News: June 2010

Spring into Summer

Ellie Phillips looks back at how the Common has fared during the first half of 2010

This winter was exceptionally hard work at Cleeve Common. The heaviest snowfall for 20 years made looking after our stock very tough going. Our Galloway herd needed extra care to stay happy, and our Rangers expertly battled through several feet of snow twice a day to feed and water the herd, at times having to use two tractors; one to pull the other out when grounded in a snow drift!

After such a long and harsh winter, we were all beginning to think that the Common would never thaw out, but after a slow start spring eventually sprung on the hill. The call of the cuckoo at our dawn chorus back in April was a good sign; this event had nearly 20 attendees, and the Board of Conservators are very grateful to Cheltenham Bird Club for leading the chorus.

In spite of the unseasonably cold weather, the wildlife of the hill cautiously followed the cuckoo’s lead. Our brave early flowerers included hairy violet, field wood-rush and spring-sedge, and slow worms (photo left) and adders began to warm up in the sunshine.

The woodland fringes of the Common bloomed with wood anemone and the delicate moschatel (or ‘townhall clock’, owing to its five faces - photo right), and meanwhile our early purple orchids put on a beautiful display, particularly near the twelfth tee of the golf course. The emergence of violets in our winter cattle paddocks in Postlip Valley was especially encouraging, as this area was previously rather undergrazed and smothered in old grass. Why not take a walk across Postlip Valley and see if you can spot the ‘diversity line’ at the edge of the winter cattle pens? You really can see the positive effect the grazing has on the diversity of wild flowers.