CradleyWild

As of 16th April we have smashed the 110 planters target. A big thank you to all who came on Saturday 12th or who have since arranged to pick up a starter kit. Remember to keep your planter watered (without over-watering) and please take a photo of it when it is looking its loveliest, and send to CradleyWild@cradley.org.uk. There will be prizes for the best at the Food and Produce Show in September.

17 April Making willow teepees to sell at the Plant Sale. Limited numbers, email Linda or Clare if interested.

18 April, all nominations be with Herefordshire Council. From the talk by Sally Webster who set up Verging on Wild. If you would like to nominate verges in Cradley not to receive a first cut in Spring then please let us know at cradleywild@cradley.org.uk . They suggest this link to pinpoint locations or to use the Grid Reference Finder. 

26 April, Wildflower Walk: a short stroll around the village with Ian Perry to see what is blooming in our verges. Meet outside the church at 2.30pm.

5 May Plant Sale, Village Hall. CW will have a stand. Village Hall, 9.30-12.30am.

25 May Litter pic. Meet at Fincher’s Corner at 2pm. Bring your own gloves and litterpicks if you have any.

18 May Hedge Walk: what to look for when surveying a hedge for wildlife with Patrick Fleming. Meet at LuVan House, WR13 5NF at 2.30pm.

2nd June, NGS garden visit?

25 June: Meadow Walk with Rory Johnson, Herefordshire Meadows. Meet at the Village Hall at 2pm.

28/29 June Cradley Open Gardens, CW may judge the planters.

10 July: Rebecca Tully, local councillor, will talk about the Herefordshire Food Alliance and creating a thriving and sustainable local food economy. Village Hall, 7pm.

Date to be confirmed: Litter pick. Meet at Fincher’s Corner at 2pm.

August: possibly another hedge survey.

11 September: AGM and talk about Eco Churches. This is also the time to renew membership subscription, £5pa.

9 October: Dr Ian Hague, on Saving the Wye and the state of Cradley Brook. Village Hall, 7pm.

Date to be confirmed: Litter pick. Meet at Fincher’s Corner at 2pm.

13 November: make things to sell at the Christmas Fair. Village Hall, 7pm.

11 December: Mason bees, Di Hefferan, Village Hall, time tbc.

Please eMail CradleyWild@cradley.org.uk if you would like to join our group.

Don’t forget moths, March newsletter

Butterflies with their colourful wings and day-time flutterings, are such scene-stealers that it is easy to overlook their dowdier night-time cousins, the moths. Often dismissed as jumper- and carpet-destroyers, their poor rep is undeserved. They are also important pollinators and provide a vital food source for birds, spiders and bats. Some are even spectacularly lovely.

Moths are also relatively abundant (although their numbers are inevitably dwindling): the UK has around 2,500 species. Even a small garden can support over a hundred species if it has the right plants. Most gardeners are knowledgeable about the importance of growing plants for bees and butterflies, but many of us are unaware of the larval food plants of caterpillars (frequently native plants often dismissed as weeds such as nettles and Lady’s Bedstraw), or what nectar-rich flowers give moths enough energy to fly. Moths and their caterpillars also need fallen leaves, old stems and plant debris to help them hide from predators – another reason not to be too tidy in your borders.

What to grow to help the moth

As intensive agriculture has limited the habitat options of moths, it is more important than ever for gardeners to step up. Moths pollinate night-flowering plants and crops, taking up pollination duties when butterflies clock off. Most feed on flowers that open in the evening or become more heavily-scented at that time of day. There are plenty to choose from and if you grow a wide variety of plants, you will encourage a wider range of moths.

Nicotiana: adult moths access the tubular flowers with their long proboscis.

Evening Primrose: moths flock to their scent released at dusk.

Honeysuckle: a favourite of the Elephant Hawk-moth and the Twenty-plume moth

White campion: pollinated by the Lychnis moth.

Sweet rocket: attracts a wide range of moths.

Leaves for the caterpillars:

Foxgloves: loved by the Lesser Yellow Underwing and Angle Shades moths.

Lady’s bedstraw: food for caterpillars of the Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Elephant Hawk-moth and Bedstraw Hawk-moth

Mullein: irresistible to the caterpillar of the Mullein moth

Mint: munched by the caterpillars of the Mint moth and Plume moth

Planters for Pollinators: will you help make Cradley bloom this summer? February newsletter

As mentioned in last month’s Newsletter, Cradley Wild is collaborating with the WI to create 110 planters around the village to celebrate 110 years of the WI in the UK. The aim is to raise awareness of the loss of insect-friendly plants locally, and to work towards remedying this by filling 110 planters with pollen- and nectar-rich flowers.

We can’t do this alone so are calling on local people and local groups to pitch in to make Cradley bloom with flowers and buzz with insects. We are still in the initial stages of the campaign but would love to hear from any individuals or organisations willing to have a planter filled with pollinator-friendly plants in their front garden or on the roadside. Planters could be as small as a plant pot, a hanging basket, or a window box or something grander and more spectacular. Participants are to provide their own planters, but we hope to provide a starter pack and compost to help people get started. (If you don’t have a planter handy, still get in touch, we may be able to help.) Each planter will be numbered, and prizes for the best will be awarded at the Food and Produce Show in September. More details to follow as they are confirmed.

We are really excited about this project and would love to get as much of the local community involved as possible. Ideally, every road and every corner in Cradley will burst into bloom! If you are interested, drop us a line at  

plantersforpollinators@gmail.com and help us to help nature.

Next Cradley Wild event: 13 February: Sally Webster, Verging on Wild

We are delighted that Sally has agreed to come and talk to us about the valuable work she and her team of volunteers are doing to protect and manage Herefordshire’s roadside verges. Roadside verge flora, including plants like harebell, field scabious and ragged robin, is vanishing. The way verges are cut, and the increasing fertility or roadside soils means that they are disappearing and weed species increasing. This is bad news for wildflower species and the populations of bees, beetles and butterflies that depend on them, and for the birds who eat these invertebrates.

Sally will explain what Verging on Wild is doing to reverse the decline, talk about the successes so far, and give us pointers on what we can do to boost our verges in Cradley. She started Verging on Wild with two friends and the way it has grown and the effect it had is inspirational, as is she! Looking forward to seeing you there.

13 February, 7-9pm, Cradley Village Hall, £3 (includes tea and biscuits). Everyone welcome.

To contact Cradley Wild, email cradleywild@cradley.org.uk and look out for updates on cradley.org.uk/cradleywild

Fantastic Mr Fungus, January 2025 Newsletter

For a number of years, I was one of the experts on Radio Shropshire’s gardening show. Being both a keen organic gardener and wildlife enthusiast was a good combination to answer most listener questions. Every autumn there were questions like, ‘there are mushrooms on my lawn/tree/greenhouse – how do I get rid of them?’

Hmmm. Public understanding of fungi is limited at best, often it’s blind fear – they poison us and surely will decimate the garden. While this might be true in limited cases, without fungi we are lost.

Helping plants grow

Virtually all plants (it’s estimated over 90%) rely on fungi. In, on and around plant roots are fungal threads that are masters of absorbing soil water and nutrients, which they share with plants. In return, plants’ superpower is to make sugars from photosynthesis, very handy for a hungry fungus!

Nature’s recyclers

Nature operates a ‘circular economy’ to use a modern buzz phrase. No resource is ever wasted, it is reused repeatedly. Plants and animals contain vital nutrients that need to be reprocessed after their death to feed new generations. This comprises everything from cattle turning grass into cow pats to feed insects, to worms disposing of leaves underground.

Fungi are exceptional recyclers, particularly of ‘hard to reach’ nutrients. Take trees. Not very many creatures can digest wood, except fungi. Without the ability of fungi to decompose wood, evolution would have come to a grinding halt.

A good time to die

Even the way fungi kill things can be a positive. This is most apparent in woodlands; in a thriving population it is best to have vigorous, healthy trees. If they are stressed through drought or age, some fungi can act as pathogens to quickly kill the tree allowing new ones to grow.

The answer’s in the soil

Fungi of all sorts thrive in uncultivated and unfertilised soil. What Arthur Hollins realised at Fordhall was that nature makes soil an excellent growing medium without human involvement. Over millions of years, it has evolved to be a perfect mix of minerals, bacteria, algae, microscopic animals and fungi best suited to the locality.

So, when mushrooms appear in your garden, rejoice! They are a clear sign of a healthy environment helping your plants to thrive; they are also saving you money on fertilisers.

Let’s hear it for fantastic fungi, the unsung heroes of the natural world.

John Hughes

John Hughes, formerly of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Radio Shropshire, has been a voluntary board member of charitable organisation Fordhall Community Land Initiative in Market Drayton for many years. The FCLI, England’s first community farm, was formed in 2006 and comprises about 8,000 shareholders. Shares (£50) are still available and help support the organisation’s many activities and community-benefit projects including the Farm Kitchen cafe, the Youth Project, Care Farm, school visits, volunteering, conservation works, farm trails, tours, yurt clamping, family parties, weddings and seasonal community events. To find out more please visit: fordhallfarm.com

Nature Quiz

It was great to see so many at the Nature Quiz on Thursday 9th January 2025. A big thanks to Paul M for his splendid quiz master work, even if it did expose many gaps of knowledge! And congratulations to the team with the unpronounceable Finnish name who were the glorious victors.

Planters for Pollinators:

The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the loss of insect-friendly plants locally, and to work towards remedying this by filling 110 planters with pollen- and nectar-rich flowers. We are still in the initial stages but would love to hear if you can fill a palnter with pollinator-friendly plants in your front garden or on the roadside. Planters could be as small as a plant pot, a hanging basket, or a window box or something bigger. We hope to provide a starter pack and compost if needed to help people get started. (If you don’t have a planter handy, we may be able to help with that, too.) Each planter will be numbered, and prizes for the best will be awarded at the Food and Produce Show in September. More details to follow as they are confirmed.

We are really excited about this project and would also love to get as many of the local community involved as possible. Ideally, every road and every corner in Cradley will burst into bloom! Tell your neighbours! Let us know if you can take part at plantersforpollinators@gmail.com