Big fires and plenty of ideas!

The annual mowing of Goat Island grassland went particularly well last September, with fine weather, plenty of strimmers and volunteers, as well as interesting finds such as black lizards, slow worms, and a Dark Brown Cricket. Phil Parr had been shown tiny Dingy Skipper larvae and Common Blue eggs on Wild Thyme on ant hills, so the vegetation on each ant hill was assessed before deciding whether to strim or not.

Our autumn programme included two work parties involving scrub clearance to form a connection between the two areas of calcareous grassland on Goat Island and great progress was made in October. The chain saws of Natural England produced cut blackthorn scrub as fast as the volunteers with loppers and bow saws could process the thorn for burning.

Despite the appalling weather forecast, December’s scheduled work went even better. Only the prospect of lunchtime champagne for my 70th birthday made me say ‘Yes – it’s still on’ when people phoned on the Friday but as it turned out, the sun shone and 19 workers, 13 of them from AVDCS, turned up. With three chain saws and 32 other hands to rake, lop, saw and burn, huge progress was made with two vast bonfires in the middle of ever-increasing glades. A couple of enormous Elders, some spindly Spindles, and a spreading Ash survived, as did an unidentified tree, perhaps an obscure Sorbus (Whitebeam) or willow.

Ten days later another group, mainly from the East Devon Countryside Service, enjoying a Christmas celebration, continued the good work. Despite Mike Lock’s athletic climb to collect samples, the tree remained unidentified [but looks more like a willow than a whitebeam (Ed.)], but the bonfire was the biggest yet, and more clearance made it easier to work out the exact geography of what connected to where, and of the most likely areas that had persisted as grassland until scrub took over some 25 years ago.

The new glades will have plenty of light, and with the ivy ground cover removed by rake and fire, it will be fascinating to see how the plant community develops as successional changes take place. Not surprisingly the Countryside Team had plenty of suggestions for site manager Tom Sunderland of Natural England. Could Soay Sheep, who do not need water, be the answer to the increased mowing that will be needed? Could that sheltered hollow glade on the seaward side of the eastern glade make good butterfly habitat if it was cleared next? Might that ‘grove’ of elms live longer if coppiced? And would the invertebrates be happier if grassland was mown to different heights? There will always be questions and suggestions where management is involved, but what is certain is that AVDCS volunteers and others have already done admirable work, and by the time this appears in Newsletter 65, more will have been done, particularly in attacking invasive aliens like Holm Oak, Cherry Laurel, and Pampas Grass.

These invasive aliens are a very real problem in the Undercliffs. Holm Oaks were planted below Allhallows many years ago and have thrived, producing huge acorn crops which are dispersed far and wide by woodpigeons and jays. They cast a dense shade which eliminates almost all other plants beneath them. Pampas Grass likewise outcompetes almost all other plants and is remarkably tough and almost impossible to dig out. Buddleja is also very common along the shoreline and where there are open cliff faces; its flowers are very attractive to the Undercliff butterflies such as Silver-washed Fritillaries, during the summer. But does this excuse it?