In the heart of the historic Sherwood Forest lies the small historic ex-coal mining village of Clipstone. The old headstocks, grade two listed structures, can be seen from miles away and are an iconic feature of the landscape. Nestled in the south of the village is Vicar Water Country Park - 80 hectares of parkland, developed out of Vicar Water and the former spoil tips from the colliery, and now a diverse landscape of heathland, ponds and woodland.
Clipstone headstocks in the distance at Vicar Water Country Park (C.Cornish, 2013)
Today the spoil tips have been transformed into rare lowland Heathland, mature woodland and species rich grasslands. Lowland Heathland in particular is one of our rarest and most threatened habitats, it is considered rarer than the rainforest, with one fifth of the world’s Heathland’s existing in the UK. Over the last 150 years we have lost over 95% of our heathlands in Nottinghamshire.
Alison, one of my volunteers getting stuck in with the kids making their bug hotels.
On Sunday the 18th August, the RSPB teamed up with a number of key partners to deliver a family fun day, celebrating Nott's 'historic heathlands'. The event had an array of educational stalls and activities throughout the day to inspire and educate people within the local community about the importance of these habitats, and the fact that many live in an area regionally important for such habitats. The RSPB were another strong partner involved, in which I went along to support, children were invited to come and make there very own mini bug hotel, as part of the RSPB’s ‘Giving Nature as Home’ campaign, not to mention that sites such as Heathland’s are extremely important for a number of invertebrates, including up to 300 different types of spiders, and a number of butterflies and dragonflies. We had some great designs and very imaginative hotels and names to say the least, including ‘Creepy Crawley Cottage’, ‘Invertebrate Inn’ and ‘Premier Bugs’. The activity aimed to inspire children to take a step up action and ‘Give Nature a Home’ in their back garden or local green space, as well as re-enforcing the messages that Heathland provide valuable homes for a number of wildlife, as do gardens. Throughout the day we had a great turn out, with around 250 plus visiting and participating in the event, taking away valuable messages about the site and its associated biodiversity. A huge thank you to everyone who made it such a success and for the valuable partnership working formed as a result, which will allow us to develop increased support in the local area, for people and for nature!
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