A tale of five woods…

 

Once upon a time there was a huge forest overlooking the Fens just to the north of Huntingdon. But over the centuries people chopped down the ancient Saxon forest until just fragments remained,  including five very special bluebell woods with the charming names of Pingle, Lady’s, Gamsey, Raveley and Wistow.

 

Today these surviving sister woods are in the safekeeping of the local Wildlife Trust, and are havens for some of the rarest plants and animals in the UK with magical names such as adder’s tongue fern, goldilocks buttercup, enchanter’s nightshade and purple hairstreak butterfly.

 

But this is only the beginning of our story… now we need your help to give it a happy ending.

 

To safeguard the woods and their precious wildlife takes a lot of careful management. This involves nurturing young trees, cutting older trees to allow light to reach the woodland floor where flowers can flourish, managing boundary hedges, and mowing glades to make ideal conditions for a wide variety of birds, bats, butterflies and bluebells. We must also study the plants and animals more closely to discover more about what will help them to survive.

 

All this costs money. Almost £20,000 a year to be exact.

 

This is where we really need your help.

 

We need to find £36,000 to restore and care for this family of five woods for the next two years. We could even start work on re-uniting them once more – working with local people to make wildlife-friendly corridors to join them together.

 

Please help us to find the funds to save the very special Pingle, Lady’s, Gamsey, Raveley and Wistow Woods and their wonderful wildlife – and give your donation today.

 

Thank you for your help

 

Matt Hamilton

Reserves Manager

The Wildlife Trust

 

P.S. Here are just some examples of what it costs to look after these woods and so how your donation will help to save their precious wildlife:

 

£12 will buy a meadow rake for volunteers to manage the glades for wildflowers and butterflies.

£25 would contribute towards the cost of coppicing trees and shrubs.

£50 helps towards a survey of plants and animals so we can better understand how to protect them.

£200 will cover the cost of pollarding a veteran oak tree.

£300 would restore a pond where great crested newts can breed.

 

P.P.S. If you want to visit any of these woods to take a look for yourself while the spring flowers are out please visit our nature reserve guide online on our website.