On a gloriously sunny Sunday (19 November), members of the Lincoln Conservation Group gathered at Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe National Nature Reserve (NNR). There were 16 of us altogether, including two new members and a visitor.
We had two projects for the day. The first was to dig a pond near the car
park, and the second to fell some willow which was overwhelming part of the
reserve.
The pond will bring some of the wildlife nearer to the car park and provide a place where children can enjoy investigating pond life without disturbing wildlife in the ponds on the main reserve. When finance is available, picnic tables will be put near the pond, and interpretation boards to tell visitors all about the things they see.
We were lucky that it was a dry day and that the soil was sandy otherwise it would have been a complete mudbath! John (reserve warden) had scraped an area clear of grass and so half of us started digging at about 10.30 and continued pretty well all day. We soon got a routine going, with the fitter members of the digging party shifting wheelbarrows full of soil. A much needed tea break was demanded after about an hour as it was hard work and hot in the sun – chocolate biscuits reviving flagging energy levels – and by lunch time we had dug part of the pond down to over 2ft (60cms) and found water. The knowledge that Roman remains had been discovered nearby lent an added interest to the task – would we find something too?
The
other half of the group had a busy time cutting down willow trees to open up a
small area of the reserve to encourage other plants to grow there, to benefit a
greater range of wildlife. As they were working on a breezier part of the
reserve, they were glad of a bonfire of the cut willow to keep them warm.
During the morning we were given the opportunity to talk about our work live on Radio Lincolnshire. Unfortunately, the BBC does not seem to think that anyone wants to listen again to most Radio Lincolnshire programmes otherwise I am sure you would want to. But during the afternoon a visitor to the reserve came to see us, having heard our interview, and thanked us for the work we were doing. A good result!
Jude