2010 has been a relatively quiet year with no major projects. Instead we have done various minor projects/works which have been carried out by committee members - digging out the ditch on the meadowside of the ancient bank, (Nigel Emerson), levelling stumps in the wildflower area (Roy Johnson and Nigel Emerson), continuing the Yellow Rattle trial into a wet area of the wildflower meadow (Nigel Emerson and Julie Harland), installing new wooden posts to define the boundary between us and the Old Mill House on the south-eastern edge of the Wildlife Area (Nigel Emerson and Roy Johnson) and planting daffodils donated by Woking Palace (Lynda Farrena). My plea in Perinews for large tree trunks for seating yielded two different sources, both of which required some very heavy lifting involving several brave men and true - Roy, Nigel and Gary. The results of their labours are now installed and v effective.
We have also done work with the help of volunteers. We were particularly fortunate to be offered the labour of 10 man (woman?!) days in February by volunteers from the Prince's Trust. This enabled us to clear a significant amount of scrub, holly and brambles to open up the ancient ditch and bund between the woodland area and the wildflower meadow. Not only that, but the volunteers were so impressed by the Wildlife Area that they sent us a donation of £77! Another job done by volunteers was the dredging of the pond in August - the working party was made up of cheerful souls who like playing about in boats and getting thoroughly wet and weedy! Nature enthusiasts will be glad to hear that all the spoil was placed around the edges so that any pond wildlife could crawl back without too much effort.
In addition to the Cttee and volunteers, we have also used a contractor to flail the invasive thorns and brambles from the edge of the spine path - a job v well done.
As for major projects, we are continuing to think about replacing the boardwalk from the pond to the Stamford Brook as the lead in time for obtaining grants is always lengthy. We are v aware that this is one of the Wildlife Area's biggest assets and we must be ahead of the game. The next design will also need to comply with latest directives on accessibility and safety. Roy's expertise has been used to draw up the spec for both this and the entrance gate area and He has worked with Nigel to obtain suitable quotes and Lynda has been working v hard on researching possible large companies/organisations who might be interested in sponsoring this type of project including the Lottery Fund. She has become quite an expert!
Another major expense will be the replacement of the ride-on mower which is now 10 years old. I hope I'm not tempting fate to say that we haven't had any significant problems to date thanks to the maintenance skills of Roy but it is always in the back of our minds that it won't last forever...
On the northern boundary adjacent to Pirbright Cottages, the Association has continued to be involved in two legal issues. Firstly, the question of whether the green lane should be re-classified as a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT) which has yet to be resolved - hopefully at the June meeting of the Guildford Local Committee. Secondly, an encroachment onto the land leased by the Association south of Brook Cottage which is finally on the point of being resolved with the Association agreeing to a variation in our lease to allow GBC to sell the land which had been encroached upon. The Committee has decided to walk the boundary of the Wildlife Area every year so that we can take timely action under the terms of our lease with GBC in the future.
As always, we are very grateful to Pirbright Parish Council who are continuing to include the Wildflower Meadow in their Paths and Greens contract which is an invaluable contribution. To that we add the excellent practical support from the small regular band of volunteers who keep the green path network mown and the site tidy. This has been supervised and led most efficiently by Roy Johnson and Nigel Emerson.
On the social front, we had good weather for our Summer BBQ last July with both old and new members coming along. In June, we again entered Pirbright Church's Open Day Scarecrow Competition with a splendid John Wayne designed and constructed by the very talented Ann Mountjoy, one of our members.
The Wildlife Area continues to be a popular place to visit - from the regular local visitors to a wider range of groups who find us from our website. We also receive appreciative emails and letters which give us encouragement. On the less positive side, we have regrettably again had cause to send out a flyer regarding proper control of dogs in the Wildlife Area because of the actions of an irresponsible few which have been prejudicing the enjoyment of the many. It is every parent's nightmare to find that their children have been fouled by dog mess. We want them to feel that their children can roam anywhere free from that horror. We have also put up more signs to reiterate the need for dogs to be on leads.
On the membership front, there are 179 members plus 36 U16s. Once again, almost every member has indicated a willingness to donate either time or money, the great proportion of which is gift-aided and has added a further 28% through reclaim from the Inland Revenue. More detail on this later from Julie Harland.
The only sadness in the year has been the death of County and Borough Cllr Mike Nevins who had been a stalwart member of the Management Cttee throughout his time as a Borough Cllr. One year, he used his photographic skills to take a range of aerial shots from the Merrist Wood Show helicopter and he was always good at making sure that the Borough Council was as supportive as possible. He has been sorely missed. The Committee have decided to honour both Mike Nevins and Dennis Tubb by planting trees in their memory.
A sadness in a rather different way, is the fact that our long-term Secretary of 7 years, Carolyn Guest, and her husband Chris have finally decided to move on to pastures new in the West Country. This is indeed a blow as Carolyn has been an outstanding Secretary in every possible way - Secretary, Membership Secretary, deliverer, web master etc etc - and generally keeping us on our toes - aided, of course by her lovely husband Chris who has done wonders with the website and been a v willing volunteer for working parties. They were also instrumental in organising the 2 Barn Dances which raised a good sum of money for the Association. We really don't know how we are going to manage without them but we do wish them every happiness in their new life. In the meantime, I am delighted to say that Barbara Carr has agreed to put her name forward for this job and we v much look forward to working with her.
Looking into 2011, we are planning to:-
I need hardly say that we would always welcome suggestions from our members too.
As always, I would like to finish by thanking the hard-working Management Committee, all those who have contributed by helping with maintenance jobs around the site and all our members who give us generous donations to keep us afloat and encourage us with their positive comments.
Catherine Cobley
April 2011