Woodland Conservation Group (Tuesdays)
Deansfield – A Meadow in Need of Help
Tuesday, 27th October 2026
Deansfield is designated as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC). However, a recent inspection described its condition as ‘Poor, declining’, adding that ‘urgent action is needed to prevent the underlying, unimproved grassland being permanently lost to scrub and woodland’. The area has now been added to our very long list of conservation projects, and Tuesday’s Woodland Conservation Group session in Shepherdleas seemed the perfect opportunity to take a look.
A rainy start to the day - but luckily the rain was just stopping as we met for our session. The timing was perfect, and the sun even made an appearance later. With two first-time volunteers joining us, nine of us set to work improving access to the area.
The brambles had almost won, but we eventually made our way through to what can only now be described as a small grassy area containing a large tree and a substantial patch of common knapweed, with walls of brambles on all the other sides. Nothing like the ‘field’ most of us had been expecting!
After a quick look around, a few photos of the vegetation and several gasps, we settled down for our well-earned break.
This was an opportunity for a chat, a chance to get to know our new volunteers and, of course, time for a drink and a snack. A FOW break wouldn’t be a proper break without the biscuits! What a lovely little spot to enjoy the autumn sunshine. And we weren’t the first to discover it either: a few dogwalkers were surprised to find a group of volunteers halfway along their regular walking route.
But our leisure time was over before we knew it! Having reached the centre of the ‘meadow’ much more quickly than anticipated, thanks to our larger group, we decided to carry out a trial to see how best to tackle the brambles, bearing in mind that all our work is done by hand.
After a short discussion, we agreed to start in the centre and work outwards. We began with the isolated, young brambles growing in the grass, then tackled as many of the vicious, woody brambles in the surrounding ‘hedges’ as we could, cutting others as close to the ground as possible.
It soon became clear that the brambles were not particularly receptive to being pulled out! We also used forks to help loosen the roots, but most of the growth had to be cut back to ground level. Despite the challenges, this trial was well worthwhile, and we learnt a great deal about how best to manage this special area.
By the time we had packed away our tools and left the site, we had, by hook or by crook, cleared the brambles back from the grassy area to a depth of about two metres, along a stretch of approximately 10–15 metres.
This is a small but useful first step towards restoring the open grassland. With more light reaching the ground and less competition from brambles, there is hopefully a chance for some of the existing grassland vegetation to recover from any surviving roots, seed bank or other remaining plants. Of course, the brambles will inevitably try to return, but we have reduced their spread in this small area. And, looking on the bright side, after a little more rainfall, the soil should be softer and any brambles we can tackle by the roots may be easier to remove.
Tuesday’s work has given us better access to the site and a useful opportunity to test different approaches to bramble removal. We’ll report our findings to the Conservation Planning Group and use what we’ve learnt to help plan the next steps towards restoring Deansfield’s open, grassy character.
Almost ready to leave - another satisfying, fun session. Thanks everyone. See you again soon!
