This series has been placed with the kind permission of the Countryside Restoration Trust. There are 16 caches which take you on a 2.25 mile circuit of Green Farm (I suggest you follow them in numerical or reverse numerical order) and a bonus cache so don't forget to note down the numbers when you see them.
Some of the 200 acre estate is heathland, a habitat which has declined in the county for many decades, which is home to Woodlark, Dartford warblers, Nightjar, Woodcock, Redpoll, Tawny Owl, Roe Deer, Adder and Grayling Butterfly. The caches in this series are named after species of plants and animals found on Lowland Heaths in the South East of England (though you may not see the one it is named after at that location!).
A heathland is an open landscape dominated by low-growing plants. These are interspersed with areas of bare ground and scattered trees, providing important habitat for a huge range of butterflies, wasps, beetles, birds and reptiles. Soils are acidic and free-draining with very low nutrient levels. Heathlands developed over time as common-land areas. Historically locals would collect wood, bracken, gorse and heather for fuel, thatching and numerous other uses and villagers would graze their livestock. Over time this activity causes the heathland’s soil to become depleted of nutrients. Wildlife needs to be highly adapted to survive in such inhospitable conditions. The wildlife that has adapted to survive here, now depend on these rare heathland habitats for their survival. As UK heathland is lost, it becomes more and more difficult for these species to exist in Britain. Lowland Heathland is classed as a priority habitat under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, with approximately 20% of the lowland heath in Europe being found in the UK.
The Woodcock
The woodcock is a large, bulky wading bird with short legs and a very long straight tapering bill. It is largely nocturnal, spending most of the day in dense cover. Most of the birds in the UK are residents - in the autumn birds move to the UK from Finland and Russia to winter here. The breeding population has been falling in recent years, perhaps because of less habitat as conifer plantations become too mature for woodcocks to find open enough breeding areas.
Our village pub was called The Woodcock and in May 2011. Following closure a community group SWAG (Save the Woodcock Action Group) was established to try to purchase the pub and fight against a planning application to demolish the pub and build 5 small houses on the site. Sadly an Inspector found in favour of demolishing the pub in January 2012 and it was subsequently demolished the following year.
