The rest of the world is going to pot; but at least….

The rest of the world is going to pot; but at least….
The Roe Deer population is steadily increasing.
Last week we put up another round of bird boxes. Some of these:
The Hollins Hall team have been very welcoming. It’s got to be the most wildlife-friendly course around. Really importantly, there are lots of corners which aren’t over-managed. Fallen dead wood is great for invertebrates which, in turn, obviously support birds and mammals.
It rained. A lot.
All this action has substantially re-engineered the Gill Beck.
Many thanks to Peter Hughes for bringing this gem to our attention:
That cover photo apparently dates from about 1925: a time when Denby’s Mill (now Tong Park Industrial Estate) was still a thriving industry.
The first chapter looks at the geology and pre-history of the area. The last two glaciations of the current Ice Age, the Anglian and Devensian, saw complex ice movements amid successive advances and retreats. At some point a moraine formed between ice in the valley of the Gill Beck and the Airedale glacier. This spur across the mouth of the valley is the site of Tong Park station and receives the southern end of the viaduct. The whole landscape is studded with smaller moraines, drumlins and erratic rocks.
Human presence is documented from about 4000 BC by the presence of stone age implements of the Magelmose culture. From about 3000 BC Bronze Age technology followed: with progressive forest clearance. Stone carvings which litter the area from this time.
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=48900
Celtic Iron Age culture is known from Yorkshire only from about 300 BC.
With the principle ‘Inclosures’ Act of 1773 and other similar legislation across the centuries stone walls were built around ‘Parlimentary’ fields in the valley. These overly the earth ridges and furrows created by earlier farmers dating back to the Celts. The long S-shaped ridges are still visible on pasture and golf courses.
At the ends of all of these fields are lynchet banks thrown up by the ploughs as they turned.
Weecher and Reva reservoirs, receiving run off from Burley and Ilkley moors, are the sources of the Gill Beck’s flow. Reva was completed in 1894.
Chapter two covers natural history: the list of species indicates little loss of diversity between the time of writing and today’s situation. In fact, I have the distinct impression that the valley is probably richer in flora and fauna today than it has been for much of the last century. It certainly looks considerably more wooded and wilder today than it does in many of the photos from the days when several thousand watched cricket matches at Tong Park. As Benedict Allen observes in his book ‘Rebirding’ ….’The post-industrial areas of Northern England have a very different aspect …In these areas vegetation freestyles in a way rarely permitted in any nature reserve or across much of the country….Here, less land is managed -and more is simply left’.
Chapter three documents the industrialisation of Tong Park. By 1778 there was a water mill on the site owned by messrs Halliday and Watson. Subsequently Thomas Gill upgraded this with the construction of Gill Mill. It’s unclear to me whether the name of the Beck derives from this.
William Denby and sons, incorporated in 1820, followed them and soon thereafter set about constructing the chain of upstream dams and reservoirs which ensured water supply to the factory. As well as the familiar main dam at Tong Park there are additionally the dam at the ‘frog pond’ on the north side of the beck, the Red Brick Dam below Moorside Farm, the New Dam on the Jum Beck above Hawksworth and the dam west of Ash House Farm, Sconce whose name remains unknown to me. At one time there was a large reservoir below the main dam and above the viaduct and enclosed by the bend in the beck.
Originally engaged in spinning, weaving and dyeing the business later progressively specialised in dyeing and fabric coatings. The tall chimney still nears the name ‘Denbirayne’: a patented waterproofed fabric.
The book includes a lot of detail of the lives of the inhabitants of Tong during the heyday of the mill. The impression is of a tight-knit, self-contained community; almost all of whom worked at the mill or were related to those who did. The men played cricket and football in the valley, grew vegetables and kept pigs. The village gathered in the wesleyan methodist chapel (which also possessed a library) on Sundays, did their washing on Fridays and shopped in the Tong Park Street Co-op. They also swam in the lake at the dam. Many of the men went to fight in the world wars; frequently failing to return.
This loss which must have had a profound impact on the small community. A sadness compounded over subsequent decades by bitter industrial disputes and the ultimate decline of the textile industry. The main street was lined with terraced stone cottages which were demolished in the 1960s: a shame since they look very fine in photographs.
Much of the valley is beswamped in mud. It did top up the frog pond, which was looking a bit parched after last summer, but makes walking less enjoyable. Thus we have been tackling some of the worst bits.
It’s an early spring so far: Wild Garlic is up and there are various other plants in unseasonal leaf or flower.
Kestrels have bred in the valley in each of the last few years. Although one year they were unceremoniously turfed out half way through by Tawny Owls. Mortality amongst young birds is very high with only about 30% making it through to the next summer. This bird, beautifully captured by Ros is an adult male: probably from last year’s pair. It seems that males are more likely to remain on territory during the winter whilst females more often find another site fairly locally and then return in the spring.
There must be a pretty good vole population in the roughs of the golf course.
Meanwhile, Steve and I fixed the bridge at the top of Spring Wood in the beautiful winter sunshine.
After a little pause for contemplation it’s been a busy week for environmental activity chez FoGBV and an opportunity to put together a picture of what we want to do and how to achieve it.
Firstly, I think we have established that none of us really relish the prospect of lots of admin or formality. Let me know if you do -there’s a place here for you!! But, happily, we have the reassuring presence of the Aire Rivers Trust to help us. They are a well-organised charity with a wealth of experience and a network of co-workers whose aims are well aligned with ours in many respects (albeit focussed on the waterways).
Aire Rivers Trust https://aireriverstrust.org.uk/
Secondly, we are becoming aware of the diversity of amazing environmental organisations locally. Including…
Bradford Urban Wildlife Group https://buwg.vpweb.co.uk/default.html
Bradford Environmental Action Trust http://www.beat.org.uk/
Bradford Ornithological Group https://www.bradfordbirding.org/
Baildon Swift Group https://www.facebook.com/baildonswiftgroup/
Friends of the Earth Baildon https://friendsoftheearth.uk/groups/baildon
Sitting in on the meeting of the Friends of Bradford Becks (affiliates of the Aire Rivers Trust) this week we were very impressed with their effectiveness in improving the watery environment across the other side of the Aire from our patch. Much to be learned from them.
On Thursday we convened our own little assembly in Baildon with ten pioneering attendees weighing in. We are very grateful to Nick Milsom from Aire Rivers for being there. Outcomes in brief summary:
Onwards and upwards! As ever, any feedback more than welcome.
There has been concern that the ‘step’ down in the bed of the Gill Beck at the top of the underpass below the main Otley Road might be a barrier to movement of fish. Effectively this is like a small weir. Trouble is that rectifying it would likely be a substantial project.
Having just seen this video (second clip in tweet below), I’m encouraged that maybe they can make it up anyway.
Well, it’s been a complete bonanza of Hazelnuts this autumn. In addition to the native Hazel there are also lots of planted Cobnut trees around the Hollins Hill golf course which will now be about 20 years old.
Until this year I had never seen a brown Hazel or Cobnut on a tree in the valley. But something has happened: this autumn they are everywhere. Last year was quite good. This year has been a bonanza.
Maybe it’s the weather. Maybe it’s the maturing of the trees.
The more intriguing possibility is that something has happened to reduce Grey Squirrel numbers. There are still plenty of them obviously…..on every camera trap I’ve set! But perhaps they’re not so completely ubiquitous.
If populations of Pine Martens can mysteriously appear in the New Forest and Cornwall; miles from anywhere they were supposed to be….
Then it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch that we could be within dispersal range of the breeding population in Shropshire (about 150 miles away):
https://www.shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/pinemartenproject
Or of those in the North York Moors (only 50 miles away):
Indeed, there is a single record from Derbyshire in 2018:
https://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/news/rare-pine-marten-discovered-derbyshire
And a handful from Lancashire too:
Individual North American martens may disperse up to 190Km and similar long distance movements probably occur in Europe:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10592-015-0765-6
I shall be doing more camera traps this winter!
But there’s always a silver lining. In this case a lot of mushrooms in the valley. Like the trees, although the land use has changed some of the fungal organisms must have been soldiering on underground regardless.