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Five years of heathland recovery

Photo by Andy Harris

Andy explores how our work is gradually restoring Dropping Well Farm into a heathland rich in wildlife.

Five years have passed since work began to restore Dropping Well Farm to a natural heathland landscape and significant progress has already been made.

Research by volunteers into the history of the nature reserve has revealed that, prior to the 1800s, Dropping Well Farm closely resembled the extensive heathlands that once covered the county’s well-drained soils. Historically, heathland - often described as “common” or “waste” land - played an important role in traditional farming communities. Alongside dwellings, yards, arable fields, pasture and small woodlands, heaths provided rough grazing and a wide range of materials for fuel, construction, food and medicine.

As populations grew and agricultural practices changed, these landscapes came to be seen as marginal. Most were enclosed and converted into modern farmland, planted with forestry or built over entirely.

 

Four people managing heathland - they've all stopped work and are smiling at the camera

Volunteers at The Devil's Spittleful by Wendy Carter

The Devil’s Spittleful is a rare survivor of this ancient, human-influenced landscape and, perhaps more importantly for Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, it is also a habitat with natural origins. Long before humans arrived, heathland existed here, maintained primarily by fire and grazing.

For the past 200 years, farmers have attempted to improve the naturally poor, sandy soils. Productivity was only possible through heavy inputs of fertiliser, evidence of which remains today in the form of lime fragments and even carpet waste from Kidderminster factories. Our aim now is to reclaim the land for nature.

We are using cattle and sheep to graze the site, and in some areas native heathland plants are beginning to return naturally. Elsewhere, wildflower mixes have been sown to give wildlife an initial boost. Scrub is colonising in places on its own and we are accelerating this by planting additional areas.

Soil disturbance is another important tool. By ploughing and scraping small patches, and creating low banks reminiscent of World War Two defences, we are providing a variety of habitats for different species. This large-scale mechanical work is relatively inexpensive and mimics the effects once created by herds of large grazing animals.

Together with livestock and wild mammals such as rabbits, deer and moles, these actions help to kick-start natural successional processes - exactly what heathlands depend on. Open ground supports annual plants like poppies, short grass provides feeding areas for birds such as meadow pipits whilst longer vegetation benefits species like stonechats.

Heather is just one of many plants associated with heathland and we are giving it a helping hand by spreading locally sourced seed and planting young plugs.

While the landscape may not yet look like a classic heathland to human eyes, the wildlife already treats it as one - clear evidence that we are on the right track. Looking ahead 50 years, we envision free-ranging livestock grazing open, grassy heaths dotted with scrub and trees, maintained through a combination of animals, machinery and volunteer effort. Alongside the adjacent Blackstone Farm Fields, this work will have quadrupled the area of high-quality heathland we manage locally and, together with that of neighbours and partners, will contribute to over 200 hectares of outstanding conservation land.

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