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Forthcoming events at Kemerton Conservation Trust |
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This section will be updated regularly and will provide information
regarding planned forthcoming events for the Trust's Friends and
volunteers:
Cider Making Course - End of November
2010
KCT has been offered 2 places on a
three-day course on CIDER MAKING. The National Trust is
administering the funding provided by Natural England.
Click here for further
details.
Apple identification Workshop
HARTPURY ORCHARD CENTRE (Gloucestershire) - 22nd October 2010
As part of the Orchard Project that KCT
is receiving funding for The National Trust has invited us to send
two people on an APPLE IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOP. The course is
free. Details are as follows:
The Hartpury Orchard centre is a lovely
oak framed building set among wetland and haymeadows. Richard Toft
of Pershore College will be our expert tutor for the afternoon. The
session will be a mix of theory and hands on work. Hartpury is also
home to the Hartpury National Perry Pear collection, and you may
like to allow time to wander through the pear, apple and plum trees
on the self guided orchard trail.
On: 22nd October 2010, Time: 1:30 –
4:30pm, At: The Hartpury Orchard Centre, Blackwells End, Hartpury
GL19 3DB
As with the Cider Making Course I would
be grateful if you could let as many people know as possible who
support the Trust either via KOW or/and through the Friends of
Kemerton, website etc. I am looking for people, who will be willing
to use their new-found skills to help us identify more of our old
trees and to pass on their knowledge to others.
If you are interested please contact
John Clarke on 01386 725653 or at
kct@btinternet.com
Other events are as follows:
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Sunday 12th September
2010 - Working party (10am start, location to be confirmed)
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Saturday 16th October 2010 -
Kemerton Orchard Workers Apple Day at Kemerton Village Hall
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Saturday 30th October 2010 - Working party (10am start,
location to be confirmed)
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Back
- The Annual Report for
2008-2009 can be viewed
here
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- Kemerton Ochard Day - Octobor
2009. Was a great success with a huge turn-out of visitors.
Three accompanied Orchard Walks were organised through the
walled garden and The Lillans Orchard. The Village Hall
held a number of events including apple pressing, a display of
local arts and crafts. The Trust would like to thank all
who attended and helped to make the day a complete success.

Kemerton
Orchard Day 'Volunteers' |
- Spring is in the air and the
latest
Kemerton Cuttings (March 2009) is now available...
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- 25th Feb 2009. Orchard future
looks rosy as Kemerton Conservation Trust celebrates grant
award. The Trust is delighted to announce it has just been
awarded a grant of Ł19,800 for orchard restoration and
conservation in Kemerton as part of a nationwide partnership
project led by the National Trust
(press
release leaflet).
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Kemerton
Orchard Workers at work... |
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Kemerton Conservation Trust
has been offered a grant by Natural England - via the
Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund - to last until the end of
March 2009. The grant covers more work at Kemerton Lake
Nature Reserve - including the training and employment of a
part-time warden, the training of a volunteer in bat detection,
the extension of the arboretum and habitat management work.
The Trust is grateful to Natural England for its continued
support.
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- Our annual Open Day at Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve on Sunday 19
October 2008 was a big success.
Fungus expert Jo Weightman led a
walk in the Arboretum; identifying different fungi and giving a
talk. Trustees and volunteers were also on hand throughout the
event to answer questions on the conservation work KCT
undertakes in the local area and to identify flora and fauna of
the reserve for the attendees. The day was cold and blustery but
that did not stop locals from turning out to support the Trust
and enjoy the wonderful walks.
Over 100 people took part in the
two walks and over Ł200 was taken on the day. This year we were
able to expand the open day event to include a refreshment tent
and information stand, which were both popular, even if the gale
force winds nearly blew them away! There was also a nature trail
for younger supporters. All in all it was a big hit and we got
some great coverage in the Tewkesbury Observer and Evesham
Journal.
Highlights of the reserve include
our mining bee colony, the water birds found on our beautiful
lake and the exotic species Arboretum, through which several
permissive paths run. The autumn colour was just beginning to
show on Sunday and for those still there at the end of the day,
we were treated to the sight of hundreds of starlings coming to
roost in our reed beds.
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- Kemerton Conservation Trust is grateful to Huntsmans Quarries Limited, who landscaped this reserve in
1997 after extracting sands and gravels, for generously donating
materials to build this access track and a stockpile for future
repairs to reserve paths and tracks. They have supplied the
recycled hardcore from their processing plant at Naunton Quarry.
There too the area is rich in wildlife and Huntsmans are
commissioning surveys as a baseline for their environmental plans
for the quarry. See website
www.huntsmansquarries.co.uk
Tel 01451 850555
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- A new set of rides through
Kemerton Arboretum are now open to the public following a
successful event which over fifty ‘Friends of KCT’ and local
residents attended. The Opening Event, which was held on Sunday
20 July, included the official opening of the permissive paths
to the general public.
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Events - this section
details forthcoming
events happening at the Trust over the next few weeks
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- Bat Boxes purchased with
donations from KCT supporters are being installed across
Kemerton Estate and it is hoped that in 2009 we will begin a
survey to add to our knowledge of bats here
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- The public information boards
at Kemerton Lake Nature Reserve need renewing and KCT’s
appeals for help have been answered. Several people are using
their computer skills to help us design the new posters
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- Daffurn’s
Orchard recently featured in an edition of the BBC Television programme
‘Gardeners’ World’ (Spring 2008) - the '2007 Newsletter'
is available
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- Kemerton Lake
Nature Reserve has an update for
August 2007 here
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- Kemerton
Estate is applying for organic status for four of its orchards and if
successful will be registered as such within two years
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- Meanwhile
‘Slipstream Organics’, a vegetable box scheme, has negotiated to
take apples from the Lillans and the Walled Garden orchards. This will
provide customers with a chance to taste many of the 200+ varieties
grown by KCT staff and volunteers
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- Web Updates
- Feb 2008 saw a wholesale re-organisation of the site's content into a
more comprehensible structure. Further content has been added in May
this year including a significant number of new photographs
taken on the estate by John Clarke
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Kemerton Clippings is the official Kemerton Conservation
Trust Newsletter. It features the Trust's latest news,
information on funding, volunteering and sponsorship, and
accounts of recent events held by the Trust
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- The Conservation Advisor's Report 2007 is
now available here
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| A
busy open day in 2007 when visitors were able to meet and talk to
governors and Trust staff |
Back
The Orchard continues to be
managed as an ‘orchard nature reserve’. The grass was cut and carried in early
autumn 2006 and later on sheep were brought in graze the remaining sward.
General site management last
winter included cutting away encroaching scrub from the fence line, clearing
broken branches, cutting suckers and spot spraying competing weeds around young
trees. At one point during the winter rabbits were beginning to damage the
older trees by nibbling the bark and so two volunteers fitted protective netting
around the trunks. Thanks to one or two dedicated local people the area of
grass between the gate and the seat has been mowed regularly.
John Edgeley from Pershore
College was called in for another training session – this time to manage the
re-growth following earlier conservation work on the older trees.
Several young trees were
planted to fill in larger gaps – we have a few more in pots ready to go out this
winter and that should complete the re-planting programme.
The BBC Television series
‘Gardeners’ World’ contacted the Trust and Kemerton Orchard Workers (KOW) and
came to visit Daffurn’s Orchard. Subsequently they came back with a film crew
to make a piece about community orchards which should appear in the new series
starting this autumn.
In May the International
Society of Arboriculture visited Daffurn’s Orchard.
In July the WI chose the
orchard as a venue for their evening picnic.
KOW is organising an ‘Apple
Day’ celebration on 20th October between 1400 and 1700. Depending on the season
there will be a display of apples, apple juicing, recipes and stalls.
To help support its work KOW
has produced a beautiful 2008 calendar about Daffurn’s Orchard. The calendar
will be available from several local people and from Kemerton Stores.
Kemerton Orchard Workers
continues it’s good work and Kemerton Conservation Trust is most grateful for
their support for this community orchard.

Kemerton Orchard Workers
Meanwhile
‘Slipstream
Organics’, a vegetable box scheme, has negotiated to take apples from the
Lillans and the Walled Garden orchards. This will provide customers with a
chance to taste many of the 200+ varieties held at Kemerton.
KOW is looking for one or two
more local people who can offer help for just a few hours each year. For most
jobs, a party of 6-8 is sufficient – although extra hands are always welcome.
The target is to maintain a core group of 15-20 volunteers, who donate their
labour for around 3 hours twice a year. Without the kind assistance of local
people, Daffurn’s Orchard would deteriorate, and a great community asset would
be devalued. If you would like to help us, please contact Olivia Chance on
01386 725 203.
Kemerton Estate is applying for
organic status for four of its orchards and if successful will be registered as
such within two years.
John Clarke, Conservation
Advisor, KCT
Back
Management
Once the trainee had left after the end of the previous funding period
prospects for the management of the reserve were bad but thanks to the
dedicated work of two local volunteers much of the essential work associated
with access and Health and Safety have continued. They also carried out
maintenance work on the trials sites. Another volunteer carried out
important work in monitoring birds, including regular surveys of groups and
individual species. The Trust is most grateful for their help.
Funding
KCT has been awarded a grant from Natural England (via the Aggregates
Sustainability Fund) – to run until 31/03/2008. The main focus of this
support will be on extending the length of woodland walk and enlisting the
help of a Volunteer Coordinator who will seek to raise awareness of the work of KCT.
The Co-ordinator will try
to increase the number of volunteers that the Trust can call on to help the
existing small group of dedicated and trained supporters. These volunteers
may only be called on to help on a few occasions each year but their
contribution will be vital to the success of our work.
The Co-ordinator will also
seek to raise awareness of the work of KCT and to appeal for regular funding
from local individuals, as well as from businesses and other organisations.
Research
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Mining Bees – The trials continue but meanwhile a report has been produced
for Natural England. A full report has been submitted for publication and
will later be available here.
Leaf Litter Trials – Anemone is
the latest plant to appear in two of the trial areas. In others, where plants
have become well-established, they are beginning to spread out from the
exclosures.
Wintering Bird Feeding – this
trial was unsuccessful last winter because there was no suitable cover in which
to feed but hopefully the experiment will continue this winter. |

Kingfisher Perches
at Kemerton Lake |
Back
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