Reconnect With Nature

In the spring of 2020, we decided to stop battling nature and to let nature run….wild!  We’d been trying to maintain a tidy, manicured campsite and we weren’t enjoying it, it felt counterintuitive.  The land was wet, so we decided to plant 300 native tree saplings to absorb water and we stopped cutting the grass. Just a few years in and its already a fledgling woodland. We are pleased to note that the local wildlife absolutely LOVES what we’re doing! We have noticed a huge increase in invertebrates.  Small mammals now have ground cover and their populations have exploded despite the feline residents. Small birds now venture on to the land to feed rather than hanging around the perimeter in the hedges as before. Up on the bank near to the Lookout cabin we have started a small area of wildflower meadow by planting yellow rattle which is a natural parasite.  It keeps grass at bay and allows native flower species flourish. This is scythed and cleared once a year at the end of the summer.

Did you ever notice how little life is in the middle of a traditional pasture field?  Neither did we until we started on the journey of letting nature reclaim the land. We are total novices who are basically feeling our way along and trusting mother nature to just get on with it, but what we’ve seen so far really has blown our minds!

The land is now a wildlife haven, teeming with birds, insects, small mammals, and reptiles. During summer, dragonflies dart over the pond while slow worms bask in the sun. In winter, otters visit at night, fishing from the ponds. Shortly after the cabins were built, soprano pipistrelle and long-eared bats made their home here, emerging at dusk to feed as campfires begin to glow.