Introduction
Welcome to
Chalkeith Reserve.
I am writing to you as a close neighbour of a piece of land we have just purchased to introduce ourselves, and to let you know our plans for this land over the next weeks and in the longer term.
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Chalkeith Conservation is a local, charitable company recently set up specifically to purchase the piece of land that lies to the south of Chalkeith Road and to protect it as an environment for the benefit of the unusual wildlife living there and as a resource for local people. All of the current Trustees live locally. If you are familiar with the land you will see some gentle changes as we start to manage the land. However, we want to assure you that we have no plans to “develop” the site, no intention to install large scale fencing, Our management of the site will be based on the desire to achieve the best outcomes for our scarcest wildlife.. The existing, informal access to the site that many people currently enjoy will continue. The aerial photograph shows the outline of the site in red.
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​​The land comprises apporxomiately 8 Hectares (20 Acres) of what had been arable until the early 1990s. Since then, it has been left largely unmanaged. In the intervening period, some areas trees have flourished, whilst in other areas, a mosaic of patches of dense scrub, less dense scrub and open grassland have developed on the thin soil. The underlying geology is chalk as you may know from the former chalk pit. The chalky nature of the low fertility soil creates perfect conditions for a wide variety of unusual and scarce plants which combined with the low scrub makes ideal conditions for some very scarce and threatened species, including a number of invertebrates. In fact our logo is based on one of those rarities, the Rufus Shouldered Longhorn Beetle. The taller, denser scrub forms ideal conditions for birds such as Nightingales, Turtle Dove, Linnet and Yellowhammer all of which are declining due to habitat loss. The whole area is home to quite a remarkable range of wildlife, which is why the team behind Chalkeith Conservation decided to try to protect it from development and to take on the task of improving the land for wildlife.
​​The first step has been to set up Chalkeith Conservation and to then obtain registration as a charity. Thanks to generous grants and gifts from Mid Suffolk District Council and a number of their Councillors, The East Suffolk Trust, Needham Market Town Council, Barking Parish Council, Barnes Construction and other supportive individuals, Chalkeith Conservation has been able to purchase the land, which is now permanently protected, securing it into the future for the benefit of its wildlife. Over the next weeks we will place a few temporary introductory signs around the site, and plan to publicise our existence to the local community setting out our intentions. We currently aim to hold an introduction event at a suitable venue in Needham Market.
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Looking further ahead we will be encouraging people from the local community to become volunteers and to participate in a series of practical management work parties with tasks including some scrub managment, helping to survey the wildlife that is already there, and restoring the ancient hedgerow along the Mill Lane boundary.
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We also plan to hold occasional educational events on the site for adults and for school children to promote biodiversity.
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Importantly, the site will remain open for people to enjoy for responsible informal recreation. We intend to improve some of the key pathways pushing back some of the overgrowing scrub to improve access. If we identify things like nest sites for rarer birds, such as the Nightingales we have already heard there, or any particularly sensitive plants or animals we may provide some protection to reduce disturbance.
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Longer term, we aim to approach and work with surrounding landowners to improve the connectivity of the site to other pockets of wildlife in the area, such as Priestley & Swingens and Bonny Woods to create wildlife corridors to enable species to move around.
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We may, if suitable opportunities present themselves look to acquire other parcels of suitable land to help wildlife flourish in a world where habitats and species are often threatened.
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We are also going to look at what is possible in terms of improving how the site retains rainwater to help with flooding issues on the Barking Road.
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We have set up our website which has more information, and we will be developing and updating the website as we progress with our plans. If you would be interested in getting more involved with this project and to help develop this small pocket of nature for the benefit of all then you would be very welcome. If you have any questions or concerns, please make contact through our email below.
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We hope that you will visit this land regularly and will, if able, participate in caring for the wildlife it supports.