This field has a right of way into Brigsteer, which was completely covered by the hedge, over 20 feet wide in places. It was the first hedge we laid and despite its neatness in the picture here it is now 3 meters high again.

Making the right of way through the reserve safe and passable was one of our first priorities and repairing the stone steps of the original footpath was the very first major task we carried out – Boxing Day 2007. The remains of the steps were completely burried in the old hedge, no one in the village remembered them or realised that they were there.

We are told that the flat part of this field was once use by the local lads as the village cricket pitch; surrounded by woods, scoring a 6 must have been fairly easy. Clerks Paddock has a west facing, sunny, flower rich slope that has never been ploughed and a long damp, shady section between two areas of woodland with rank grass, dock and nettle where cattle feeders have stood in the past. In this area we are going to leave a north-south running wide path to favour butterflies and link the two woods by planting broadleaf trees that we have raised from local seed and suckers from the huge lime. Willow, alder and bird cherry where it is damp, ash, oak and lime on the dry margins. We shall put yew on the shallow rocky wooded slope. We are leaving the veteran beeches that are old and falling apart; on the whole reserve we are slowly removing non-native sycamore.