As another harvesting season draws to a close, and summer comes to a rainy end, our Glorious Cotswold Grasslands team have been out and about through the hotter months working hard to harvest wildflower seed across all their donor sites for the programme.

And the results are in… this summer, the GCG team and their volunteers harvested a staggering 2.5 tonnes of wildflower seed, by hand, across multiple sites in the Cotswolds.

Now it’s been sorted and dried (also by hand), the seed will soon be sown across recipient sites to continue the GCG team’s work to create or restore wildflower-rich limestone grassland across the Cotswolds. Currently, the team is out preparing the ground for sowing. You can keep up with their progress by following along on social media.

Since 2018 and 2019, Simon Smith, our Nature Recovery Lead, has been working with a number of colleagues from other national landscapes on Big Chalk – an ambitious programme of work which aims to restore a mosaic of habitats across an enormous stretch of calcareous landscape in southern England.

After several years of collaboration, the project launched publicly with the Big Chalk Conference 2024 in early September. The partnership of over 150 like-minded organisations showcased how forging vital connections between nature recovery projects across the chalk and limestone landscapes of southern England can achieve a sustainable approach to nature recovery. By uniting resources and expertise, the collective work covers a fifth of England, and aims to build a dynamic nature recovery network that will be central to the UK’s pledge to protect 30% of land and halt the decline of nature by 20230.

The conference was the start of an exciting new chapter in the Big Chalk story. With a programme packed full of best practise, ongoing work, and site visits, delegates were energised to carry forward the work with unparalleled commitment.

Photo: Libra Photographic

Rowan Wynne-Jones from CNL learning how to effectively guide walkers with visual impairments.

National Landscapes teams are always working to widen the welcome we can offer to people, from all walks of life. In the Cotswolds, we have been working with lots of partners over the last few years to improve access on pathways, we’ve been working with young people to inspire them to get outside, and we’ve worked with a range of community groups as part of the Bathscape project.

Recently, members of our team, including some of our Cotswold Voluntary Warden walk leaders, received training on how to guide walkers with visual impairment. The training was led by Marika, who has a visual impairment herself, and uses her first hand knowledge and experience to help others develop their skills. The long term intention is that with this additional training, our volunteer walk leaders working across the Cotswolds will be able to support more people with visual impairments to join our guided walks.

If you’d like to find out more about this recent training, please contact Nicole Daw, our Trails and Access Officer, at nicole.daw@cotswolds-nl.org.uk

Ros, Rowan, and Jennifer – our Everyone’s Evenlode team – have celebrated a successful conclusion to their busiest time of the year for schools delivery!

Through seven weeks in June and July, the team have welcomed over 500 students to river-based learning sessions in the Evenlode catchment area. Feedback forms revealed an impressive 94% satisfaction rate for the sessions. The delivery for the Everyone’s Evenlode project includes outdoor learning , in-class curriculum learning, practical exercises, and the encouragement wherever possible for children to get in the water (safely) and learn more about their local river.

Students report back that highlights for them during the sessions include being in the river, pond-dipping, wearing waders, and walking the streambed in ‘stream safaris’. Teachers say they value the opportunities for students to experience new surroundings, walks from the school gates, and the increased awareness of, and appreciation for, local nature.

A tremendous amount of work goes into planning each session – from the logistics, to equipment, health and safety, and, of course, the content of each session – often tailored to suit the students in attendance. The Everyone’s Evenlode team thrives on the enthusiasm brought by the students and teachers.

We applaud the team, as well as their cohort of brilliant volunteers and delivery partners, for their dedication throughout another academic year…Ros, Rowan and Jennifer are now all taking a little summer break to recharge their batteries.

Recently, our Everyone’s Evenlode team have been working with Refugee Resource, Oxford – whose mission is for refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants to build meaningful lives as part of the wider community. They offer a range of services including countryside walks designed to relieve mental and emotional distress, enabling their clients to build new lives and integrate successfully into their new communities.

The Everyone’s Evenlode team, supported by the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens, worked with Blenheim Palace to arrange a group day out there this week for Refugee Resource. Blenheim Palace kindly provided a tour guide, who was able to arrange a train ride for the children, as well as an opportunity to play in the new adventure park. Those attending enjoyed a walk, lunch, ice cream, a hedged maze, and the sunny surroundings of the palace grounds. In the hot weather this week, the children particularly relished splashing about in the cooling water features!

The team from Xerox helped out with lots of tasks, including some woodland management. 

Hot on the heels of our last corporate volunteering group, we were recently joined by another enthusiastic group – this time from Xerox. The team works nationally, and this was a great opportunity to get together in person for the day.

Gathering at a stunning quarry, a little off the beaten track – but with dramatic views over the Severn Vale, the group were tasked with a reptile survey, some woodland management, a litter pick, and Himalayan balsam pulling. During the afternoon, they took in a wildlife walk to enjoy this vibrant mosaic habitat – home to a wide range of wildflowers, butterflies, reptiles, and small mammals.

As with all our corporate groups, the team from Xerox arrived with high energy and plenty of enthusiasm – and maintained both throughout the day.

As well as excellent team building opportunities, days like this are a great way for companies to contribute to ongoing conservation work in the Cotswolds. Reducing invasive species like Himalyan balsam helps stop its spread, and litter picking, path widening, and habitat creation help both wildlife and people enjoy the countryside.

Waders on; measuring channel width, channel depth, water velocity and water quality.

The CNL team recently joined our colleagues Ros, Rowan, and Jen (who deliver all our Everyone’s Evenlode work) for a fun-filled practical day of training at Combe Mill. The Everyone’s Evenlode girls deliver sessions for all age groups – from primary school children to university students, all the way up to our volunteers. It’s essential they maintain their own skill set for training, and are able to make sure all participants are safe in and near the river. The recent day at Combe Mill gave colleagues first hand experience of the work the Everyone’s Evenlode team have been delivering for the last three years.

The group covered practical tips for outdoor working, health and safety, risk assessments, and group management. All the exercises were grounded in the practicalities of river work, so the team donned waders and did some river surveying, hydrology and flooding analysis, pond-dipping, a bio-diversity experiment, and a catchment tour taking in floodplain meadows, pond, woodland and a bird’s eye view over the river, with Geography subject-based games and experiments along the way; and a chance to have a go with the EM River table.

So far the Everyone’s Evenlode team have delivered river-based sessions to over 6,000 people – helping them get to know the river Evenlode better, understand the challenges it faces, learn more about river health and wildlife, and inspiring them to take action however and wherever they can.

It was great for the rest of the CNL team to experience the full Everyone’s Evenlode effect!

The team from Valpak during their outdoor volunteering day. 

Recently, we welcomed the fantastic team from Valpak along for an outdoor volunteering day!

Valpak employs around 300 people, and is based in Stratford-on-Avon. The organisation offers sustainability solutions to other businesses to help them reduce their impact on the planet. Each year, Valpak employees are given a day to volunteer; giving back to the community and local environment.

On Thursday 6 June a team from Valpak joined CNL on one of our new corporate volunteering days. The team were very enthusiastic and brought lots of energy! After morning tea and coffee, they took part in a reptile survey, before moving on to some woodland management, including building habitat piles and dead hedging. They removed ivy from tree trunks, worked to widen a footpath, and did a quick litter pick. And that was all before lunch! In the afternoon, the team enjoyed a wildlife walk, and devoted some time to pulling up Himalayan balsam.

If you’d like to find out more about corporate volunteering days, please contact James Webb, Partnership Lead, at james.webb@cotswolds-nl.org.uk

Andy Parsons, our Chief Executive, is moving on to an exciting new role later this year.

Since joining the CNL team in 2019, he has led both our people and our organisation with energy, optimism, determination, and a great sense of humour. We’re really going to miss him, and he’ll leave big boots to fill. Andy: congratulations on your new appointment, and thank you for everything. Your next team are lucky to have you.

Andy will be with us until November, and we will soon begin the process of recruiting someone new. If you fancy the challenge of taking the baton, and continuing the fantastic work Andy has set in motion with us, look out for recruitment details soon.

Three of our wardens working to install steps along a footpath. 

Our Cotswold Voluntary Wardens have set a new record for themselves in 2023-24: over 50,000 hours of volunteer work between them across their five districts in the Cotswolds. Come rain or shine, the wardens work all year round, and contribute a huge amount to the landscape. They work on maintaining the many thousands of miles of routes criss-crossing the Cotswolds: checking routes, replacing stiles, repairing foot bridges, clearing scrub, installing gates, fixing steps and installing hand rails, improving signage and waymarking, and litter picking. They plant trees, lay hedges, create habitats for nature, clear waterways, and work to repair our famous dry stone walls. They attend talks, shows and events to help spread the word about what they do, and about the Cotswolds National Landscape. And not forgetting – they lead hundreds of guided walks, for free, and open to everyone, almost every day of the year!

Let’s hear it for our fantastic troupe of loyal volunteer wardens!

Key numbers 2023/24:

• 51,351 hours of work
• 319 guided walks, attended by 3,634 people
• 7,867 miles of path patrolled
• 1,433 trees planted