Blog - North Wales

Learning how to drive a 4X4 car in a woodland

Learning how to drive a 4X4 car in a woodland

by Angus, 17 May, 2017, 1 comments

"It's the most fun I've ever had outside of the bedroom" said one friend of mine about driving a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. "It gives you new powers and you feel you can drive anywhere - over hills and through rivers." But it's a learned skill and not something people are born with, and it's also something you can do with an ordinary driver's licence. Therefore, many people drive 4WD vehicles in woodlands and on farms without any extra training, despite the fact that if they are using a 4x4 for work then Health and Safety rules require that they should have "adequate information, instruction and training". I decided to learn the art of safe off-road driving by going on a proper course. Amongst my group of foresters and woodland managers one of them had heard that the best place to do these courses was Motor Safari, a long established off-road driving school near Wrexham in North Wales based in a disused quarry. It turned out to be an extremely good place to discover how to drive through a woodland while minimising damage to the tracks. Read more...

Making nests for long-eared owls

Making nests for long-eared owls

by Angus, 27 June, 2013, 2 comments

The North Wales Wildlife Trust has reserves where it is trying to involve the public but also wants to encourage long-eared owls to breed. Surprisingly, perhaps, long-eared owls do not build their own nests and there are only about 2,000 pairs, usually adopting unused nests of other species. These owls are threatened by the growing population of buzzards and corvids, so Jonny Hulson and his colleagues from NWWT are working to encourage the owls to nest, by getting the public to build nests with wire, twigs and moss, as shown in the picture below. Jonny hopes that the nests will also be used by hobbys and merlins. Read more...

Churchyard Scything with Austrian Scythes - and manual baling

Churchyard Scything with Austrian Scythes – and manual baling

by Angus, 9 June, 2013, 4 comments

Sion Jinkinson has two aims in life: to promote biodiversity and to keep traditional crafts alive. So scything old churchyards satisfies both objectives - these churchyards are often neglected habitats which are havens for wildlife and scything means the grass is cut unevenly and not too short. This is part of The North Wales Wildlife Trust's "Living Churchyards" project and has led to a way of baling up the cuttings into what Sion calls "Holy Hay Bales". Instead of relying on mechanised large-scale baling machines he uses a manual hay baler (as pictured below). These are a sort of alternative technology which is now also adopted in Africa and plans for such balers are available on the internet. Read more...

Wild Flower Guide

Badger

Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

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