Vale Landscape Heritage Trust
|
In the case of Vale Landscape Heritage Trust it would be true to use the phrase “great oaks from little acorns grow” or more accurately beautiful orchards from little plum stones grow. It took less than fifteen years for an idea to become reality and for the first 250 acres of landscape heritage to be protected for future generations.
Andy Davies, first Manager of Vale Landscape Heritage Trust. and the Trust continues to grow...... |
Caring for the beautiful Vale.....
The Vale of Evesham is one of the most beautiful parts of England with an amazing variety in its landscape and wildlife; from the banks of the Avon up to the hills of Bredon and the Cotswolds; from flood meadows to traditional orchards; from the elusive Otter to the rare (and equally elusive) Noble Chafer.
As with most areas in England, modern day pressures threaten much of the landscape and its wildlife.
In an attempt to preserve a little of the historic landscape Vale Landscape Heritage Trust was set up in 1999 with a declaration of Trust dated 14th May of that year. The main purpose for the Trust as set out in the declaration is to “..conserve for the public benefit the natural beauty, wildlife and heritage [and to] advance the education of the public in the natural, historical and present-day environment of….Evesham and Pershore in the county of Worcestershire and surrounding area” - the beautiful Vale.
As with most areas in England, modern day pressures threaten much of the landscape and its wildlife.
In an attempt to preserve a little of the historic landscape Vale Landscape Heritage Trust was set up in 1999 with a declaration of Trust dated 14th May of that year. The main purpose for the Trust as set out in the declaration is to “..conserve for the public benefit the natural beauty, wildlife and heritage [and to] advance the education of the public in the natural, historical and present-day environment of….Evesham and Pershore in the county of Worcestershire and surrounding area” - the beautiful Vale.
In the case of Vale Landscape Heritage Trust it would be true to use the phrase “great oaks from little acorns grow” or more accurately "beautiful orchards from little plum stones grow". By the time we celebrated 20 years as a charity in 2019 we owned about 320 acres of landscape heritage.
The kindness of benefactors, whether it be local land owners giving a piece of woodland, or a successful company donating a sum of money to purchase a threatened meadow, or a volunteer coming out with us once a month, this has made the Trust what it is today, and given it the platform to keep doing more things for more wildlife and for more people.
Vale Landscape Heritage Trust is run by a committee of eight Trustees and two full-time members of staff.
Volunteers are vital in the success of the Trust; managing the land, carrying out surveys, harvesting fruit, producing newsletters and helping at events. Regular Wednesday morning work party tasks vary to reflect the seasons and include tree planting, scrub management and orchard pruning.
The Trust has a growing number of Friends who support the traditional management of sites through regular donations.
The growth of the Trust would not have been anywhere near as rapid without the generous support of Severn Waste Services
through the Landfill Communities Fund.
The kindness of benefactors, whether it be local land owners giving a piece of woodland, or a successful company donating a sum of money to purchase a threatened meadow, or a volunteer coming out with us once a month, this has made the Trust what it is today, and given it the platform to keep doing more things for more wildlife and for more people.
Vale Landscape Heritage Trust is run by a committee of eight Trustees and two full-time members of staff.
Volunteers are vital in the success of the Trust; managing the land, carrying out surveys, harvesting fruit, producing newsletters and helping at events. Regular Wednesday morning work party tasks vary to reflect the seasons and include tree planting, scrub management and orchard pruning.
The Trust has a growing number of Friends who support the traditional management of sites through regular donations.
The growth of the Trust would not have been anywhere near as rapid without the generous support of Severn Waste Services
through the Landfill Communities Fund.
The Avon and the Vale
The river Avon rises in Naseby a small village in the District of Daventry in Northamptonshire. From there it winds its way 137 km through the countryside of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and finally Gloucestershire where it joins the river Severn at Tewkesbury. The navigable river Avon flows between Alveston Weir above Stratford-upon Avon, for 74km to Tewkesbury and has 17 locks along its course. As the Avon leaves Warwickshire at Bideford it flows in to an area of flat fertile land, fed through the ages by the nutrient-rich silt deposited by the seasonally flooding river. This area is known as the Vale of Evesham which is surrounded by the hills of Bredon and the Cotswolds in the south and east and the Lenches to the north. The area is characterised by market gardens, orchards and flood meadows. Areas of grassland still exist along the Avon and several sites are now under the care of VLHT including meadows at Fladbury, the Littletons and on adjacent banks of the river at Wick and Lower Moor. |
Orchards were the most striking landscape feature in the area during the 19th and 20th Century; the first orchards were probably perry pear and cider apples but these declined in popularity and were replaced in the late 1800s and early 1900s by thousands of acres of plum orchards providing fruit to markets all around the country. *"The Ministry of Agriculture records that Mr G.F. Bomford planted the first commercial plum plantation at Atch Lench in 1881-1882 following 2 years of disastrous sheep farming and failed corn crops". Local Plum varieties were favoured including Purple Pershore and Yellow Egg, a variety first discovered growing in Tiddesley Wood (now a Worcestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserve). By the second world war the Norton and Lenchwick area had probably the largest continuous block of plums in Britain. Sadly, today the majority of orchards have gone but a few remain including VLHT’s 70 acre orchard at Hipton Hill and our beuatiful old orchard at Naunton Beauchamp. A more recent revival in cider production resulted in new orchards being planted and the Trust own 10 acres of Stocken Orchard near Pershore, a cider apple orchard planted around the 1970s.
|
As well as being a major landscape feature, orchards provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife and can be managed to allow flower-rich grasslands to flourish beneath the trees. With traditional hay meadows disappearing from the countryside these traditional orchard grasslands will become ever more important in the survival of many species of plants and animals, including pollinators such as bumblebees and hoverflies.
* Ref. Deakin on-line Family History http://www.deakin.broadwaymanor.co.uk/deakin/vale-of-evesham.html
* Ref. Deakin on-line Family History http://www.deakin.broadwaymanor.co.uk/deakin/vale-of-evesham.html
Download Sarah's research into place names in the Vale of Evesham
|
|