Bucklebury Estate tries to future proof the Common ahead of 2,500 Thatcham homes
With north east Thatcham pencilled for an extra 2,500 homes in the coming years, conservationists are thinking ahead to the impact of an extra 7,000 people using nearby Bucklebury Common.
A programme of tree clearing is already under way this winter, and as Local Democracy Reporter Niki Hinman found out, the land management scheme in parts of the common is about 100 years out of date.
Bucklebury Common stretches for 900 acres and is one of the largest commons in southern England.
Following the distant sounds of a chainsaw, I walk with the Bucklebury Estate steward Alasdair Jones Perrott who hopes the work to clear self-seeding birch saplings will allow a greater diversity of plant and animal life to thrive.
“I don’t think much has been done here for about 100 years,” he explains.
“We are removing a lot of the birch shrub which has seeded and taken hold because of a lack of grazing.
“It is our intention to mechanically remove these saplings, but leaving the older oaks around the edge.”
The common is home to the famous Avenue of Oaks at Chapel Row, ancient woodland at Holly Wood and one of the largest areas of heathland in Berkshire.
In 2000 a new avenue of oaks was planted at Chapel Row to commemorate the Millennium.
In 2011 a further row of oak trees were planted at Chapel Row Green to mark the marriage of Catherine Middleton – whose family live just up the road – and Prince William, now the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The common is privately owned by the Bucklebury Estate and stretches from Cold Ash (Bucklebury Alley) in the west to Bradfield Southend in the east.
While the common is privately owned, it is free and open to the public.
Because it is registered common land, although it is owned by the Bucklebury Estate, everyone has the right to walk anywhere on the common under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Numerous tracks criss-cross the common created by people walking, often with their dogs.
In addition, there are abundant public rights of way, giving additional access to those on bikes, horses and in vehicles.
It is said that Bucklebury has the densest rights of way network of any parish in England.
Sam Kerr is one of the rangers up on the heath, employed by the Bucklebury Estate.
She is actually a marine biologist by training, but has opted for a winter of chain saw action in the woods, stripping out the birch shrubs.
“I am creating a site of wood pasture, clearing the birch trees and creating more space and light to get more flora and fauna underneath,” she explains.
“We have oak trees and big Scots pines we hope to work on too, along with a few birch and beech trees too.
“We hope in spring with the extra light we will get more grass and flower species.
“It is exciting to see what will pop up in a few months’ time.
“It is an awful lot of sawing, but it’s good fun.”
She is using the material she cuts down to create living hedges to edge the footpaths.
This has a dual function, to encourage wildlife, but also to encourage walkers to keep to the paths and give the new swards a chance.
Local ornithologists are helping the estate team by building up a picture or survey on what bird species are returning to the site.
Nightjars and woodlarks are among them. There are hopes for more.
An important feature of Bucklebury Common is its heathland.
Alasdair tells me that before the Second World War, there was continuous heathland between Upper Bucklebury and Chapel Row.
During the Second World War the common was requisitioned as a transport depot and as a result invasive vegetation took over during the post war period.
The Bucklebury Heathland Group, in co-operation with the Pang Valley Conservation Group, has restored a significant area of heathland over the years.
“Heathland in southern England is an extremely important habitat,” explains Alasdair.
“Over the last 150 years about 80 per cent of this has been lost to agriculture or forestation.”
Just a short walk from the main road, the woodlands open up on to a wide, wet, heather-covered heath.
It is interspersed with different mosses and lichen, with bilberry near the woodland edge.
It’s a boggy walk, with peaty coloured puddles and heather growing on gravel soil.
“Heather grows well on minimal mineral soil,” explains Alasdair, as we sink to our ankles in prehistoric looking swamp.
“That’s why it thrives, because it is on poor soil which is free draining because of the gravel.
“As part of the scheme of work being carried out over this winter is to extend this magnificent rare landscape by almost doubling what we can see now.
“We feel that because this has developed so well over the last 15 years there is no reason why we can’t achieve this.
“And the reason that we are doing this is due to the Government’s 25-year environmental plan – and it supports the plans for the North Wessex Downs National Landscape.”
In 2018 the 25-Year Environment Plan (25YEP) set out government goals for improving the environment, within a generation, and leaving it in a better state than it found it.
Labour has committed to the scheme’s continuance.
Its goals are simple – cleaner air and water; plants and animals which are thriving; and a cleaner, greener country for us all.
“By using our land more sustainably and creating new habitats for wildlife, including by planting more trees, we can arrest the decline in native species and improve our biodiversity,” says the plan.
“Connecting more people with the environment will promote greater well-being.
“And by making the most of emerging technologies, we can build a cleaner, greener country and reap the economic rewards of the clean growth revolution.”
Willie Hartley Russell is the Lord of the Manor, and the estate, including the common, has been in the family since 1540 and the dissolution of the monasteries.
It was acquired by his family from Henry VIII.
“It’s been a long road of restoration of the house and the estate over the last 30 years since I’ve lived here,” he says.
“Key in that is future proofing Bucklebury Common.
“We have the possibility of 2,500 extra houses in north east Thatcham and we have to start considering how those people might interact with the common.
“So we are thinking of car parking, cycleways, pathways and so on.
“Also how to protect those sensitive areas such as ancient woodland or heathland so we can live side by side but at the same time protecting the area while encouraging people to come and use the common in an appropriate way.”
Among the plans, main car parks will be enhanced with new information signs to educate people in a ‘soft’ way.
Some access to the common causes damage, such as inappropriate use of four wheel drive vehicles, both on and off the byways, or disturbance to rare ground-nesting birds by uncontrolled dogs.
Working in partnership with West Berkshire Council, inappropriate access will be reduced as much as possible.
The council has been working with Bucklebury Estate on ensuring that there is constructive response to 4x4 damage of the byways.
Typically, this is by placing Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) over the winter months on selected byways, that are easily damaged by 4x4s, as a preventative measure.
The council will also raise emergency TROs if actual damage is occurring and reported.
The council raised an emergency TRO on the byways on the west end of the common at Ramsbury Corner after antisocial use of 4x4s on the common this summer.
The council places bollards and barriers, with notices, at the entrances of the byways from the local roads.
“Unfortunately, we have had some antisocial 4x4 drivers ram and push over bollards in the area, causing significant additional cost to the council for repairs,” explains Bucklebury councillor Chris Read, who is also a commons rights holder.
“Residents should raise with the police if 4x4s are seen on the common itself or causing damage as this clearly breaks local bylaws.
“The majority of 4x4 users use the local byways sensibly and adhere to the TROs and avoid damage to the byways, but unfortunately the common does get a few antisocial users of 4x4s who both the council and the police respond to vigorously.”
Other plans include a cycle route between Upper Bucklebury and Chapel Row that will be created, providing a safe alternative to the dangerous road.
A number of circular routes will be promoted, highlighting some short walks around the common.
“It is a duty to look after the common, and one I relish. I love the common,” says Willie.
“I work full time in the City Of London so I walk my dogs up there a lot in my free time. It is a big part of my life.
“What upsets me is 4x4 abuse. Some are fine but others not.
“Littering is an issue too. We have two litter picks a year with the parish council and we fill a skip up each time.”
West Berkshire Council is responsible for way marking of public rights of way, maintaining the Commoners’ Rights register, collecting rubbish and assisting with vegetation clearance.
It also maintains car parks and public access.
In 2014, it transferred the recreational and access aspects of their management role to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), while retaining the management of rights of way, the Commoners’ Rights Register and the regulation of byelaws pertaining to the common.
There are approximately 130 houses in Bucklebury that have Commoners’ Rights.
The majority of commoners’ rights are in respect of ‘hedgebote’ or ‘firebote’ – the right of picking up fallen dead wood from the common for the mending of fences and for fires.
Approximately 20 households have ‘grazing rights’ but these are generally not exercised as the common is no longer fenced or gated, although the estate wants to bring a small cattle herd back to the common.
They won’t be traditionally fenced, but ‘geo-fenced’ with cattle wearing collars which will ‘train’ them to stay in certain areas.
“We are engaging with our local community to get a collaborative engagement with all parties including the parish council, Natural England, The Forestry Commission, BBOWT, West Berkshire Council, Rights of Way,” explains Willie.
“Over the last 100 years the management of the common has changed dramatically.
“Back then it was important for fuel and food and that has changed into more of a recreational area so it needs more work and thought to manage.”
The estate puts a lot of its own money into management of the common, but also taps into government schemes as well.
The project on the common is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its arm’s-length bodies.
It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
“I can only echo Willie’s and Alasdair’s words,” adds Chris.
“Even though myself and residents of [Upper and Lower] Bucklebury, Midgham, Chapel Row, Woolhampton and Stanford Dingley are opposed to the likely outcomes of the new town of north east Thatcham, we are also behind Bucklebury Estate in enhancing the infrastructure and ecological resilience of the common for the likely increase in visitor numbers and usage.
“The common has not been actively managed for a number of years until recently and what the estate is doing and has planned will raise awareness with the public this is a delicate environment and must be looked after, not only for our current use and enjoyment but for future generations as well.
“I can only encourage people to take the opportunity to come along to the estate’s future public engagements to hear from the experts and understand future plans.”
