Woodland Conservation Group (Fridays)

Hotel Field - Meadow Restoration

Friday, 15th May 2026

A picture of a long-gone rural past? Well almost - if you can ignore the hi-vis vests!

If you had been passing through Hotel Field on Friday morning, you would have spotted our 19 volunteers dotted around the area, cutting, raking and wheeling barrows.  The field had recently received its early mow and the buttercups, jacob’s ladder, cleavers and many more species were already pushing up through the grass, which is both a wonderful sight and essential if we are to improve biodiversity and attract butterflies, bees and a range of invertebrates.

Wildflowers flourish where the soil is depleted of nutrients so our main activity was to rake up the cut grass, left behind from its recent cut.  While hard work, the volunteers worked together to ensure as little as possible was left behind and, by the end of the session, a large part of the meadow had been cleared.

Raking up the grass left from a recent mowing to deplete the soil of nutrients.

Other volunteers worked on the huge wall of bramble as you enter the field from the direction of Oxleas Meadow.  Many hours were spent on this last year and it was wonderful to see the cut-leaf geranium, clover and other wildflowers carpeting the cleared area.  This spurred us on to reduce it still more and great inroads were made during the session, clearing at least another 2 metre strip, and even 3 metres in one area.  Don’t worry though, there is still a huge amount there, for habitat cover and food for wildlife.

Other volunteers worked on the far side of the meadow, cutting back the bramble which extended beyond the canopy of the trees, again restoring land to the meadow but also improving the pathway and sightline for walkers.

Clearing brambles extending beyond the tree canopy to recover meadow and improve sightlines.

And, of course, we had the usual well-earned break to regain our energy and to chat to other volunteers.

We will be back!