RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland Newsletter April 2018 RSPBNewsletterNewsletter CLEVELAND September January LOCAL 2017GROUP 2017 rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland Newsletter January 2018 1 Hello again, And it’s spring again, I can hear the birds sing again, see the flowers bud, (thanks to Lou Rawls for that) but don’t be fooled by the brief spell of balmy weather. As I write this the cold wind is picking up again and snow is still forecast. Please take care when feeding birds in your garden and, if possible, clean your feeding station regularly to try to combat the spread of avian diseases. There is plenty of information on the internet regarding this problem and the recent report on the subject. As we come to the end of our season of indoor meetings I would like to remind everyone that we have a good selection of outdoor meetings for you, including our coach trip. Please see the details within the newsletter, bye. Committee Activity 2017/18 The Committee has six members, namely Margaret Kirby, Secretary: Peter Chadwick, Treasurer; Joan Hornby, Membership; Vivienne Chadwick, Programme Organiser, Elaine Cooke, Pin Badge Co- ordinator, Jenny Wright, Publicity. Additionally Steve Hunter works in conjunction with Committee to produce the quarterly newsletter that is received by all members. The Committee have met bi-monthly during the 2017/18 year. They have dealt with correspondence from RSPB, enquiries from individuals, organised a programme of monthly talks and outings, including two outings by coach. They have also held a manned exhibition at RSPB Saltholme to raise awareness of the Cleveland Local Group as a step towards increasing membership. The Committee is currently considering the development of social media pages to further improve awareness of the Group. Financial Report Our drop in membership means that we have less money coming in. Our only income is the subs from our members. We are therefore not able to subsidise the coach trips as we have done in previous years, which is why the price has increased to £14 per person. We are also paying for our meeting room now which is further reducing our account. We have not sent any money to RSPB this year, but we are continuing to sponsor the roseate tern box and raise a small amount of money through collecting used ink cartridges and stamps. Membership Report The group currently has 89 members, a reduction from the previous year when there were 97 members. We welcomed 7 new members during the year 2017/2018, but we need to encourage more new members if we are to have a sustainable group. Events Report Since the AGM last April, we have had 8 indoor meetings, with an average attendance of 31 people. Interestingly the best attended were Foxglove Covert and its development with Tony Crease (36) and Birds Seen During the Biking Years with Gary Prescott (36). Both those speakers have agreed to return next winter. The next best attended was Dean Heward talking about managing the environment at Saltholme, which suggests that people like local subjects. The next best attended was the December meeting, when the speaker was snowed in but 30 people came to hear about photography and eat Elaine’s mince pies. It was a good evening with a variety of things to do – suitable for a Christmas meeting. Paul Forster will be opening the coming winter session on September 10th with the Wildlife Photography presentation he was going to give that night. Fund Raising Report Not a lot of people know this but Pin Badge Sales in 2017 hit a staggering £1 million pounds. Every one of the c12,000 boxes around the UK are emptied and replenished by volunteers. Visiting each box regularly, they have contributed around 3000,000 hours. Around 1,800 Fundraisers help distribute the one million-plus badges, the range now includes insects, flowers, and bugs, as well as birds. Total raised by a small but perfectly formed Cleveland Local Group of pin badge minders for 2017 – 2018 was a staggering £5,749.25. A Huge THANK YOU for all your hard work and dedication. Christmas Raffle was also successful again thanks to all of you for putting your hands in your pockets and for donating all the amazing prizes. Publicity Saltholme and the Local Group We have worked hard this year at raising the profile of our Group at Saltholme, with staff and volunteers, as well as visitors. We are finding that having a committee member who is also a Saltholme volunteer provides us with an invaluable link! Changes in staff at Saltholme have provided us with new opportunities, and we have felt a great interest in our Group. We have produced a flyer which is in the leaflet rack at the Reserve, for visitors to pick up. This details our next few Indoor Meetings and Sunday Outings, and we can update it regularly. We also had a manned display for a Sunday in February in the viewing gallery, giving us opportunity to be very visible in the Reserve. We plan to hold more of these events throughout the year to enable us to have face-to-face contact with as many staff/volunteers and visitors as possible. In return, we always publicise Saltholme events on our display boards at Indoor Meetings Saltholme and Saltern (5th Edition) Next year, 2019, will see the tenth anniversary of the opening of the RSPB/Teesside Environmental Trust Reserve at Saltholme. The RSPB refers to the site as a former brownfield site, but clearly way back it was a greenfield site. The history of the area goes back to the building of a church at Billingham by Ecgred, Bishop of Lindisfarne by 845 A.D. together with the founding of a village to support it. Billingham was given to the Companions of St. Cuthbert. After the strife with the Northumbrians and the Vikings over the next two hundred years, William the Conqueror in 1083 confirmed the former grant and gave the manor together with Cowpen, Wolviston, Beaulieu, and Belasis, to the monks of Durham. Their land included at least three miles of riverbank and foreshore. Thus the south-east corner of County Durham was under the control of the Prior and monks of Durham until the Dissolution when control passed to the Bishop of Durham in 1540. Prior Whitehead became the first Dean of the Cathedral and twelve of the monks became the first prebendaries. The church continued to control the area down to modern times. The Saltholme area was first referred to as “Holme” or “le Holme”, deriving from the Viking word “holmr”, `a piece of flat low-lying ground by a river or stream, submerged or surrounded in times of flood`. The area was certainly marshy in the coastal areas and to the north towards Greatham Creek. The importance of le Holme as the Prior`s main sheep farm can be seen from the number of ewes recorded about 1310 with 1021 at Holme out a total of 1696 for all the Prior`s manors. Even Beaulieu`s contribution of 235 ewes was significant (Beaulieu was situated just over one kilometre eastwards of Cowpen Bewley, later becoming Low Grange Farm before succumbing to suburbia.) Beaulieu was very important as a centre for arable farming, whereas the villagers of Cowpen Bewley were the salt makers. All the early references to Holme come from the far-from-complete records kept by the Prior and monks, and later by the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The writing requires expertise to decipher, the easier-to-read copperplate not coming into use until the early 17th century. Then having deciphered the text the next hurdle is to translate the results from Latin. So my thanks to the transcribers who have brought historic records into the light of day. The earliest mention of Holme is in 1276 in a charter Prior Richard made with a Walter Holme. Then in 1296 we have a William of Holme having custody of a flock of sheep with 1086 ewes and 445 wethers(rams). (Following the national trend the flock declined to 331 sheep under the care of Radulphus Holtby by 1464.) Also in 1296 at the Billingham manor court (probably held in the Prior`s manor house at Beaulieu) we have mention of an Isabella of Holme. Other mentions of Holme are Emma del Holm in 1370 and Richard of Holm in 1377. In 1627 Salt Holm is mentioned in the records of the Deanery. In the parish register for Billingham there is a baptism in 1625 of a Thomas Liddle, son of John of The Houme. The “John Liddle of Salt Holme” who is buried in 1658, is another early reference to Saltholme. A settlement at Holme is marked on the 1576 map by Christopher Saxton but the Lordship of Acklam map of 1714 shows a “Saltholme Point” (on the North bank of the Tees roughly opposite where the Riverside Stadium is now, and where the shore then turned northwards towards Seaton.) The next Saltholme entry in the register is to the marriage of a Miss Kinderley of Salt Holme who married Robert Turner of Stockton in 1743. She surely must be related to Mr. Kenderley who embanked land at Saltholme in 1740 reaching up to about four miles in length by 1808. Opposite the RSPB Visitor Centre this embankment ran about 330 yards east of the main road, an obvious remnant being the track at Holme Fleet where the tern rafts are located in summer. At this time the “mouth” of Greatham Creek would have been just upstream of the A178 road to Seaton.