Restoring Tretawdy Farm - Appeal

View of fields and hedgerows from above

Fundraising Appeal: Restoring Tretawdy Farm

Bequeathed to Herefordshire Wildlife Trust by Mrs Eileen Cook, Tretawdy Farm came into our ownership in 2019. Mrs Cook was passionate about her farm and its wildlife and we are so grateful that she chose to leave us this generous legacy.  

“Nature is welcomed and loved... The gently rolling hills, the old fields... the old hedges and trees sheltering the little valley and stream, which gently nurtures its wildlife - Tretawdy is unique.”  Eileen Louise Cook

The Trust wants to restore the grassland at Tretawdy Farm – a site bequeathed to the Trust last year. Though a picturesque site which has been managed with wildlife in mind in the past, the grassland has been somewhat neglected and overgrazed in recent years with a significant loss of plant species recorded. 

We initial hoped to raise £6,000 to begin improvements to the site to include:

This funding will be spent on:

  • Green hay and seed strewing. This involves collecting recently cut hay or seed from local sites where the grassland is already a rich mix of grass and wildflowers species and spreading on the meadows at Tretawdy.

  • Planting of traditional orchard trees in hedge gaps and other areas across the site to provide flowers for pollinators and food for small mammals and birds. Fruit trees are also a traditional feature of this Marches landscape.
  • Installing interpretation on site to welcome visitors and engage them with the reserve and the flora and fauna here.

However, since launching the appeal in December 2019, we have already raised a rather marvellous £9,184.40!

The more money we raise, the more restoration work we can undertake so we will continue to keep this fundraising appeal open.

View of fields and hedgerows from above

Please help us to restore this wonderful nature reserve

About Tretawdy Farm

About the Reserve

The site comprises of 28 acres of pasture on the edge of the village of Llangrove, close to Ross-on-Wye. Bordered with thick hedges and intersected by a small stream, the grassland has huge potential to be restored into species-rich wildflower meadows with areas of scrub, managed hedgerows and mature trees - a haven for wildlife.

Initial monitoring by local volunteers Lesley and Nigel Winters has revealed diverse flora including cowslip, yellow rattle, meadow vetchling and common spotted orchid as well as a wealth of butterflies including marbled white and a healthy population of slow worms.

Tretawdy lies 2.5km to the North of the Great Doward and has the potential to act as a ‘stepping stone’ site between Welsh Newton Common and The Great Doward. It has a direct link via old hedgerows and old drovers’ route to Welsh Newton Common. These sites together can form the basis of a Nature Recovery Network - a joined-up system of places important for wild plants and animals. It allows plants, animals, seeds, nutrients and water to move from place to place and enables the natural world to adapt to change.

Reserve Map

Map of Tretawdy Farm Nature Reserve