The Skylark Meadows Rescue group was born

With a race against time on their hands, the community formed the Skylark Meadows Rescue Group. Local resident Pam Earnshaw was instrumental in heading up the campaign, hosting group meetings and working hard to raise the funds needed to secure its future.

When the appeal first launched, Bob Cornes from English Nature visited the site and was quoted as saying: “It was immediately obvious to me that this was a 50-species meadow. That puts it in the top echelon of conservation sites.”

The group had worked hard and raised a good sum, but they were still short. In 1999, they reached out to us at Plantlife and we stepped in to cover the additional costs and purchase Skylark Meadows. It has been officially protected as a nature reserve ever since.

Speaking of the success of the campaign, Donald said: “It provides a positive example of community achievement here and everywhere.”

What can you find at Skylark Meadows?

The site is home to a range of plants, grasses and wildflowers. These include Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor, Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra, Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, Pepper Saxifrage Silaum silaus and the hay meadow speciality Corky-fruited Water-dropwort Oenanthe pimpinelloides.

As well as the rich variety of plants, the meadows provide a habitat for animal wildlife. The skylarks from which the meadows get their name, can still be seen and heard overhead. Old hedgerows provide a safe haven for birds like whitethroats and linnets as well as mammals including badgers and foxes. Barn owls nest in the owl boxes, brown hares and roe deer have both also been spotted in the meadows.

Finally, the variety in beautiful wildflowers every year attracts an array of pollinators, in particular butterflies.

The community looks after the nature reserve

Many of the locals who were involved in the original campaign have maintained strong connections to the site, including Donald.

“I help with the monitoring of the owl boxes with the HOT group [Hawk and Owl Trust], and try to keep the water trough clean when not in use etc,” he said.

Since taking ownership of the site, we have expanded the original two meadows by purchasing a third field to add to the nature reserve. We have been continuing to manage the whole site using traditional hay meadow methods.

Donald said: “It has increased from 18 acres to 24 acres by allowing the field to west to be obtained then managed in the same traditional hay meadow routine i.e. cut only [once a year] then grazed September to winter then left to regrow without any form of ‘artificial’ or natural growth aids. Thus protecting the needs of the meadow flora.”

Skylark Meadows 25 years later

The nature reserve now encompasses the original two unimproved grassland meadows that we purchased back in 1999, as well as a former silage field which we added to the reserve in 2003.

The original meadows have never had fertiliser or heavy machinery used on them and have always been maintained using traditional hay meadow methods. We have continued these methods and incorporated them into managing the third newer field as well – though it takes many years to restore meadowland.

We manage the meadows by cutting only once a year and then introducing grazing in the late summer and early autumn.

Old hedgerows of Hawthorn Crataegus and Blackthorn Prunus spinosa and lovely Crack Willow Salix fragilis trees have been managed with pollarding  (cut low on the trunk to harvest regenerating branches and encourage regrowth).

A Home Fit for Royalty

Fruit trees may live for roughly 100 years and provide decaying wood habitat during the last third of their lives. It’s important that we plant regular replacements and manage our older trees to prolong their lives, ensuring a variation in age and the continued presence of wood-decay habitats. 

Last week we were delighted to receive 10 young plum and damson trees for Joan’s Hill Farm, thanks to the Wye Valley AONB Partnership. Not only that, but 2 AONB staff helped our Reserve Manager to plant them and to build substantial guards which will protect them from cattle. Although plums and damsons are some of the fastest species to produce decaying wood, it may be 60 years before they become suitable for beetle colonisation. In the meantime, we will be putting up some artificial ‘beetle boxes’, filled with wood compost, to increase the available habitat, and to act as stepping stones between the two orchard areas at Joan’s Hill Farm. 

Learn More About the Noble Chafer 

The Noble Chafer Gnorimus nobilis is a beetle about 20mm long with a metallic green body, speckled with white. The whole body displays a brilliant iridescence which can flash copper, gold and even violet. The adults emerge in June or July and feed on pollen and nectar from a variety of umbellifers, before laying their eggs in the decaying trunks of old trees. The larvae feed on the decaying wood, emerging after 2 to 3 years. 

The beetle’s numbers have declined in parallel with the loss of veteran trees and traditional orchards, and it is now classed as Nationally Scarce. 

Noble Chafer beetle found at Joan’s Hill Farm by Ellie Baggett – Wye Valley AONB