Search the web site

Older news

2005

Thanks to everyone who helped with last year's Hallowe'en event, with special congratulations to Jane Bignall our new organiser. Nearly 600 people enjoyed the evening.

The park won Joint 1st Runner Up in the Environmental Projects category of Chester in Bloom 2005. We understand that our co-joint runner up, The Cheshire Cat, has a good wildflower garden!

Goodbye Snail

We have enjoyed coming across the snail as we walked past Celandine Close but sadly he had come to the end of his life after four years, longer than most of his live friends. The Working Party could not bear to get rid of him so he has been carefully arranged as a play opportunity for children.

A poor year for butterflies

Malcolm Leigh sends a yearly report on the butterflies he has seen int he vcalley to Barry Shone from Cheshire Butterfly Conservation. Barry replied in October that 2005 had been far from a vintage year. He had only received 10% of his usual reports of sightings; the numbers of small tortoiseshell had tumbled. Migrant butterflies like red admiral and painted lady were much scarcer than usual.

Birds to look out for this winter

Brambling, goldfinch, greenfinch, bullfinch and chaffinch. Last year there were some thrilling sitings of flocks of waxwings so look out for them this year and pass the word around if they visit the valley.

Another hummingbird hawk moth

Valerie Formby writes that a friend of hers, who lives in Northgate Village, saw an unusual creature hovering amongst the flowers in her garden. She identified it in one of Valerie's book as the Hummingbird Hawk Moth. It was feeding on geraniums.

Membership

At Christmas, membership for the year (from September) stands at around 150.

Rescuing The Pond

The BTCV with their boat joined the working party again this year on 20 October to help us tackle the phragmites that is taking over the pond. We have not found a way of permanently restricting it but we can keep it under control if we cut it back every year.

Chester in Bloom 2005

Caldy Nature Park won Joint 1st Runner Up in the Environment Category!

Tree Survey

Following on from emergency work earlier in the summer to clear some dangerous branches, the council's tree officer has completed a tree survey of the whole park, resulting in a prioritised work programme of maintenance activities. You will see a lot of work being done over the winter to put this programme into action.

Water Vole

John White was the lucky one on 19 June when he saw a water vole in the leat by Bachelors Bridge. Let's hope this is a sign that they are spreading around the valley.

Publicity Officer

Welcome aboard Ken Hill, who has offered to look after our publicity. Have you noticed how tidy the noticeboards are now? Thank you Ken for helping us with this job.

Time for a change

Pam Atkinson has decided that it is time for someone else to take over as Chairman of the Friends Group. She writes: I started right at the beginning in 1991 and I am very proud of what we have achieved as the Friends Group. I think it was easier at the beginning when we had little in the park and we were able to start what have now become traditional activities. The committee rose to the challenge and various members agreed to be responsible for different activities like Hallowe'en (Jane Bignall), Countryside Day (Tina Watkins), Working Parties (Marian Chorley & John White), Wildflower Walks (Jonathon Barritt), Bat Walk (John White). I am happy to continue as Editor of the newsletter and organiser with Tina Watkins of children's activities. I have really enjoyed being Chairman - but I will also enjoy handing over to someone else.

The role of chairman has changed and is now more to do with co-ordinating helpers and being the contact with various groups and the public.

Butterflies

On 24 March Sue Bastin saw these butterflies in the park - brimstone, holly blue, small tortoiseshell, peacock, comma and small white. At the beginning of May, Malcolm Leigh saw orange tip, speckled wood, green veined white and small white.

Butterflies are very good indicators of the diversity of other insects which are difficult to monitor. If butterflies are good, other insects are also doing well. Butterflies will disappear more quickly than other insects so monitoring them is very valuable. The Butterfly Conservation Group keeps records of all butterflies seen in Cheshire, and Malcolm passes on details of all the sightings in the valley. You can help by phoning Malcolm on 348238 if you see butterflies in the park, with details of the date, time and weather conditions.

Slow Worms

Mike O'Kell would be interested to hear from you (tel Chester 402578) if you see a slow worm. They are unusual in Cheshire but have recently been seen along the railway line to Manchester. It is a legless lizard but is often mistaken for a snake. They are harmless and as slug eaters they are an asset to any garden. They are up to 18 inches long, sleek and shiny and they vary in colour from grey to coppery brown. They usually move slowly and deliberately but can move fast if disturbed.

Quality of water in the brook - the story continues

Pam has been getting an update from Mary Tyler at the Environment Agency (see original story). Mary has visited the farms upstream from the park and has tested their "run-off". She came across a few issues but generally found their practices very good - some of the best she has come across. So the nitrates in the water are not so bad. In fact, the general quality has improved as far as the oxygen and ammonia in the water are concerned. Our real problem is with the high level of phosphates which come from soaps, washing powder, etc. These will probably be in the surface water that drains into the brook from all the surrounding houses.

We are waiting for Welsh Water to start their detective work looking in particular for cross connections in the plumbing and drainage systems.

Meanwhile the Environment Agency wants to know about any pollution you see in the brook. Phone them on 01244 670770 and tell them what, where and when you have seen the pollution.

2004

A Gift from the Graders

The Grader family have long been very supportive Friends, and when Jeff earned enough 'stars' for his voluntary work, his employer, MBNA, awarded him a grant of £250. His three children, Emily, Sally and Jonas, decided that the charity to benefit would be the Friends of Caldy Nature Park. The money will be spent on three owl boxes which we hope will encourage tawny owls to breed in the valley. We will also put up three boxes for starlings and three for sparrows as the numbers of both these species, rather surprisingly, are falling. The rest of the money will be spent on buying some children's guides to insects, pond life,etc which we will be able to use when we have activities in the park. Thank you to MBNA and the Graders for thinking of us.

Killing on the roads

Malcolm Leigh is collecting information about animals and birds killed on the roads. Could you phone Malcolm on Chester 248238 and let him know what you have seen, when and where. He is not interested in knowing about rabbits or pheasants! The information will be used in Europe to identify how numerous species are and the threat from road traffic.

Pond Rescue 2004

We were very glad to welcome eight BTCV volunteers on 10 October who worked with six Friends to clear the pond of some of the phragmites (or reeds). Without this annual cut back, the pond would be taken over by phragmites.

Birds and Berries

Have you noticed what a tremendous number of berries are on the trees this year? Malcolm Leigh says watch out for waxwings this year as they feed only on berries.

A Woodmouse

Mrs Watkin from the Isle of Man was walking through the valley on 19 September when she saw on the footpath a very tiny mouse. She had her camera with her and just had time to take two photographs before he scampered away. There are undoubtedly many of these delightful woodmice in the park but how often do you see them? How often do you have your camera at the ready?

Duck Races

There was so much enthusiasm around that we had 3 duck races on 13th April. News of our annual Duck Race is spreading far and wide and a large yellow American duck that had flown over specially was taken aback by the size of our brook. He learnt to cope fast and after two disastrous races, managed to come second in the third race.

Butterflies

Malcolm Leigh was distracted by the sight of butterflies when he came down for the Duck Race. Even though the weather was not sunny, he saw two brimstones, a peacock, two small tortoiseshells and an orange tip.

Kingfishers

Glenys McBain was thrilled to see two kingfishers on one of her regular walks in the park on 17th February. We probably won’t see them in the park for a few months as they go away to breed ... unless you can prove me wrong!

Our summer birds are back

Malcolm Leigh is pleased to report that chiffchaffs, willow warblers and blackcap have all come back to the valley after a winter spent in warmer areas. Garden warblers (most usually seen in the area between the Pooh sticks bridge and Chester Road) reed warblers and sedge warblers (look at the back of the pond) have returned; whitethroats will be next followed by swallows, house martins and last of all, swifts.

Nest Boxes

Have you noticed the 3 new nest boxes that Malcolm has put up — one near the Mother and Child sculpture, or as Malcolm calls it, the tin lady, and two in the ‘ampitheatre’ trees? Thanks Malcolm.

2003

This section is currently incomplete. It will be filled out as soon as possible.

Pooh Sticks Bridge - rather a flippant name for such a fine construction. The original wooden bridge was just about the first thing to be built in the park. A plate on it used to say that it was put up in 1976 by the Manpower Services Commission; Cheshire Highways have now provided a fine new bridge which should be good for the next 25 years.They used 'Ekki' wood, an African hardwood which is both durable and strong. It will probably darken a bit with time but will not need any treatment. The walking surface is made from 'criggan', a Welsh aggregate that has been stuck on to the timber to make it non slip.

Malcom's Scrape has been made much larger and more light is getting to it since some of the willow trees were cut down. We have planted iris, soft rush, purple loosestrife, water avens and galingale around the edges and its looking good.

Footpaths
There will be some obstructions in July as the footpaths are renewed. It is about 10 years since they were built and considering they are regularly flooded in some areas, they have lasted well. Contractors will be doing the work for the City Council and you can look forward to some better paths when the work is finished.

Everglades
Most parts of the valley were given names some years ago and we have found them very helpful when talking about the park (see map). Bachelors Lane and Hill was marked on the 1842 Tithe map and some parts of the ancient hedgerow still remain. Behind Moorcroft's Folly, we have named a new area 'Everglades', around the No. 2 sluice where the leat was dug out last winter. This made a lasting difference to the amount of water that lies aound the willow trees, mostly in Pool Meadow.

Spring update: The sunniest March for 40 years encouraged people into the park to enjoy the daffodils and celandines and the new green on the trees. Mike O'Kell arranged for a digger to clear out the leat beyond Bachelors Bridge into the area we call the Everglades. The silt which was put to the side of the leat will soon be free again and it was interesting to see that large areas are now under water. The leat was constructed in 1992 so it was due for a clean out.

2002

December: in his weekly column in the Chester Chronicle, Jim Howie wrote that you can always be sure of seeing finches in Caldy Nature Park. Chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches and, if you're lucky, a couple of bullfinches too. He finds that the best place to see finches is from the footpath on the Huntington side of the brook; bullfinches like the bushes at the top of the cyclepath by Daniell Way.

The birds have a good friend in Peter Wressel who every other day, puts out food for them on the feeding station between the brook and the footpath that runs along the bottom of Butterbur Close. Sheila Yale also feeds birds on the green by Tushingham Close - her favourite is black sunflower seeds.

Has anyone glimpsed the kingfisher lately or seen, or more likely heard, the water rail?

On 16th October, a cormorant was seen by two people swimming in the brook. Frightened by a dog, it swam underwater for about 20 yards.

Flocks of 30 redwing have been seen flying over the valley but has anyone seen any redwing yet?

Malcolm came home about 7pm recently and heard a bird singing its head off - it was a song thrush with its beautiful repeating song.

Art in the Park: At the last committee meeting, it was agreed that our next major project would be to mark the entrance to the park on Caldy Valley Road. We will have to apply for grants and some of the money we have in the bank will be used for matching funding. This is the latest stage in our efforts to promote artwork in the park.

We are very grateful for two donations we have recently received in memory of Friends. Of the £100 for Sheelagh Francis, £47 has already been spent of three bird boxes which Malcolm has already put up. Monice Bennett has given £50 as she remembers many happy walks she had in the park with her late husband, Charles.

Flower Walks: Martyn Stead our wildflower expert and Jonathan Barritt our recorder - we thank you both for four very enjoyable walks and the valuable records that are kept of the flora in the park. We had a 'first' on our last walk - Orange Balsam which thankfully is not nearly as aggressive as its relative, Himalayan Balsam. We have several birdwatchers and butterfly recorders who keep a note of the birds and butterflies in the valley but we do not have any records of animals or insects - apart from pondlife. Is there anyone who would like to fill this gap ?

Blooming Chester: It was very pleasing that Caldy Nature Park was chosen as one of the venues for the judges in the North West in Bloom competition to visit on July 3rd . Pam was pleased to tell them about the Friends Group and all that we do to make the park such a popular area. Chester won the North West competition last year so we welcomed judges from Britain in Bloom on August 9th. It was pouring with rain but they were impressed as they stood on Bachelors Bridge and the water in the stream flooded past. Lets hope Chester does well in both competitions.

Bat Walk: About fifty grown ups and children came along to the Bat Walk on 10th August and enjoyed talking to Kit and Kevin Walshe. They had brought their tame noctual bat ‘Velcro’ and also a much smaller pipistrelle that had been injured but was just about ready to be released into the wild. The rain held off and we walked down to the pond about 9pm as it was getting dark. At first Kit only picked up a couple of pipistrelles on her bat detector but then the detector was buzzing as it located about 20 noctuals flying over the pond.

Kit told us a very sobering fact about bats. We have lost about 90% of our bats in this country over the past 100 years; the main culprit was the chemicals used to treat timbers in houses, especially lindane.

By the end of the evening, most people could say that they liked Bats. The new Bat House at Chester Zoo has helped to get rid of some
of the prejudices about these very useful mammals.

Hilbre Island: The Watch Group and some ‘Friends’ had a wonderful day on the 6th August, walking across the sands to Little Eye, Middle Eye and then Hilbre Island. You leave from West Kirby but first of all you have to check that the tides are right for a crossing. The number to phone to find out about the times is 0151 6484371.

A rare bird in the valley: One of our members, Will Edwards was alerted when he heard an unusual bird song as he was walking along the path just past No.5 sluice. He looked patiently into the dense reed bed and was thrilled when he saw a reed warbler. This bird has been seen in the valley before but it is rare. On his way back to the car park, Will heard the song of the reed warbler again and also saw 2 reed buntings.

A very special walk for Will - let Pam know if you see anything unusual in the park.

Hedgelaying: In February people had a chance to learn this ancient craft. Pete Atwood and BTCV volunteers were laying the hedge between Caldy Valley Centre and Sainsbury's petrol station for Great Boughton Parish Council. Volunteers went along to have a demonstration of the craft from Peter and then put it into practise.

Feeding Stations: We have decided to bring to life the two bird feeding stations that we have in the park. Sheila and Brian Yale have kindly offered to keep the one in Wellfield regularly supplied with food and we need an offer from someone who regularly walks in the valley to do the same for the feeding station behind Butterbur Close.

The Friends will be buying table mix from the RSPB plus some black sunflower seeds and possibly peanuts. This is something of an experiment and Sheila and Brian will be keeping records of the birds that are attracted and which food they take. Squirrels are one problem and how the food is put out is another, but we will let you know how Sheila and Brian get on. If you sit on the seat in Wellfield, you will be able to observe the birds attracted by the food. Apples are a valuable food so if you have any windfalls going spare, phone the Yales on Chester 340301.

Rhino in New York:

Remember the rhino who came to our Countryside Day in 2001? Read on...

2001

Records of flora, grasses and trees in the valley: Jonathan Barritt has completed the mammoth task of listing all the species recorded in the valley including the flowers and grasses noted on the Wildflower Walks. Thank you Jonathan. We will be putting those details onto the web site but it is some task as it involves 45 different grasses, 26 trees and 236 plants. If anyone wants to lend a hand with the typing then please let Owen Watkins know.

Some special bulbs: Lynn Kelly gave us some money to buy bulbs in memory of her mother Maureen Kelly and we planted Tete a Tete narcissi in Long Meadow between the clump of trees and the brook.

We had some problems over the summer 2001...

It started on 17th June when several people reported a diesel/ oil leak coming down the brook. This followed a clean out of Sainsbury's drains that morning. The Environment Agency were quickly on the scene, they analysed the leak and their legal department have the matter in hand. Thankfully a tree trunk strategically placed stopped the pollution going down the leat to the pond area. Everyone walking down the park noticed the smell which hung around for weeks. A really good downpour would have washed it away much quicker but this all happened in a very dry spell.

Just as this problem was clearing up, another catastrophe. On 6th July, a lot of dead fish were floating on the pond. We were very surprised that there were that many fish in the pond. The Environment Agency again responded and told us that the water in the pond had reached 31 degrees which meant that there was not enough oxygen in the water. This high temperature was made worse by the lack of rain and the fact that no water had been coming down the leat.

Before we buried the fish - about 200 - Malcolm identified them as small gudgeon, roach, rudd , one tench about 2lb, chubb and one small bream. The rudd and tench had been introduced, the rest came up the stream from the Dee. We will not be restocking the pond; there were still fish alive and the quality of the water will be much improved with fewer fish.

Chester Volunteer Bureau. Thank you Tina Watkins for making the Friends contribution to the wall hanging being assembled by Chester Volunteer Bureau which will represent many of the voluntary organisations working in Chester.

A First for the park: Pam writes: I usually rely on Malcolm Leigh or Graham Stanley for the latest news about birds in the park but I was incredibly lucky when I was sitting by the pond on 9th April. 6 ducks flew in and landed on the pond and I realised they were mandarin ducks, 5 males escorting a single female. Luckily Graham Stanley was also there and he realised that this was the first siting of these striking ducks in the park. Apparently a flock had escaped the Grosvenor Estate sometime in the past and they are now breeding naturally. It must have been our lucky day because Graham and I both saw male and female Brimstone butterflies - lets hope they find one of the alder buckthorn bushes we have planted for them to lay their eggs on.

Mike O'Kell. Mike has been involved with Caldy Nature Park right from the very beginning as a Cheshire Countryside Ranger, working for Chester City Council. In 2000 he changed his job to work directly for the City. He is still responsible for the valley but he spends less time down there. More work is now done by contractors but hopefully you have not notice any changes. We are very glad that Mike has kept his close links with the 'Friends' and he continues to come to our Committee meetings. We have had to make some adjustments - one of them is that Mike no longer comes to our regular working parties - the City has bought us our own set of tools in recompense.

2000 & earlier

Christmas Tree Chippings 2000. Mike O'Kell and his helpers chipped over 800 trees. Crack willow trees near Bachelors Bridge that were living up to their name and leaning all over the place, were felled about the same time.

Black Redstart: A first for the valley, seen by Graham Stanley in summer 2000 as he sat on Peggy's seat at the back of the pond.

Congratulations, Brian. We were all very glad to hear that the good work that Brian Jervis does every day as our voluntary litter picker has been officially acknowledged. Brian was Chester Chronicle's Environmental Champion for 1999 and he was given his award at a special dinner.

Halloween 1999 It poured with rain in the afternoon on 30th October but the sun came out just in time to let us get all the props in place. There was a very good turnout and thanks to the 54 helpers working out there in the dark, we put on a good show. We were very glad to welcome the Dragon Theatre Company who did the final piece down by the pond. This is a group of community actors who perform at different places throughout the year. They welcome new members so if you are interested, get in touch with Jo Beggs on 312344.

Otters Welcome The November Working Party built a holt for otters, with help from Gail Butterill, who works for Cheshire Wildlife Trust. It has been built beyond No. 6 sluice where it will be undisturbed and we will let you know if anything moves in. Just keep your fingers crossed - it is a most desirable residence.

News   Events   Features   About us   Home page   Links   Mail   Guestbook