Walking with Purpose

We are sitting on a track in the sun in a part of Fingle Woods I have never explored before. All morning we have been working in the shade of the trees and my ankles (bad choice of clothing yet again) are scratched from pushing through bracken and brambles. Our task, one that we and other teams have been doing regularly since July, is to survey the ancient boundaries masked still by the conifers at Fingle.

Back home the day’s measurements and photos are uploaded from the tablet and sent to Alex Hamer, Fingle’s ancient boundary intern. Alex, who has trained us, will digitise them to make an interactive map, enabling the local management team to decide where to focus activity. That might mean clearing bracken and letting more light in, directing a bat expert or moss and lichen expert to boundaries where detailed surveys are required, or plotting new access tracks.For this year the end must be approaching. There are few flowers left to help with species identification and the canopy will soon be bereft of leaves. But we will certainly be back next year. We will also be in need of more volunteers to help with the survey so do let Alex or Eleanor know if you are interested - FingleWoods@woodlandtrust.org.uk.In the meantime if you want to learn more about the changes at Fingle why not put the exhibition at Green Hill Arts Gallery in Moretonhampstead in your diary: Forestry Ventures – A century of change in Fingle Woods (September 16th-October 28th) www.greenhillarts.co.uk.by Joyce Halliday