BROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 1 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 1

Photo Ann Power A uniqueplacetoexplore... Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve A Nature Journal brought to you by 15/8/12 17:53:16 15/08/2012 16:41 What makes Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve so unique? Welcome Brown’s Folly NR was the first site purchased by Designated as an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Avon Wildlife Trust when the Trust formed in 1980. Interest), Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve is a unique This 40 hectare site is home to a range of wildlife that site for wildlife and geology located on the edge of depend on the unique limestone grasslands, ancient Bathford and Monkton Farleigh, near Bath. woodlands and cave systems within the reserve. This booklet is a guide to the reserve, helping you Contents Ancient woodlands to explore what it has to offer all year round and is What makes Brown’s Folly packed with outdoor activities. NR so unique? ...... 2

Wild thyme, harebell and several species of orchid How to get there Welcome ...... 3 cover the old spoil heaps from the mines. History ...... 4

Caves and exposed limestone Bathford Bats at Brown’s Folly ...... 6 The geology of the site is of national importance, with 2 exposed limestone rock at several places throughout Spring ...... 8 3 Prospect the reserve. Place Summer ...... 12 Brown’s Folly Autumn ...... 16 Monkton Located on the lower slopes of the reserve these Farleigh N Winter ...... 20 woodlands are more than 100 years old with a 0 100m 500m diverse mix of tree species. Treasure hunt ...... 24 Unlike most of the woodland on the upper slopes, Scorecard ...... 26 From the A363 Bradford Road, turn onto Bathford that has grown over the last 50-60 years, you can Hill (by the Crown pub). Follow the road for roughly Special trees ...... 27 see a greater variety of trees and enjoy the colour 1000m, passing the Bathford Cooperative Shop and and scent of many different woodland flowers. The Local stories ...... 28 The Clothes Horse. Then turn right onto Prospect woods are also home to a variety of birds. Extensive mining has resulted in vast underground Place which leads up a steep, narrow road to Community information .. 30 Grasslands cave systems, which are home to a variety of bats, Monkton Farleigh. The car park is near the brow of In the centre of Brown’s Folly NR are 3-4 acres of including the rare greater horseshoe bat. Damp cliff the hill on your right. Please be aware that there is a Thank you ...... 31 open grasslands, rich in wildflowers and insects. faces support a variety of ferns, fungi and spiders. 2.2 m height restriction barrier. Ann Power Ann

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 2 2-3 15/08/2012 16:41 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 3 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:18 16:41 Did The reserve would have been a very you World War II Present day History loud, dusty industrial place, with Stone know Before WWII Brown’s Folly and Monkton Farleigh Some of the abandoned mines have collapsed; Named after the striking tower built by Wade Colonel lots of people and horses working in quarried were known as Farleigh Down Quarry. In 1937 the however, the caves now offer an important habitat for Browne in 1848, set at the heart of the reserve, the site the mines, very different to how it is from the caves were converted into ammunition stores with bats. has a rich history shaped by its geological importance. today. Extracted stone was dragged reserve was the looming threat of war. The story starts 170 million years ago... by horses out of Brown’s Folly NR During the 1980s Avon Wildlife Trust purchased the used for the and the stone was transported via Royal Engineers strengthened the underground reserve and have since been managing the site to Jurassic period facade at railway to the River Avon, where it pillars and walls; conveyer belts, air conditioning, support bat populations and preserving the wildlife at Buckingham During the Jurassic period 170 million years ago, was ferried out to cities. lighting, power generators were installed, new floors the site for the public to enjoy. Palace. the area was covered by a warm, tropical sea. These were laid and the mines were painted white. There The removal of vast quantities of History of Browne’s Folly... what is it?! conditions allowed limestone to form. was also a mile long tunnel connecting Monkton stone until the mines closed in 1920 Farleigh mine with the railway line at Ashley. During The Nature Reserve is named after the tower The type of limestone here is called the Great Oolite has created a huge network of underground caves that the war the caves offered a secure, bombproof, secret ‘Browne’s Folly’ known locally as the ‘Pepperpot Group. An ooid (named after the Greek word for egg) extend to ~85 km, beyond Brown’s Folly NR into the place to store military ammunition. Tower’. The tower was built in 1848 by Colonel Wade is a small spherical particle made up of a small piece of surrounding area. Browne, High Sheriff of the counties of Somerset and shell, which has layers of calcite built up around it. 4 Wiltshire. He lived in Monkton Farleigh House from 5 It makes good building stone and was extracted locally 1836 until his death in 1851. c.70 AD by the Romans when they occupied Britain A folly is an extravagant building built for decoration (c.40-410 AD). You can rather than practical use. Colonel Browne had see it in the Roman Nick McCamley Nick McCamley Nick the folly constructed by his workers to keep them Baths in the City of employed during an agricultural recession. It enabled Bath. him to admire the commanding local view. Industrial Revolution

Bathford Society Bathford The folly is now owned by the Folly Fellowship. Prior to and during the Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th centuries) limestone «the person who owned the land got his workers to was extensively Tramway at nearby Monkton Farleigh c. 1886. An underground railway junction known as Clapham build the Pepperpot as they did not have a job to do» The tramway was used to transport stone extracted from Junction. Before the railway, horse-drawn wagons were Pupil from Churchfield’s Primary School. extracted from mines in the area Brown’s Folly NR. used to move the stone. Conveyor belts transported ammunition within the mines.

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 4 4-5 15/08/2012 16:41 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 5 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:21 16:41 BAT FACT BAT FACT night to feed. Bats need Greater Horseshoe Bat Bats at Brown’s Folly NR to find their food close One of the UK’s largest bats: about the size British bats are endangered. Their populations are Old Boris Natural pest to where they roost of a small pear, with a wingspan of 35-40 declining due to habitat loss and the decline in Boris, the oldest greater horseshoe bat control as they use up a lot of cm. Named after the horseshoe-shaped nose that it uses for echolocation. This bat invertebrates due to loss of wildflower meadows. This is recorded in Britain, was recorded at Brown’s energy flying - this is why Brown’s Folly NR is so important. Pipestrelle bats eat why the grasslands are flies low to the ground to catch large moths, Folly NR. Boris was ringed in 1976 and beetles and craneflies. rediscovered at the reserve in January 2000. about 3000 insects so important. each night, making Brown’s Folly is a crucial stronghold for «Bats are nocturnal: they come out at night. They them important pest Bats use echolocation to greater horseshoe bats as 10% of the British If bats are disturbed during the winter, when there are controllers. navigate in the dark and population live here. feed on insects so where they live here (Brown’s no insects to feed on, then they may use up valuable find food. They use high Folly) is a good habitat» energy reserves, causing them to starve. Important pitched ‘shouts’ which parts of the cave system at Brown’s bounce back off nearby objects. Bats use these echoes Lesser Horseshoe Bat Pupil from Churchfield’s Primary School. Folly NR are grilled to minimise to build a mental map of their environment. Rare in the UK and like the disturbance. Bats are very agile in the air thanks to their incredible greater horseshoe, it is also named after its horseshoe- Habitat Brown’s Folly NR is a very wings, which have evolved from their hands. They can 6 like nose. However, it is one 7 The old mines at Brown’s Folly NR make excellent important EU designated site catch their prey mid-air and sometimes even use their of Britain’s smallest bats: homes for bats. because of its over wintering bat tail to scoop up insects. the size of a small plum, populations. In spring, bats emerge with a wing span of 20-25 cm. It hunts close to the These caves are especially important during winter Bat species from hibernation to feed over the ground as well as throughout the tree canopy. as bats use them as hibernation roosts. The caves grasslands, and during the summer There are 17 species of provide the stable temperatures that bats need so they make maternity bats in the UK and 13 Bechstein’s Bat that they can conserve their energy by slowing down roosts in the buildings, of them live at Brown’s their breathing, dropping their BAT FACT barns and trees of Bath. BAT FACT Folly NR. This very rare species body temperature and blood can be found in the south

BAT FACT A bat’s heart Food Only Species of bat at Edwards G. horseshoe: Lesser pressure. They enter a state of of the UK. It is a tree- Bat maternity rate is 1000 beats horseshoe bats Brown’s Folly NR include ‘torpor’ during the winter when The grasslands at Brown’s dwelling bat, favouring roosts can reach per minute in flight hang upside down the very rare Bechstein’s the supply of insects available Folly NR are rich in tree roosts all year round temperatures of but only 10 beats in the mines, other bat, greater and lesser as food are scarce. invertebrates and are close and woodpecker holes 40oC. Hibernation per minute during species crawl into horseshoe bats. in summer. With a wing span of 25-30 cm, this to the mine entrances, roosts drop to 2-5oC. hibernation. crevices. elusive bat only leaves its roost after dark. where bats emerge at

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 6 6-7 15/08/2012 16:41 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 7 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:22 16:41 Did you ion tim Bullfinch After the slumber of winter, green buds ctMapsticks e know appear and then come into leaf during Hawthorn A Keep a personal, The male the spring. Trees blossom and small blossom can colourful record of your bullfinch has a mammals emerge from hibernation. be found in May. visit to the reserve. Choose bright red breast and Hawthorn is an attractive stick that will form cheeks, black cap and traditionally the base of your map. During your tail and a white rump. associated with walk, collect various treasures You may find them weddings as in that will remind you, and tell feeding on the buds of Celtic times most others, of a special place or a trees in spring. marriages took place special time you’ve had. Tie at Beltaine (the start them all to the stick with of summer) when coloured wool. Orange Tip: I. Chambers - Snail: Gatehouse Studio Gatehouse Snail: - Chambers I. Tip: Orange hawthorn is in Rod Holbrook Rod 8 blossom.

Listen out for the distinctive «teacher, Spring teacher!» song of the great tit, as it protects Jess Loughborough Jess its territory and chicks (picture below) Can you find these sensational springtime wild things?

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Great tit chick: A. Ballard - Tiger moth: K. Giles K. moth: Tiger - Ballard A. chick: tit Great Scarlet tiger n Hawthorn blossom nBird chick n Something yellow nOrange tip butterlfy nTree snail nViolets n Something round nmoth nWild strawberries nSnail

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 8 8-9 15/08/2012 16:42 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 9 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:25 16:42 Did Did you you Lamb know on t The year of the bat Spiked star know tails ctiMake im In the spring, as temperatures rise and Look e tion tim out for Male hazel catkins A more insects become available to eat, c e a woodland A the white are clusters of bats wake from hibernation and move creature Wildlife star-shaped flowers that start to new roosts. They emerge at dusk and You can make a woodland dream catcher flowers of Bath to appear in early feed during dusk and dawn. creature by gathering Find a forked tree asparagus in spring. Golden in interesting twigs, leaves and branch on the woodland spring, also colour and ~5 -12 nuts from the woodland floor. Tie some string known as cm in length, they Natural or manmade nest? floor, stuck in clay. around the branch to spiked star of are also called Make make a ‘catcher’. You can Bethlehem. ‘lamb’s tails’. Build your nest e then intertwine interesting Found im a bird nest comfortable and leaves, nuts, twigs and throughout Horlick D. rose: Rock - Giles K. Cowslip: t Birds are working windproof! Then find The reserve is filled feathers that you find in Europe, this somewhere to hide 10 n really hard in spring with lots to hear in the reserve. A bit like a plant is very rare 11 o to build nests. Test your your nest - you never dream catcher, but made in Britain, but can i know, if it is good a spring: birds use their t nest building skills using from the wonderful be found in Bath. c materials that you find on bird may use ‘song’ to attract a mate. natural materials It is said to have

A the woodland floor, such it! So take a moment to close available in the been introduced as leaves, twigs and your eyes and listen: how many reserve. to Bath by the grass. Bob, the woodland creature different sounds can you hear? Romans.

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Tiny eggs under/ Greater Common rock Kilbey D. Blackbird: - Studio Gatehouse Wren: non a leaf nSomething that jumps nbutterfly orchid nSong thrush nWild marjoram nBirds nest nWren nCowslip nBlackbird nBrimstone butterfly nSomething soft nrose Song thrush: P. Evans - Wild marjoram: D. Horlick D. marjoram: Wild - Evans P. thrush: Song

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 10 10-11 15/08/2012 16:42 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 11 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:28 16:43 Did Spider e Bug Hunt you Aphid im Wood drummer t How many differ types of know n bugs can you find? Remember Listen io to follow these rules when being a out for the Centipede t ‘drumming’ c bug hunter: • Logs and stones are insects’ homes, so of the great Summer A always replace them as you found them. spotted Plant bug • Be careful when you are searching, do woodpecker not damage flowers or twigs. that lives in Ladybird the ancient Wild Thyme • Be quiet and move slowly when searching. You will have a better chance woodlands The ancient Greeks used of seeing some bugs. on the lower thyme for purification in sacred • Remember to be patient. You slopes. During the spring they Grasshopper: P. Precey - Common blue: D. Horlick D. blue: Common - Precey P. Grasshopper: fires and believed that burning can discover a lot by sitting use this drumming, instead of thyme would give them courage. and waiting! singing, to attract mates and 12 claim territory. The best time The reserve is buzzing with life during summer. to see these vibrant birds, with Shield bug Trees are in full leaf, there are plentiful insects and black and white wings and a red flowers. This is an important time for pollination Earwig patch under their tail, is during and a great time to see woodland and meadow the early morning or evening. plants.

Larva The best time to see slow worms is during the summer when they bask Doherty Julie Woodlouse in the sunshine. They hibernate underground during the winter. Can you find these sensational summertime wild things?

Record your

Fungi, slow worm: I. Chambers Chambers I. worm: slow Fungi, Record your findings here findings here Harvestman

Five-spot Scarlet elf cap Something that Something with nBird’s foot trefoil nburnet moth nfungi nSlow worm nGrasshopper nsmells nice nShield bug nsix legs nCommon blue butterfly nOxeye daisy nElderflowers nBlue tit

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 12 12-13 15/08/2012 16:43 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 13 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:35 16:43 Did . Did you Detective work: footprint cast you The year of the bat know Summer is a great time for spotting Here is how to make plaster casts of Humble Bumble know butterflies at Brown’s Folly NR! footprints you may find around the Summer Wasp In the summer, female bats gather in maternity reserve. is also a roosts, usually in the roofs of houses, to give birth great time to around June. Bat babies are blind. The mothers 1) Find a footprint! see the bumble nurse the bats for about three weeks. 2) Bend a sheet of card around it and bee gathering attach in place using a paper clip. nectar from 3) Mix the plaster and fill the card flowers. Bees Bumble n ti bee tio me Green hairstreak Peacock Small skipper Marbled white with it. Let it harden, then take it are incredibly c Can you important for A home. guess what it is yet?! • Some butterflies hibernate, but many only live for 2-3 weeks the pollination 4) Wash off any dirt from the cast of plants and Make a colourful picture Common spotted orchid: Wildstock orchid: spotted Common • Butterflies suck nectar with their coiled tongue and leave to fully dry out over a few God tears crops. It is easy from materials you find days. Then carefully remove the cast The bee is sacred in • Butterflies use their antennae as their nose to distinguish on the woodland floor. from the card. You can then paint the many ancient cultures. In bumble bees Choose a ‘creator’ and see 14 • An average buttefly has 1.5 million scales on its wings footprint and varnish it if you would Celtic mythology, the bee is 15 from wasps, who can guess first what like. a messenger between earth • Butterflies’ bright colours warn their predators that they as bees have the creation is - a kind of and the spirit world. It is are poisonous 5) Work out what animal the footprint a rounder outdoor Pictionary!

Green hairstreak, small skipper: J. Middleton - Peacock: J. Clarke J. Peacock: - Middleton J. skipper: small hairstreak, Green said that the Egyptian sun belongs to. Why not build up a body, are black Please remember: only god Ra cried tears that collection of different footprints you and orange and use materials that are became bees. The chiffchaff arrives in the UK in March and departs in August find at Brown’s Folly NR? hairy. on the floor. and September. Look out for its distinctive tail-wagging! A woodland character

Record your Record your findings here findings here Horlick D. hawkweed: Mouse-ear

Enchanter’s

Chiffchaff: P. Blanchard - Small scabious: N. Grey N. scabious: Small - Blanchard P. Chiffchaff: nChiffchaff nSomething that flies nSmall scabious nMarbled white noak tree nCommon spotted orchid nHart’s tongue fern nSomething purple nLady’s bedstraw nMouse-ear hawkweed nnightshade

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 14 14-15 15/08/2012 16:44 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 15 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:39 16:44 e The year of the bat tim Bat Watching «It is said that Autumn is a busy time n Autumn evenings are a great time Autumn brings a feast of fruits, fungi, nuts and berries. Leaves for bats, when they o nine hazel trees i to look for bats. They are very active as change colour and fall to the ground creating a colourful carpet of feed to build up their fat t c they mate during this time of year. Use a surrounded a leaves. A great season to explore the many colours of nature! reserves for the winter. A bat detector to discover different species. A bat magical pond and They also mate during detector turns the echolocation shouts of a bat into Autumn this time of year. Female a series of ‘clicks’. The detector ‘picks up’ shouts from the salmon who bats are extremely clever, different species on different frequencies. A sudden ‘buzz ate the hazelnuts as after mating they can sound’ from the detector may be a bat getting closer to store the sperm of the and catching its prey. became very wise» male bat throughout the With 13 different bat species at Brown’s Folly NR, you Pupil from Bathford Spider: S. Nicholls - Beech nut casings: A. Power A. casings: nut Beech - Nicholls S. Spider: autumn and winter. should be able to identify quite a few! Primary School They delay giving The best place to see and ‘hear’ bats at Brown’s Folly 16 birth until spring, NR is about 20 m away from the main cave entrance. a time of plentiful 17 You will need to get out to the reserve just before Did you know that food and suitable dusk. You may see pipestrelle bats first, as they temperatures. Bats the Twit Twoo call fly in search of food whilst it is still quite is made by two hibernate by light, then the range of bat species will late autumn. emerge as it gets darker. different birds? The male and female calling to each other! Power Ann Can you find these sensational autumntime wild things?

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Something that lives Something nAngle shades moth nA nibbled nut nin a dark, cool place nHazelnuts nSloes n Tawny owl n A beetle nA spider nRed clover nBeech nut casings nHawthorn berries nwriggling Sloes: Gatehouse Studio - Owl: D. Smith - Beetle: L. Lewis L. Beetle: - Smith D. Owl: - Studio Gatehouse Sloes:

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 16 16-17 15/08/2012 16:45 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 17 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:42 16:45 Did Did you ime Fungi prints Make some prints you know n t from fungi you may find at Brown’s Autumn is a great time for foraging for fungi! know io Tree faces Folly NR. Can you spot some of these intriguing fungi finds at Brown’s Folly NR? Oak ct Autumn is a great The oak time to find ‘faces’ in the leaves and A bark of trees, when they acorns are have lost their leaves. How poisonous many faces can you find? tim Are they happy, sad or to cattle, onFind e sheep, ti even spooky like this c your nut horses and A one? King Alfred’s cakes Birch Fungus Parmelia Coriolus versicolor goats but Can you find an acorn from an oak tree? Now can be found on the has a physodes (left) and Trametes not pigs. bark of ash trees. leathery top lichen is versicolor (right)

Maple leaf: J. Doherty - Knapweed: D. Kilbey D. Knapweed: - Doherty J. leaf: Maple see how your memory Conkers: Gatehouse Studio - Magpie: R. Burkmarr R. Magpie: - Studio Gatehouse Conkers: An oak tree compares to a squirrel’s... King Alfred’s cakes and white quite leafy fungi, also known as can live for Hide your nut, then try to Cut off the stalks and place the were pre-historic underside. and can turkey tail, arrange 18 over 1000 find it again after you mushroom cap on some paper lighters! Embers This fungus be found themselves one 19 years, and have walked around and leave overnight. The fungi will from a fire were grows on the growing above another, like it can take the reserve! release its spores on the paper to placed within the live or dead on trees or little roofs. They 50 years wood of soil. It has a range in size from Spooky tree face reveal a print. fungi, and could be before it has carried about until a birch trees. distinct pale 3-8 cm wide. its first crop Look out for grey squirrels ‘caching’ Always wash your hands after green/grey handling fungi- some are poisonous! new fire needed to of acorns! their nuts for the autumn. Look for moving tree branches as be lit. colour. this is usually a sign of a squirrel jumping from tree to tree! All fungi photos: Ann Power

Record your findings here Blackberries, King Alfred’s cake: J. Doherty J. cake: Alfred’s King Blackberries, Acorn, squirrel, ladybird: Gatehouse Studio Gatehouse ladybird: squirrel, Acorn,

n Acorns nA squirrel nField maple leaves nA ladybird n Knapweed nBlackberries nKing Alfred’s cakes nSomething crispy nConkers nMagpie

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 18 18-19 15/08/2012 16:46 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 19 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:45 16:47 Yew Oak Whilst most woodland, grassland and The year of The yew tree, meadow plants become dormant and the bat sacred to Pagans and mammals hibernate to conserve their Druids, is known as the ‘Tree of Bats hibernate during energy during the harsh winter months, the winter months life’. It is a symbol of regeneration as there are still many delights to see at the and enter a torpid drooping branches can form new trunks reserve. state as there are where they touch the floor. not enough Birch Elm The tree is also a symbol of death as the me A insects to eat. At ti leaves, bark and berry pips of the yew are Brown’s Folly n work of bark! poisonous. Yew branches were used in NR the caves io Why not take a closer look burial ceremonies to protect the deceased make for ideal ct at the wonderful patterns in on their journey to the ‘underworld’. hibernation nature by taking some tree bark Britain’s oldest inhabitants are Beech buds, footprint, old mans beard: J. Doherty J. beard: mans old footprint, buds, Beech Birch: C. Rosling C. Birch: A roosts. rubbings? All you need to do is yew trees... they can live for tape some paper to a tree trunk and thousands of years. 20 rub over the paper with a crayon and Rabbit 21 watch the pattern of the surface of footprints the trunk appear! Alternatively, use Ivy is an evergreen plant which is a candle instead of a crayon and particularly important in winter when at home paint over the when it provides a home for birds and paper. The bark rubbing Winter will stay white. Hedgehog hibernating butterflies. footprints Can you find these sensational wintertime wild things?

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nIvy nSomething hard n Fox n Beech tree buds nFootprint nYew nSilver birch nOld man’s beard nRoe deer nSomething star shaped nDrey (squirrels nest) Ivy: Wildstock - Fox: Denis Stuckey - Roe deer: D. Smith D. deer: Roe - Stuckey Denis Fox: - Wildstock Ivy:

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 20 20-21 15/08/2012 16:47 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 21 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:48 16:48 Did The you Winter wonderland Wrap up tion tim Romans c A e Pellets know warm and search for frosty cobwebs The female robin builds the believed that Microhabitats on a crisp, cold morning. They make Birds of prey nest, usually amongst Holly holly was sacred to Can you find the limestone wonderful photos! How many Saturn and was used Wildstock wall that marks the eastern eat small mammals bushes or in ivy on trees, Vibrant evergreen plants were different shapes can you find? in ancient Saturnalia boundary of the nature reserve? such as voles, or in holes in walls, commonly used to decorate people’s celebrations held The wall provides a microhabitat that mice and shrews. making a domed home during Pagan times at Yuletide, especially holly and pine. in December.

Cobweb: S. Nicholls - Nicholls S. Cobweb: They swallow is dry and snug in winter for lots of structure from creatures... Can you find any? them whole but In Pagan folklore holly is personified as the Holly What other microhabitats can can’t digest them leaves and grass, King, depicted as an old man with a staff made from Holly you find? all. The feathers, and lining it a holly branch. At the winter solstice (the shortest day) fur and bones get with roots, there is said to be a great battle between the ‘Oak King’ has protective compressed in and the ‘Holly King’. The Holly King is a symbol of death qualities against fairies Pigeon: D. Kilbey - - Kilbey D. Pigeon: Rosehip berries: Gatehouse Studio Gatehouse berries: Rosehip feathers and Dalcq C. Moss: - Studio Gatehouse Icicles: their gullet and and lightening! Holly was hair. However, and darkness. He reigns from the summer solstice as regurgitated as a the days become shorter. But he is defeated by the placed on people’s front pellet. robins often Oak King, and the days become longer again. doors for protection. The holly

22 Doherty P. Photo: tree can actually protect itself 23 nest in unusual Holly is also seen as an important plant after from lightning as the spines of places such as old the solstice, as its prickly leaves symbolise the holly leaf act as electrical the tenacity of life and was a reassuring The limestone wall teapots, kettles, conductors, channelling reminder in the winter that life would This tree provides a cosy pans and inside lightning strikes to the home for these snails indeed return in the spring. sheds and garages. ground. Barn owl pellets right) (bottom Nicholls S. - left) (bottom GatehouseStudio - 3) (top Kilbey D. Photos: Sparrowhawk: D. Smith D. Sparrowhawk:

Record your findings here Leaf skeleton, holly berries: A. Power A. berries: holly skeleton, Leaf

Woodlouse: J. Doherty - - Doherty J. Woodlouse: nAsh tree nWoodlouse nSparrowhawk nWood pigeon nA frosty cobweb nSome berries nRobin nIcicles nLeaf skeleton nMoss nSomething rough nHolly berries

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 22 22-23 15/08/2012 16:49 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 23 15/08/201215/8/12 17:53:52 16:50 Treasure hunt G H I J Avast Ye! There be some great things to spy at Brown’s Folly NR all year I 1 round! Put on your treasure- Brown’s Folly D E H seeker hat and uncover the F G secrets of the past... Use the Nature Reserve 2 co-ordinates to find your 2 way to the treasures. ~ ~ Bathford Browne’s Folly Check out the yellow lichen 3 3 Fossils in rocks patterns growing on the tower and A B C Fossils can be found in the limestone snails and bugs Exposed limestone rocks. You can see living between the This oolitic limestone at Prospect 24 shell and coral stone blocks. What Brown’s Folly NR was formed Place 25 4 fossils that lived in letters are carved during the Jurassic period, 4 Browne’s the calm tropical into the stone? when the area was covered Folly sea 170 million Grid ref. F4 by a shallow tropical sea. The Can you find ooids would have collected years ago! Fossils the oldest tree F G H on the sea floor, along are only found in within the ancient 5 5 with shell material from Monkton sedimentary rocks woodlands? organisms living in the sea, W such as limestone. Try and find a tree NW Farleigh and would have eventually You can find bits of that is at least 100 rock like this on the become cemented together SW N years old. How D E I J to form a rock. Grid ref. F3 grasslands. can you tell? If you 6 Grid ref. F3 NE can put your arms S 0 around a tree’s trunk 100m 200m SE then it is younger E This old ‘tomb’ stone than 100 years. A B C Grid ref. C6 Grid ref. G1

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 24 24-25 15/08/2012 16:50 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 25 15/08/201215/8/12 17:54:30 16:51 In The Score card Special trees spring, Ash oak tree is very Use this scorecard to add up points for each species you You get extra points for spotting rare species. What is These six trees are trees are one of the sacred to Druids. Druids see around Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve. How many your maximum score for one day? Is it easier to spot native British trees last trees to get their leaves, were known as ‘the Wise points did you score at the end of a year? certain species at different times of the year? found at Brown’s closely followed or preceded Men of Oak’ and the name Druid Folly NR. This means by oak. It is said that whichever derives from the old Gaelic name for MAMMALS Date spotted PLANTS Date spotted FUNGI / LICHEN Date spotted that these species comes first indicates the weather oak ‘Duir’. Badger 25 Oak 5 King Alfred’s cakes 15 were growing in for the following few months: Oak Dryads were tree spirits in early Bat 20 «Oak before Ash we’re in for Beech 5 Turkey tail 20 Britain about 20, 000 Greek Mythology, depicted as a splash, Ash before Oak Squirrel 5 Yew years ago, before wizened old men. 10 Leafy lichen 10 we’re in for a soak» the end of the last The Vikings used oak from BUTTERFLIES Date spotted Hazel 5 Birch fungus 10 ice age when rising European forests to make Green hairstreak Holly 10 Yellow lichen on sea-levels cut off 15 10 their longboats. butterfly the tower Britain from the rest Ivy 5 Small skipper butterfly 15 of Europe. Bath asparagus REPTILES Date spotted Wildstock Studio Gatehouse 26 Marbled white butterfly 15 25 27 Slow worm 25 Wild thyme 15 Beech Peacock butterfly 15 Hazel is a tree Common spotted was regarded as the White- 15 MINIBEASTS Date spotted associated with BIRDS Date spotted orchid Tree of Knowledge in Celtic beam Tree snail 15 wisdom as slices of Robin 10 Hawthorn 5 times and its nuts were the beech wood formed the Woodlouse 5 ultimate vessel of wisdom. Sparrowhawk 25 Sycamore 5 first book. ‘Boc’ is the Pillbug 5 Shakespeare associates hazel with Anglo Saxon word for Great tit 15 Horse chestnut 5 Ladybird 5 faerie lore. Queen Mab is a fairy Talbot E. Mick beech, which later Great spotted 25 mentioned in Romeo and Juliet: became book. woodpecker Worms 5 OTHERS Date spotted «Her chariot is an empty hazelnut, Blue tit 15 Spider 10 Made by the joiner squirrel, or old A nibbled nut 25 grub, Bullfinch 15 Harvestman 15 Fossils in rocks 25 Time out of mind the fairies Chiffchaff 15 Leaf skeleton 15 Snail 5 coach-makers» Ye w

TOTALS TOTALS TOTALS Kilbey Dave

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 26 26-27 15/08/2012 16:51 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 27 15/08/201215/8/12 17:54:32 16:51 This historic photo Local stories shows men who worked Sheepwatch! quarrying Bath stone Joe Middleton (AWT Reserves Manager) A tall story? in the area, and the The grasslands are a precious habitat at Brown’s Bathford Society Bathford tools they used. The men There are myths and Folly NR as they allow invertebrates to thrive legends surrounding the in the front row are which, in turn, helps feed the bat populations. tower and why it was holding ‘Frig Bobs’, large This historic photograph shows that in 1900 built. Folklore suggests saws used to cut blocks there was a greater coverage of open grasslands that the Pepperpot of stone, which you can at the reserve. This open grassland existed as tower was built for an sheep and rabbits used to graze the land. The Derek Hawkins Derek see in the background. errant daughter to be introduction of myxomatosis to Britain during the locked up in! 1950s reduced the population of British rabbits, Brown’s Folly NR, 1946 meaning that scrub colonised and eventually the Sally in the Woods grasslands turned into woodlands. 28 Legends says that Sally in the Woods, near The tower on the limestone ridge, grassland and exposed limestone 29 to Brown’s Folly NR is so called because slopes and ancient woodlands below. Browne’s Folly c. 1930 a lady called Sally was imprisoned in Browne’s Folly and was murdered in these Over the last ten years Avon Wildlife Trust has tried to maintain these grasslands through volunteers manually nearby woods... or that a lady was knocked over here when Bathford Society she ran from the woods in front of a car. Sally is also an old word for clearing the land on a regular basis. To help maintain skirmish (a battle) which may have taken place here. the grasslands, Brown’s Folly NR is now home to a rare breed of sheep. A small number of Wiltshire Horn sheep are now grazing the grassland area, with a team of local Sheepwatchers making sure they are safe. «Although there is no real historical evidence, there is a myth that a landowner’s daughter was locked in the tower as it had been predicted that she would die on a certain day. Food was winched up to her in a basket “The grassland area has been known by local children as ‘The and on this certain day a poisonous snake had got into the basket. She was bitten and died.» Humpy Tumps’ ” Richard Pooley, Conservation Volunteer for AWT Pat Ellingham, Avon Wildlife Trust

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 28 28-29 15/08/2012 16:52 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 29 15/08/201215/8/12 17:54:35 16:52 ‘Brown’s Folly Nature Reserve, a unique place to explore’ provides Community information The Folly Fellowship opportunities for local people to engage with nature in their A charity that protects and preserves British neighbourhood and has been produced by Avon Wildlife Trust Follies. It has owned Browne’s folly since 1998. with the kind support of the Medlock Charitable Trust. The journal Batty about Bats? www.follies.org.uk Thank you will be used as a resource for schools and the wider community, to enable people of all ages to discover the wonderful wildlife that Visit www.avonbatgroup.org.uk to find lives within this beautiful nature reserve. out more about bats in the south west The Bathford Society or attend a bat walk. I would like to thank Ann Power, Learning Team placement at Avon Wildlife Trust, for her dedicated research, fantastic photos A registered charity dealing with matters of and invaluable help in compiling this book. Huge appreciation interest to the Parish of Bathford, the society must also go to Peter Staples and the Bathford Society, Derek organises talks and exhibitions relating to Sheepwatch at Hawkins and Nick McCamley of Folly Books for their time, advice research into local history. and generosity for allowing us to publish their photos which Brown’s Folly www.bathfordsociety.org.uk have added so much value to the content of the book. Big thanks If you would like to find also to Richard Pooley for showing me around the reserve and 30 out more about the sharing all his knowledge when I first started this project and 31 sheep grazing on Brown’s Wiki page Joe Middleton, Avon Wildlife Trust’s Reserve Manager, for his Folly NR or would like to be a Sheepwatcher, visit: enthusiasm and general support. http://www.brownsfollysheepwatch.blogspot.com Visit brownsfolly.wikispaces.com, an online database set up by Avon Finally, I would like to mention how much I have enjoyed Wildlife Trust’s Wild Schools for working with the staff and pupils from Bathford Primary school Folly Books local people to view and update and Churchfield’s village school. I hope they take time to enjoy photos and information about Brown’s Folly. Brown’s Folly NR, visit it regularly and help to ensure its future by has published two fantastic illustrated respecting the landscape and wildlife. books about the underground workings at Brown’s Folly: Julie Doherty Derek Hawkins’ ‘Bath Stone Learning Development Officer at Avon Wildlife Trust Brown’s Folly NR page Quarries’ and Nick McCamley’s If you would like a copy of this booklet or would like to find out more ‘Second World War Secret www.avonwildlifetrust.org. about learning opportunities with Avon Wildlife Trust please contact Julie Bunkers’. www.bradford-on-avon.org.uk uk/reserves/browns_folly.htm Doherty, Learning Development Officer on 0117 917 72 70 ext. 316 or

Avon Wildlife Trust, registered charity No.280422 charity registered Trust, Wildlife Avon email [email protected]

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 30 30-31 15/08/2012 16:52 Browns Folly_booklet.indd 31 15/08/201215/8/12 17:54:38 16:52 “Brown’s Folly is a beautiful site. The view is incredible, the history is incredible, the woodland, the interest of all the invertebrates, the wildflowers, the trees – it has got so many appeals to so many people” Joe Middleton (Avon Wildlife Trust)

This booklet is printed on 100% recycled paper using vegetable based inks. Compiled by Ann Power and Julie Doherty, designed by Caroline Dalcq

BrownsBROWNS_FOLLY_A5_32pp_59203 Folly_booklet.indd 32 32 15/08/201215/8/12 17:54:39 16:52