W FREE ALKS & EVENTS GUIDE INCLUDING THE ISSUE 22-SPRING/SUMMER 2010 THE NEWSPAPER FOR THE COTSWOLDS AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY The Cotswolds - a haven for biodiversity ORGANISATIONS TEAM UP OVER Think of biodiversity and raise awareness of the wonderful GAS PIPELINE the mind wanders to the diversity of wildlife and wild great plains of Africa, the places in the Cotswolds.” So what is so special about the Page 3 jungles of Asia, or the Cotswolds and why is the area so rivers and forests of South important for nature America. conservation? The facts speak for The Cotswolds Area of themselves - 86 recorded bird Outstanding Natural Beauty, species (as of 2002); 89 Sites of however, is also a centre for Special Scientific Interest; five biodiversity and nature European Special Areas of conservation - a nationally Conservation; and three National important area which includes Nature Reserves. features, such as rare limestone “The Cotswolds is a remarkably grasslands, ancient beech rich and varied landscape and woodlands, a network of pristine, deservedly designated as an Area limestone rivers, and an of Outstanding Natural Beauty”, abundance of flora and fauna. says Paul Hackman, Conservation CYCLING IN THE Biodiversity plays a crucial role and Land Management Adviser in all our lives. It provides us with for the Gloucestershire Team at COTSWOLDS food, fuel and medicine, clothing, Natural England, an independent building materials and shelter, public body which focuses on Page 5 recreation and tourism, flood England’s natural environment. management and much more. He continues: “It is perhaps the That’s why, in celebration of the scarp where the greatest 2010 International Year of concentration of biodiversity can Biodiversity, a host of events will be found, with its mosaic of be held across the Cotswolds orchid-rich limestone grasslands showcasing what the area has to and distinctive beech woodlands; offer in terms of its variety of plant some of which are of European and animal life, and what we can importance. However, the plateau do to protect it. has also become increasingly “The 2010 International Year of important as a refuge for Biodiversity is an opportunity to nationally declining and celebrate the wildlife of the increasingly rare farmland birds Cotswolds and campaign to and arable wildflowers.” CLIMATE - THE protect it for future generations,” Much of the biodiversity in the says Mark Connelly, Land Cotswolds is due to its rich and TIME FOR Management Officer at the diverse landscape, continues the CHANGE IS NOW Cotswolds Conservation Board CCB’s Mark Connelly. (CCB). “From the region’s unique Events will include a variety of geology and its escarpment - Pages 8-9 walks, talks and family days. In home to its limestone grasslands - April, there will be the Cotswolds limestone grassland. events during the Cotswolds through to its deep valleys, NTED O Bluebell Weekend, where residents And in September, the Bluebell Weekend and Wildflower woodlands, copses and hedgerows, RI N P and visitors can find out more Cotswolds Rivers Week will take Week to celebrate the it is highly appropriate that the about Britain’s favourite flower. In place. Cotswolds rivers are home International Year of Biodiversity”, Cotswolds should be actively June the Cotswolds Wildflowers to a host of wildlife, including the says Emma Bradshaw, Marketing involved with the 2010 Week features a series of events water vole, otter, the native white- Manager at Gloucestershire International Year of Biodiversity.” R celebrating the abundance of clawed crayfish and native brown Wildlife Trust. “To encourage The Cotswolds scarp, which E R C E wildflowers - many of which can trout. people to experience wildlife P YC A be found in the Cotswolds’ “We are delighted to be hosting through attending events helps to Continued on page 2 L E D P Do you want to know more about what’s going on in the Cotswolds AONB? Log on to our website www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk 2 The Cotswold Lion • S P R I N G / S UMMER 2010 Continued from page 1 runs almost the whole length of Other Places to Visit the western edge of the Cotswolds Cranham Common National Nature Reserve. The 70 acre is home to some of the greatest grassland common near the village of Cranham is a Site of Special concentrations of plant species. Scientific Interest and a National Nature Reserve. 34 varieties of The thin limestone soils butterfly, 20 trees and shrubs, 70 species of birds and 184 species discourage the more common of ground flora have been recorded on the site. vigorous plants and benefit the finer and scarcer plants. Painswick Beacon. 250 acres of common land looking down on the The Cotswolds’ limestone town of Painswick, which offers some excellent views across the grasslands, for example Severn Valley. On the top of the beacon the outlines of a large Iron (particularly the unimproved Age hill fort can also be seen. The area is a unique limestone grassland grasslands, unaffected by modern site with associated fauna, flora, geology and other historical features. farming methods) support a Brown’s Folly, Avon Wildlife Trust. Standing high above the River variety of plants, which in turn Avon, with commanding views towards Bath, Brown’s Folly near provide a home to a large selection the village of Bathford in Bath and North East Somerset boasts rich of insects and birds. grasslands and woodlands. The extensive remains of Bath stone The Adonis Blue butterfly with quarries provide a rich variety of wildlife habitats, the old mines its vibrant blue-coloured wings offer a safe sanctuary for the threatened greater horseshoe bat, and the fast declining Duke of and the damp cliff faces support a fascinating variety of ferns, Burgundy butterfly can both be fungi and spiders. found in these grasslands, along with up to 25 other butterfly Foxholes Nature Reserve. A beautiful 165-acre woodland and wet species. In June last year, the meadow, famed for its spectacular spring bluebells and abundant Duke of Burgundy, which bird life. Over 200 species of fungi have been recorded along with normally only appears in spring, a diversity of liverworts and mosses. Once part of the ancient was sighted on Rodborough Wychwood Forest, this tranquil woodland slopes gently down to Common - only the third time in the River Evenlode in West Oxfordshire. more than a century that a second brood has appeared in the UK. finest beechwoods and nationally biodiversity.The flatter arable “Through a combination of site and the Cotswold Way National The grassland sites are home to rare plants, such as the fingered plateaux have become important designation and environmental Trail have been vital to making over 100 wildflower species and sedge, stinking hellebore and as a refuge for nationally declining grants for landowners, and the sure the Cotswolds is enjoyed and many rare orchids and plants, yellow Star-of-Bethlehem. and increasingly rare farmland creation of wildlife corridors valued by local residents and such as the fragrant orchid and Woodland animals include rare birds and arable wildflowers.These through habitat creation to protect visitors alike.” musk orchid; the Cotswold spiders and snails and breeding include the declining corn bunting existing sites, Natural England is From plants to butterflies, bats Pennycress, a tiny flower almost birds include the tawny owl, and tree sparrow and rare arable working hard to protect the to birds, biodiversity is an integral only found in the Cotswolds and buzzard and wood warbler. wildflowers, such as the shepherd’s diversity of the Cotswolds for part of life in the Cotswolds.We associated with bare ground and Cooper’s Hill, just south of needle and red hemp-nettle. people today and for generations hope you will join the Cotswolds old quarry workings; and the Brockworth and famous for its And in the north of the to come”, continues Paul Conservation Board in celebrating Pasque flower, a scarce native annual cheese rolling event, is Cotswolds is Bredon Hill, one of Hackman. this special year of biodiversity. plant. another good place to see the most important wildlife sites “However, this cannot be done For further details of all The Cotswolds are also famous biodiversity, providing 137 acres in England, and a habitat for such in isolation and the partnerships nature events taking place for their ancient beechwoods, of stunning beech woodlands with rare invertebrates as the violet that have developed with the in the Cotswolds, visit excellent examples of which can small open areas of limestone click beetle and the bark beetle, Cotswolds Conservation Board www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/events. be found near the villages of grassland. previously only known from Cranham and Sheepscombe.The People sometimes forget how Windsor Great Park and Moccas area includes many of Engand’s important arable farmland is for Park near the Welsh border. Man-made structures are also Cleeve Common supporting biodiversity with the Cleeve Common is the highest point in the Cotswolds with network of old barns and stone dramatic views across the Severn Vale to the Malverns and Did You Know? mines of Bath and Bradford-on- As many as 40 different plant species can be found in a Avon, home to the hibernation beyond and east across the rolling Cotswold Hills as well as single square metre of unimproved limestone grassland sites associated with 15% of the down to the world famous Cheltenham Race Course. UK’s greater horseshoe bat.The within the Cotswolds. Yet it is not just on Gold Cup Day that enthusiasts are former stone mines around The only UK population of a small snail Lauria sempronii Minchinhampton also provide drawn to Cleeve Hill. The area is also a magnet for biodiversity can be found on two short stretches of drystone walls at suitable bat accommodation.