Project Extension

Firstly, we are pleased to share that our request to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to extend the project at Bartonsham until the end of September 2027 has been approved. The original end date was March 2027, so this is fantastic news and the extension will allow for an additional season of work on restoring the Meadows for wildlife and people.

Cows! 

Earlier in the year, preparations took place for the arrival of cattle to graze the 'rewilding' area of the Meadows. This is an 18-hectare area that is managed with minimal human intervention, allowing natural processes to take place to create a varied mosaic habitat that acts as a haven for wildlife. We have also begun to record sightings of plant and animal species that are new to this area of the Meadows such as dung beetles. 

An example (below) of sections of new livestock fencing and gates. This is part of 1080m of new fencing around the 'rewilding' area.

The first of a small herd of White Park cattle were delivered to Bartonsham in May. These were monitored by a group of more than 10 local volunteers at least once a day. All cattle checking volunteers have access to the NoFence App which shows the position of each cow and allows us to monitor grazing hotspots. 

We look forward to welcoming the cattle back next Spring!

The last stage of fencing on the meadows is being finished, with just the gates to be installed in December. This will make it possible to reintroduce cattle and sheep grazing to most of the meadows. 

 A Long Hot Summer 

During the long hot summer volunteers worked extremely hard to keep newly planted trees alive with buckets of water and watering cans. The year's growth on the meadow restoration area of the meadows (roughly half the Reserve) was removed again this year by contractors and transported to a composting anaerobic digester near Dymock.

Next year we hope to be able to remove some of the material in the form of hay provided we can keep those areas dog poo free! 

Also over Summer, we had some changes to the project team - we bid farewell to Phoebe and welcomed two new trainee project assistants Ellie and Immy, as well as Community Officer Izzy as Jenny has moved on to project manage the brilliant River City project.

More recent work on the Meadows has included hand sowing wildflower seed which was then incorporated into the soil with a power harrow and roller. We should see results next year starting with yellow rattle and oxeye daisies and many more species should appear over the next few years as the seedlings become established.

Schools and community events

Our schools programme continues to be particularly strong, with over 400 school children visiting Bartonsham between January-September 2026 for curriculum linked visits covering a range of topics such as rivers, habitats, minibeasts, growing and seasons. Work experience students have also had the opportunity to engage in practical conservation activities at Bartonsham and learn about careers in conservation. 

During school holidays we have been hosting free drop-in family activities on the Meadows from bug hunting to bird spotting to eco craft activities. These have had some lovely feedback and bought first time visitors to the Meadows.  Other recent events have included September’s Community Apple Juicing Day which was well attended. 

We have also continued our monthly sessions with Young Nature Rangers - a group of 14-17 year olds who meet monthly to get stuck in with a range of practical conservation and other activities. These have included tree planting (where they joined forces with the Scouts), litter picking, seed sowing and creating nature campaign artwork using recycled materials.

 Monitoring

Our volunteer monitoring teams have been busy recording all kinds of species on the meadows with bees, butterflies and breeding birds data recorded as part of national surveys like BeeWalk and the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Volunteers also monitor plants, soil health and water levels which are all important in helping us to identify changes across different areas of the meadows. Currently, it is too soon to identify any definitive trends in our monitoring but we have had some positive findings already: 

• A decrease in weed species and the appearance of more desirable plant species.
• All 7 commoner bee species spotted as well as 2 bumblebee nests.
• Notable breeding bird species spotted such as sedge warbler, reed bunting and stonechat. 
• 101 butterflies spotted in one single survey walk in Spring 2026 (compared to 40 spotted on one walk in April 2024).
  
   

‘Restoring Bartonsham Meadows’ is a National Heritage Lottery Funded Project. We are grateful to players of the Lottery for making all this possible - as well as all the wonderful volunteers who are helping us make Bartonsham Meadows a great place for Wildlife and People!