Colyton Community Woodland

During the mid 1990s the field immediately below the Picnic Site at Hillhead, Colyton, was given to the Parish by East Devon District Council for the establishment of a community woodland. Over the next few years several local organisations and individuals including the Primary School, Scouts and the Colyton & District Garden Society planted examples of native tree species. These included Ash, Beech, Silver Birch, Sweet Chestnut, Horse Chestnut and Willow, with Hazel to allow for future coppicing, albeit on a very small scale. A red-flowered Hawthorn was planted near the top boundary hedge by the local WI to mark the VE/VJ anniversary in 1996.

The field was on a site which had once been occupied by apple orchards and as part of their Millennium Project members of the Garden Society planted a selection of old apple varieties with local connections. 'Billy Down Pippin' (a corruption of Bewley Down near Membury) was planted in memory of Mr. Albert Hartnell who had been a committee member of the Garden Society and an enthusiastic supporter of the Woodland project in its early days. Other varieties included 'Crimson Victoria' (found in an orchard in Shute), 'Sops in Wine' (East Devon border), and 'Tom Putt' and 'Town Farm 59' with Gittisham connections. Another tree planted at the time was the Devonshire Whitebeam, which may be a hybrid between the Wild Service Tree and the Whitebeam; the probable parent trees were also planted.

Over the years most of the trees have become established but so too have the plants which were already there, so the hedges have become overgrown, Blackthorn especially has encroached from the hedges and Brambles and rank grasses have swamped many plantings and the path.  The need for remedial action became urgent and in 2008 a new management committee was established to take responsibility for the upkeep of this area and to organise work parties to cut grass, clear pathways and scrub. As a contribution to this initiative, the Axe Vale and District Conservation Society organised one of these working parties on Saturday, November 22nd. Eight people came to this session, including Colin Pady, who has been involved with the Community Woodland from its early days. Good progress was made and the area planted with trees was cleared of brambles, thistles and nettles. During the course of this, several labels for the trees were rediscovered on the ground and were duly replaced.  Elsewhere, a considerable amount of tall grass was cleared and a patch of tall bramble taken out. The control of tall grass should encourage the growth of fine grasses such as Sheep's Fescue which provide suitable breeding habitat for the Marbled White butterfly. With the clearance of grass, progress was also made to re-establish a zig-zag path down the steep slope.  Following this successful enterprise another work party recruited from the Conservation Society will be organised in February.