Tuesday 8 December 2015

Updates since the last postings on the website

30th October 2014
We had Dr Peter Coxhead from Sutton Park as our speaker. He drew many similarities between the habitats of the park and our hill. Peter explained how when land use changed, species disappeared. Peter said that although SSSI status enables species to be recorded it does not necessarily offer protection, however scheduled ancient monuments do have protection. Cattle grazing can help but invasive trees have to be cut down and woodlands need managing with regular coppicing to prevent birch from growing excessively tall. Peter said that it is difficult controlling invasive growth in areas of heathland and maintaining heathers. Dr Coxhead stressed the importance of preserving habitats and retaining biodiversity through actively managing areas with conservation. The Friends Of Sutton Park are a group of citizens who have encountered many obstacles but they continue trying to preserve the area.

21st February 2015
This was the first litter pick of the year. It was a rather cold Saturday which ended in a downpour of rain before the litter pickers returned to the church hall for their refreshments. The amount of litter on the hill has reduced significantly since our group started clearing the hill on a regular basis. The message is getting through that there are bins for rubbish and dog poo bags. We are always fortunate to have the support of local councillors at our events and Ray Jones has been on every litter pick since our group started, but on this occasion we were also supported by Amanda Milling who was the prospective Conservative candidate. She became soaked through with everyone else!

26th March 2015
Our meeting on this date was quite a hoot! We were fortunate enough to have the Owl Rescue Centre from Red Lion Farm, Haughton, Staffs. Andrew Campbell entertained the group. He was supported by a colleague and three rescue owls. They described the problems caused when people keep owls as pets. They discussed the different features of the owls and the ways they hunt. Members of the group were then invited to hold the owls on a gloved hand. Andrew used humour throughout his talk and tested what the group could remember at the end of the evening. One fact that he reminded us of is that the most common owl is the Teat - this is because every household has a teat-owl (teatowel!).
Geoff also announced at this meeting that the Trustees have been very positive and encouraging and that they said our group could clear the paths on the hill this year along with the litter picks.
Geoff also told the group that he had been to No.10 Downing Street along with other representatives of community volunteer groups in recognition of the work carried out by Friends Of Etching Hill.


14th May 2015
Our AGM was held and John Portman stood down from the committee. He was thanked for all the good work that he had done over the past few years. Phil Brockhurst agreed to replace John. The full list of committee is now- Geoff Brookes, Pam Owen, Phil Brockhurst, Don Heath, Mike Mottershead David Bowden, and Christine Travers Brookes.

28th May 2015
Dr Ian Stimpson gave us a very thorough and interesting talk on how the area of Etching Hill was formed over the last 570 million years through movement of continents and plate tectonics. The result for us has been an outcrop of Bromsgrove Sandstone that forms the hill. Land is constantly changing as continents crash into each other, volcanos erupt and temperatures change. Although this is a very slow process it forms the landscape we see today. Dr Stimpson described how the coal (from equatorial swamps) and pebbles (from the Budleighensis river) came to be present in Cannock Chase as well as informing us about the whole formation of The United Kingdom. Our country has moved northwards. One of the most intriguing facts was that Scotland was part of a different continent until two continents collided. Avalonia contained England and Wales and Laurentia contained Scotland. When they collided hills formed that became the highlands. This was an enjoyable and informative evening and created a lot of discussion!

More on the past years activities to follow.................

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