ANNUAL REPORT 2009

The purpose of the FoTG, as stated in the Constitution, is “to conserve and enhance the Trap Grounds as a resource for wildlife, recreation, and education, in partnership with Oxford City Council and local people and representative groups”. The Committee has met once every two months during the year to discuss practical ways of fulfilling this purpose.

During the year we lost two valuable members. Peter Loudon resigned because he was moving to Kent;the committee co-opted Peter Higgins to serve in his place; Peter lives close by and is a frequent visitor to the Trap Grounds. Clive Hambler, a university zoologist with a long and active interest in the Trap Grounds, resigned recently because he has been recruited to serve on the management committee for Witham Woods. We owe Clive a huge debt of gratitude for his expert advice and unfailing support for our work, in recognition of which we have made him a life member of the Friends. To fill his place, the committee co-opted Martin Townsend, a consultant ecologist who has been commissioned to write a five-year management plan for the site.

Oxford City Council owns the Trap Grounds and has allocated a small annual budget for the basic upkeep of the site. More importantly Anthony Roberts, the Council’s Countryside Officer, has been delegated to work with the Committee on the conservation of the site. Anthony has been a tower of strength throughout the year, giving us expert advice and personally taking part in our work parties. Histeam has done some valuable work during the past year to make the site safer for visitors, by pollarding the unsafe willows along Frog Lane. They also undertook some major work in the woodland to the west of the main path, felling dominant sycamores which were overshadowing the native vegetation and creating dense layers of damp leaf litter which discouraged the lizards, slow worms, and grass snakes that used to thrive on the Trap Grounds. The result is an open sunny glade which was full of snowdrops last month and might even host bluebells in the future. Anthony’s team also ring-barked some tall sycamores at the back of the wood, near the railway line. These will die but will be allowed to stand in order to decay and provide sources of insects and cover for birds.

For our own volunteers the biggest task has been the never-ending war on Brambles, which began in February 2008 and has continued in Spring 2009. The meadow to the east of the main path, once full of wild flowers and butterflies, had become a solid mass of brambles over the course of many years. We have had an excellent response to our appeals for volunteers to cut down and uproot the brambles, using some specialised tools that we have bought recently. We were fortunate also to have the help ofa team of ten young people from Oxford Conservation Volunteers, who spent a whole day bashing brambles with us in January, for the modest sum of £80. The OCV team has agreed to come back for another day’s work on Sunday 19th July. Last year our efforts were rewarded by the re-emergence of bee orchids, pyramidal orchids, wild marjoram, and meadow clarey, not to mention a group of glow worms. It will be interesting to see what will emerge this summer.

There are some plants that we don’t want to encourage. One is the toxic Giant Hogweed, and another is Japanese Knotweed, both of which had gained a foothold in the woodland. Anthony Roberts’ team has more or less put paid to the Hogweed and will be tackling the Knotweed in the next few months. Another unwelcome invader is Canadian Golden Rod, a garden escape that has encroached on large areas of the scrubland and grassland. Fortunately it is easy to uproot by hand, so we shall be appealing for help to tackle it when the birds finish rearing their young in July.

The Trap Grounds woodland and scrubland was used as a rubbish dump for many years. Volunteers have been removing old mattresses, broken toilet bowls, rusting bicycles, and broken glass from the site since at least 1992, and we are pleased to report that most of the visible debris has at last been removed, and the site is now a lot safer for visiting humans and dogs. Many thanks to everyone who supported the Rubbish Blitz that we organised on 7th March as part of the city-wide OxClean project.

One highlight of the past year was a visit from the Water Vole Officer of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, who spent a day at the Trap Grounds last July, surveying the reed bed, pond, and stream for evidence of water voles. The water vole is one of the most threatened mammals inBritain, so it is good to report that the BBOWT officer confirmed their presence on the Trap Grounds. Conversely, our own surveys of Glow Worms produced disappointing results last July: only four or five individuals on any one night, compared with 14 or 15 in previous years. But we hope for better results in 2009. The first survey expedition will take place on Monday 29th June.

Records of wildlife sightings – most recently of snipe, woodcock, and kingfishers – are posted on our excellent new website, designed by Anthony Grieveson of Chalfont Road. At www.trap-grounds.org.uk , there are pages devoted to the history of the site, its wildlife, and the campaign to save it from destruction. For the benefit of other campaigning groups around the country, the website includes the texts of the legal verdicts in our historic Town Green case. There is also information about our organisation, with a membership form. We thank Anthony for all his work on the website, and congratulate him on his achievement.

The other important record of Trap Grounds wildlife is a booklet entitled The Wildlife of the Trap Grounds, now in its eleventh edition. Caroline Jackson-Houlston has compiled and edited this resource for almost 20 years, up-dating it regularly. It contains extensive lists of the birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates of the TG. Copies cost £2 each.

Catherine Robinson
Hon. Secretary, The Friends of the Trap Grounds

¹ Includes Lottery grant (Awards For All) for artwork project: £4691.

Polly Holbrook
Hon. Treasurer, The Friends of the Trap Grounds

Filed by Admin on April 8th, 2009