Compartment 17 comprises seven somewhat separate subcompartments, all located on the north side of Bury's Bank Road. The boundary runs around several properties and consists of a rich mix of woodland, small remnant areas of heathland, grassland and wet wooded gullies.
Compartment 17 covers...
Subcompartment descriptions and ecology are listed individually below.
Options exist for this compartment.
Maintain areas of mature woodland and increase areas of acid grassland and heathland by reducing the extent of bracken, scrub and secondary birch woodland.
Situated next to a housing estate and Crookham Golf Club ground, this small mixed secondary woodland has a few large oaks and mixed tree and shrub species, including sycamore. The ground layer contains an extensive colony of pignut with associated bluebells. Wood sage and bramble occur throughout. A concrete stand and surrounds have a variety of pioneer species, notably shining crane's-bill, local and rather rare in Berkshire.
| Objective | Area | Method | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17A.1) Increase current extent of species-rich ground flora. | All woodland. | Occasional, selective felling of sycamores with follow up stump treatment. Leave large specimens. Focus on areas with rich ground flora.. | Maintain public right of way by cutting back encroaching vegetation during glade clearance works. |
This area is mainly wooded but also contains a complex of habitats on a plateau that falls into a wet wooded gully. The small, but significant wet gully contains a shallow pool at the head supporting bog pondweed as well as a mire with tussocks of purple moor grass, sphagnum, lesser skullcap and bog pimpernel, a rare and declining species in Berkshire. At the lower section of the gully, ash and alder coppice woodland occur and opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage can be found. At the head of one of the gullies, bamboo is starting to spread downstream from an area adjacent to a property.
Where older woodland is found amongst the secondary, birch dominated areas and open bracken glades, there are large oaks with small populations of Solomon's seal, pignut and bilberry. The boundaries of the common are also marked by banks, some big, with large notable trees. Holly is also frequent and there is a small Scots pine plantation in the south-eastern section. Rising up onto the plateau there are remnant, somewhat isolated patches of heathland with common and bell heather along with small areas of grassland, predominantly around the car parks. The more open areas with remnant heath and scrub have been used by nightingales and there are anecdotal records of nightjar churring.
| Objective | Area | Method | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
17B.1) Increase current extent of heathland and grassland areas.
HLS objectives
|
All current areas of heathland but predominanty either side of Bowdown Woods approach road and around car park area. | Clear fell areas of secondary silver birch and follow up with stump treatment. Leave larger, single specimens of oak and birch. Spray bracken and consider small scrapes. Coppice gorse in a rotation to diversify the structure, and allow to re-grow where it does not compete with heather. |
Discourage dumping of garden waste. Part of this area is included in the BBOWT West Berkshire Living Landscape project area for heathland restoration works 2011 - 2013. |
| 17B.2) Maintain current extent and diversity of mature oak woodland, wet alder and willow gullies and associated ground flora by minimal intervention. | All woodland. | Minimal works to keep small open pools free from cover, especially willows around flush with bog pimpernel. Cut and treat southerly willows only. Leave some to re-grow. Leave alder and ash on stream edges to succeed without intervention. Retain pine plantation. |
Protect historic banks and large trees from encroachment and damage. Regular checks on spread of bamboo from property. Liaise with adjacent landowners on importance of banked boundaries and trees. |
| 17B.3) Remove bamboo from wet gully. | Adjacent to property. | Cut and/or pull every year. | Liaise with neighbouring landowner. |
This relatively small area comprises mainly neutral grassland found in glades, succeeding to mixed scrub and secondary woodland, all dissected by tracks to private properties. In the woodlands, mature hawthorns and apple trees are particularly evident and a steep slope to the west side contains dense holly under beech and oak trees with bilberry among the ground flora. Where the woodland opens out towards the east, a gravelly area over a concrete pan supports a grassland where frequent cowslips and young gorse bushes occur. A small area of acid grassland next to Bury's Bank Road contains anthills.
| Objective | Area | Method | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
17C.1) Maintain current extent of heathland and grassland areasHLS objectives
|
Former gravel area. | Remove and treat scrub, including gorse. | Little heath exists here currently so scraping or seed introduction could be considered. |
| 17C.2) Diverisfy woodland structure. | Open small, sunny glades to maintain an open canopy and allow to re-grow. |
This area comprises a mixture of mature and secondary oak and birch woodland around numerous tracks and access roads, and contains brick structures and concrete pads from military history. The mature oak woodland often has holly thickets and an area at the eastern end has a tall English elm, an unusual occurrence after the 1970s Dutch elm disease outbreak. In the pockets of neutral and acid grassland, bird's-foot can be found growing on anthills along with isolated heather bushes. A wet flush in the woodland is dominated by rushes and contains great horsetail and bog stitchwort. Gorse scrub is frequent, especially around the car park and road side and small areas of bracken are found in open glades. In the east of the compartment an invasive balsam species can be found.
| Objective | Area | Method | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
17D.1) Maintain current extent of heathland and grassland areasHLS objectives
|
All current extent of heathland, especially along roadside and car park area. | Coppice gorse in a rotation to diversify the structure and allow to re-grow where it does not compete with heather and grassland. Keep gorse and scrub clear of ant hills on western end of compartment. |
Fly tipping is a problem here. Keeping gorse short will help alleviate this problem. |
| 17D.2) Restore heathland. | Towards east of subcompartment. | Spray bracken and scarify soil to encourage heather regeneration. | |
| 17D.3) Eliminate invasive balsam.> | East of subcompartment. | Pull up or cut. | Liaise with neighbouring landowner. |
| 17D.4) maintain openness of marshy area. | North of subcompartment. | Cut and treat scrub. | |
| 17D.5) Maintain current extent and diversity of woodland. | All woodland. | Minimum intervention. | Protect boundary oaks from encroachment and damage. |
This is a narrow roadside patch of grassland locally known as School Green, regularly mown with a well used, surfaced path.
Continue with regular contracted mowing and bollard maintenance.
This is a small, dense fragment of woodland with a fringe of grassland containing vigorously suckering English elm and a large quantity of deadwood. Pignut occurs in small numbers amongst a number of garden shrubs and herbs both introduced and planted.
Maintain current extent of woodland by minimal intervention.
This is a small parcel of woodland with oak standards, birch and wild cherry with Scots pine lining the edge of the golf course boundary. Gorse, bramble, bracken and bluebells occur in the ground layer. The boundary bank and trees are quite marked and should be protected from encroachment.
Maintain current extent of woodland by minimal intervention.
Ensure boundary is protected.