Volunteering at Polhill Bank

Our Volunteers do a tremendous job and without them, Polhill Bank wouldn’t be in the state it is currently. With our plans to expand and restore 40 acres of land at Polhill, our volunteers and staff will play a crucial role in giving Polhill a future. Here our warden Paul Glanfield talks about some of the work they have undertaken so far this year

 

Early spring is a busy time of year on the original Polhill Bank Nature Reserve; it is when we carry out the bulk of the scrub clearance work to maintain the chalk grassland habit on the site. We do this through a combination of clearing secondary woodland which has started to lose its bird nesting interest, pushing back the edges of the mature scrub to stop it encroaching and annually cutting the scrub regrowth and trailing bramble on the open grassland areas.

We have also been pruning the scrub along the boundary fence with part of the new extension to encourage it to bush up and develop into a dense wildlife friendly hedgerow.

All this working is carried out by Kent Wildlife Trust reserve staff and our trusty teams of dedicated volunteers. The new extensions will mean more work, and we will be relying on the support of our members more than ever to help us restore and maintain this important expansion to the core reserve.

~ by Reserve Warden – Paul Glanfield

For more information about our appeal to restore Polhill Bank, click here.

Read more about volunteering

small copper butterfly on the grass

June on Hothfield Heathlands

Blog

We have had the driest spring since 1956, with river and stream flow already well below average for the time of year, a worry for everyone. Area Manager Ian Rickards reports that “this crazy weather has been beneficial for some insects, but the vegetation…

Volunteers at Hothfield Heathland in winter with frost on the grass.
© Joanna Boult

Winter wanderings on Hothfield Heathlands

Blog

Volunteer, Margery Thomas, explores winter on Hothfield Heathlands - one of Kent's last four valley bogs and one of its few remaining fragments of open heath.