Harry St John•3 years ago The Friends have been established for some twenty years - initially started by the late Ian Anderson, a resident of North Leigh and former Trustee of the Wychwood Project. The Friends hold a series of volunteer working parties ( we have half a dozen regulars), mostly over the winter months and we spend usually two Friday mornings a month undertaking thinning of scrub, planting trees, clearing up fallen/overhanging trees or bushes, controlling bracken and brambles, laying thorn "hedges", creating log-piles for animals and bugs and similar work on and around the Common - which extends in all to about 30 acres, adjoining the A4095 near the junctions with Boddington Lane and Cuckoo Lane."The work we undertake is mostly fairly small scale," says Harry St John Ward Member for North Leigh and coordinator of the working parties, "and easily undertaken by folk of all ages, opening up glades to let in more light to the woodland floor and to encourage a broader mix of canopy height of the trees etc - which in turn is good for a more diverse range of flora and fauna." This management regime was based on expert advice from local bird, butterfly and flora specialists; the Common is blessed with a long list of interesting plants and animals that exist on this common and a wider range of wild flowers are certainly more visible in spring and summer. Of particular interest is the patch of heather that is now spreading in one glade and the recovery of the gorse that used to abound centuries ago and was used for animal bedding by local commoners. A rare and elusive Black Hairstreak butterfly was seen here a couple of years ago and we have a good range of the usual ones including the silver washed fritillary - a stunning fast flyer in the glades.Opening up these spaces has we believe enhanced public access and the visitor experience, especially beneficial in the various lock downs in 202/2021 when footfall increased massively- this is one of the larger parcels of wilder open space in West Oxfordshire. However there are parts of the common where we encourage wild thickets for nesting birds etc.Part of the common was worked for gravel and sand long in the past and now provide ideal wet places for amphibians and snakes - a reptile survey is ongoing and we have a newt sanctuary close to Boddington lane where gold crested newts are relocated from development sites for which developers pay WODC money to rehome the critters - a win win for all as we use the money for planting trees!Not long ago the volunteers recycled a fallen oak tree and with the help of a local farmer Robert Crocker who provided a forklift machine we sawed up the truck into four benches and used sections of branch to set the logs on as benches round the common's largest open space - where North Leigh Football club first used to play.Special mention must be made of Andy Killingbeck, another North Leigh resident, who is our skilled expert on the chainsaw - which makes short work of trees that need thinning and firewood for local people bothered to collect it - birch tops are used for brooms and hazel stems for a variety of uses - we have been replanting hazel and will in due course coppice it for pea sticks etcThe working parties are an excellent way for folk to exercise, socialise, get warm in front of a bonfire and feel they are really doing something worthwhile for the local environment and restoring diversity albeit on a small scale. What's not to like - new volunteers are always welcome- tel Harry on 07767 637279 or email him on hetstjohn@gmail.com
