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A Flavour
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The Historic
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Looking after
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Wings over
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A New Garden for
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The
Extraordinary Wildlife Art of Ian and Richard Lewington - Limited
Edition Magazine
'I went to
Noke and Nobody Spoke' - Fascinating Otmoor - Limited Edition
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Wild Side of Town - New Consumer Magazine
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The Countryside in January - Limited Edition
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The Countryside in May - Limited Edition
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Contact Jenny to find out more about her freelance writing |
'I WENT TO NOKE
AND NOBODY SPOKE' - FASCINATING
OTMOOR
'Lapwing, flapwing are your babies grown
Each of them small enough to hide beneath a stone'
from
an old song in A Book of Baby Birds by B. Parker published in the 1930s
Oxfordshire has many
stunning landscapes, but few can rival the almost magical tranquillity of
Otmoor. Steeped in history and myth, this area of low lying land to the
east of Oxford, surrounded by the ‘Seven Towns’ of Otmoor, has legends
associated with it that stretch far back in time. Bizarre beasts were
reported to roam here, taking livestock at night, strange ailments could
be caught by unsuspecting travellers, and tales of walkers lost in the
mists were commonplace. I almost became one of those lost souls when
visiting this favourite wildlife haunt many years back. Heavily pregnant,
I had to be hauled from the deep wet mud by my three companions as I
slowly sank past the tops of my wellington boots! Our expedition to the
flooded centre of the moor to see the over-wintering wildfowl and waders
there, especially my favourite lapwings, had to be abandoned much to the
annoyance of my friends. Maybe the mythical bottomless mires really did
exist!
In the sultry heat
of August and safely on dry land, I recently found myself on Otmoor
again. There were common blue, marbled white and ringlet butterflies
dancing along the ditch banks, a hobby hawking overhead for dragonflies,
sedge and reed warblers singing from the ditches and there were lapwings –
several hundred of them - lifting into the air as the hobby passed nearby.
In the distant past
The ‘Fen of Otta’ was once an extensive marshy area that provided a living
for the people of the seven villages (Beckley, Noke, Oddington,
Charlton-on-Otmoor, Fencott, Mercott and Horton-cum-Studley) perched
around its edges. Only accessible on foot, it flooded all winter and wet
areas and pools persisted into the summer months. The local wildfowl were
caught and sold in Islip market or in Oxford, and cattle and geese grazed
on the wet pastures. But change was afoot when serious drainage began,
followed by the Enclosure Acts which removed the Commoners’ rights to the
land that provided their livelihood. All this culminated in the infamous
Otmoor Riots. More than a thousand local men removed hedges and drains
and there were many arrests. But in spite of their protests, Otmoor, with
its new hedges and small fields had changed forever although the centre
continued to flood in spite of the drainage ditches, providing a protected
refuge for large numbers of birds and other wildlife. The patchwork
appearance was even noticed by Lewis Caroll who modelled the chessboard in
Alice Through The Looking Glass on the view of Otmoor from his home in
Beckley.
Otmoor’s fortunes
continued to change. Since the 1920s the Ministry of Defence has owned
part of the area, some of which was used for RAF practice bombing. The
construction of the M40 motorway narrowly missed the moor itself but had a
serious impact on local wildlife sites. But in the late 1990s an event as
momentous in any in the history of Otmoor took place. The RSPB, with
funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Environment Agency and many
other donors, began to approach local farmers with a view to purchasing
land, in order to restore the moor to its former glory of grazing marsh
and reed beds. The RSPB now owns 267 hectares of land and lease more from
the MOD.
Reserve manager Neil
Lambert arrived in 1998 after working on the Ouse Washes, with just the
necessary experience to oversee a project of such national importance. He
was joined by Nick Droy and between them they manage the reserve, its
volunteers and visitors. When I met Neil recently he outlined the huge
amounts of work undertaken so far to begin the restoration, which will
take many years to complete. As well as introducing grazing cattle on the
wet fields, the major task has been to plant 20 hectares of reedbed with
the help of about 200 volunteers. Seed from local reeds are collected,
dried and then spread onto compost in trays to germinate. 90,000 small
plants have so far been established, and Neil estimates there are possibly
50,000 still to plant. This reed bed is crucial to the whole project as
it acts as an on-site reservoir, allowing the water levels to be
maintained in the ditches and pools throughout the year. To prevent
grazing of the new shoots by some birds, 6 kilometres of netting have been
used so far to protect the tender young plants.
It has taken six
years to complete the restoration work on the first block of land. Soil
compaction has been a problem; the soil here is heavy clay with little
organic matter to support the range of invertebrates that wading birds
feed on, so there is a long way to go. But the success of the project so
far is obvious to anyone who looks around them. Neil reels out facts and
figures - 31 pairs of redshank, an increase from only 4 pairs in 1998,
over 300 snipe over-wintering a couple of years ago, shoveller, gadwall,
garganey. Add to these the merlin, peregrine, hen harrier and short eared
owls that visit in the winter months and the impressive list of birds goes
on and on. But this is only part of the story. Areas managed to attract
birds will always improve the habitat for all wildlife; in other words the
water voles, butterflies, reptiles, dragonflies, in fact every living
thing here is benefiting from the work that Neil and Nick and their team
of volunteers is carrying out with such dedication.
Neil has one last
tantalising piece of information about this blossoming wetland. Twenty
hectares is just the right size for the breeding territory of a pair of
bitterns. Only 31 males were recorded in the whole of Britain last year,
and the RSPB is hoping that Otmoor may become a refuge for this enigmatic
bird. The shallow, reedy water should provide the perfect conditions for
the eels and shoals of small fish that the bittern depends upon.
Otmoor has survived
riots, drainage, bombardment by the RAF and motorway construction. But
the changes that have been brought about by the staff and volunteers of
the RSPB over the last six years will have far reaching consequences. And
those lapwings? An increase of almost 100 pairs since 1998 brings a big
smile to my face.
I went to Noke but nobody spoke
At Borstall and Brill they were silent
and still
I went to Thame. It was just the same
But I went to Beckley and they spoke
directly
17th century verse written by unknown local author referring to the Otmoor
Riots in 1830
©
Copyright Jenny Steel 2017 |
