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Transcript of End%20of%20Year%201%20Report%20-%20final
Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme
Summary Report for Year 1
(October 2006 to September 2007)
Working together to conserve and celebrate the heritage of the northern scarp of the Blackdown Hills AONB
Gavi n Sa unders – Project Manager T : 01823 680846 M: 07760 355009 E: gavin. sa unders@forest ry .gsi .gov.uk
c / o B l a c k d o w n H i l l s A O N B , S t I v e l H o u s e , S t a t i o n R o a d , H e m y o c k , C u l l o m p t o n , D e v o n E X 1 5 3 S J
The Forestry Commission, Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership, Natural England, Somerset County Council,
Devon County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Mid Devon District Council, South Somerset District Council,
The National Trust, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation, Somerset Art Week Ltd
Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 2
Neroche: An overview
The Neroche Landscape Partnership Scheme
gained funding from the Heritage Lottery
Fund in 2006, and has now completed its first
year of project delivery, running from
October 2006 to September 2007. The Scheme
runs until Autumn 2009.
The LPS covers 35 square miles of the
northern part of the Blackdown Hills AONB,
spanning the border of Somerset and Devon,
close to Taunton. The area is characterised
by a low range of hills up to 275 metres, with
a pastoral landscape of small livestock farms,
and a large public forest estate.
The Scheme was awarded a total of
£1,882,000 by HLF, which taken with cash
and in-kind match funding from partners has
provided a total Landscape Partnership Fund
of £2.95 million.
The Lead Partner for the Scheme is the
Forestry Commission. The key partners
comprise the two County Councils, three
District Councils, Natural England, the
Blackdown Hills AONB, The National Trust,
the Somerset Wildlife Trust, and Somerset
Art Week Ltd.
The LPS is governed by a Partnership Board
comprising the key partners and members of
a Local Stakeholders Group.
The Local Stakeholders Group is a key
feature of the Scheme. It comprises eleven
members of the local community who were
closely involved in the design and
prioritisation of the original LPS bid. The
group now act as ambassadors for the
Scheme amongst their communities, both in
the immediate area and in the neighbouring
main towns, and remain instrumental in
monitoring and guiding projects within the
Scheme.
Delivery of the Scheme is led by a core team,
employed by the Forestry Commission and
based with the Blackdown Hills AONB
Partnership in Hemyock, within the LPS area.
The team comprises a Project Manager,
Access & Interpretation Officer, Community
History Officer, Forest Works Supervisor,
Forest Schools Officer, Administrator and a
team of three Apprentices. Some of these
staff are based for part of their time with
project partners.
The aims of the LPS are:
• To invest in the natural, built and cultural
heritage of the area
• To make the landscape more accessible to
everyone
• To improve people’s ability to sustain the
qualities of the landscape
Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 3
The LPS as a whole comprises 23 Projects, arranged under eight Programmes. These may be
summarised as follows:
PROGRAMME 1
NATURAL HERITAGE
A programme of six projects to enhance and
restore wildlife habitats across the Blackdown
Hills, at a landscape scale. The focus of this work
is the restoration of 300 hectares of plantation
forest to a diverse network of open space and
wooded pasture, grazed by a publicly-owned
herd of English Longhorn cattle.
PROGRAMME 2
BUILT & ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE
A programme of four projects focusing on the
conservation of key built heritage features in the
Neroche area. Key projects are at Castle Neroche,
an Iron-Age earthworks incorporating a Post-
Conquest Motte & Bailey Castle; and Wellington
Monument, an iconic feature of the Blackdown
Hills, managed by the National Trust
PROGRAMME 3
CULTURAL HERITAGE
A programme based around a Community
History Project, encouraging and resourcing
community groups and individuals to explore,
research, document and celebrate the history,
archaeology and landscape heritage of the
Neroche area.
PROGRAMME 4
PHYSICAL ACCESS
A programme of three projects to expand public
access to the heritage landscape, including a
major project to develop a series of long-distance
off-road ‘Herepath’ Trails for walkers and riders.
The trails will be developed to maximise access
for all users, and will be promoted as strategic
routes by the County Councils.
PROGRAMME 5
COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE
A programme of two projects to develop the
interpretation of landscape heritage, based
around the visual arts, music and storytelling, and
including a diverse annual programme of public
events. The programme includes an innovative
project to develop the use of mobile digital
interpretation.
PROGRAMME 6
OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN & ENJOY
A programme of two projects, one developing the
Forest Schools ethos as an approach to outdoor
learning amongst local schools, and one bringing
hard-to-reach audiences into countryside through
a series of ‘Health Walks’.
PROGRAMME 7
OPPORTUNITY TO BE INVOLVED
A programme of three projects encompassing the
community-based governance of the LPS,
promotion and communication, volunteering
training and activities, and planning for
maintaining the legacy of the Neroche LPS
beyond 2009.
PROGRAMME 8
PERPETUATION OF SKILLS
A programme of two projects designed to foster
the ability of the community to sustain the
qualities of the heritage landscape into the future
in a manner which supports the local economy.
The programme includes an Apprenticeship
Scheme to train three local young people for
careers in the Neroche area, and a project of offer
advice and small scale funding to land managers.
Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 4
Summary of achievements during Year 1
Overview
The Neroche Partnership began the year with
funding approval but only one member of
staff, so the early priority was to develop a
full team to begin project delivery. Alongside
this recruitment the Scheme set about
establishing a profile locally as a provider of
events, project funds and volunteering
opportunities. Thus established, project
partners have gone on during the year to
make a series of tangible and positive
changes in the landscape and for local
people, to the benefit of access, learning,
wildlife and cultural conservation. Neroche
now has a niche and a presence amongst the
community, and has directed £450,000 of
Lottery and partner funding into making a
real difference for the Blackdown Hills.
Natural Heritage
• A Forest Works Supervisor, Damian
Ward, is in post.
• Conifer crops have been harvested from
four major areas of the public forest,
totalling approximately 150 hectares.
• The first two of these areas, at Wych
Lodge and Quants, have been readied for
grazing management through ground
clearance and perimeter fencing.
• An initial herd of 20 English Longhorn
cattle have been acquired by local farmer
Chris Salisbury, who has been contracted
to manage the grazing herd.
• A 40 hectare unit of open space and wood
pasture at Wych Lodge has been subject
to grazing by the Longhorn herd over the
summer months, encouraging the spread
of grassy vegetation.
• Plans have been drawn up for an
innovative woodchip corral to house
cattle over the winter months outside the
forest – this will be constructed in 2008.
• The first season of management of
Somerset Wildlife Trust nature reserves
in the Scheme area has been completed.
Built and Archaeological Heritage
• A new management plan for Castle
Neroche Scheduled Ancient Monument is
in preparation, and the SAM has been
subject to extensive vegetation clearance.
• Wychwood Lake has been drained and
work is underway to restore the lake to
its original size.
Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 5
Cultural Heritage
• A Community History Officer, Tanya
James, is in post.
• A new local history group has been
established covering the eastern parishes
of the Scheme area.
• Three local history events have been held,
including a successful guided walk at
Castle Neroche.
• A suite of local history projects are
underway or in preparation, including
restoring the remains of a nineteenth
century Somersetshire Militia
encampment on Leigh Hill, exploring the
history of the Neroche deer parks, and
developing a buildings survey pack to
help local residents find out more about
the history of their houses.
• An oral history recording project has
begun by capturing the memories of the
last resident of the now-abandoned farm
at Britty.
Physical Access
• An Access & Interpretation Officer, James
Maben, is in post.
• The first long-distance off-road Herepath
Trail, covering 20 km around Staple
Fitzpaine, is under development, with
strong support having been gained from
riders, walkers and local residents.
• Contractors are undertaking a series of
major upgrades to previously impassable
bridleways along the length of the 20km
Herepath route.
• A new car park has been established at
Staple Hill, and the existing car park
extended at Castle Neroche.
Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 6
Collective Knowledge
• A Lead Artist (Michael Fairfax), Graphic
Designer (Dane Watkins) and Arts
Coordinator (Sally Clark) have been
engaged, working with Somerset Art
Week Ltd.
• Three ‘Touching the Seasons’ art-in-the-
landscape events have been held.
• A public trial of an innovative mobile
digital interpretation package has been
carried out, focused on Thurlbear Wood.
• A large mobile Camera Obscura has been
built as a tool for landscape heritage
interpretation at public events.
• Musical and storytelling commissions
have been invited for Year 2.
• A public open day has been held in the
forest jointly with the Blackdown Hills
AONB.
• Neroche has had a strong presence at the
South West Woodfair in Taunton, and the
Honiton Show.
Opportunity to Learn and Enjoy
• A Forest Schools Officer, Clare Neenan, is
in post.
• Ten local schools have signed up to send
teaching staff on Level 3 Forest School
Practitioner training.
• A full set of Forest School equipment has
been acquired.
Neroche LPS – End of Year Report 2006/07 7
• A series of Forest School taster sessions,
delivered on school grounds, are
underway.
• A series of Health Walks for adults with
learning disabilities has been carried out
in the forest by Somerset Activity and
Sports Partnership.
Opportunity to be Involved
• A Project Manager, Gavin Saunders, and
Administrative Officer, Sam Winzer, are
in post.
• A newly-designed Neroche Website has
been developed and is live.
• A Neroche brochure and events
programme was distributed in the
Blackdown Hills free newspaper to 10,000
readers.
• Regular articles and news items have
been submitted to parish magazines and
other local outlets.
• The LPS Board and Local Stakeholders
Group have continued to meet quarterly.
• The Neroche Scheme has hosted a visit
from the UK Forestry Commissioners.
• A volunteers database has been
established, and two volunteer training
events – in coppicing and in veteran tree
recording – have been held, with support
from the Somerset Wildlife Trust.
Perpetuation of Skills
• A team of three Neroche Apprentices
(Chris Hill, Dan Starkiss and Stuart
Birkhill) are in post.
• The Apprentices have undertaken formal
training in forestry equipment use, taster
placements with partner organisations,
and a programme of on-the-job training
with FC staff in the forest, facilitated by
Ambios Ltd.
• Advice to private landowners is being
delivered by FWAG and the Wildlife
Trust, to develop a dialogue with land
managers about future potential for
shared landscape-scale grazing.
Major activities in Year 1
Forest grazing Site 1 at Wych Lodge
Forest grazing Site 2 at Quants
Major harvesting site at Staple Common/Ruttersleigh
Vegetation clearance at Castle Neroche
Community History sites, events and groups
Locations making up 5km of upgrades along
Staple Fitzpaine Herepath
New and extended car parks
Locations of Touching the Seasons art events
Location for digital interpretation trial
Schools signed up for Forest School training
Neroche staff team base
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