Bluebell Beck, Middlesbrough - Tees Valley Wild Green Places · Bluebell Beck, Middlesbrough...
Transcript of Bluebell Beck, Middlesbrough - Tees Valley Wild Green Places · Bluebell Beck, Middlesbrough...
Bluebell Beck, Middlesbrough
Bluebell beck winds through meadows and woodland through Acklam between Brookfield to the A19 Mandale interchange. The Friends of Bluebell
Beck is a group of enthusiastic volunteers who conduct remedial works to the beck, along with conducting regular conservation work along the length
of the beck.
A small part of the site is designated as a Local Wildlife Site for its meadow flora. It is neutral grassland has high species diversity with species of herbs
that indicate ancient grassland. Herbs include yellow rattle,
common spotted orchid, birdsfoot trefoil and common
knapweed. There are challenges with the budget and the
practicalities of cutting and removing the vegetation from
the meadow which is altering the botanical composition of
the grassland.
Fairy Dell, Middlesbrough
Fairy Dell, in the middle of Marton and Coulby Newham, is a haven for wildlife with its steeply wooded banks, becks, lakes, woodland and grassy glades. It is also a tranquil place for local people to enjoy a slice of countryside without leaving Middlesbrough.
The Middlesbrough Council continues to work with the Friends of Fairy Dell, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and a wide range of other environmental groups to restore this local beauty spot for wildlife and people. The 42 acre site is a mixture of natural woodland, parkland, an ornamental lake and a a number of flood defence lakes.
The site regularly wins awards from Northumbria in Bloom as
the Best Conservation Project and the active Friends Group maintain
the paths and boardwalks, pick litter, clear the beck, and work hard
to enhance the biodiversity on the site. They regularly host educa-
tional and fun events to encourage greater numbers of visitors to
the Dell to experience both the history and the beauty of the Dell.
The friends group decided to experiment with
creating a more natural area of grassland
within the park.
The park grassland was surveyed and an area
selected that was already rich in buttercups.
Into this area plug plants of native plants
were planted, including black knapweed,
cowslip and lady’s bedstraw. The grass cutting
which was 9-10 times a year was replaced with
annual late summer cut and rake.
Many of the plugs were not successful,
however each year the yellow rattle is more
widespread and prolific, weakening the
grasses. If wild flower plugs were planted now
they would more likely to be more successful.
Berwick Hills Local Nature Reserve,
Middlesbrough
Grid Ref: NZ 509 191
Mosaic of habitats including ponds, reedbed, hedges & rough
grassland. Breeding birds include sedge warbler & grasshopper
warbler. Ormesby Beck is important for water vole. Also a
designated as a Local Wildlife Site
Most of the site was used as allotments, their use declined
through the 1980/90s/2000s. And natural vegetation expanded.
In 2002 through the Middlesbrough Wildspace Project the are
was enhanced by woodland planting, pond creation and
consolidation of the allotments. The new meadow was created
when the area was cleared of old allotments shed and decades
of allotment use and fly tipping.
This removal required the land to be stripped and treated as special waste. The subsoil area was ploughed in Spring 2003 and a wild
flower mix from the company Landlife sown. This contained an annual/perennial combination wild flower seed mix which contained
annuals including Corncockle seeds, Cornflower seeds, 10% Corn Chamomile seeds, Poppy seeds,. Perennials included Ox-eye Daisy,
birds foot trefoil, scabious and knapweed. Lupin was also part of the mix -a non native. After a very dry spring the annuals flowered
late in the summer, they were very short and there was still a lot of bare ground, the flowering was better the following year when
more annuals germinated