What's going on in the Spinney?
There has been a dramatic change in the Spinney along Stansted Road, with the major trees being thinned out and the understorey of bushes and regrowth cleared away. This sort of management of the Spinney by the Parish Council has been going on for the last eighteen years. The trees and bushes that were cut down to ground level will not die but reshoot and produce a new understorey. The major trees will now have room to spread and develop fully, instead of racing each other upwards to get as much light as possible.
If you look round the Spinney, you will see that the understorey varies considerably, depending on how long ago it was last cleared. Towards Isabel Drive, the regrowth is limited, as we cut that down last year. On the other side, towards Leigh Drive, the undergrowth is much stronger and the rear section of the Spinney towards the footpath at the back is strongest of all as it has not been touched for some years.
The Spinney is about thirty years old and there is a continuing need to manage it to produce strong, beautiful trees and a varied range of habitats. With luck and climate change permitting, the oaks on the Spinney should still be around in two or three hundred years.
Please also see Working Parties