Monday, June 14, 2010

Cromwell Bottom

Further to an earlier post with regard to the Local Nature Reserve at Cromwell Bottom and a request from Hugh Firman for more local naturalists to get involved in its future there is to be an opportunity to join the staff from Calderdale Council's Countryside Service for an evening of discussion over the key issues the Reserve faces. The evening walk will include a look at the access issues, habitat management and discuss plans to help this Local Nature Reserve improve and develop towards its potential. The meeting will be held on site on 22nd June meeting at the Fisherman's Car Park (behind Cromwell House) at 7pm.

This is an opportunity for local naturalists to have an involvement in the area and hopefully influence the decisions that are taken re habitat management etc. an area which it has to be said has received its share of criticism in the past.
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7 comments:

Goldon Gordon said...

Hi Nick
Keep us posted with how the meeting went please. Although I have no intention of ever coming back to live in Calderdale I do have fond memories of CB and not so fond memories the many battles we had with Calderdale to get the place protected in the first place. On a brief visit back a month or so ago I was very disappointed in Calderdale generally.

CB has had all the "wildness" taken out of it with massive access paths criss crossing the site. The tarmacadaming over of the canal towpath has totally removed any semblance of the canal looking like a natural waterway now. I remember in the early 1960’s when I first walked the canal from Brighouse to Sowerby Bridge. One got the sensation of being out of the urban environment and being in the “Countryside” as you walked to different areas on the towpath. The last time I was back in Calderdale I walked from Brighouse into Halifax and it was like being in Shibden Park, except with more litter !

I think a lesson needs to be learned by all countryside units around Britain that by opening access to all areas you destroy the wilderness that most of us visit such areas to experience in the first place. The countryside is not simply a place for people to enjoy having access,picnics and cycling; we have landscaped parks for that. The countryside is a place where we can go to escape the urban or park environment and see “wildness” be it birds, plants or butterflies.

The way things appear to be going in Calderdale there will be no wild areas left in 10 years time, just a small network of under funded tamed areas which will be difficult to tell apart from urban parks, except for the litter. Thank god I moved here to North Wales where the wildlife runs free and to get to see it you have to put in a bit of effort by walking to find it, not have tarmac paths with “this way to see the Choughs signs” :-))

Please no one take this the wrong way, I do realise I am lucky and have full mobility, some are not so lucky in life and do not. I am all in favour of access for all, but this needs to be tempered by the fact that if you make access ways to every bit of wilderness it stops being wilderness and thus defeats the object of the access in the first place.

5:56 pm
Nick Carter said...

Hi Paul

Good to hear from you and thanks for your comments, I think many local naturalists feel the same way about Cromwell Bottom! I believe there is now a new person "in charge" down there from the Council and he has initiated the meeting. It will be interesting to see how many people attend, I think a lot who have put in much time and effort in the past(eg AC) might have given it up as a bad job?

6:18 pm
Jeff Cox said...

Hear, hear Paul. I couldn't agree more. There has to be somewhere that you can go where you can see nature as it should be without all the trappings of civilisation. However, so-called civilisation follows you where ever you may be these days, be it in the guise of access paths or litter or mountain bikes or helicopters (noise pollution!) so I'm afraid we are living in the past if we expect the world to stop changing, mostly for the worse in my opinion.

What we can do though is do our best to prevent the worst excesses taking hold, and helping to plan for improvements that make a difference for the few good habitats we have around - such as Cromwell Bottom. So, I'll be there on 22 June to listen and to have a say on what can be done to make the place a better place for wild life.

6:21 pm
Steve Cummings said...

Hi Paul.
There are plenty of folk here who are prepared to fight to retain that wilderness. I'll be down CB for the meeting.
Incidentally, I quite like your signage idea.......
"This way to see the Chavs -->"
...has a certain je ne sais quoi don't you think?
;-0

6:47 pm
Goldon Gordon said...

Hi Guys
Although it’s now a site I have no involvement with CB is still very close to my heart ( I still read avidly the bog posts about CB). I spent years walking and working around the area from its closure as a working gravel extraction site to its inception as LNR. To me personally CB was a site that showed that with the will and some funding one could rescue/restore a site back to as it should be, after all it was probably Halifax’s first nature reserve way back in the 1890’s ! It’s nice to see that local naturalists are still prepared to try and help out with the site management despite years of neglect and lack of offical funding.

The now defunct Friends of Cromwell Bottom group at its peak had 150+ members so its shows that many were, and probably still are concerned that the site be correctly managed for its wildlife not just the temporary human visitors. If an unpaid amateur group could raise such a high level of interest and funding (15k) why is the site still under funded when we have paid full time council employees working for local conservation ?


I personally have always found it astonishing that any amount of money appears to be available for the addition of paths round the site but no money appears to be forthcoming for any genuine habitat management. The site as been an LNR since 2003 and as far as I am aware not one single sign has ever been placed in the area signifying its status or giving any directions or information about the site ?


The best of luck to all who try and get the site better managed. But given my past experience of Calderdale’s site management, it will consist of plenty of meetings to talk about what needs doing and very little action to implement any of the proposed management plans. It’s a sad indictment of the political will in Calderdale that a site that has generated millions of pounds for private companies (gravel extraction) and local government via fly ash tipping, fly ash removal (Skipton bypass) and finally as a land fill site is not seen as worth putting back a single penny from council coffers into restoring the LAST major lowland wetland area in Calderdale.

Perhaps the management plan written by Paul Stewart (former conservation officer and genuine naturalist) for the site and published by Calderdale Council many years ago now needs re-reading. I suggest the council starts with one of Pauls conclusions about CB....THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF CALDERDALES NATURAL HERITAGE before its too late and jewel has gone the way of other much loved areas under the control of the council and reverted to a rubbish strewn off-road bike track.

10:05 am
brian taylor said...

I've just got back from CB and agree with Paul and other's comments. Today was the start of a new fishing season, and anglers were a ubiquitous presence. I saw no kingfisher activity, and wondered whether there was a connection? One angler was hacking Japanese Knotgrass, and they seem to have made dozens of access paths to the river.

Do Calderdale liase with them. Could we not have a stretch of river designated as out of bounds to anglers ( and people excercising packs of dogs? ).

I live in Tod, and can't be involved with site, but hope the meeting is fruitful.

best wishes

Brian.

7:24 pm
AndyC said...

I would recomend heavy mosquito repellant for those who attend.Its alive with them at the moment.

9:21 pm

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