Ancient Woodland Inventory Volunteers

  I am a retired grants administrator with a keen interest in biodiversity and the natural world. For a time I worked for the Woodland Trust at their head office in Grantham, so woodland is a familiar habitat for me and I understand the vital importance and uniqueness of sites that have always been wooded. Woodland tasks and tree planting with the Trust for Conservation Volunteers are favourite days out. I live in north London, but enjoy getting out of London to walk along the coast or in the Chilterns or the Weald.

I am an enthusiastic gardener and have planted a native hedgerow along my back fence. It is seven years old now and starting to look like a hedge. Hopefully it will produce some sloes this year for sloe gin! It already provides rosehips, elderberries and haws for the birds. The garden also has a pond, plenty of untidy spaces and plants for pollinators to be as wildlife friendly as possible.

I got involved in GiGL’s Ancient Woodland Inventory project because it feels like a really useful project to be part of. I have been introduced to online mapping techniques for the first time which has been a challenge for me but also very interesting, and the volunteers have been given access to a wide variety of resources and support to help with each task. As an ex-librarian, I have especially enjoyed being made aware of all the sources of habitat and site information that are out there. Looking back at historic records borough by borough and piecing together site histories has been fascinating.

I am a recent graduate from a masters in conservation at UCL, where I met GiGLer and ancient woodland enthusiast Frankie! I also have a love of nature and enjoy spending time in wild places, especially beautiful ancient woodlands. I am just starting a PhD investigating the impacts of beaver reintroduction so will be spending plenty more time in the woods with that!

I wanted to volunteer with GiGL to make use of some of the skills I had gained during my conservation masters, both to help out a valuable project that can help identify and protect ancient woodlands, and also to gain experiences that would stand me in good stead when looking for work in the conservation sector.

I have enjoyed the QGIS training and the detective work of searching through old maps. This was most enjoyable when finally moving on to work on the test site for the site history research, which I did for Scratchwood in Barnet. It was great to combine grey literature searches with analysis of historical maps to create a picture of how an area of ancient woodland has changed over time.

While visiting ancient woodland sites near Stanmore Country Park and photographing information boards I discovered that there is a little RAF museum hidden near to an ancient woodland site, from where WW2 fighter command was based and where they now serve excellent tea and cake!

Stanmore Country Park with its RAF museum and excellent tea and cake (photo by Richard)

I love spending time outdoors camping and hiking and have a keen interest in protecting wildlife and the environment. Desiring a career change, at the beginning of 2020 I started studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Management and Conservation Biology. Post studies, I hope to work in restoration ecology to help rebuild valuable ecosystems and prevent further biodiversity loss.

I was eager to volunteer with GiGL on the AWI Update project as I believe it will create an invaluable reference that will help protect London’s irreplaceable ancient woodlands and their rare and threatened species. In addition, it will help ensure future generations can benefit from the recreational and health benefits that natural environments offer.

While balancing parenting, studying, and volunteering offers a challenge, I have really enjoyed being part of the AWI team and delving into the history of woodlands within my assigned boroughs. Volunteering with GiGL has given me numerous opportunities to develop my research skills and I have particularly enjoyed working with QGIS and applying the skills learned in a practical setting.

While working on the project, it has been fascinating comparing old maps and observing London’s remarkable transformation over the centuries. I have enjoyed learning about the history of the Great North Wood, which once inhabited a large portion of south London, and potentially discovering remnants of this ancient woodland nestled within highly developed areas. During spring, I hope to explore more of these woodlands in person and catch sight of the ancient woodland indicator species mentioned during research.

Photo caption: Stacie in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park (photo by Brooke Kennerson)

I grew up in North Wales in an estate cottage on the edge of woodland comprising silver birches, beech and oak trees. I loved spending time amongst the trees and all aspects of the natural world, but chose to take a degree in astrophysics at London University. Most of my subsequent working life has been spent in academic publishing, then more recently working for not-for-profit professional registration and membership associations.

All my jobs were interesting, but none had a direct connection with the natural world. In 2019 I decided to take a career break and just as I was planning to return to permanent employment the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I took the chance to review how I spend my time, and was excited to see an advertisement for volunteers to help with the update to the AWI. I liked the fact that I could do most of the research work from my home office, that it required a systematic approach and thorough record-keeping, and that it involved trees, perhaps the most under-appreciated part of our natural environment. 

I started volunteering on the AWI in October 2022, and I have already learned so much from being involved, from using the technology for mapping (‘GIS’), to ecological definitions of woodland types, and much more about the boroughs closest to where I live. For example, I knew that Hounslow Heath, still today an impressively large and untamed environment, in the eighteenth century was much bigger, encompassing the areas now occupied by Heathrow Airport, Feltham, Hampton and Twickenham. I discovered that one of the most significant steps towards the whole of the UK being mapped by the Ordnance Survey took place on Hounslow Heath. In 1784 General William Roy made an incredibly accurate measurement of a five-mile baseline, levelling the ground and inventing new measuring tools, to provide the basis of a triangulation. The southern end in Hampton Hill is marked by an upturned cannon and the road is named Roy Grove in his honour. The Epoch 1 Ordnance Survey maps and drawings continue to be a valuable reference for me and other researchers on the AWI project today.

 











Memorials to William Roy at Hampton (formerly Hounslow Heath) (photo credit Stephen)