Reports for past WyNG meetings


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WyNG - Meeting on Thursday 8th May 2008
Leanne Thomas – ‘Sculthorpe Moor, a wetland wildlife haven’

Forty-four members and friends of Wymondham Nature Group (WyNG) enjoyed an inspiring talk by Leanne Thomas, education manager, about Sculthorpe Moor, a Hawk and Owl Trust nature reserve in the Wensum valley, one mile to the west of Fakenham. The reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest with reedbed, alder carr and woodland, and a rich diversity of flora and fauna.

The land was originally a medieval deer chase; later in the 1700s it was part of the common land and then in 1829 enclosed and given to Sculthorpe Parish to be used for peat extraction and grazing. But the demand for these traditional uses has long since ceased and what used to be an open place many years ago had become more like a wood. Marsh harriers, which favour ‘saw sedge’ as a winter roosting site had disappeared by the 1990s, largely because of the encroachment of scrub.

Sculthorpe Moor has been leased as a nature reserve (50 acres) by the Hawk and Owl Trust from a local parish trust, and the plan is to restore the reed and sedge beds and grade them into the ancient coppiced woodland nearby. The 150 acres of adjoining land can now be managed not only for wildlife but as a community nature reserve, with provision for teaching the skills of fen and woodland management.

The Hawk and Owl Trust has taken on this project not only to benefit the birds of prey, especially marsh harriers and barn owls, which are breeding there, but also to help restore the entire ecosystem which supports these top predators, and to reintroduce the traditional working practices that underpin the system. The reserve opened in 2003 and the work is continuing. A new visitor centre was opened by the Princess Royal in 2007.

Next Meeting
The next indoor meeting of WyNG will be on Thursday 12th June at 7.30 p.m. – a talk by Eddie Boosey on ‘American Birds of Prey’ – at the Town Green Centre (behind the Methodist Church), Wymondham, admission £1.50, including refreshments. For further information, please telephone Ann Carpenter on 01508 488337, or visit us at www.wymondhamonline.co.uk. WyNG is a local group of Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Further information about NWT is online at www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk.