Meadow Project
LOST MEADOWS
Sadly, our parish has lost all of our wild flower meadows.
It’s a devastating loss, since it took around 6,000 years to create the species-rich grassland for which the UK used to be globally famous.
Anyone who’s been to Ashton Court or Folly Farm in mid-summer knows a wild meadow hums with life and is rich with colour. It’s less well-known that grassland soils contribute to carbon sequestration and lock up pollutants.
Species-rich grasslands now cover less than 1% of the UK with over staggering 97% lost in the last ninety years.
LARK MEADOW, LONG ASHTON
The LANCE Trust is delighted to have the opportunity to restore one hectare of arable land, back to a species-rich grassland. This is thanks to funding from the Quartet Community Foundation
In Spring 2022, we noticed the first few wildflower shoots peeking through while the summer saw the flowering of corncockles & charlock with some cornflowers, corn marigolds and poppies here and there. In Autumn 2022, we sowed another few kilograms of wild flower seed so are looking forward to spring & summer 2023. View the photo diary below or visit our Diary of Lark Meadow.
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GET INVOLVED WITH WILDFLOWER MEADOWS
To find LARK MEADOW (highlighted in green on the map), you can follow the footpath from Theynes Corss across Ashton Brook and over the railway. Head towards the reservoir and watch out for the sign marked 'Lark Meadow' on your right. Or go from Yanley Lane, turn left after the underpass and find the sign on your left.
It would be wonderful if other landowners can follow suit by allowing wild species to flourish in flower-rich margins and hedgerows or even donate a hectare of their own land.
More information on why meadows are important can be found here and feel free to contact us for advice and if you want to help us in 2023 please contact us to put your name on our mailing list.
