The Community Orchard will re-open on Saturday 10th August , and subsequent weekends thereafter. The orchard will be open from 10am to dusk or 6pm, whichever comes sooner. Enjoy!
Orchard Re-Open August Bank Holiday
Bourne Woodlands Forest Plan 2023 – 2033
Your chance to read and comment on the Forestry England’s proposal for the management of the Bourne Woodlands in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire. Please click here.
Consultation closed 13 December 2023
Objection to Planning Application – West Road Greenfield Site
The Friends of Bourne Wood organised a get together to show their objection to the planning application submitted by Aldi on the field on West Road on the edge of Bourne. Despite a heavy shower just before and quite short notice of the event – over 30 people attended to show their opposition to building on this site. The Friends are not against Aldi but would object to any planning on this site as it is a greenfield site which is not in the Local Plan, outside the curtilage of the town and adjacent to Ancient Woodland (which is why it is not in the Plan).
However, the Group’s main concern is that any building on this field will change the status of the surrounding fields (which are also excluded from the local Plan due to bordering ancient woodland), and it is unknown what these might become available for – possibly either housing or industrial.
Any building on any of these fields will have a major impact on the woods and the local wildlife and flora. Currently these are grass fields which, although grazed, provide homes for countless insects, birds and mammals – a supermarket and its car park will not. More importantly, this and any other buildings will create noise and light pollution, as well as affecting air quality. Not to mention the increased litter which is already a problem in the woods. The increased traffic on West Road to access the site should also be a consideration as well as the effect of increased pollution which will drift into the town.
The Friends therefore urge the residents of Bourne to think of the effect this application will have on Bourne now and in the future – there must surely be better places for this supermarket. The closing date for submission of objections is July 28th and the application number is S23/1177, you can make your thoughts known on the SKDC website. Even if you completed the Aldi consultation document – it is imperative you now comment to SKDC via their website. We have found before that people’s opinions do count – so make the Council aware of yours!
Photograph by Peter Sharpe
WASSAIL BOURNE COMMUNITY ORCHARD 2023
The Friends of Bourne Wood, in conjunction with Bourne Borderers Morris, held their sixth Wassail in the community orchard in Bourne on Saturday. A Wassail is a traditional custom to celebrate the apple harvest of last year, to reawaken the trees, and to encourage them to bear fruit this year. It had been a beautiful sunny day, and the evening went really cold, with a sharp frost, but we had a brazier to keep people warm. There was a very good crowd of around 200 who made their way down to the orchard gate, to join in this delightful celebration. Everyone was welcomed to the event by the Borderers and Friends of Bourne Wood, and offered a taste of either mulled cider or apple juice and some homemade cake, before Bourne Borderers commenced the proceedings with a traditional Morris dance. More dancing followed before everyone sung the ‘Apple Tree Wassail’.
The gathering then proceeded into the orchard, led by Alianna, the Wassail Queen, and the Borderers. The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovely in the dusk, with the path down also lit with tealights. The trees were blessed with cider, and toast was placed in the branches for the robins, the guardians of the orchard, by anyone wishing to take part, while the musicians continued to play. The trees were wassailed, with the customary poem, followed by lots of noise, with everyone present banging pots and pans, and cheering!
Once back on the hard-standing the Borderers danced again, and all joined in the ‘Here we come a wassailing’. The evening ended with a traditional Mummers play – performed by the Borderers.
The Friends would like to thank everyone for supporting this event, and especially Bourne Borderers for their help and support, and all those who provided cakes and helped out on the day. The Friends of Bourne Wood are always looking for new members, and Bourne Borderers would welcome anyone wishing to join them in their dancing – which they practice on a Wednesday at Edenham Village Hall.
Photographs by Steve Goddard
Wassail Bourne Community Orchard 2022
The Friends of Bourne Wood, in conjunction with Bourne Borderers Morris, held their fifth Wassail in the community orchard in Bourne on Saturday. A Wassail is a traditional custom to celebrate the apple harvest of last year, to reawaken the trees, and to encourage them to bear fruit this year. The weather forecast was not favourable, but by the time the event was due to start at 4pm the skies had cleared and it remained dry. A good crowd of around 80 had gathered to join in the celebration – a delightful way to enliven a dull and damp January day. Everyone was welcomed to the event, andoffered a taste of either mulled cider or apple juice and some homemade cake, before Bourne Borderers commenced the proceedings with a traditional Morris dance. More dancing followed before everyone sung the ‘Apple Tree Wassail’.
The gathering then proceeded into the orchard, led by Zoe, the Wassail Queen, and the Borderers. The trees in the orchard had been decorated with lots of fairy lights and looked lovelyin the dusk, with the path down also lit with tealights. The trees were blessed with cider, and toast was placed in the branches for the robins, the guardians of the orchard, by anyone wishing to take part, while the musicians continued to play. The trees were wassailed, with the customary poem, followed by lots of noise, with everyone present banging pots and pans, and cheering!
Once back on the hard-standing the Borderers danced again, and all joined in the ‘Here we come a wassailing’. The evening ended with a traditional Mummers play – performed by the Borderers.
The Friends would like to thank everyone for supporting this event, and especially Bourne Borderers for their help and support, and all those who provided cakes and helped out on the day. The Friends of Bourne Wood are always looking for new members, and Bourne Borderers would welcome anyone wishing to join them in their dancing – which they practice on a Wednesday at Edenham Village Hall.
Photographs by Steve Goddard
Apple Day 2021
It was a gloriously sunny day for the Friends of Bourne Wood Apple Day, held in the community orchard, off Beech Avenue on Sunday 10th October.
Of course, the main draw of the day was the apple stall, with lots of varieties of apples on show and to take away for a donation. Most of our trees have done very well this year, with some pears available too.
Carrying on the fruit theme, we had an orchard quiz for adults complied by our outgoing chairman, which was quite difficult, but we did have a winner, Chantel and Issac, won a copy of Richard Jefferson’s – ‘Jewels Beyond the Plough’ book. People could also guess the weight of the bag of apples, and there was an orchard scavenger hunt for children, and a guess my name competition to win a knitted Town Crier, which was won by Susan Halsall.
A few more copies of Richard’s book were available, along with the Bourne Wood booklet and we had an information table about the group and orchard, where people could the group if they wished.
As always, tea and coffee and homemade cake were very popular with the steady stream of visitors, and those attending could sit in the sun and listen to Vaughan Roberts playing his fiddle while enjoying their refreshments.
Last but not least we had a plant stall for some locally grown plants – both the plant stall and apple stall remain in the orchard when open for the time being.
Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who worked so hard to make the day a success.
Photographs by Steve Goddard
Fruits Of The Forest Foray 2021
A group of around 16 joined Willie McLaughlin, Wildlife Ranger, for a walk on a gloriously sunny afternoon on Sunday. Willie had very kindly stepped in to lead the walk as Richard had already left for Cumbria. The aim was to look for Fruits of the Wood – but as Willie reminded us it has been a dry year so berries and nuts are not so numerous as they might be.
So, the group enjoyed the walk looking at plants and trees that could be used for a variety of things. We started off with the glorious Beech Tree, the mast is not edible to humans but enjoyed by squirrels – however apparently the new young leaves can be used to flavour your gin!
We moved onto a more well-known fruit – the sloe – yes – sloe gin – but the flowers of the blackthorn also have medicinal purposes, as do the next couple of plants we stopped to look at – Hawthorn and Meadowsweet.
However, black bryony having wonderfully red berries is poisonous to humans but much liked by birds! The next-door Rosehips are full of vitamin C and can be made into a syrup to ward off colds.
Trees as well as providing shade and firewood, can also be used for making instruments and furniture. We have some wild service trees in the wood and the berries of these can be made into jellies once bletted.
Our thanks go to Willie for an informative walk – making us think about Fruits in a different way!
Photographs by Steve Goddard
Chairman’s Farewell
So when and where did it all begin?
I was invited by the Friends of Bourne Woods to give a talk on Flowers of woodlands & meadows at the AGM in 2008 (I think). It was not long after that that the then Chair, David Sheppard, resigned as he was moving away from Bourne and I was elected to the Chairs position.
Over the last 12 years or so that I have been the Chair,the Friends have established the community orchard (I am one of 4 trustees) and continued to offer an annual programme of guided walks and events. Some events have ‘fallen by the wayside’ such as the Santa in the woods but other new events have become established such as the annual orchard open day and the annual Wassail in January in conjunction with the Bourne Borderers.
In addition to the administrative tasks associated with a Chairs role, I have led at least one guided walk every year (apart from 2020!) usually either a spring or summer wildflower walk plus a few fruits of the forest guided walks in autumn. In tandem with Dr Keith Porter,we established the summer Bug Hunt which we have now run for around 5 years. I have also drafted a couple of notes for the website on forestry operations (felling) and on the ecology of the wild service tree (the leaf is the Friends emblem) in addition to reports on the guided walks.
Over the years, I have given a number of talks on the wildlife of Bourne Woods to various local groups such as the U3A Garden Group, the Bourne Civic Society, the Bourne Trefoil Guild and the Royal British Legion. In 2016, I wrote a booklet with the help of several others entitled Bourne Wood – A portrayal of a wood in Kesteven which was published with financial support from the Forestry Commission. Sale of the booklet helps to raise funds for the Friends activities and maintenance of the community orchard.
And my last task, apart from writing this farewell, was to draft an orchard quiz which will be used at the Orchard event on 10th October!
I am moving to south Cumbria (Burton–in–Kendal) to join my partner Jane and hope to get involved with local wildlife and natural history groups in that area. I will be coming back to Lincolnshire on a regular basis to meet up with family and friends. In the interim, Sarah Roberts will become Acting Chair until the next AGM and thereafter we hope to find a ‘permanent’ Chairperson!
I would like to thank all of the committee and other volunteers both past and present for making my tenure as Chair such an enjoyable experience. I hope the Friends will continue to thrive and carry on their excellent work for the benefit of the wood and thepeople of Bourne and surrounding areas.
Richard Jefferson
I, on behalf of the Committee and the Friends would like to thank Richard for all his hard work and support during his time as Chair. As he reminds us he has done many other things in addition to his Chair’s role and his knowledge and experience will be missed. We wish Richard every happiness in his new life in Cumbria.
Sarah Roberts
Nature Notes from Bourne Wood – May 2020
The sound was unmistakable. Clear and instantly recognisable both by myself but, I should think, to virtually all who could hear it. Not that you needed to be near as it spread through the still air across and through the wood. The sun was shining with blue sky above. It was a sound of spring. Despite all that is going on the cuckoo cuckooed as he sought to attract a mate. Fancy flying all the way from Africa and stopping in Bourne Woods, rather optimistically calling in case a female was within hearing distance. They say that in May they sing night and day- well this one was following the instructions as I heard in in the morning and the evening, depending on the timing of my daily outing. What spring sights and sounds have you witnessed? Swallows swooping, bluebells blossoming, tadpoles testing their tails? It is such a wonderful time of year and I do seem to have a few more hours to enjoy it. There we go- another silver lining! PS my dog is guilty of not following the social distancing recommendations- she still rushes up to meet her friends!
Nature Notes from Bourne Wood – April 2020
Although I regularly enjoy a walk in the wood- under the pretence of exercising my dog- I do not frequent it every day, other activities can get in the way! There can be gaps of a few days during which, at this time of year, loads can happen. For example, I was part of a group nature ramble in early March when, after the gales and rain of sequential storms, we were lucky to have bright sunshine, blue skies and not a breath of wind, ideal conditions for looking at the resident birds. I say resident as the summer visitors had not yet arrived so we enjoyed the singing tits, squeaking goldcrests and noisy nuthatches whilst overhead buzzards soared. We spotted a single flowering wood anemone poking through the leafy carpet covering the woodland floor. We did not hear or see a single chiff-chaff and yet, three days later, there were loads about, calling with their familiar ditty from high up in the trees. Down below there was a swathe of white flowers with purple tints announcing that the wood anemones were now out and ready to impress. It is a busy time of year with new arrivals and rapid growth. The level of birdsong goes up a notch every day- there is a mistle thrush who sings from the very top of a larch tree in the middle of the wood. His voice carries well from that vantage point whilst the song thrushes demonstrate their superior quality of sound from slightly lower branches. Before long they will be joined by the willow warblers and blackcaps providing a wonderful musical accompaniment to the spectacle of the bluebells. It really is a good time to be out. My dog is sure that there have been plenty of new whiffs and smells so she too is keen for another walk in our local woods.