Beech Woodlands Traditional Geocache

Alongside Seonaidh Jamieson, a Project Officer for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, I have placed a couple of caches within Judy Woods. Seonaidh kindly provided the information of the wildlife and the area.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Judy Woods has been home to Ancient Woodland for 10,000 years, originally home to native broadleaved species. The beech that occupies this space today was planted roughly 200 years ago, further north than the tree’s usual range. The beech trees were planted with the textile industry in mind. Bobbins for producing fabrics were often made out of expensive and slow growing mahogany so planting beech made for a cheaper alternative.

Beech trees are known for their dense canopy which allows little sunlight through. While very striking, the lack of understory means there is little keeping the top soil in place. The loose topsoil can then be washed away by rainwater and end up filling in the gaps in gravelly soils needed by brown trout further downstream. This is all exacerbated by the steep slopes in the woods, accelerating the erosion and increasing the fine sediment collecting in Clifton Beck.

The Friends of Judy Woods, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council have been working together on the Improving Clifton Beck’s Water project. This work is aimed to improve the habitat and water quality along the length of the river. In Judy Woods this meant removing some native beech trees in areas alongside the small tributaries and planting up native broadleaved species (and some yew!).

By opening up the canopy and allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor we are aiming to increase the biodiversity of forest flowers. This will not only stabilise our topsoil and reduce erosion, but will help our native pollinators and other insects. Keep an eye on our trees as they grow and see how many different kinds you can identify!

The cache is hidden just of the pack horse route.  It is also very close to where the beck resurfaces from underground and begins to flow through Judy Woods.  You are looking for a small container in a camo bag, big enough for small swaps and TB's.

Please do not post spoiler pictures. 

Many thanks to City of Bradford Council and Seonaidh Jamieson of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust for permission to place these caches.