News: May 2010
Thirsty Work
A digger, a dumper truck, an archaeologist, 5,800 metres of pipe… and 2,784 tonnes of sand?! What's going on?
Over the past 50 years, lowland calcareous grassland has declined rapidly. It is believed that prior to 1935, this resource covered more than 40 percent of the Cotswolds. By contrast, only 1.5 percent of the Cotswolds comprises lowland calcareous grassland today. At over 400 ha, Cleeve Common represents a major stronghold for this threatened habitat, and is correspondingly a haven for all of the species which rely on this declining resource.
The botanical diversity present at Cleeve Common, the platform which supports its diverse fauna, is fundamentally dependent on grazing. In the absence of sufficient grazing levels, grasses begin to take over. This process snowballs, and it doesn’t take many years before scrub such as gorse and hawthorn become a real problem. Grazing animals reduce the vigour of the grasses and remove the build up of dead vegetation, allowing the herbs space and sunlight to flower and seed.
The Board have worked hard in recent years to boost grazing animals on the Common to sufficient levels, and have even invested in a 40-strong herd of Galloway Cattle. This significant progress has come at the cost of increased labour input; the Board employs two Rangers to maintain the Galloway herd, to perform daily checks on graziers’ stock and to keep stock watered. And keeping stock watered is a major task! At present, the Rangers have no option but to haul 1000 gallons per day on to the Common to fill the troughs, using a tractor-towed tanker. Hauling this heavy tanker behind a large tractor is time consuming, requiring three to four hours a day, and in wet conditions the disturbance and damage caused to the ground by the tractor is counter-productive to all the hard work that goes into promoting the biodiversity of this special place.”
It is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain this level of input, and drastic action is needed to ensure the sustainability of the grazing on the Common to secure the consistency of management that is so important for such a site. Enter a digger, a dumper truck, an archaeologist, 5,800 metres of pipe and 2,784 tonnes of sand…
As a Special Project through our Higher Level Stewardship agreement, the Board of Conservators has gratefully received funding from Natural England to install piped mains water onto Cleeve Common. The system will include a pump to guarantee the 46 m rise over the hill, and the route of the pipeline, which includes strategic outlet taps, has been chosen to maximise coverage of the Common whilst minimising disturbance caused by digging. The proposed route stretches for about 5,800 metres, and a massive 2,784 tonnes of sand will be laid in the trench to protect the alkathene pipe. Before work could begin, a vast consultation process took place between the Board and all the appropriate organisations. It emerged that the pipeline route crosses some very archaeologically sensitive areas, and the Board have appointed an Archaeological Consultant to ensure that all finds are recorded appropriately. Gloucestershire Geology Trust are also hoping to take the opportunity to make some records, as the pipe route has the potential to give a very good transect across the Common’s geology.
This major capital investment will make a huge difference to the day-to-day work on the Common, freeing up our Rangers’ time to focus on other conservation tasks. But perhaps more importantly it will help to ensure the sustainability of grazing for years to come.