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What’s new on Freeman’s Marsh?
Freeman’s Marsh is owned by the Town and Manor of Hungerford. With help from Natural England, the Trustees have developed a plan for restoring wildlife and securing the future of the Marsh for people to enjoy.
It’s been a year since the public meeting of the conservation plan to protect Freeman’s Marsh took place. Since then the Town and Manor of Hungerford in partnership with the local community in Hungerford, Natural England, and the Environment Agency have been implementing a 10 year plan to safeguard the many wild plants, birds and animals, some of them rare.
Freeman’s Marsh Conservation Group has been busy in all sorts of weather on a variety of tasks including hazel coppicing, replanting an ancient hedgerow, removing scrub to allow wildflowers to grow and last week narrowing the river to improve the habitat for aquatic life.
Bigger changes undertaken by contractors include the fencing which will stop the cattle from eroding the banks, and will also protect the water vole. Surveys undertaken with BBOWT last summer reveal that the marsh is still an important home to Britain’s most endangered mammal. Contractors will be undertaking another stretch of hazel coppicing at the far western end. This will regenerate the hazel here which would otherwise collapse if this ancient practice was not reinstated.
The guided events such as river dipping and bat walks have proved very popular and the next event is a talk on ‘Restoring our local rivers’ by the Environment Agency. See Public Events on Freeman’s Marsh.
River Restoration Work Continues in Freeman's Marsh:
The second phase of the capital works started in 2009 has continued since Christmas where new stock fencing has replaced barbed wire around the Spinney upstream of the Middle Hatches on the River Dun. Also a stretch of stock fencing is now installed from Hopgrass Farm downstream to the Ash Pool. This work will exclude the cattle from the majority of the river and in-line with the Environment Agency efforts and regulations to retain the quality of the chalk streams in the Kennet and Dun Valleys.
Freeman's Marsh permanent pasture marshland and bog relies on cattle grazing to maintain the ancient plant and wildlife habitats at the same time poaching and treading of the rivers by cattle has led to serious river bank erosion and silting downstream.
This river work will allow the verges to grow up which will stabilise the banks and shelter the water giving a haven for fly life and other aquatic animals that are so essential to the well being of the rivers.
The new management policy for the rivers and fishing in Freeman's Marsh is to add wildlife facility wherever possible. For instance the river bank restoration should add protection for the Water Voles, the protection of the fly life will allow better populations of Brown Trout and Grayling and the installation of bird boxes will encourage more successful fledging of small birds and owls.
Reports in recent weeks are encouraging, with Green Sandpipers, Water Rail, Snipe, Little Egret, and Kingfisher being spotted within the more secluded areas of the marsh.
The photographs above show the installation of hazel coppice groynes upstream of the Ash Pool on the River Dun. This work is being carried out by enthusiastic supporters of the Conservation Group under the direction of the Town & Manor Water Keeper Robert Starr and the Environment Consultant Sally Wallington. [Robert James, Hon Sec Commons Committee and Trustee].
A Glossy Ibis took up residence for several weeks in December 2010, and a pair of Chinese Swan Geese were befriended by some families of Canada Geese in may 2011.
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