1 www.artpopup.co.uk www.langdyke.org.uk #PeterboroughTogether Celebrating 20 years of the Langdyke Countryside Trust Introduction

Memories, moments, recollections and reflections: these are the stories that we have collated to tell the tale of Langdyke. From the origins of this fight for nature to bringing Langyke's land and the conservation campaign to the forefront locally as the Langdyke family grows, Langdyke Stories celebrates our connections with nature, heritage, culture and community.

Swaddywell Meadow Triptych Kathryn Parsons ecoprint on paper, 2019 (detail) Contents Foreword 7 We want to A Dedication to Langdyke 8 Langydyke at 20 10 live in an area King Street 14 Where swifts and swallows are where nature is a central feature of our summer Clare Country 15 evenings, where otters continue to Swaddywell 16 at the heart of enthral people as they play in the Etton Maxey 17 our lives... Maxey Cut, where bees and other Etton High Meadow 18 insects thrive, not decline, and where Bainton Heath 19 there are far more, not less, ponds, Torpel Field 20 meadows, wild flowers, hedgerows Vergette Wood Meadow 21 and trees. And where local people Marholm Field Bank 22 can walk or cycle out in safety and tranquillity across this thriving Held in Trust 23 countryside, enjoying the sights and Langdyke Stories 24 sounds and even the silence of the The Ghost Moths of Swaddywell 40 natural world; enjoying dark skies and The Museum of Objects 41 cherishing the heritage - both natural Spoon Little Owl 46 and man-made- around them. Acknowledgements 48 Foreword Langdyke Stories celebrates our arts engagement project with Art Pop-Up on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Trust. Here, for the first time, we tell the story of the Langdyke Countryside Trust through the voice of its members and the medium of art, sharing the work of our Artist in Residence and over 300 people from our local community, inspired - as were our founders - by the beauty and diversity of the natural world around us. Back in 1999 four local people set up Langdyke with the intention of starting the long-term reversal of years of environmental decline by acquiring and managing land for nature. Two decades later, we now have seven nature reserves and the active support of 130 households. We hold weekly work- parties and monthly talks and walks. Nature is responding on our reserves. Turtle dove, lapwings and redshanks breed again at Etton Maxey Pits, Swaddywell Pit is alive with wild-flowers, butterflies and dragonflies, with rare species returning. Torpel Manor Field is recovering its floral diversity. The Trust has planted a community orchard and runs community allotments at Etton High Meadow and in 2018 acquired its first area of wet-woodland at Vergette Wood Meadow. We now even have a road-side meadow at Marholm Field Bank! The original four members are still part of the Trust – but the Trust also now has four resident-led geographic groups that drive its work forward. This is important, throughout its history, Langdyke has been an organisation rooted in its neighbourhoods, led by the local volunteers who run its committees and manage its reserves - working with and for the community. As we plan to expand our reserves and to take forward ambitious plans for the recovery of nature across the wider John Clare countryside, we will not lose sight of this key feature of our success. Langdyke is a story to be proud of and one that we hope more and more people will join and be associated with in our third decade. A heartful thank you to all our members, and particularly our active volunteers who have made it happen.

Richard Astle, Chair 7 I’m Swaddywell a piece of land. This mound of a hundred fighting men. My sweet breath is Vergette Wood Meadow. The union of nature and passionate eyes. Bainton Heath, my reaching left hand. Reclaimed, my washed out earth. Torpel, is where my wild thoughts grow. Brought me back from the dust. A Dedication My buzzing ears are listening in Etton Maxey. Fervent beings who believed in my rebirth. Marholm Field Bank are my outstretched fingers. Called themselves ‘The Langdyke Trust’. Etton High Meadow, where my right foot stands. Over Langdyke my words linger. Once again my fields are calm, My arms outstretched in tranquil grace. to Langdyke My body holds sediments of history. Resurrected meadow browns fly in my palms. Romans camped the ninth legion on my banks. Turtle doves have returned to my embrace. Leaving me, their fate became a mystery. Cuckoos now sing all the wrong words. None knows where the eagle standard sank. Keely Mills, 2019 Over the tops of hobby hunts, eating on the wing. Rodger De Torpel came, renamed my earth after him. Slowly I am turning the tide on declining birds. Built a home then lost the key for five hundred years. Hearing nightingales in May, hum and sing. He gave six knights to serve on the Bishops whim. I cried when traces of this Norman lord disappeared. I thank those who give their time, Protecting me, bringing me back to life. Time has burnt itself in centuries of smoke. My gratitude are the rare orchids in summertime. My manor has crumbled into ruined demise. Purple signs of flowering pride. My use was felled like an old oak. My bliss are the playing otters of Maxey Cut, No more would my blossom clasp butterflies. Coats shiny like wet pebbles, coloured chestnut. Then. Swaddywell turned pit with crushing chisels. See my soul in the tender water vole, Chipping, at my body till a hollow quarry was left. It stares at the stars and the grizzled skipper. Birdsong blasted by workman whistles. Relax with resting lizards on benches in the sun’s gold. I became nature’s victim with industrial theft. Hear my thanks in the swifts on the twilight flicker. They worked me till I could not stand. Sold my branches and roots. I say to you all. They picked the bones of my green land. Let my body be the proof with its many wild flowers. Broke the cowslip, ripped meadow fruits. And its swallows that chip, whine and gurgle down to us. Left me lost in the sand, grit and stones. That, if cherished a land can be saved from the brink. I gasped for air through the desolation. If loved a land will create magic in the dark stardust. My hills became skulls and crossbones. If secured a land shall be where all men can calmly think. My spirit was lost to man made creation. So, I pray I will always flourish in this cradle of trust. I’m Swaddywell a rekindled piece of land. I thought this was my eternity. Brought back to flourishing being in only twenty years. Then. O’ Langley bush did rise again. Now in near destiny I stand with my guardians hand in hand. A poet’s beloved tree heard my cry. Continuing to grow hopeful plots in all nature’s spheres. 9 introducing sheep and cutting paths. deposits. Nature wins: 2011 Langdyke works Langdyke and 2006 with Froglife’s 2005 the Wildlife Trusts Bainton Heath: invertebrate Bridges to Nature project to help set up the John Clare Countryside survey finds 64 Nationally Happy Birthday people understand more about local partnership to help deliver more Scarce and 6 species that are reptiles and amphibians. habitats for nature across the wider listed in the UK’s Red Data countryside. Book of endangered species. A The Trust tries survey of the mosses, liverworts 2007 unsuccessfully to It is the 20th consecutive year of bird and lichens finds a total of 85 Langdyke purchase Pickworth Quarry, home of ringing at Bainton Heath, making species, some of which are rare a former lime kiln and workplace of it one of the longest running and in this area. It is twenty years since the formation of Langdyke. Here John Clare. most productive sites within the Etton Maxey: first tern BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) A year of land raft launch. Terns like to lay we take a look at that journey, the many achievements, “Constant Effort Sites” scheme. 2009 acquisition as the their eggs on small ‘islands’ and what the future holds for nature and the Trust. Trust goes from having one reserve Etton High Meadow in an attempt to keep their to four! Torpel Manor Field at the becomes Langdyke’s young safe from land-based 2011 predators. The raft is a great Spurred on by the one of the first nature reserves in the end of West Street, Helpston is fourth reserve. The land was success as a pair of terns find planning battle UK, listed in 1915 but then reverted purchased and then Bainton Heath originally, pre-enclosures, part of 1999 it, nest and three young terns over the future of Swaddywell Pit, to quarrying in 1924, becoming is established as our third reserve, common land north of Etton - an area this time in partnership with National of wet meadows beside the river. As hatch and fledge. Helpston, four local residents set up a WW2 bomb dump and then a 2012 Langdyke Countryside Trust with landfill site in the 1980s. In 1997 it Grid. Bainton is another former the river was gradually channelled, the specific intention of reversing was used as a VW racetrack, but quarry, covered in rubble from the the land dried and became arable Etton Maxey: an osprey decades of habitat and species loss, local opposition thwarted further London bomb sites and ash from land, probably during WW2. This appears. First seen in July, it to celebrate and conserve our natural plans for the circuit and the site was power stations that create a unique small site is surrounded with hedges returns for the reserve's open world. abandoned. The Trust makes plans habitat. It is home to a diverse range and provides grazing for the Trust’s day in August, sitting on a to turn the site into a nature reserve of insects, mosses and liverworts as sheep as well as a home for many For the first six years after its The list of species in steep decline telephone pole for nearly an but new legislation on liabilities for well as a population of nightingales. farmland birds. There is also a large hour. Bee orchids are found for foundation, the Trust owns no land across our region is long, sad potential pollution makes it difficult barn, a useful space for storing and has no members! It helps Langdyke also enters into a the first time. to take these forward without undue and worrying. Iconic rural birds machinery and tools. with local hedge planting and management agreement with Tarmac Swaddywell: reptiles survey risk. such as the cuckoo and the turtle conservation work. It puts up nest to look after the restored gravel pits Thanks to a grant finds 29 adult common lizards dove have disappeared from boxes in Rice Wood, near Helpston Concerns over between Etton and Maxey, north of from the Heritage and 37 juveniles, as well as many areas. Hedgehogs too are 2012 and organises nature walks for its 2005 potential liabilities the Maxey Cut. This is the Trust’s Lottery Fund, work starts on an grass snakes and great crested small band of supporters. are resolved, Langdyke agrees to increasingly rarely seen, their largest reserve, a combination of ambitious project to unlock the newts. rent Swaddywell Pit and establishes population cut in half. The list wet meadows and wildflower banks, secrets of Torpel Field, the location 2013 Swaddywell Pit is at the heart of the its first reserve. Volunteers from goes on, nationally brown hare with potential to attract a wide range of a Norman manor house and Trust’s plans for the future. The site Etton High Meadow: a new neighbouring villages start to reclaim numbers are down by 80 per of breeding and wintering birds and medieval hamlet. A Heritage Lottery was listed in Sir Charles Rothschild’s heritage orchard is planted the land for wildlife: removing tyres cent, swifts down by 50 per populations of orchids and butterflies. grant allows us to create a visitor 1912 list of key places for nature with many native & heritage and scraping up rubbish, planting It is also a RIGS site (Regionally cabin and exhibition as well as across the country, along with the cent, 75 per cent of butterfly species including medlars and hedges, cleaning out the ponds, Important Geological Site) due to the partnering with the University of York Thames Estuary and St Kilda. It was species are in decline. spindle trees. clearing bramble, fencing the site, fossil-rich and complex interglacial on a research project. Many local 11 people are involved, learning how to members boost our ranks, and in 2013 2018 Langdyke is and wetland and farmland birds conduct geophysical surveys, taking addition to conservation work, they 2019 becoming throughout the year. Every week a part in field walks and digging pits host pasque flowers and glow- Swaddywell: the first Bainton Heath & Etton embedded in the community with a determined and passionate team High Meadow: small to discover the historic treasures worm walks. Their support facilitates grizzled skipper butterfly is core of regular committee members of volunteers gather on the reserve mammal survey finds pygmy beneath the ground. We celebrate projects such as our new website seen at Swaddywell for over and volunteers without whom the and, together with a resident flock of shrews. These tiny creatures with summer festivals, full of music, and dedicated email addresses. 20 years. The following year Trust could not manage its reserves. Hebridean sheep, manage the site are less than 11cm long poetry, nature and drama in 2011 the species is seen again on A much wider group join us for walks for nature and for people. In September (including the tail) and weigh and 2012 and annual heritage several occasions, as well as with a growing number of supporters we meet with just 2-6g. At Etton High Meadow the orchard workshops. 2018 burnet companion moth and attending events. We launch an Highways England, owner of is growing up slowly and dragonflies dingy skippers. Vergette Meadow: small engagement programme with Art The Trust appoints View5 as Artists Marholm Field Bank. They have no have colonised the new pond. It is mammal survey finds both Pop-Up, Langdyke Stories, to bring in Residence across its reserves for idea that it is their land! Forgotten 2014 used as a paddock for the sheep common and water shrews Langdyke to a wider community a two-year period. The local artists since its creation during the build Swaddywell: a new which are the largest UK flock, community allotments and through the medium of art. create a number of works based of the Castor bypass in 1989/90 it discovery of 12 man orchids shrew, they have large hind has become an oasis for wildlife - a on the reserves and hold events hosts a plethora of wildflowers at risk is made. feet and swim underwater to January’s inaugural wassailing event mosaic of habitats to encourage and exhibitions at Swaddywell and from scrub invasion. We enter into 2015 catch their prey. at Etton High Meadow attracts over original local species. Torpel. another management agreement, 100 visitors – young and old - and Bainton Heath: bird 2019 At Bainton Heath, nightingales sing with Kier and Highways England, to May’s nightingale walk around Langdyke launches ringing results include a long from the scrub, rare butterflies and manage this small meadow just off Vergette Wood Meadow: Castor Hanglands attracts more than its vision for the tailed tit who is recaptured moths thrive in the grassland while 2015 the A47, home to butterflies, moths volunteers plant young elm 70 local people. In June, Langdyke future of the local countryside – a after first being ringed at the summer migrants, such as cuckoo and flowers. trees, carefully sourced they celebrates its 20th birthday with place where people and nature same site in 2007, making and hobby hunt overhead. will hopefully prove to be nearly 200 people at events at Torpel thrive together. Land at Etton High We establish our third ‘Eastern’ him almost 8 years old - the disease resistant. and Etton Maxey Pits. Meadow is made available for reserve, Vergette Wood Meadow national longevity record is Etton Maxey: common community allotments, close to just north of the South Drain, outside just under 9 years! As we enter our 21st year, the Trust lizards are found after a gap Langdyke’s heritage orchard. There Etton. Another former gravel pit, it is flourishing. It currently manages The future 2016 of several years. Several seven nature reserves in the area, The reality remains that while nature are 6 allotments for local Langdyke has a similar history to Etton High four-spotted moths are seen Etton Maxey: 130 lapwing ranging from the 80-acre Etton is doing well on the reserves, it members. Meadow. Our plans are to manage - there are only 12 breeding it as a wildflower meadow and are counted, also Cetti’s Maxey Pits to the 2-acre meadow at is struggling across the wider The Trust sets up colonies in the UK so it is wet-woodland. The three eastern warblers, water rails and Marholm Field Bank, by the A47. It countryside. How would we feel a new geographic hoped they will make a home 2017 reserves are looked after by another some 80 snipe, plus a pectoral has 130 household memberships, if a walk along the Maxey Cut group, centred in Castor and on the reserve. There are also team of volunteers who meet weekly, sandpiper, a rare visitor to runs a flock of more than 100 sheep isn’t enlivened by hares playing Ailsworth, to take forward projects breeding redshank, six young taking on tasks as diverse as running the UK, occasionally blown and offers members a variety of in the fields or there are no swifts in that area. Marholm Field Bank is turtle doves being raised and screaming over the villages in the small allotments, launching tern rafts across from the east coast of weekly events, including work- surveyed as part of a much wider a purple heron visits briefly. summer? What if our children or organising community events. America! parties, country walks, training survey of the land surrounding Swaddywell: the reserve has really do grow up never seeing a Swaddywell: 187 great sessions and talks. 8 species of orchid, including hedgehog? Or hearing a cuckoo? Castor and Ailsworth. Langdyke enters a partnership with crested newts are counted on Natural England to help manage 2 found nowhere else locally Nature is thriving on all our reserves. Is that the countryside we want? The ‘Friends of Barnack Hills and 25th March. the national nature reserves at and a nationally rare one, as Holes’ join us to become our fourth 2017 Swaddywell is no longer a waste We are currently working with a Barnack Hills and Holes and Castor well as over 1200 species of geographical group, rebranding ground, it is a place of calm range of partners and landowners Hanglands. The Trust also completes Etton Maxey: water voles invertebrate, including the as ‘Langdyke Ermine Street’. and tranquillity, full of flowers to take forward a very positive its legal reorganisation into a are reported and a harvest scarce and beautiful grizzled Their knowledgeable, enthusiastic and butterflies in the summer vision for the future of our area. Charitable Interest Organisation. mouse nest is discovered. skipper. Clare Country by Cardinal Cox

When he was a young lad John Clare Searched to find the edge of the world Where he might look into clear air That void where angels were once hurled

But all these fields, woods, moor and fen King Street Carry Akroyd Are not edge but its very heart watercolour, 2009 These lands have long been worked by men Developed by the farmers art The prompt for this watercolour was one of John Clare’s Northborough Sonnets from the The many snails, plants, bugs and birds 1830's which begins, “Sketch Are owners, not us, of this land Lolham brigs…” We’re only tenants, hear his words In the poem, Clare describes the Of care to actions of our hands view from “That aged tree…” meaning Langley Bush, from where he can “map the prospect One day our lease we must return of a hundred miles”: Langley Bush To those landlords, this we must learn Road turns into King Street. Clare mentions also “swordy well”, now Swaddywell, and being able to spot church spires. The Roman road leads the eye in the picture past the sites known to Clare and rescued by Langdyke Trust: Swaddywell and Torpel Field. Willows mark Bainton Pits, Lolham Bridges and Helpston spire. 15 Moments on our reserves When we decided to focus our efforts on procuring the cleaning out the ponds with a huge digger then worrying Swaddywell site, I remember peering over the edge of the about water levels, clearing bramble, fencing the site and quarry, at the previous owner’s parties; worrying about introducing sheep and cattle grazing in 2005, cutting the stone works next door sucking out water from the paths and banks on our little tractor, newt counts and pond; concerns about a new road being built down to the much more. So many people have been able to enjoy the quarry; piles of clay pigeons from the club shooting over wildlife there ever since. The sheep have their own logic the quarry; the main car park being used as a storage Rick Keymer area by the stone works. But I remember too some of the positive actions we took including hedge planting, and way of doing things, sometimes it's hard to guess what it is!

Etton Maxey is full of life - and I have a friend who bemoans the ditches across the reserve. memories - for me… especially the loss of genuine fen-edge In late spring the western banks since I started helping on work landscape - meadows, dotted come alive with white slopes of parties and helping look after the with trees, watered by ditches, ox-eye daisy encircling the lake. sheep. I love to watch the sheep big skies….yet all these are Then early summer brings the - our conservation-grazers - and present at Etton Maxey Pits, with purple haze of pyramidal orchids try to work out what’s going a bonus that the sunken situation down the slope from the quarry through their minds… creates an almost natural roadway and across North Swaddywell To me it is a place to breathe… artificial horizon, shutting out Wood. By late summer the reeds a place to wander and watch the the surrounding arable desert of show again, but this time dark seasons change, to notice our ploughed flat fields. green, and share the meadows native wildlife and learn about I see this open landscape as a with great pink swathes of the creatures and the plants palate for huge blocks of colour, calamagrostis grass. And this from others on the work parties, different throughout the seasons, is the backdrop upon which or while sitting in the hide. It is a swirling round the whole reserve. to overlay whatever natural life precious place. Autumn and winter shows a appears at the time, one hopes searching for and finding room Kathryn Parsons seething mass of grey/brown, as the reed beds rustle in the here to thrive. wind and lay out the paths of David Cowcill Swaddywell Etton Maxey 17 Keren Thomson summer sunshineensured everyonelingered alotlonger! sausages andhomegrown courgettesandwarm evening good company, deliciousbarbequedfoodincludinglocal last justacoupleofhours.Infactthecombination barbeque atEttonHighMeadowwhichwethoughtwould social eventacoupleofsummersago.Itwasrelaxed volunteers andallotmenteerscametogetherfora as aLangdykevolunteerbutmyfavouritewaswhen There are somanymemorablemomentsfrom mytime Etton High Meadow David Rowell I’m soluckytobepartof. fences, chasingsheepandjustadmiringthecountryside - amongthemdigging,choppingdownwillow, mending opportunity. Mynewlifeinvolvesawidevarietyoftasks - andHighMeadow, inparticular-havegivenmethat and pressures ofnewspapersandwebsites.Langdyke do somethingtotallydifferent awayfrom thedeadlines I tookearlyretirement fromandwantedto journalism of aturtledove. Ineverfailto cuckoo, oreven thegentlepurring a chanceofhearingnightingale, visited. Inthespringthere’s always perhaps becauseitissorarely Bainton hasamagicalquality, Jean Stowe and quantity. for suchastunningdisplay:quality but wascompletelyunprepared winter andspring,inDerbyshire, fungus, whichoftenappearsin austriaca. Ihaveseenthispretty scarlet elfcupfungi,Sarcoscypha They were covered, allover, with pile oflogsunderthebigpylon. the reserve wecameacross a early Februaryguidedwalkaround fungi. Includingearthstars.Onan Bainton isknownforitsinteresting It iswhereIretreatto, to escapethepressures of modernlife seats tositon -justfallentrees, where Imight endup;there are no which Ifollow, never quiteknowing across thesite-justdeertracks is awildplace,there are nopaths for meitisasanctuary. Bainton scrubby patchofwasteland but sight itmaynotlookmuch,justa favourite placesonEarth.Atfirst Bainton Heathisoneofmymost Sue Welch nature ahelpinghand. andgive maintain itswilderness We don’t worktobeautify, justto from bombedoutLondon. a BritishRailcuporfewbricks you canalsofindthe remains of And yetbecauseofitshistory amazement tofindpeoplethere. see afoxordeerwhostare in Stuart Irons and delightingme. The placeisalwayssurprising something neweverytimeI visit. reserve butwithoutfailIdiscover swifts call.Baintonisnota large whilst overheadbuzzards and see dragonfliesandkingfishers, beetles, overthepondsyoucan are bees,hoverfliesandsoldier rise up,oneveryflowerthere butterflies andbluedamselflies is burstingwithlife,cloudsof In thesummerwholeplace fields tothedistanthorizon. where youcangazeacross the the nextbushandotherareas where youcanseenofurtherthan There scrub isdensehawthorn which are justascomfortable.

19 Bainton Heath Torpel Field Frieda Gosling fitting outand educationalmaterialsofthe “cabin” Landscape waspublishedalongwiththe building, periods. AndsoTorpel Manor:theBiography ofa and farmingsystemsofthe Normanandmedieval Torpel andCamoysfamilies andthesettlement of itsformerbuildings.We alsoresearched the evolution ofthemanorand the likelydistribution and mapsproduced showingtheextentand magnetometry surveys.Theresults were analysed carried outtopographical,resistivity and seasons ourvolunteersandtheprofessionals at York Universitytoinvestigateit.Overfour us tocollaboratewiththeArchaeology Department acquisition andtheHeritageLotterygrantallowed I wasinvolvedwithTorpel ManorFieldfrom its curious aboutitsmysterious Like everyoneelse,Iwas Peter Leverington features onthefrontispiece. also decideditwasaveryimportant symbolandit York Universitywhowere collaboratingonthebook order totraceitexactly, so itcouldbereproduced. earlier manorialdocuments.Idrew itdigitallyin old titleprobably produced byamonkformuch excited byitsartistryandantiquityasa400year page simplysaid‘Torpell’, Iwasimmediately of landandbuildingsaround themanor. Thefirst was anoriginalofthe1620scheduleonstate Langdyke bookonTorpel. Amongstthedocuments I wasaskedtoproduce mapsanddiagramsforthe humps andbumps Bob Titman shovelers hidingamongstthe willows. males and1femaleaswell as anumberof and eventuallyestablishedthat there were 2 and spentahappytimescanning thearea a rare bird locally. Ierected mytelescope visiting duckwhichwinters in Africaandis be agarganey. Thisisuniquely asummer eye stripe.Iknewimmediatelythatitmust of asmallduckwithdistinctivewhite the willowsImomentarilyglimpsehead breed ingoodnumbersonthesite.Through shovelers, togetherwithlittlegrebes which present invaryingnumberswithoccasional usually mallards, tealsandgadwallsare difficult butanumberofdabblingducks covered withwillowsmakingviewingfairly wildfowl were present. Largeareas are through thepitcomplextodiscoverwhat through thewetwoodfrom thefootpath IwassearchingOn anearlyAprilmorning Richard Astle about –bringingthecountrysidebacktolife. moths andbeetles.It’s whatLangdykeisall the meadow, upflytheinsects–butterflies, of theSouthDrain.Andifyouwalkthrough stream ofcolourallthewaydownbank – theyellowofhawksbeard creating a the middle,surrounded byaseaofflowers should looklike.Athickhedgerow down is theepitomeofwhatcountryside For me,Vergette Wood MeadowinJune a fieldalivewith Essentially itis nature

Vergette Wood Meadow A fellow Langdyke member told me of the hidden gems discovered there quite by accident

Here’s a field outside a village Green and quiet, mostly grass Shrugging off the buzzing pylons Offering up its busy past.

Here’s a walking place for autumn's Seeds and toadstools, rustling trees. Fuzzy cattle graze the pasture Pete and I first discovered When passing by I had 2018 . A second work party Flowers will spring to feed the bees. the site in July 2017. Having thought Marholm Field Bank completed the work the spotted pyramidal orchids was simply a small copse of following January and I was Here’s a pool, a pond, a haven on the verge, we ventured trees, but I was very wrong! intrigued to see what spring Still and dim and full of life into the plantation and were Scrub had managed to cover and summer would bring forth. Wriggling things below the surface amazed to find a beautiful a lot of the ground, there were I was not to be disappointed, Hunt and eat in tiny strife. wildflower meadow on the still some astounding displays and the displays of hundreds far side - a riot of pink, purple of wildflowers, and some of pyramidal orchids, ox eye Here’s a lumpy, bumpy quarry and yellow from orchids, green hairstreak butterflies daisy, wild basil and a dozen Stones now gone to pierce the sky. betony, bird’s-foot-trefoil and floating around. I knew or more other wildflowers has All is green, with sheep and orchids marjoram. Probably the most something had to be done to been spectacular. This has Glow-worms glow and small bats fly. flower-rich area of grassland prevent the scrub completely fast become one of my very I’ve ever seen, this natural taking over. With the hard favourite places. Held in Trust Places where the rare and fragile, Bird or flower, live out their lives gem is a valuable wildlife work of around 20 enthusiastic Mike Horne by Vivian Foster refuge. souls, we made great inroads Newts or snipe or tiger beetles in just one day in November Turtle doves and dragonflies Sarah Lambert Welcoming all nature lovers To the place where wildlife thrives. Marholm Field Bank Reflections Many of Langdyke’s stories come They are significant too, since by Kathryn Parsons, from time spent working on the knowing some stories of our local Langdyke’s Artist in Residence reserves, like the January morning area helps us to connect with and The intense beauty took at Etton-Maxey when the reeds and care about what’s around us. And Langdyke Stories... The Langdyke reserves trees were covered in an incredible sharing those stories with others are full of stories... it’s what I noticed as soon as I our breath away and we diamond-sparkling hoar-frost. helps more people get to know and to care too, thus building Then some of the stories of started to talk with any of the Langdyke volunteers. said how glad we were to relationships and connections from Langdyke’s reserves reach far back There are the stories of the migrating birds that come which stronger communities grow. be there to see such a sight in time. Thanks to archaeologists in back each spring, and the lizards that sun themselves the 1980s, we know that Neolithic All this is why, right from the on a bench put out for birdwatchers. There are families built enclosures, herded beginning of this project, I wanted sheep and held gatherings at Etton- my work as Langdyke’s artist in stories of the sheep that live their whole lives on the Maxey! While at Torpel, a Medieval residence to focus on telling some reserves, grazing the land and helping the wildflowers mansion was built, flourished, of these Langdyke tales, and for decayed, and the (possibly) front by doing so. Some of the stories are mysteries, like door key was left behind, to be the sudden appearance of a solitary lizard orchid rediscovered far more recently. And of course two hundred years ago and a clump of autumn ladies-tresses orchids at John Clare was recording the stories Swaddywell a couple of years ago - miles and miles of this land through his poetry and away from any other plants of their species... prose, collecting the tales of the history, wildlife, botany, and everyday happenings of many of the precious places that Langdyke now cares for.

I find the stories of places, their wildlife and their people fascinating. 25

the project to include as many for local community groups to opportunities for the local community being part of Peterborough Heritage to be involved as possible… And Festival. so Art Pop-Up was able to secure For me, storytelling happens partly the funding from the Peterborough through the materials and techniques Community Fund, so that working I choose to work with…John Clare closely with Langdyke we have found wrote about finding his poems in many different opportunities to tell the fields and simply writing them people about our amazing local down. Often he would write on wildlife and history, from workshops scraps of paper, using ink that he

Eco-printing is a gentle process that uses heat and time to coax colours and patterns out of fresh leaves and flowers and on to paper or fabric.

29 had made himself from local I’d also become intrigued by the oak galls. So I decided to echo paths that criss-cross the land, so this way of working, using small over the intricate patterns created pieces of paper and eco-printing by the plants I embroidered with plant material that I found on trackways, wildflowers and foot- Langdyke’s reserves. paths.

Using plants from Langdyke’s For the Open Day in June the nature reserves to print with three triptychs were hung on a gave a direct contact between hazel A-frame, reminiscent of one the artwork and the places. I’d seen at Langdyke’s community Sometimes a sprinkling of tea allotment… and the eco-prints leaves was added too, because danced in the wind on that Langdyke’s work parties always blazing-hot day! include tea and cake! I used eco-printing for several of my own Wild as summer flowers used Langdyke Stories artworks, and lumen photography as well as also for the community artwork eco-prints, combined with sheep- that is so central to this project. tracks stitched in wool. They My main artwork, Bainton Heath, were framed and for the Open Torpel and Swaddywell, is an Day hung in North Wood, a small eco-printed ‘poem’. It tells of cluster of young oak trees which the thriving plants and wildlife is my favourite place at Etton- that live on three of Langdyke’s Maxey reserve. I’ve got to know reserves. Visiting these places this spot over the last few years,

The stitching relates to the history of these precious places too - a once industrial landscape, the site of a medieval manor and one of Britain's first nature reserves.

33 and love the hope and potential that that encompasses the wildlife, fills those young trees and the carpet botany, and also the community of of wild flowers that surrounds them. supporters and volunteers that are The title is from a poem by John at the heart of all that happens. Take Clare, where he talks of his love of the turtle doves for instance; last year roaming as free and ‘wild as summer one of the volunteers heard about a flowers’. nation-wide project to put out food for them to eat. In this country, the It’s early August as I write, and I’m numbers of this elegant little bird currently working on the final artwork have crashed by over 90% since the for Langdyke Stories... if all goes 1970s. well it’ll be made of leaves from the reserves, patterned by sunlight and The reasons for this decline are complex, but one significant images from the project. This piece factor is insufficient food to raise doesn’t have a name yet, but I want their young. And so a team of six it to reflect the whole community of Langdyke volunteers committed to Langdyke - the Langdyke ‘family’

You see, without the dedicated of the Langdyke volunteers these precious wildlife places would have less protection, and the species that are being given a helping hand would be having an even harder time surviving.

35 regularly putting out a special seed- people and communities too. paper and adding patterns, drawings Often different groups came together could see photographs from the As a direct result of the mix throughout the late spring and and stamps that tell some of with one hosting the workshop and reserves!), along with the workshop Over three hundred people were summer. This is just one of the very Langdyke’s stories. Strung together inviting guests along. I’m hugely story-telling and creating art together feeding programme, turtle involved in our community art significant practical differences that for the 20th anniversary celebrations, grateful for the collaborations involved has built and strengthened the project! Although some had heard of doves are now at Etton- Langdyke volunteers make…. and they made wonderful, vibrant story- and the enthusiasm to take part! connections with each other, our Langdyke before, for many this was of course the close connection with telling art-bunting! All the sharing of planning, facilities local environment, local history and Maxey and six young their first introduction. Each person nature, and working together for and even equipment (one group of course with Langdyke too. We’re created their own miniature artwork, The art workshops took place at have been spotted! something we care about, is good for lent their projector so another group delighted that as a result more starting with a piece of eco-printed local festivals and community groups. 37 people are coming to Langdyke events, visiting the reserves and that we’ve been able to welcome some new people to the work parties too! It’s good for the wildlife, good for the individuals involved and good for our community, as more people grow and strengthen their connections with our local environment and with each other.

I hope that Langdyke Stories inspires you to get to know more of Langdyke’s stories of the wildlife, history and places, and to share these stories with others… to visit the reserves, join in events, support in whatever way you can, and by doing so to become a part of the story of these special places yourself.

The community around Langdyke is growing and that is very good...

39 This collection has been submitted by Langdyke Countryside Trust members, participants in the Langdyke Stories project and the local community following an Open Call. The museum collates some of the treasured objects of our Langdyke community, items that tell a story and inspire their connection to the land and nature we protect.

The Ghost Moths of Swaddywell This series of wire and felt cocoons was inspired by the Anita Bruce natural history of Swaddywell Quarry. Moths have a subtle View 5 Artist in Residence, 2012 beauty that often mimics their environment. The pupae are felted from the fleece of the Jacobs sheep that graze Swaddywell, maintaining optimum conditions for the flora and fauna. They are embroidered with patterns found in this environment, representing hypothetical species of moths following their cycle of life at Swaddywell, which has a history of intervention by man and is now a celebration of nature.

41 41 Our treasured connections to Langdyke

The seeds of the Oxlip Old coin Tea cards My binoculars Feather, oak gall and fossil My book Mike Davis David Rowell Lynda Cartwright-Hughes Caroline Cade mollusc Martin Parsons Nathan Stimpson In 1984 I was inspired by a gardener The very early days of digging at These are in my first wild flower I love to see the birds and nature The fossilised mollusc is from the Langdyke is home to nearly 400 called Chris Baines to garden the Etton High Meadow allotments book, collected from Ty-Phoo tea around me. Also my love of geology pathway by Etton-Maxey Pit south different wildflowers, many of which for wildlife. Before then I was no were tough, the ground had been packets in the 1960s by my Mum. made me want to visit Swaddyell so I hide, where I spend hours observing are very beautiful and some are quite gardener. I found the natural history without attention for years. It was a visit often. rare. I’ve been reading up on many There are 24 pictures within the natural life: the fossil is 160-170 of the oxlip interesting, so decided to monotonous routine; forcing a spade million years old! The oak gall came which are new to me. my book. It is one of my prized learn to grow the plant for myself. I into the earth to remove the heavy from a tree between Langdyke’s possessions and reminds me of was amazed that seedlings grew. grass and weeds, then doing battle Etton-Maxey and High Meadow. against the yards of bindweed. many happy times when my parents That was in my first small garden indulged my developing love of As stewards of the natural world, behind a Victorian terrace in Then, all of a sudden a glint of wild flowers such as when my dad Langdyke Trust try to support the Leicester. In 2019 I still have Oxlips metal - a coin was nestling in the waded into water to pick a water whole natural food chain from the growing here in my Lincolnshire soil. How had it got there? The find blob (marsh marigold) so that I mud through the plants, insects, garden. The “true oxlip” was not spurred me on , would I discover a could inspect it close up! fish, birds and animals to the top of identified until the 1840’s and grows trove of treasure? … I dug wider and the chain. A buzzard is near the top on chalk-clay soil, in woodland and deeper... No just the single Long- - its only enemy man, so when this damp field-edge or ditch sides - all Cross penny, dating back to 1279 - feather was dropped by a youngster characteristics of our John Clare most likely a coin of Edward I minted (at Etton Maxey Pit) it reminded me countryside. in London. of all the layers to be taken care of. Our treasured connections to Langdyke

The photo of my first Bee Orchid Nest box My photographic apparatus Dog Lead The tree My shoes Anita Bruce Richard Astle Duncan Kirkwood David Cowcill Kayleigh Ellis-Bailey Kathryn Parsons

The iconic Bee Orchid is one of the Setting up a nest-box scheme in Swaddywell has hidden treasures Dylan was a country boy - born I have a nature reserve outside the These shoes have walked through all most exotic looking flowers in the Rice Wood was the first thing I did which often surprise me. Species and raised on a farm in Ceredigion, front of my house. It’s peaceful to the Langdyke reserves I’ve visited… British countryside. I spotted my first when I moved into Helpston in 1997. not visible to the naked eye but with straw for his bed, buzzards for wake up to! there will be Langdyke mud on the specimen in the grasslands above It was the start of my work in and which can be observed by use of his wingmen, cattle and horses as soles! They’re my direct connection Swaddywell Quarry. I’d been told they love for John Clare Country and is this close-focus binocular, e.g., the companions. As a Flatcoat Retriever/ with our local countryside. were in flower and where to look, a source of constant interest every recently discovered Water Stick Collie cross he did not know whether but had no joy, despite searching for Insect … Europe’s largest and likely to herd sheep, find pheasants or several hours on several visits. I had year. Today I am quite impressed with my workmanship and that the most elusive water insect. chase a hare just to stretch all their almost given up, put my bag and legs. He was the key to at least box has lasted this long! The full frame format mirrorless camera down to scan the distance two hours on the footpaths and camera is coupled to ‘telephoto’ (I had imagined them to be much byways of John Clare Country twice taller than they actually are!) and lens. It’s a simple, manual focus, each weekend - from Peakirk to there, a couple of feet away, it was! I two element, ’telescope’ lens, Tallington, Ufford and Upton, Etton, photographed and sat contemplating enabling up to life size magnification Woodcroft and Marholm and all the rather tiny bee orchid for half an at distances of 3m to 5m from the points in-between, in all seasons and hour, then realised I was surrounded pond edge - as used by professional weathers, throughout the year. by them. They are much easier to wildlife photographers in the 1960s spot now but I still get excited when I - but still capable of excellent results see one, all these years later. with modern cameras. Spoon Little Owl, 2019 Harriet Mead

I take my inspiration from the natural world, my father was a well known ornithologist and my mother was very knowledgable about plants so they nurtured a fascination in everything to do with nature. Both my sisters and I are creative and still love the natural world. The family home in Tring in Hertfordshire was crammed with books and stuff which didn’t leave too much room for people but it had an unusually large garden for a suburban house and we spent hours looking in the ponds and making dens in the little orchard with chickens pecking around.

My slightly unusual childhood meant that it was commonplace to see all sorts of species of birds up close as dad was obsessed with bird ringing and our trips and rare holidays always revolved around birds, bird ringing and nature. It seemed inevitable that wildlife would inform my art. I use old tools and other ferrous items to make my sculptures. I try to make sure that each piece stays fairly recognisable within the work but at the same time I want the viewer to see the sculpture and recognise the creature immediately rather than see the tools then struggle to identify the animal. Little owls lend themselves very well to my style of sculpture with their piercing eyes and lovely feet.

When making my work I invariably start with the head as this gives me the proportions for the piece. With Spoon Little Owl I used ring spanners for the I do think that one of the eyes and then spent a long time getting the right structure for the eye sockets and facial discs, for which I used various things including scissor handles biggest parts of being a and old washers. Many of my sculptures have lots of gaps between items naturalist is noticing things so that you can see right through the work but for this piece I knew that I wanted it to be more solid to suit the subject. I used the reciprocal blades and I think that is a very that come from combine harvesters to build the head and bulk out the body, and a trowel down the back. There are shears and other blades in its wings important part of making and bits of bow saw blades and circular saw blades help to imply feathers where required. The draining spoon worked well for the chest as I felt that the my sculptures. pattern of the holes was a little nod towards the plumage detail. The Langdyke Stories project was produced by Art Pop-Up in collaboration with Langdyke Countryside Trust and funded by the Peterborough Communities Fund #PeterboroughTogether Janel Pike and the Helpston W.I. Book design & editing Acknowledgements Rachel Simmons and John Clare Art Pop-Up We are very grateful to those who Primary School Museum of Objects have supported the project including: Catherine Brooks and West Town David Cowcill Primary Academy David Rowell Nicola Kerr, Janna Hicks and the Photography David Cowcill Helpston Guides and friends Brian Lawrence Brian Lawrence Mark Crookes and the Helpston www.artpopup.co.uk Paul Braham Sarah Lambert Scouts and friends www.fb.com/artpopup.uk Elizabeth Braham Rachel Price Jane Knott and the Northborough Duncan Kirkwood Donna Young Guides and friends www.langdyke.org.uk Sarah Lambert Dr. Lauren Gardiner Vivacity www.fb.com/groups/langdyketrust Cliff Stanton Dr. Paul Chirico Pete Cox and Gary Huskisson Kathryn Parsons Prue Pye The John Clare Society Festival Langdyke Countryside Trust Martin Parsons Sue Keen committee is a Charitable Incorporated John Parsonage Joan Roddan Athene Holdings Organisation and a charity Chris Jepson-Brown All the Langdyke volunteers who Other acknowledgements: registered in England and Wales All images are copyrighted to the have so generously shared their Tarmac, National Grid, Milton No 1180626 respective photographer - we expertise, time, photographs and Estates, Kier plc, Natural England, are extremely grateful for their stories and especially Martin Parsons The Wildlife Trusts, our local parish © Art Pop-Up 2019 collaboration GLADCA councils, Peterborough City Council All Rights Reserved www.artpopup.co.uk Langdyke Stories by Art Pop-Up for Langdyke Countryside Trust, celebrating the art engagement programme with the Peterborough Communities Fund for the Trust’s 20th anniversary www.langdyke.org.uk