In March 2020 we started the group. Several of us had been in the Ketton Tree Group in the 1990s and thought the time was right to rekindle some support and volunteering for work on the green spaces round Ketton. We kindly received a small grant from The Whitebread Trust to cover our set up and insurance costs. At the KPC annual public meeting we presented some of our plans for the group. Of course the spring of 2020 was not the best time to start promoting a new group!
However in the spring two tree trails for use on mobile phones were designed to show the huge variety of trees around the village. We hope to promote them more widely in 2021, perhaps with some guided walks.
Public notices were put up in a variety of places round the village – in the churchyard informing passers-by about the mining bees which occupied the grass bank by the front of the church – and were quite harmless, in the cemetery to point out the wonderful pyramidal orchids, and in Hall Close to explain that we had just sown some wildflower seeds.
We have started to draft some management plans with the KPC Highways and Open Spaces Committee for cemetery, churchyard, Hall Close and Football Copse. Some of these may be completed next year, after more wildlife surveys have been completed.
In August the meadow near the newly planted orchard in Hall Close was scythed and mown short. Then locally-collected wildflower seed was sown in the ripped turf. So look out for some of the new wild flowers emerging through the summer.
Jemma Cuthbert, our Secretary, has agreed with John Collier, the Editor of Chatterbox, to write a regular article on local open spaces and nature around Ketton. So look out for the article in the next Winter 2020 issue.
In November we had a delivery of native tree saplings from The Woodland Trust. These are to plant in a few places round the village, especially in the Football Copse, on the left up Pit Lane and in the grounds used by the Ark Nursery School for their regular Forest school activities. Obviously all planting has been delayed at least until December.
We also plan to set up a small tree nursery so let us know if you can think of anywhere to plant some native trees – but we will need to plant the right trees in the right places at the right time!
Adam Cade and Monty Andrew are the two Tree Wardens in the village and carried out tree assessments to identify any risks to the public from dead, dying or overhanging trees.
We now also have several River Wardens keeping an eye on different parts of the River Welland and Chater as they pass through the parish. We are lucky to have nearly 8 miles of river passing though our parish. The River Wardens will be working with the River Welland Trust to monitor the wildlife and condition of the river and explore with the Ketton Green Spaces Group how the river can be made more accessible and wildlife-rich.
Lastly we have met with John Bristow from Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust to consider ways in which the surrounds of the Ketton Quarry SSSI can be improved with more “buffer zones” and helped to connect with other wildlife-rich places.
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