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Yesterday I took delivery of our free tree from South Cambs District Council. I had the option of 6 smaller ones or one large one, so chose a large crab apple (Malus Everest). It arrived in great condition, even with some fruits remaining from the summer – and a price tag of £71 still on it, so all in all a really great offer – thanks to SCDC and the Woodland Trust who supplied it.

Ian and Sarah joined me today, and we planted the new tree on the Swale, next to the pond, together with 5 vigorous young willows that had been heeled into my back garden since last autumn.

The day was truly glorious, with a real feeling of spring in the air; the sparrow troupe were in full voice, chattering away as they flew up and down the hedgerow.

Having dug one too many holes, we decided to use it to create a log tower for stag beetles and half buried some of the cherry logs that had been piled up next to the hibernaculum. A shadier area might have been better, but we will allow the vegetation to grow up around it and create lots more of these habitats around the site.

Read more about stag beetles here: Build-a-log-pile-for-stag-beetles.pdf

Gosh I can’t believe my last blog was September! A dislocated elbow and a nasty chest infection have cost me about 3 months, and here we are with Christmas behind us and 2024 just around the corner.

The pond has thankfully filled up with all the rain, and has had 4 extra waterlilies added to it, which should cover more of the surface and reduce evaporation next summer. I just hope the unwelcome introduced goldfish haven’t eaten all our invertebrates!

In desperate need of some fresh air this week, I braved the wind with Barbara and Malcolm to replace the remaining guards on the trees. A lot of the trees have been nibbled quite badly since the guards were removed, and after all the time and effort we’ve spent on them, it seemed sensible to put them back on.

I added some yellow rattle seeds to a small area of the meadow – this little yellow plant weakens the grasses, allowing the meadow plants room to grow. Find out more about it here. We will also sow some areas of cornfield annual and native meadow mix in the spring.

The Nectar Garden is providing habitat and much needed food and shelter for our pollinators during the winter months. It it looks quite beautiful with its different seed heads and structures. Next year will be chock-full of flowers and pollinators.

Thank you so much to everyone who has given their time this year. Every hour makes a huge difference and Brewery Field just gets better and better. Thanks too, to the FoDGS members who fund what we do, even if you may not have time to help. Please consider joining us – it’s only £25 p.a for a family (£15 for singles).

If you can spare some time to help us in 2024, please do get in touch: https://friendsofduxfordgreenspaces.org/contact/

A very happy new year to all our friends and readers, gillian

Although you wouldn’t think it when we are all sweltering away in 30*C! As usual, even though there’s been rain elsewhere, the Duxford microclimate has stayed obstinately dry – thank heavens we now have the borehole. This time I need to say a huge thanks to Lewis (who is doing his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award) and dad Nick – we got all the trees watered and will go back to do the small shrubs and the Nectar Garden if we don’t get some showers. The pond is really low again, but I won’t top it up from the borehole just to evaporate into the atmosphere – it will eventually find its level.

The little orchard trees were pruned earlier this year (thanks to Dom from the wonderful Cambridge Cofarm), so bore little fruit – the thinking is to let them get stronger first, but we’ve had some wonderful sunsets and now the meadow has been mown and cleared in time for this weekend’s airshow.

The Nectar Garden is still full of flowers, providing much needed sustenance for our pollinators. With all the ivy beginning to flower in the hedgerows, there should be plenty of food until the end of the year.

A couple of weeks ago FODGS purchased 2 huge bags of well rotted horse manure from Madingley Mulch and our wonderful team of volunteers fed every tree and shrub with it. S.P. Landscapes gave us 2 huge loads of woodchip and this has been spread around on top of the mulch. This will feed the trees and also stop them drying out. Thanks so much to all of you!

I hope you managed to get to our Festival of Nature – it was such a wonderful day with the sun shining, families smiling and a HUGE amount of information from our speakers and stall holders. I have to say thank you to so many people:

Our excellent speakers: Councillors Peter McDonald and Pippa Heylings for opening the event, actors Emma Lowndes & Jason Merrells for telling the Story of Brewery Field, Ashley Arbon MBE, ecologist and biodiversity expert, Dick Newall from Action for Swifts, and Iain Webb from the local Wildlife Trust

Our neighbours who provided power: Barbara & Malcolm, Lizzy & family

Mike & Tinneke Butler for offering parking on their property

Some of the super-efficient organising team, Ian, Gillian, Sarah, Jen (our marvelous MC) and Heather. Thanks also to Nick, who supervised the children’s sports events and Giles who couldn’t be there for the event.

The amazing volunteers, some of whom had to stay put all day: Paul, Phil, Matt, Sue, Gisela, Roy, Joanne & Nick, Liz & Fred and Dan & Nina.

Mrs Suzanne Blackbourne-Maze for judging the cake competition

The delicious hospitality providers: The Duxford Plough, The Wandering Yak, Cider InCider, The Teapod

Our lovely stall holders and woodcrafters: Tony, Maureen, Sally & Mary from the Duxford Allotment Society, Debbie & Sarah from Nature’s Posy, Mike from Cambs & Essex Butterfly Conservation, Iain & Paul from The local Wildlife Trust, Dick & Bruce from Action for Swifts, Fay The Woodland Haberdasher, Olly Moses woodcraft, Mick Thwaites of Woodlark landscaping (who left us the wonderful legacy fence), Hannah of Triplekissdesigns eco friendly greetings cards, Ben & Dan On the Verge & Pesticide Free Cambridge

Just a few days until our wonderful Festival of Nature – and the weather is improving! Gates open at 1230.

We have an amazing, interesting line up for you – will you pledge to turn a bit of your garden over to nature? Maybe you’ll enter the Duxford Bake-Off, or the Pollinating Posy competition? Or both?

Entries must be handed in by 2pm for numbering and display. Winners will be announced around 4pm. All cakes will be sold off and proceeds will go to Friends of Duxford Green Spaces.

Please pot up and bring spare plants from your garden – you can swap them and donate to FODGS.

We are ramping up the preparations for our FREE Festival of Nature on Saturday 20th May. Posters are going up around the village and flyers will be left with local hospitality venues.

We have fingers and toes crossed for good weather on the day, but you can be sure of lots of interesting talks, walks and stalls on the day whatever the elements bring us.

There will be something for everyone, from the Teddy Bears’ Picnic to craft demos and gardening tips.

Mario from The Plough will be providing the bar and there will be tea & cake and food on sale.

You’ll be able to enter Flowers from your Garden into our competition, swap plants and learn all sorts of useful tips and tricks to encourage pollinators and ensure that your allotment, garden, patio or window ledge is not only green and eco-friendly, but productive too. We’ll show you how to improve biodiversity and join your garden up to our Duxford Nature Corridors.

You can also enter your favourite home-baked cake into the great Duxford Bake-Off. We have craft demos and talks on all kinds of wildlife, flora and fauna – more detailed info on these a bit nearer the time.

IF YOU CAN HELP, BEFORE DURING OR AFTER THE EVENT, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH: info@friendsofduxfordgreenspaces.org

Our beautiful new sign is now in place on the corner of Hunts Road and St John’s Street – thanks so much to Sarah Ashworth for the design, to Hortiservices for giving us their old sign and to The Cambridge Sign Company for a really quick and efficient installation.

We are cracking on with preparations for the BREWERY FIELD FESTIVAL OF NATURE on Saturday 20th May (1230 – 1830). Watch this space for more info, but expect to be wowed by all sorts of things green and sustainable, including talks, walks, craft demonstrations, engaging competitions for both adults and children, stalls and hospitality.

There is limited parking in the village, so if you are coming from outside the village, please plan to arrive on foot, by bicycle or by public transport.

It’s going to be a fun day and we’d love you to join us. If you can find the time to help – either with preparation and planning or on the day – please get in touch by emailing info@friendsofduxfordgreenspaces.org

We are now finalising our Biodiversity Strategy for Duxford Parish and had an inspirational day at the Whittlesford Eco Hub, meeting lots of like-minded people from all over Cambridgeshire – it’s fantastic to see how much is going on at grass roots level!

Even though many of the goldfish were fished out last summer, the few remaining have been making hay and have now become (at least) 13. They will be eating all our newt and dragonfly lava, so once again we need your help, and this time there is a prize!

1. Sign up by emailing: fishing.competition@yahoo.com (messages will be checked on Mondays).
2. Catch a fish with a line or a net (you must hold a rod licence to catch with a line).
3. Take a picture of you with the goldfish. You can then rehome it.
4. Email us with the good news and attach your picture.
5. The winner will receive their prize at the Brewery Field Biodiversity Focus Day on Saturday 20th May.
6. If you cannot rehome the goldfish, we will put you in touch with people who want to take them.
7. If you want free goldfish and you have a suitable pond, please let us know by emailing the same address, confirming agreement to share your email address.

After the driest, hottest summer for many years, there’s a lot to report. We had around 3 months with almost no rain at all, combined with unprecedented temperatures. The pond was more like a puddle.

The trees and shrubs were failing, as was the strength of the few volunteers who were valiantly lugging buckets of water around in ridiculous temperatures.

Something drastic was needed and thankfully Duxford Parish Council agreed to fund a borehole on the site. Careful negotiation and super quick service from Anglian Pumping Services meant that just 2 weeks after the decision, we had water on tap – it was nothing short of miraculous! We bought a generator (to work the underground pump) and 100m of hosepipe, and now we can water whenever we wish – what a difference 2 weeks made. For those that are interested, they hit water at 9m and drilled down to 20m.

Thanks to Russell Smith Farms, who once again topped up the pond for us (we have a limit on the amount of water we can draw without an abstraction licence).

Most of the goldfish have been caught and re-homed, but some remain and the goldfish lobby is fighting back, putting up signs that caused much hilarity – as well as a little hysteria – on social media!

Our orchard has produced some lovely fruit and hopefully next year the trees will be strong enough that we won’t need to remove so much of it.

The recent rain has helped us enormously and now we are fully prepared for the next dry season!