PeCAN Trustee for Nature Recovery Melanie Oxley tells us what was discussed...
In 2019 Petersfield Town Council purchased the 35 acres of land behind the new Causeway residential development. The land cost £275,000 and the funds came from developer's premium, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
Then ensued debate and a poll in which one of three names proposed for this area was chosen: Sussex Meadow, Criddell Meadow or Goodyer Meadow, the latter winning by a small margin, in recognition of the C17th botanist John Goodyer, who came from this area.
On Sunday 15 June, despite its being Father's Day, 11 of us set out to walk around Goodyer Meadows and take stock of its history, ecology and current state. We first entered the meadow to the left of Criddell stream, an expansive, damp, low-lying area containing approximately 10 species of grass, plus rushes and sedges, dotted through by blackthorn (sloe) and bramble in places. Occasional patches of meadow buttercup, lesser stitchwort and lesser spearwort were a few of the flowering plants.
This was an historical 'flood meadow' or water meadow engineered to make use of the nearby Criddell stream for its warming water in winter and nutrient-rich sediment in summer. The system comprised a series of ditches ('bedworks') which bounded and dissected the site, and sluices that could allow flood water into the meadow (a practice called 'floating'), as well as allow it to drain out. These features can still be seen.
Water was allowed onto the fields in winter, helping to provide an early pasture for sheep. In May the meadow was floated again, providing for up to three hay crops to be cut ('mowed') over the summer, plenty of food for animals over the winter. Water meadows were common in many parts of the country, from the late medieval right up to the 1800's.
John Fitzherbert wrote, in 1523
" . . yf there be any rynning water or lande flode that may be sette or brought to ronne ouer the medowes from the tyme that they be mowen vnto the begynning of May / and they will be moche bettr and it shall kylle / drowne / and driue awaye the moldywarpes* / and fyll vp the lowe places with sande & make the grounde euyn and good to mowe. All maner of waters be good / so that they stande not styll vpon the grounde. But especially that water that cometh out of a towne from eury mannes mydding or donghyll is worste / and will make the medowes moost rankest. And fro the begynning of May tyll ye medowes be mowen and the hay goten in / the waters wolde be set by and ron another way".
*Moldywarpes is an old english name for moles
If only we had heeded Fitzherbert's warning, not to take sewage into our rivers and streams, which brings us on to water quality: Liz Bisset talked about the essential monitoring of our streams and rivers and introduced the role of the River Guardians, who volunteer with the Western Sussex Rivers Trust (WSRT), carrying out pollution and biodiversity monitoring on a monthly basis, at many sites across Petersfield, and the whole Rother and Arun catchments. This involves testing for phosphates (mostly from sewage and cleaning products) and nitrates (mostly from agricultural fertilizers) as well as recording the temperature of the water, Total Dissolved Solids, evidence of pollution, local land use, plus natural history observations.
Veronica Carter told the group that Eco Rother Action (ERA) are soon to start also testing the waters for E.coli. The results of their work will be available on both the ERA and WSRT websites.
Invasive plants and the difficulties of dealing with them were demonstrated by Veronica when we reached a large group of Himalayan balsam standing almost neck-high, in the damp meadow. This robust annual plant has begun to dominate along most of our streams and rivers, and even damp pasture, blocking out the light for some of our most sensitive native plant species. It is this very robustness, its speed of growth and its' amazing seed dispersal, that has allowed it to spread rapidly. Controlling Himalayan balsam is an annual activity for many river volunteers and it often involves getting wet! As an alien invasive species, the pulled-up plants cannot be taken to refuse sites: they must be crushed and left where they were found.
We reached the old concrete bridge that Liz explained was built to allow military vehicles access to the land where many troops were marshalled in the Second World War. As a viewing platform over the Criddell stream this was a perfect spot to observe two pairs of beautiful demoiselles, a large damselfly, in mating behaviour: the male an electric blue and the female a dull greenish brown. This has been a good place to spot them for many years, but unfortunately we could see that this deep gully is now also home to Himalayan balsam.
We stopped at a huge area of bramble (blackberry) in full flower, to look at the bees and hoverflies gathering nectar. Elizabeth Eveleigh, who is from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, identified honeybee, bumblebees and carder bees. She explained how many of these pollinators are generalists - they just need flowers at the right time, whereas butterflies and moths are species-specific for their nutrients. The message being to nurture as many flowering plants as possible!
To the songs of a black cap, a song-thrush, and many chiff-chaffs, we arrived at Liz Bisset's favourite tree, a majestic oak, which could be around 400 years old. We observed that many seedlings from this tree are successfully growing in the long grass without any help from man and despite the presence of deer.
Our walk finished with an assessment of the large Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS), or 'balancing pond' that was created five years ago by the Causeway Farm developers as part of their planning conditions. In this relatively brief time we were heartened to find quite a mature ecosystem with reedmace, willow and king-cup providing cover and food for reed warblers, a kingfisher and a family of mallards.
PeCAN looks forward to hearing news of a Management Plan for this wonderful addition to the town's green spaces.
