Winter 2014-15 newsletter

Your land, your heritage, your future
For more news visit – www.boxmoortrust.org.uk
Annual
Public
Meeting
Visit from
a Countess
This year, our Annual Public Meeting
will be at 7pm on Wednesday 22nd
April at The Box Moor Trust Centre,
London Road, Hemel Hempstead,
HP1 2RE. Come and meet Trustees
and staff and hear about our work
over the past year and plans for the
year ahead. Light refreshments will be
available. Parking is limited – please
car share where possible.
Volunteer
Party
The Box Moor Trust Volunteers
Christmas Party was a great success.
It was lovely to see current and past
volunteers together, reminiscing
and talking about future ideas. The
homemade soup proved a big hit and
the chatter and laughter went on for
three hours. All volunteers were given
a commemorative key ring to mark ten
years of conservation volunteering at The
Trust and Trustee Peter Ablett gave a
‘thank you’ speech to everyone present,
praising their efforts and commitment
and recognising their hard work.
If you are a volunteer and didn’t
make it on the day, please call in
to the Trust Centre to collect your
Christmas gifts!
Did you
know?
Trust Chairman introduces Countess Verulam to Education & Community Team Coordinator Caroline Evans
These youngsters from Box Moor Primary
School had a very special visitor during
their Forest School session at The Box
Moor Trust in November. Her Majesty’s Lord
Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, The Countess of
Verulam, was on an official visit to the Trust
and stopped off at the site in Hay Wood
in time to see the children perform their
Forest School song, led by education team
member Yvonne Masters.
Lady Verulam, who is the Queen’s personal
representative in Hertfordshire, then went
on to meet some of the Trust’s conservation
volunteers, who were engaged in expertly
laying a hedge along the track to the Box
Moor Trust Old Barn Education Centre at
Westbrook Hay. Trustees and staff were
on hand to explain how the Trust land is
cared for, including the management of the
rare breed sheep and cattle that are such a
feature of the moors.
A minibus tour of the estate followed,
taking in the river valley, cricket clubs and
Sheethanger Common conservation area.
The Box Moor Trust is now on
and
The morning ended with a visit to The Box
Moor Trust Centre, the Trust’s flagship
headquarters in London Road.
Trust Chairman David Kirk, who led the visit,
remarked, “Much of our land was owned
by Queen Elizabeth 1 shortly before it was
transferred to the Trust in 1594, so this
was an occasion to remember for all of us
and one which we are sure Lady Verulam
enjoyed. We are so grateful that she took
the time to visit us and to speak with such
interest to so many people about their work
with the Trust.”
ren fro
ss met child
The Counteor Primary School
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Box Moor Trust Winter 2014-15 Newsletter
Box Moor
Box!
In early November a team of Trustees,
staff and volunteers were introduced
to some of the mysteries of wild Box
trees and bushes by the Chilterns
Conservation Board’s Box Woodland
Project Officer Sarah Wright.
The native British species, Buxus
sempervirens, grows wild on some
patches of Trust land. Its Latin name
means always alive, or evergreen. The
tree’s spring flowers are small, green and
not very obvious. They have a pleasant
scent, similar to lilies. The seed capsule,
with three little spikes on top, ripens
in September and then pops open to
scatter its six little black seeds outwards.
Being a slow-growing tree, box is now
quite rare and its hard, dense timber is
much prized by people looking for a very
tight grain. The wood has historically
been used for items like lace making
bobbins, printing blocks and tool handles
whilst its more valuable and decorative
uses have included chess pieces,
furniture inlays and musical instruments.
Sarah led the team to visit some of the
mature examples of box and provided
advice on how they could be cared for in
the wild. This included clearing tree litter
and dead wood from around them to
provide some bare earth to increase the
chances of successful seeding, and also
cutting back other bushes that might be
over-shading them. Sarah’s ideas will be
incorporated into the ongoing care of
the woodlands.
Box (Buxus sempervirens)
The junior final was won by Billy Reed-Hook (left in picture)
Festival Fun
The Box Moor Trust’s weekend of community events on Blackbirds Moor got
off to a flying start on Saturday 18th October with the Wood, Wool and Food
Festival, a real celebration of local produce and crafts. With locally-produced
rare breed meat, cold-pressed oils and dressings, locally grown vegetables
and plants from Sunnyside Rural Trust and many other stalls selling delicious
wares, visitors were spoilt for choice on how to spend their cash.
There were carving and turning
demonstrations from skilled woodcarver
Vince King and the members of Herts &
Beds Wood Turners, and some amazing
chainsaw sculpturing by the very talented
Will Lee. The Trust’s very own rare breed
sheep also proved to be quite a draw, and
Estate Manager Phil Pennington gave a
series of shearing demonstrations during
the day.
On Sunday 19th, the focus shifted to the
annual Conker Festival. The combination
of warm, sunny weather and mellow jazz
courtesy of the Jolly Jazzers helped to
ensure that the crowds stayed to have fun
all day. New for this year was the ‘Circus
Skills’ workshop, which went down a
storm with the children (the giant bubble
machine was a particular hit!) The circusstyle marquee housed a variety of local
organisations and charity stalls and the
children’s tent was busy all weekend with
craft activities, storytelling and face painting.
Dacorum & Chiltern Potters Guild’s pottery
workshop was popular as usual, and the
Berkhamsted Bowmen had a steady stream
of would-be Robin Hoods at their archery
‘have-a-go’ range. Clive Hill of ‘One to One
with Raptors’ brought some of his birds of
prey along for the public to see, including
Kusel, a stunningly beautiful Red Kite.
The conker tournament was fiercely
contested, with heats taking place
throughout the afternoon. The junior final
was won by 10-year old Billy Reed-Hook,
whilst the adult final was a short but decisive
affair with Philo Knapp emerging as the
2014 champion.
The Trust would like to say a huge ‘thank
you’ to all the wonderful volunteers, whose
help with manning the barbeque, supervising
the children’s activities and umpiring the
conker tournament was invaluable.
Kite
Kusel the Red
Mother’s Day Lambing Walk:
11am on 15th March
Join us for a stroll around the pastures and livestock pens to see the newest members of our Norfolk Horn flock
and learn a bit about how lambing is managed at the Trust. Estate Manager Phil Pennington will be your guide. For
more info and to reserve places, give us a ring on 01442 253300. Booking essential as this is a very popular event.
Photo: Stephen Pinder
New Interpretation Boards
A big “thank you” is owed by the Trust to
The Chilterns Commons Project for the
generous funding of two new interpretation
boards that have just been installed on
Sheethanger and Roughdown Commons.
Expected to be the first of several boards
as part of the Trust’s ongoing initiative
to update and improve signage on the
estate, the boards are both attractive and
informative about the particular areas on
which they are sited.
It also aims to inspire and enable people
to get involved with caring for commons
and studying them, for if we don’t there’s
the danger that we’ll lose these precious
landscapes for good.”
The four-year project will run until July 2015
and is only possible due to the generous
funding from Heritage Lottery Fund,
Chilterns Conservation Board, Chiltern
Society and other partners.
Through the Chilterns Commons Project,
the Chilterns Conservation Board wants
to reconnect people with their commons.
Commons Project Officer Rachel Sanderson
said, “The project wants to encourage
people to make the most of commons for
walking, playing and enjoying the outdoors.
Interpretation board on Roughdown Common
Box Moor Trust Winter 2014-15 Newsletter
New Estate
Worker
Livestock barn
We are delighted to report that we
have appointed a new member of
staff to the estate team. Karen Poore
has previously worked for BBOWT
(Berks, Beds & Oxon Wildlife Trust) as
a volunteer leader and knows Hemel
Hempstead well as she has worked
in the local B&Q store. Particularly
competent in the area of chainsaw
work, Karen is fast becoming a valued
member of the team.
Estate Wo
rker Karen
For nearly two decades, lambing at the Trust has taken place in and around the livestock
barn at Snooks End under the watchful eye of the Estate Manager, who lives close by.
Increasing stock numbers have meant that the existing accommodation had become
inadequate so a new barn has been built, adjacent to the original building, to allow for extra
storage and space for lambing. It also includes hand washing/toilet facilities for the
convenience of visitors coming to see the new lambs. You can visit the new barn during
our annual lambing walk on 15th March (see inside for details).
Poore
A couple of dates
for your diaries:
Wednesday 18th March:
“History of the Box Moor Trust”
illustrated talk by Education &
Community Team Coordinator
Caroline Evans.
Venue: The Box Moor Trust Centre,
London Road, HH, HP1 2RE.
Time: 2pm.
Donations welcomed. Limited
numbers, booking essential – contact
caroline.evans@boxmoortrust.org.uk
Thursday 16th April:
Family Activity Day. Outdoor Easterthemed activities for children aged 4-11.
Venue: OId Barn Education Centre,
Westbrook Hay.
Time: 10am-12.30pm.
Drop in – no need to book.
New livestock barn
Calendar
competition
The photo competition for our 2016
calendar is now open, so don’t forget
to take your camera with you when
out and about on the Trust estate. The
subject is “Changing Seasons” and
photos must be taken of, or from, Box
Moor Trust land. Entry is free, maximum
of ten photos per entrant, and there are
generous cash prizes for the winners.
Download an entry form from
www.boxmoortrust.org.uk or give the
office a ring on 01442 253300. Closing
date is 14th August 2015.
2nd place
last year: M
3rd place last
ark Spoke
year: Dan Fo
s
rder
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Contact Us
The Box Moor Trust Centre, London Road, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 2RE
Tel: 01442 253300, Reg. Charity No. 206142
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