Two small projects in Oundle - update

By Hilary Hoyle

Hilary is part of a team In Oundle who have been working to produce a Nature Recovery Plan.

Here she describes progress on the two projects she wrote about in a blog article late last year.

Last November I wrote about two small projects I was undertaking as part of the Oundle Nature Recovery Plan - planting native bulbs and putting up Swift boxes. 

Time has passed and it's now well into spring.  The hoped for riot of Snakeshead Fritillary, Wood Anemones and Wild Daffodils has not happened but the Aconites have popped up all along the Blackpot Lane bank bringing a lovely splash of early colour with them. 

There is already a variety of wild and escaped flowers along the bank including Primroses, which have been a joy this year along with the cowslips that are slowly spreading up the lane. 

Also making a very pretty show were the Greek Anemones or Winter Windflower which arrived from nowhere along with a dainty white flower which I have variously identified as a white Bluebell, Spring Squill or Few-flowered Garlic!  Any other suggestions are welcome.

Our very supportive Town Council have had several conversations with the contractor who cuts the grass and who agreed to mow the whole bank only twice a year and to cut just the edges at other times.  Sadly, the message didn't get through to the person driving the mower….. luckily he was spotted in time and stopped mowing before doing too much damage.

Blackpot Lane now has a smart notice at either end designating it as a Wildflower Area.

The second small project has been successfully completed and there are now six houses on Vine Close and Blackpot Lane that have brand new ‘des res’ Swift boxes under their eaves.  The Planning Group is very grateful to a neighbour who helped put the boxes up and the residents who agreed to have them. 

I was delighted to see and hear my first Swift of the year above our house almost a week earlier than last year, on April 30th, and have seen four more since then.  Our fingers are crossed that more will return and take up residence in the new boxes, but we know that it could actually take a few years for this to happen.

If you are ever in Oundle, do walk down Blackpot Lane to enjoy the bank and the small front gardens that some of the residents have been gardening for wildlife.