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The Two Mile Ash Environmental Group (TMAEG) has now entered its sixth year. Its autumn season running into winter in December 2016 has been marked by a typically extensive programme of environmental projects, ranging in scope from the annual overhaul of the Stone Hill pond and other landscape maintenance, to gardening and to bulb planting throughout Two Mile Ash. And thanks to the hospitality of Smita and Harshad we also held a members’ evening which generated new ideas for future events.
Through the pictures that follow, we give a flavour of our environmental schemes – the locations of these are shown on our environmental projects plan.

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Ash Brook Corridor (Project area 1)

In November, a total of 13 TMAEG volunteers cleared leaves and other debris from the Stone Hill pond, trimmed the surrounding landscaping and wildflower areas and swept the path.

Towards the Stone Hill frontage we cleared an area of ivy and planted wood anemones, a plant native to English woodlands.

We dug over the bee garden  area and re-sowed it with a Friends of the Earth meadow flowers/ grass mix.  Fingers crossed that the bee attracting plants will flourish this second time round!

In an earlier session in the Local Park, steady rain failed to deter our dedicated volunteers who trimmed back the hedgerow and planted native wildflowers and bulbs

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Edge of Golfcourse and Milesmere Woodland footpaths  (Project areas 2 & 3)

At the eastern edge of the Golf Course, we cleared a new area of land alongside the public right of way that links the High Street with the northern end of Leafield Rise. Holly bushes were planted. We also overhauled the log path which we constructed in 2013 .

TMAEG’s first log path, through the Milesmere Woodland, was rebuilt this spring using logs cut from the felled poplar trees.  In this autumn’s session we topped up the path surface using chippings supplied by the Parks Trust. One of the attractions of Open Gardens 2016, this has proved to be a popular woodland walk, the nature of which is captured in this poem by one of our volunteers.

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Gardening Work  (Project areas 4,7 & 8)

The linear garden at the eastern end of Kepwick has been one of TMAEG’s biggest successes in 2016. The picture at the left was taken in July when the perennial geraniums were particularly evident. Since that time, many other plants, including spring bulbs have been planted and the garden has been extended to give it an additional ( Capian Walk) frontage (picture at right).

One of our members, Kathleen Dunmore has been maintaining the two big planters in Park Gateway, on behalf of their owners, Two Mile Ash Dental Practice and Hair Culture.  The picture on the left shows the summer 2016 planting scheme, the one at the right the present autumn scheme.  It is hoped to develop round the year planting which will further enhance this improving area.

Winter flowering pansies being planted in the tubs at Ashbrook School as replacements for the former geraniums.

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Bulb Planting
This autumn, well over a thousand bulbs have been planted in Two Mile Ash by TMAEG volunteers on sites in Kepwick, Capian Walk, the High Street (rear of One Stop) and at the end of Badgemore (near the redway on the western side of the golf course). A further (almost) 200 have been sown by entry year schoolchildren through a continuing very successful partnership between TMAEG and Ashbrook School.

Daffodil planting on one of two sites in Capian Walk.  The bulbs here are a mixture of two varieties which together will give a longer flowering season.

Painstaking work!  Crocuses being planted in the green at the rear of One Stop.  Some 200 bulbs have been sown, a blend of blue and white varieties.

This year’s planting site for Ashbrook School, on the High Street directly opposite the school.  Each entry level child had the opportunity to plant three February Gold daffodil bulbs.

A cluster of three Dawn Redwood trees in their autumn colours, (High Street, Two Mile Ash).

The Two Mile Ash Environmental Group is now in its fifth year and our drive to improve and enhance the environment of Two Mile Ash continues.  We continue to care for the areas that we have already worked on, as defined in our Environmental Projects Plan, but we couple this with some new ventures both inside and outside the eight areas in that Plan.  Thus, in this autumn season we have pursued bulb planting within our central grassed areas; in Kepwick we are gradually developing a linear garden; in the Ash Brook corridor we are creating a Friends of the Earth inspired ‘Bee World’ and we have put up some thirty bird boxes. The collection of ‘news stories’ that follows seeks to give a flavour of our mixed programme of work between October and December.  We hope that you enjoy reading them!

Bulb planting in the village centre
The following piece by Lin Healey records the experience of TMAEG’s first coffee morning which provided the funds for the planting of daffodil and tulip bulbs in the very heart of Two Mile Ash.

Ann Gaunt suggested that it would be nice if the group had a Coffee Morning to raise money to buy Spring bulbs to give more colour to our planted areas. She had visited my house many years ago, when our children were very young and Two Mile Ash was in its infancy. This new venture was agreed, and we had a very pleasant, sociable time with hot drinks, home-made cakes, a plant swap stall and around 25 visitors, raising around £65. A small group was then put together to plan the bulb planting.

We had hoped initially to buy crocuses to plant alongside the paths in the central newly grassed area behind the shop. The idea was to continue the theme of yellow crocuses which always look such a picture in the Spring, opposite Ashbrook School’s main entrance. Unfortunately the crocuses were all sold out but we did buy orange tulips, and narcissi (daffodils) at much reduced prices and we drew up and agreed a planting scheme for these.

On a dry but very windy Saturday in early December, we cut and lifted turfs and planted almost 600 bulbs, spurred on by Pavla’s coffee and Margaret’s rock cakes! A second phase of our work (separately funded) involved tidying the planters in the entrance to the Local Park and replanting the tubs outside Ashbrook School with daffodils. A separate task of planting and managing trees at the back of the Park was also completed. We had a great sense of achievement and a very happy and productive morning. We plan to add more crocuses next year to what we hope will be a lovely colourful show.

Lin Healey

 

Continuing our work with Ashbrook School

Our partnership with Ashbrook School now extends to three areas of work. First, and perhaps foremost because of its direct educational value, there is the bulb planting experience that has been offered over five years for each child who enters the school. Our thanks go to everyone who makes this possible. Second, we have provided, and help maintain, the planters within the school forecourt area. Now owned by the school, these were recently replanted by TMAEG with February Gold daffodils (see the previous news story). The third part of our partnership concerns the area of landscaping along the High Street side of the school and this is regularly maintained by TMAEG volunteers. Some recent work here is depicted below.

 

Kepwick – developing a linear garden
TMAEG volunteers have been working for the last three years on various sites in Kepwick. Of these, the most challenging has been the narrow strip of sloping land alongside the footpath to Capian Walk. The soil has a lot of clay in it, making it hard to dig, and this autumn’s frequent wet weather has made the ground very sticky.

At the same time the footpath is well used, particularly as part of a route to and from Great Holm. The adjacent strip is therefore prominent to many people, one of the factors that has encouraged us to persevere with this site this season. As the pictures show – despite the weather – we have made a good start in weeding this land, and this has been followed by the planting of several clusters of tulips and daffodils. A possible scheme to supplement the bulb planting with suitable ground cover, and perhaps some shrubs, is being considered by the TMAEG committee.

Milesmere – a new glade for wildflower bulbs
On the 17th October a TMAEG working party carried out Autumn maintenance of the Milesmere Woodland Path clearing overgrowth from the edges and from a 1m wide margin on either side of the path. We also created a small glade at a bend in the path where we planted Spring bulbs – wild bluebells, wild daffodils and wood anemones. Also the first of TMAEG’s bird boxes was put up on a nearby tree.

Angela Austin

More information on the bird boxes programme appears in the final part of this posting.

Post script – Shortly before these news stories were posted, considerable tree felling and also shrub removal has been carried out within the woodland. We are told by Milton Keynes Council that the reason for the tree felling, which is confined to poplars, is that these trees have been damaged and rendered potentially unsafe through the activities of the clear wing hornet moth – this large, and rarely seen, insect bores into the trunks of poplar species to lay its eggs, and this and the exit holes created by the moths’ young produces hollows which collectively weaken the tree.

Inevitably, the tree felling has had a considerable impact upon the character of the woodland and we must hope that the removal of the fast growing poplars will allow the canopies of the other tree species to spread more quickly, and at least partially compensate for the loss of the poplars.

Our new glade appears unaffected and while the footpath remains useable, some limited damage has been done in places. TMAEG will seek early next year to repair the route where needed, making use of logs from the felled trees, and to resurface it with new chippings.

 

The Ash Brook Corridor

Not surprisingly because of its scale and the opportunities it presents, we spend more time on this corridor than in any other of our project areas. So this autumn we have been tending the trees that we planted as part of The Big Tree Plant two years ago, we have planted wildflower bulbs in a couple of locations and, as an innovation for this year, we have put up many bird boxes. We also carried out the annual maintenance of the Stone Hill pond, clearing out branch and leaf debris and tending the immediately surrounding area. This is a semi-natural area and we try to keep a careful balance between, on the one hand, having a tidy environment that is safe for its human users and, on the other, the many ecological considerations, for example the need to maintain reasonable cover for birds. Where we can we seek to enhance the biodiversity of the area through appropriate wildflower planting and this year we have introduced another native plant, the wild daffodil.

Helped by the volunteers of Milton Keynes Green Gym ( the group led by TMAEG chair Dave Barratt) we have tackled two new sites this year.  First we have carried out a major clean up of an area of land at the triangular junction of two paths, the main footpath between Stone Hill and the High Street and the route that crosses it, linking Fennymere with Haithwaite.  Under its canopy of alder trees, ‘the Triangle’ as we have begun to call it had become overgrown and infested with brambles and it has benefited from a substantial clear out and trim.

The second new scheme involves land on the sunnier side of the brook, across the footbridge towards Haithwaite. Encouraged by two of our members, Michael and Ferial Hyde, a start has been made on the creation of a small ‘meadow’ area to support bees, butterflies and other insects. This is inspired at national level by a Friends of the Earth project to protect and and encourage bees in the face of the worrying reduction in their numbers nationally.

Our ‘Bee World’ will support numerous floral species that will provide food for bees throughout coming summer seasons. Hopefully the first results will be apparent as early as next year.

 

Bird Nesting Boxes for TMA

We finish with a scheme that is likely to have a significant wildlife benefit for Two Mile Ash. This is described by project officer Peter Blyth.

Many residents in TMA have gardens and we are fortunate to have lots of trees and hedgerows which attract a wide variety of wild birds. Having purchased bird feeders a couple of years ago, I continue to be pleasantly surprised seeing the many daily visitors throughout the entire year, including various tits, greenfinches, spotted woodpeckers, chaffinches and, my all time favourite, goldfinches.

Goldfinches are beautifully coloured and their song is almost like a canary. Clearly by our action to maintain a year-round source of food, they have made TMA their home and in order to encourage even more of these small birds, I suggested to TMAEG that we give thought to erecting nesting boxes.

During the early summer, Chris Gossop and I visited Men-in-Sheds in Kiln Farm who had previously manufactured some bird boxes. This group of hobbyists enjoy restoring and fabricating lots of items often from scrap wood. Their workshop is large and fitted out with lots of tools and equipment and their premises are supported by MK Council. We wanted to procure at least 30 boxes and we agreed a price/donation – the proceeds would be used to replace some tools and materials. We just needed funds so TMAEG decided to seek sponsorship from Abbey Hill Parish Council.

After attending a few meetings and making a written proposal to the Parish Council we were pleased to have our proposal accepted and we received half our required funds from the Parish Council with the balance coming from a community fund held by David Lewis, who serves on both the Parish and MK Councils. We are extremely grateful to both the Parish Council and to Councillor Lewis for providing these funds without which the project would not have proceeded.

Once the boxes had been collected from Men-in-Sheds, they were painted in a wildlife-safe protective woodstain and numbered. The boxes benefit from hinged lids which means they can be inspected and cleaned out in future. The tops are secured shut for protection using cable ties that can be cut then easily replaced. In order to avoid damaging trees or introducing disease, it was agreed that we would tie the boxes to trees rather than use nails or screws. Because trees grow, it was necessary to use a large diameter weather-resistant cord and tie loosely whilst siting the boxes securely. As the trees grow the cord would not strangle the trunks and thereby allow for many years of growth before adjusting.

The boxes have been located in suitable sites, using NSPB recommended heights and guidelines; they are mainly located within the green corridors and other sites shown on our Environmental Projects Plan. A few boxes have open fronts rather than a hole, which robins and wrens require and as they have to be located at 2 metre, or less, height in dense hedging, these were fitted in locations that were very well hidden – also difficult to access.
With so many Magpies in MK, and a few colourful Jays, our small birds have a tough time raising their young so by providing safe housing more generations of these fascinating birds should survive and I do hope that some goldfinches will make our boxes their homes.

Peter Blyth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As spring turned has turned into summer, TMAEG has continued with its mix of environmental projects and visits.  As in previous years, that change of seasons has marked a switch in emphasis for our work, from the winter’s landscape management of our wildlife areas to gardening projects, particularly in the village centre;  this year we have been concentrating on flower tubs, as can be seen in our images of  Ashbrook School and of the Park Gateway area.  At the same time, we have sought to keep our other areas tidy and, to that end, we have done a litter pick along the Clay Hill to Downland section of the Ashbrook Corridor and we have cut back concentrations of cow parsley once this has finished flowering.

We have also organised well received visits to the new Parks Trust education centre at Howe Park Wood (which included a guided walk within the wood) and to The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.  And in June a large group of members were treated to an evening tour of Stony in Bloom’s planting projects, amidst magnificent midsummer weather!    

Our final commitment for the summer season took the form of a TMAEG stall at ‘Party in the Park’ on July 11.  We attracted a great deal of interest and a record number of new members.  Among the things that drew people in were an aerial photograph of Two Mile Ash which challenged visitors to pinpoint their own homes and our new Environmental Projects Plan which displays the locations of all the projects that we have worked upon over four years.  Our intention is to update this year by year so that we maintain a complete record.  

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The TMAEG flower tub – these 30cm tubs were planted up by TMAEG volunteers in May 2015 and sold to businesses and residents within the target village centre areas.

 

Our visit to The National Museum of Computing in March 2015.

 

TMAEG’s visit to Stony Stratford to see the achievements of Stony in Bloom.

 

It has long been TMAEG’s intention to produce a plan showing the locations of our many schemes. We were delighted to be able to launch such a map at Party in the Park.  The Environmental Projects Plan shows the extent of our work over four years, how this is grouped within two green corridors and six other areas, and the main concentrations of our various activities – most recently the provision of flower tubs.  TMAEG acknowledges the help given by The Parks Trust in preparing the Projects Plan.

Please click the plan for a larger version of the map in PDF format.

 

TMAEG’s events programme for 2015 has been as full as ever, with a combination of brand new and familiar projects where the emphasis is on keeping good what we have started.  Typical of the latter brand is the Milesmere Woodland Path which runs from the northern end of Milesmere to the ‘green ride’ beyond which is Watling Street.  This simple wood chip path with its log margins has become a popular walking route and part of a circuit for local people.

So on the last Saturday of February a team of eleven people gave the path a coat of new chippings supplied by one of the Council’s contractors.  We also cut back the encroaching brambles and other vegetation and, as can be seen from the photographs, the effect is striking.  Looking ahead to Year  Five we hope to establish more spring bulbs and other wildflowers in an opening alongside the path.

 

 

21 February 2015

A review from one of our group, Daphne Tibbles

A group of twelve from TMAEG and MK Green Gym visited The Hanson Centre with our guide Chris Ward of the RSPB on a beautiful sunny morning in mid-February. We saw a variety of birds including plovers, shovelers, golden eye, tufted ducks, pochard and two very rare smew. A bittern was spotted in this area in January. We also saw heron which nest here and only one other area in MK at Willen Lake. Lots of garden birds visited the feeders, including a marsh tit.

Although we weren’t able to capture pictures of birds on this occasion, we came across some Scarlet Elf (Sarcoscypha) edible fungi which looked very vibrant.

A very worthwhile and enjoyable day was had by all and we would definitely recommend you visit the Centre soon.

 

A reflection on the morning from Kevin Reed

So off we went to Linford Lakes
Binoculars in hand
Where waterfowl and waders fly
And then decide to land

Chris from the RSPB
Was on hand to give us hope
Did you see that oystercatcher
In Chris’s telescope!!

He has the knowledge and advice
To really set the mood
The smaller birds were also fun
As they tucked into their food

The setting and tranquility
So quiet and serene
Spring migrants start to set up home
You wonder where they’ve been

From crested grebes to herons
From the egret to the fox
This haven of our wildlife
Must tick the viewing box

And thanks to all the Hanson staff
For their hospitality
Now how about some Lottery funding
I’m sure you all agree!!