Thanks very much!

Thank you very much to the person who was responsible for doing this!

Boardwalk Closed

Unfortunately, due to damage caused by unprecedented January floods in Holyland Wood, the Management Group have decided to temporarily close the boardwalk route through the reedbed.

The top woodland path remains open, as does the access to / from Jack Skone’s Lane.

We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.  Meetings will be taking place in an effort to resolve the situation.

However in the mean time please respect the route closure.

Volunteer Work Party

The first Holyland Wood Volunteer Work Party of 2024 was held on Saturday 20th January. 8 people came along to help.

Apart from the reedbed boardwalk problems, which are detailed elsewhere in this blog, the team carried out the following tasks. We improved the condition of the car park by filling in potholes and puddles by spreading 20mm chips purchased from A&C Aggregates and ensuring that drains were free of debris.

Other work undertaken was improving the sightlines for safely exiting the car park by cutting back the overgrown hedge. The team also swept and cleaned the remaining boardwalk sections on the Holyland House loop and Jack Skone’s entrance.

As usual there was a fair amount of litter to collect which Pembrokeshire County Council kindly removed the following day!

We will await to see what damage to the woodland the recent storms Isha and Jocelyn have had. Hopefully by pruning and cutting down dead and diseased trees before Christmas the effect may be minor. Otherwise there may be a further work party to do some clearing up! We keep our fingers crossed.

Many thanks to everyone who assisted. We look forward to seeing you again next time.

Boardwalk Problems

Following recent heavy rain, there has been flooding in Holyland Wood. This is not the first time this has happened but this time the force of the water has moved the whole of the boardwalk, dislodging it from its supports in places and forcing the joints between the sections apart. This means that the boardwalk poses considerable hazards, especially trips, to visitors.

After inspection by a number of people with previous experience of boardwalk engineering we have concluded that major work will be required to reinstate it to a safe condition.

Unfortunately we have decided that we will close the boardwalk through the reedbed and advise visitors to follow an alternative route via the higher woodland path.

We have placed temporary signs at both ends of the boardwalk warning users of the hazardous conditions as well as placing a notice inside the noticeboard. Shortly we will erect more permanent barriers and explanation notices, but in the meanwhile we ask visitors to avoid this path and use the alternative route.

Work to rectify the boardwalk can only take place when the ground is drier so we ask for your patience and understanding until the situation can be resolved.

Recent Work In The Wood

If you have been for a walk around Holyland Wood recently, you will have noticed that we have done a bit of tree felling and clearing.

The work we have done is a result of a tree safety inspection carried out during November. We identified a number of trees that either posed a hazard because of dead branches and limbs or were growing across pathways.

Although it may look drastic, we have only removed trees that were considered likely to be a problem in the future. We realise that within the heart of the wood there are a number of trees that are likely to fall or shed branches in the future; however, as they are well away from the paths, these should not harm visitors to the reserve. Everyone is advised to keep to the paths and not venture off the waymarked route.

We have only tackled those trees that we could manage from the ground.

There are still some larger trees that will require the services of a professional tree surgeon. We will be seeking estimates for this work in due course.

The Management Group of Holyland Wood hope that you continue to enjoy everything that the reserve has to offer in the future.

Pembroke 21C Community Association held their Annual General Meeting last week. As the leaseholder of the reserve a short report was prepared and presented at the meeting. You can read the report by following this link on the Foundry House web site: https://foundryhousepembroke.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AGM-2023-PACK-edit1.pdf

The Holyland Wood Volunteers will be undertaking a New Year Work Party to tidy up the reserve. Please look out for the announcements of the date and time, and come along if you can.

Holyland Wood Balsam Bashing Wed 26th July

A quick check this week for the appearance of flowering Himalayan Balsam confirmed that there are still groups of plants to be removed.

As the forecast is for rain on Saturday, we have decided to hold our next Work Party to pull out these rogue plants on Wednesday 26th July meeting as usual in the Car Park of Holyland Wood at 10:00.

Since we have had some rain since our last work party, the ground is a bit softer, so waterproof clothes and footwear are recommended.

If you are unable to come along to this volunteer event, but would still like to help, please feel free to have a go next time you wander along the boardwalk. Please bear in mind that it is safer to do this with another person, in case of accidents.

The preferred technique for identifying and removing Himalayan Balsam is as follows:
Himalayan Balsam is a tall annual plant producing clusters of purplish pink helmet-shaped flowers. Large plants often have a reddish stem.
If you attempt to pull up the plant, it should come out of the ground easily.
Pull up the whole plant, including the root by grasping the stem low down to the ground.
If you see smaller young plants, please remove these too.
Once removed, break off the root below the first node to prevent re-growth, and discard on the ground.
When you have accumulated a number of plants, collect them up and place them somewhere they can dry out. A good way to do this is by hanging them over a convenient tree branch.
Should you find any plants that have seed pods, please take care to prevent the pods from exploding and distributing their seeds on the ground. The best way to do this is to carefully bend over the top of the plant into a bag and cut off the top of the plant, thus catching the seed heads within the bag. After which you can pull up the plant as normal. Keep the seed heads in the bag and compost. They will quickly decompose inside a plastic bag.
We look forward to seeing you on WEDNESDAY 26th JULY at 10am

A Busy Few Days in Holyland Wood

My appeal for help to cut back the edge of the boardwalk resulted in Dave coming forward offering to carry out the work prior to our planned Work Party.

The results speak for themselves.  We are very grateful for his hard work.

Almost immediately afterwards a couple of volunteers went along the boardwalk with brooms to sweep away the cuttings.

Our Saturday 8^th July Work Party attracted a hard-core team of volunteers who spent a couple of hours in the reed bed removing hundreds of Himalayan Balsam plants.

It would be foolish to think that we have pulled every plant, but we were pretty pleased with our work.

We are now planning another Volunteer Work Party in late July to pull any new Balsam plants that appear and we have missed.

Whilst we had the tools available we cut back overhanging foliage in the car park and removed a couple of low hanging tree branches.

The Woods and Boardwalk are always a delight to visit and appreciate but after a bit of maintenance and tidying they look at their best now.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to keep Holyland Wood open for the community to enjoy.

Look out for news of our next Volunteer Work Party.

Recent and Future Work at Holyland Wood

Those people who regularly walk through Holyland Wood reedbed might have noticed some work undertaken there recently. We are fortunate that the PCNP Non-native Species Officer has been keeping an eye on the spread of Himalayan Balsam on our site. After consulting with us, he arranged for a contractor to come along and, using a powerful brushcutter, cut down parts of the reedbed that were heavily infested with Himalayan Balsam and difficult to access.

This work means that volunteers can now enter the area and pull plants before too many of them start to flower, set seed and cause more problems next year!

If anyone is interested in joining us for a couple of hours, we shall be organising a Volunteers Work Party very soon to pull Himalayan Balsam and to clear the boardwalk path – keep a look out for posters and our Holyland Wood Noticeboard for dates and times.

Please come along even if you can only spare an hour!