme is Surf 'n' Turf and we'll be meeting up at 7pm. Please contact Lynn for directions, more details and to let her know what you will bring (we don't want everyone to turn up with the same food!). Contact : on 01256 811439. |
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| meeting | Wed 10th | Red Lion | Committee Meeting |
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It's time to plan the March-June programme - if you have some ideas, then please join us at the Red
Lion Pub in Mortimer West End
POSTPONED! Was held on Mon 15th. Contact : on 01189 700155 for more info. |
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| project | Sun 14th | Upper Inham's Copse | Coppicing |
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Today we'll be continuing the coppicing begun in January (see '10th January' above for details).
Contact : on 420818. |
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| project | Sun 21st | Pamber Forest | Coppicing |
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Spring is getting closer and closer and this is the last coppicing task of this programme, so come along and
enjoy the early signs of Pamber awakening from its Winter rest.
Today we'll be continuing the work described on 1st November - click here for details. Phone the leader for the meeting point and to tell him that you'll be there. Contact : on 01189 700155. |
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| project | Sun 28th | Bartley Heath | Scrub Bash |
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Last, but by no means least in this programme of events, is a return trip to Bartley Heath to bash some more
of the invasive scrub that is always trying to smother the heathland.
Join Mike and his team doing this vital work on an internationally important habitat-type. See 29th November for more details. Contact : on 01635 268482. |
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| March 2010 | |||
| project | Sun 14th | Pamber Forest | Ride-side Coppicing |
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Despite every effort of the weather to create problems, the winter coppicing programme at Pamber has progressed extremely well,
so we can now turn our attention to some of the smaller jobs in the forest.
If you're not familiar with Pamber, it is a 200Ha SSSI, consisting largely of ancient coppice woodland,
but with patches of heathland, wood pasture and flower-rich glades.
The forest is crisscrossed by many rides; the edges of these rides need to be managed to maximize their value for flowers and insects. Today we will be carrying out some ride-side coppicing as part of this process. Please contact the warden, Graham Dennis (01189 700155), or the task-leader, to find out the meeting-place for this task. Contact : on 01635 49304. |
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| project | Sun 21st | Pamber Forest | Ride Restoration |
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All coppicing addicts take note - it's the last day of winter and we're marking it at Pamber
with the final coppicing task of the season.
Today we will be working to open up one of the many footpaths in the forest,
to enhance its wildlife value.
By widening the path, we'll be letting more sunlight reach the path-floor along its length,
thus allowing the blossoming of the woodland flora and its associated insect life.
Please contact the warden, Graham Dennis (01189 700155), or the task-leader, to find out the meeting-place for this task.
Contact : on 01256 420818. |
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| social | Sat 28th | Pamber Forest | Spring Walk |
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Dave will lead this stroll through Pamber Forest in search of adders, wild flowers (including daffodils) and butterflies.
Spring is the prime time to visit British woodlands, so this should be a real pleasure,
with bird song accompanying us throughout the visit.
Meet at the sewage works entrance to the forest (SU 621610) at 2pm. Contact : on 01256 420818. |
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| April 2010 | |||
| project | Sun 11th | Pamber Forest | Deer Fencing |
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Yes, it's Pamber again, but spring is now well and truly here, so it's away with the coppicing tools and out with the fencing kit.
With the flourishing deer population in the area, it is no longer sufficient to coppice a plot and then just stand-back and watch the fruits of your labour take shape. If we took this approach, much of the hazel would be severely damaged by deer, grazing off the growing tips of the new shoots. So, we have to keep the deer at bay for a year or three, by which time the tips of the new growth will be well out of reach. Today's task is therefore to put up a deer-exclosure fence around the area that we coppiced in the autumn. Contact : on 01189 700155. |
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| social | Sat 17th | Mike's House | Quiz night |
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After a successful quiz night at Tina's, Mike is the reigning BCV quiz champion.
Why not join us and see if you can overthrow Mike to become the new champion?
The format will be the same as last time - everyone brings along some questions (20 or 30 is a good number) and acts
as quiz-master for one or two rounds depending upon how many people enter.
Please bring your own refreshments. First question at 7:30pm.
Contact : on 01635 268482 to let him know you are coming and for further info. |
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| meeting | Wed 21st | Dave's House | Committee Meeting |
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Join us at Dave's house for the mid-programme committee meeting. All are welcome.
This meeting is usually light on business, so there's a good chance for a general discussion about the group
and its future direction.
Contact : on 01256 420818 for more info. |
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| project | Sun 25th | Noar Hill | Gate installation |
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Noar Hill has to be one of Hampshire's best-kept secrets.
It is situated in the South Downs National Park, sitting above the picturesque village of Selbourne,
made famous by the 18th century naturalist Gilbert White.
The reserve is a mass of humps and hollows - the result of medieval chalk mining - which provide a superb variety of conditions for chalk-loving flora, including many rare orchid species. Today we will be installing a couple of pedestrian gates, in place of existing stiles, to improve access to the reserve for the less physically able. Contact : on 01635 268482. |
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| May 2010 | |||
| social | Sun 2nd | Bowdown Woods | Bluebell Walk |
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Pamber Forest isn't the only fine woodland within reach from Basingstoke.
Bowdown Woods, on the southern edge of Newbury, is a BBOWT reserve and has one special feature that Pamber can't offer -
it grows a wonderful carpet of bluebells every spring.
With luck, the bluebells will now be at their peak.
After a walk through the woods, there may be time to visit Greenham Common, which is just across the road.
Meet at the reserve car park at SU 505 653 (take second turning on the left off Bury's Bank Road after passing the Greenham Common Control Tower car park on your right). Contact : on 01635 268482 for further info. |
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| social | Sun 9th | Inham's Copse | Pre-task Moths |
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If you can drag yourself of out bed just a little earlier than usual, then why not join us half an hour early (at 9:30) for
today's task at Inham's Copse, to see some woodland moths?
Graham will set-up a moth trap in Pamber over night and then bring it along to Inham's, hopefully full of moths.
We will then spend some time looking at the weird and wonderful moths that abound in the forest,
with a moth expert on hand to identify them all.
At this time of year, several hawk moths are on the wing, so there should be some impressive specimens on view.
If you think moths are all drab and brown, here's your chance to discover just how wrong you are!
Meet at Early Lands car park entrance to Inham's Copse. Contact : on 01189 700155 for further info. |
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| project | Sun 9th | Inham's Copse | Deer Fencing |
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Inham's copse is no more immune to the damage that deer can wreak in a newly-coppiced plot than Pamber Forest,
so we also need to protect the area in Inham's that we have been coppicing since the New Year.
This plot is a large one, so we may need another day here later in the year to complete this section.
Contact : on 07771 805000. |
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| project | Sun 23rd | Foxlease Meadow | Fence Upgrading |
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Foxlease Meadow Hampshire Wildlife Trust Reserve is a network of damp grasslands near Fleet.
Grazing is the major tool used to manage the reserve, allowing its special flora (including meadow thistle,
heath spotted orchid, dyer’s greenweed and devil’s bit scabious) to flourish.
Key to a controlled grazing regime is the division of the reserve into compartments, allowing customised, targeted grazing in the different areas. Unfortunately some of the fencing is in a poor state and no longer stock proof, so our task is to remedy this situation. Contact : on 01635 231083. |
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| June 2010 | |||
| project | Sun 6th | Ron Ward's Meadow | Fence Removal |
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After much hedge-laying effort, the boundary of this meadow on the edge of Tadley is now stock proof.
This means that the old fence is now redundant and can be removed.
This is the task for today.
Hopefully this won't take too long, so there should be plenty of time for a wander around the reserve to admire its excellent flora, and then to decamp to the nearby Badger's Wood Pub in Baughurst for an afternoon drink in the early summer sunshine. Contact : on 07848 007947. |
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| meeting | Wed 9th | Red Lion Pub | Committee Meeting |
| Time for another committee meeting, this time at the Red Lion Pub in Mortimer West End, where we will plan out the events-programme for July through to October. All welcome. Starts at 8pm. | |||
| social | Fri 11th | Silchester Common | Nightjars |
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We're very fortunate to live in an area where Nightjars abound.
This evening we will meet at the Calleva Arms in Silchester from 7:30pm for a drink and then at around 8:30
we will head out onto Silchester Common in search of this enigmatic nocturnal bird.
Contact : on 01189 700155 for further info. |
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| project | Sun 13th | Foxlease Meadow | Ragwort Pull |
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Ragwort is a scourge of livestock farmers and as the Hampshire Wildlife Trust run a grazing regime on this site,
it is no less of a problem for them.
Today we'll be joining forces with HWT's Fleet-area volunteers for a mass attack on the ragwort that is growing on the northern meadow. Contact : on 01635 268482. |
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| project | Sun 27th | Bassett's Mead | Livestock Fencing |
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We finish this task programme with our first project on this site. It lies within the floodplain of the River Whitewater
and consists of a mixture of woodland, marsh and fen.
Today's task is to erect some stock fencing along the edge of the river. We'll be joined by HWT's Hook volunteer-group. Contact : on 01256 420818. |
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| July 2010 | |||
| Full details of events for July 2010 onwards will be published towards the end of June. | |||