Foolish dream or reasonable plan?

[sar]

I am shortly going to become a pensioner and will have some money saved up and plenty of time!
My plan is to buy some land , approximately 4 acres and enhance, if it is already there or restore if it is not, the natural habitat. The little bit of reading I have done indicates I need to be careful in what I do and since I have no environmental experience I will take advice. I do have a science background so will plan to survey as well as monitor. At least in the early years my focus will be on vegetation and insects. My ideal( I think) would be chalk land but it will be dictated by closeness to home and price.
I know from the bit of lurking I have done on this forum that there are lots of knowledgable people here.
What would you do in these circumstances?
What land would you look for?size, location
What pitfalls do you see?
Am I a naive idiot Be as brutal as you like!
I could of course get an allotment but I suspect hawthorn hedges buttercups and thistles wouldn't go down well.

[vole-woman]

This sounds fantastic! Why not ask your local county wildlife group to help? Thy might be able to spare an officer or two to help advise you. (If not, they bloomin' well should!)

[Nettle Runner]

Hi sar

See if you can obtain a second hand copy of the book "Near Horizons. The story of an insect garden" by Edwin Way Teale. Published in Britain in 1947 by Robert Hale Ltd.

He did exactly what you are proposing. I find it fascinating to read.

Good luck with your project
Les

[nightshade]

You beat me to it vole woman, look for good drainage and water supply,
that it slopes to the sun not the reverse can you excavate a pond where is the water table will you need to plant conifers as a wind break what wildlife is already in the area where shall I put the Bat boxes where do I store my tools/park the car/bicycle are those hoodies over there will they vandalise all my hard work
Sorry I am not one of the clever people on the site I do envy your plan so!
Good luck and stay focused there will be plenty of positive help along shortly I am sure

[nightshade]

Can you get permission to use an old caravan on the land as a base
Alibris a s/h book store have copies of the book by Edwin Teale from
£2.06 upwards

[barquar]

Wow what a geat idea for your retirement,I hope you find a nice little bit of land. Look if there are any government grants going to assist you in your project you never know you might get a bit off help.
Barquar

[Susie]

I can't offer any advice but I can wish you good luck.

And your dream isn't foolish, it is what I hope to do one day too.

A friend of mine has done this and turned several fields which were just grazing land into a mini nature reserve - he's won awards for it - so it is possible.

[Gill Catton]

I think its a reasonable plan though bear in mind it can take 30 years or more for a patch of grassland to start coming true to its original form especially it has been arable farmland. Some improvements acn be made though within a couple of years so its worth trying! It might be a good idea to work alongside a local wildlife trust esp as if it develops into something really lovely you may want to leave it to the trust to look after when you can't and its protected for the future.....

[thunder]

Also look for a book called A Sanctuary Planted by J C Murray Walter (or Walter J C Murray, depending on website!). Seems to describe the sort of thing yoiu want to do. I read it from the library years ago, found a second hand copy a few years later and then somebody half inched it!

henrya

[Shearno]

fantastic dream which could turn into a brilliant plan

for some inspiration, look what this couple are doing in Dorset, recreating a mini sherwood forest from the Major Oaks acorns over a 7 acre site
Oak Blog - planting a new Oak Wood
and look what Jonny Kingdoms done on his laaand in less than a year

Shearno

[nightshade]

Get in touch with Kimba she has gained lots of experience in getting her wildlife project off the ground
Ask your local council for a discretionary loan

[Meta menardi]

This may seem so obvious, but do check for problem weeds such as couch grass, Ground Elder, Docks and so on, you could end up battling them for years before you get things sorted. I spent quite a few years getting Docks down to a level by cutting, bagging and digging out.

Ground Elder, my Dad always said he worried if he killed all the Ground Elder, the house would fall down!

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

This may seem so obvious, but do check for problem weeds such as couch grass, Ground Elder, Docks and so on, you could end up battling them for years before you get things sorted. I spent quite a few years getting Docks down to a level by cutting, bagging and digging out.

Ground Elder, my Dad always said he worried if he killed all the Ground Elder, the house would fall down!

If you're creating a wildlife habitat docks don't necessarily need to be eradicated as there are plenty of insects they will support.

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

If you're creating a wildlife habitat docks don't necessarily need to be eradicated as there are plenty of insects they will support.

I agree, it is a matter of balance. They can be a bit overwhelming, it is good to know what you have got.

[deer boy]

Hi sar welcome to WAB hope u enjoy

Sounds like a great idea,look forward to hearing more about it

[sar]

Thank you so much for your encouraging responses. I did email the county wildlife peeps but no response. However I will chase that up. I had hoped that they would be aware of some land close to a ready established reserve but too small to interest them. I know that it is likely that i won't be there to see a completely natural environment at the end, but 'tis the 'journey' I believe will be most fun. Having spent my adult life focussed on my work and family stuff I am looking forward to the physical graft and brain exercise
Currently I am reading 'Managing habitats for conservation'-Sutherland and Hill.
So will look out for your book suggestions. The main difficulty is finding the land. Saw a beautiful 25 acres on Hanslope chalk . But out of my price bracket and according to the agent much interest and has now been sold. Since I live in London , there are the pony paddock purchasers and the land speculators to contend with. We are lucky enough to have woodland and common land at the end of our road but over the 30 years I have seen pressure of human use and ? climate gradually ease out the variety of fungi etc
Thanks again and please keep those suggestions and advice coming.
sar

[djackso]

What a fantastic idea.

If you do manage to acquire land in London, I'd love to come and see it, I might even be able to drum up a bit of muscle to help, if required

[ron1863]

It's your dream so you should go for it and I wish you all the luck in achieving it. If you don't try then you will always regret it.

Ron

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by sar

Thank you so much for your encouraging responses. I did email the county wildlife peeps but no response. However I will chase that up. I had hoped that they would be aware of some land close to a ready established reserve but too small to interest them. I know that it is likely that i won't be there to see a completely natural environment at the end, but 'tis the 'journey' I believe will be most fun. Having spent my adult life focussed on my work and family stuff I am looking forward to the physical graft and brain exercise
Currently I am reading 'Managing habitats for conservation'-Sutherland and Hill.
So will look out for your book suggestions. The main difficulty is finding the land. Saw a beautiful 25 acres on Hanslope chalk . But out of my price bracket and according to the agent much interest and has now been sold. Since I live in London , there are the pony paddock purchasers and the land speculators to contend with. We are lucky enough to have woodland and common land at the end of our road but over the 30 years I have seen pressure of human use and ? climate gradually ease out the variety of fungi etc
Thanks again and please keep those suggestions and advice coming.
sar

Just a thought, but had you considered buying a piece of brownfield land - perhaps old aggregates works, gravel pits or kiln sites, slag heaps that kind of thing....... These are much over looked sites which can be fantastic for wildlife stuffed full of rare invertebrates (check out buglife's website), interesting plants, reptiles, often great swaythes of orchids, nightingales, black redstart, turtle doves, Water Voles, great-crested newts and they're often under severe threat of development as there is government encouragement to build on brownfield and often a weird reluctance by natural england or even the wildlife trust to recognise their value and protect them...

They may be of pretty good quality when you buy but there's always more you can do in terms of habitat management, You could take on local topsoil from nearby development that would otherwise go to landfil and spread it on your site keeping species local - quite exciting to see what might come up!

You could invite local enthusiasts to help out with initial surveys to see what you've got and advise on improvements and you could even maybe let them run training courses which would provide more people to help protect further brownfield sites.........


Wow I think I've convinced myself of a plan for the future!!! - If there's any brown-field left!!

[eeyore]

land in london is always going to be premium - unless you can find some that is debarred from development for some reason.

another option would be to get some land outside of london but within travelling distance.

alternatively you might look at getting together with some like minded people and forming a community group to buy some land or each buying share - groups also have the advantage of unlocking grant funding for improvements which arent available to the private individual

[nightshade]

Or you could buy a place in Yorkshire or Wales or the West Country and make it a small holding/reserve

[sar]

OOh Like the idea of brownfield site so will keep looking. Trouble is with the Olympics nearby loads of speculators have bought up Did see a part of a larger piece of land further out which looked like it had been used as an unofficial rubble dump. It looked very compacted earth and rather put me off as I know it has been around awhile and there didn't seem to be any vegetation growing on itYou may just regret your offer Djackso
Can Anyone direct me to good papers on habitat being monitored as road building takes place?
Ill keep you posted with my land hunt!

[sar]

Just a bit more. Have spent some leave time looking at 2 bits of land.
1. More acreage than i was looking for and not what i was thinking of but a mix of woodland and pasture.
Good points:
reasonable travelling time also near rail.
near a SSSI
adjoining a managed wildflower meadow.
As far as I could tell not been managed for 20 plus years.
Evidence of previous coppicing on hazel.
reasonably remote from residential properties.
Has some history.
Currently subject to a bit of planning blight for road and air so cheaper than expected.
has water laid on
some storage facility

bad points
Long road frontage - busy country lane
Possible road widening?compulsory purchase
poor fencing ie money
Would need to have professional treefolk in if any management of trees required.ie money
North facing?

2.land
Good
Flattish and more the acreage I was thinking about. Good sunny protected spot.
Also reasonable travelling
More into chalk geology
Quiet
bad
Surrounded by expensive residential properties so possible problems with local folk if they have a problem with anything done ie inviting others in etc.
heavily infested with bramble and thistle . And I mean heavily The first field has had it chopped down and there are some flowers creeping through. The second is a mix of bramble, thistle and hawthorn scrub. Odd shape in 2 fields so more fencing.

Although I wasn't looking for woods I do like the first . How contrary is that!

[deer boy]

I think the first sounds best although i would keep looking if i were u, don't rush into it (I'm sure u wouldn't anyway) & u might find something better at a later date.

[nightshade]

Nothing is going to be perfect but when you looked at these two which one made your heart leap? thats the one!!!