CRAMER GUTTER

David Currant chairs the Ludlow Branch of the Trust, which is actively involved in conservation work on Cramer Gutter in accordance with the Trust's management plan for the site. Here he shares some thoughts on issues around managing small and vulnerable sites.

What follows is a commentary on the viability, or sustainability in current parlance, of small reserves plus a challenge to all volunteers who are involved with reserve work.

One such reserve is Cramer Gutter, a patch of old, damp pasture at the eastern end of Catherton Common which itself is a continuation of the common land which surrounds Titterstone Clee Hill.

The site is certainly small at a fraction over 4 hectares. Its survival, like much of the species rich land around the Hill, is due to its poor agricultural quality and traditional grazing management over the centuries. Most passers-by would not give the site a second look; it has no distinctive features, no obvious charms; it's just a patch of scrubby hillside. Yet this is one of the most species-rich sites in the County and forms part of the Catherton Common SSSI. It supports over 100 flowering plants including the only known population of marsh gentian in the West Midlands and important rushes and sedges, a rich variety of bryophytes including three national rarities, small pearl-bordered fritillary, bush cricket and keeled skimmer dragonfly. You have to look closely and carefully to uncover its treasures!

Many volunteers will know Cramer Gutter from their experience working there with Simon or with the Ludlow Branch and most will harbour painful memories of gorse prickled limbs and warmer memories of gorse bonfires, for the key to management of the reserve has been and continues to be gorse control. From a historical perspective I suspect that this patch of land was enclosed by Act of Parliament on the edge of the remaining common but never intensively managed, with enough control of scrub by grazing to allow the variety of plant life to flourish unhindered. So why does the same rich variety of plants not appear on the rest of Catherton Common and was there a time past when the whole area had such a diversity? These are tricky questions to answer but they are relevant to today's management for only by establishing the right balance of grazing, scrub clearance and water control will the conditions for the present diversity be maintained. Or will they? There are other factors beyond our control: weather patterns, climate change, water tables for instance. This has always been the case but past management of upland areas has provided far greater flexibility for natural processes of plant regeneration to encourage survival and diversity; large areas of varied habitat will go through cycles where the same piece of land supports different species over time depending on prevailing conditions and the species themselves move site to adapt to those conditions. The process is a dynamic one: only in the garden do plants stay in the same place - well most of the time! This is one of the arguments for the creation of larger reserves but is not a luxury we possess on most SWT sites. We need to manage in order to create the optimum conditions for our site-specific species to flourish and that involves "gardening" on a grand scale which is costly in terms of resources.

So, back to gorse control! At the moment we are experimenting at Cramer Gutter with a variety of control methods: brush cutting, burning, machine cutting, herbicide treatment and grazing. We would need a much larger force of volunteers to carry out the work by hand, so contractors with heavier equipment will be employed this winter for the main clearance work. We plan for our two legged and four legged 'volunteers' to keep the situation under control.

The flagship species for the site is the marsh gentian, and its appearance over the past few years has been somewhat erratic with both number of plants and location varying considerably. This probably reflects changing management practices, changing local conditions and, the factor which I discussed above, the dynamic nature of plant regeneration. The task which we shall now undertake with care is the mapping of gentians together with recording those areas which have been cleared of gorse or had other work carried out. Only by careful recording and observation can we assess the effectiveness of our work and justify all those resources! Harking back to the past once again, and the times when those who worked the land lived on the land and knew it intimately, I believe that we have much to learn from our ancestors. They could read the weather, the soil and the plants and other wildlife it supported and knew instinctively the changes that were taking place and understood the appropriate actions to counter unwanted situations. We lack their natural wisdom and country sense but we do have the benefit of scientific research and of specialists from our own staff. What is needed in addition is volunteer commitment, not only to muscling in on reserve management but also to making time for regular site visits and careful recording and monitoring.

I am not sure that this is a challenge which we have fully faced up to yet.

I hope this article will stimulate discussion and new ideas and welcome comments from any readers either direct to myself at canddcurrant@ecosse.net or via Stephen or any SWT conservation staff member.