January 2024

15 Buckden Roundabout January 2024 Village News Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust The Huntingdonshire Local Group of the Wildlife Trust is pleased to welcome Jo Thomas on Wednesday 10 th January at 7.30pm at Brampton Memorial Hall. Jo has worked for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Welney since July 2022 and prior to that she worked for Natural England, the RSPB and the Wildlife Trust where she was based at Grafham Water for 8 years. Jo is Waterscapes Manager at the WWT and she tells us that her aim is to bring about positive changes by supporting land- owners, farmers and community groups to enhance, restore and create new wetland for biodiversity and other benefits such as flood management, drought resilience, carbon storage and improved water quality. The Welney site is renowned for its influx of Whooper and Bewick swans and pochard over winter and it is also a haven for hare, among many more wildlife. Jo ’ s talk tonight will il- lustrate how her concepts are already benefiting the wonder- ful wildlife in our region. Everyone is most welcome to attend. Booking is not neces- sary. The charge is £3.50 and payment is by cash or card. We meet at Brampton Memorial Hall, Thrapston Road, Brampton, PE28 4TB. For more information please contact George (01480 450809 or georgecottam@virginmedia.com) Part of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Registered Charity No: 1000412 Winter Walk We are pleased to announce an addition to our planned pro- gramme of winter events. This will be a winter walk to be held at Lady ’ s Wood, Upwood, on Sunday 21 st January at 10.30 am. The walk will be led by our own Martin Baker, who is the warden of Lady ’ s Wood, as well as being a long serving committee member. The aim is to look at trees in winter and Martin will guide us on how to iden- tify them, when many of the more obvious clues are no longer available! This is intended to be a family walk, with Martin also filling us in with snippets of general information on the history and management of the wood. Everyone is most welcome to attend. Booking is not neces- sary. Please meet in the car park at the end of Meadow Lane, Upwood. GR TL251825. Ironically, the butts of a small but now disused firing range within the wood itself is the home of the local badgers! The wood was subsequently purchased by the Forestry Commis- sion who replanted a fifth of the woodland with conifers which were grown for use as pit props in the mining industry. The Ministry of Defence then took over the management of the wood until the early 1990s when the range closed. The future of the wood was now uncertain but following a campaign from environmentalists an appeal was launched which was success- ful and the Wildlife Trust took over in 1992. The Trust proudly celebrates its 30th anniversary of owning the wood. Brampton Wood was designated a Site of Scientific Special Interest in 1954. It is an exceptional example of an ancient woodland and is the second largest woodland in Cambridge- shire. - Richard Storey, Chairman Buckden Local History Society For more maps and press cutting please see https:// www.buckdenhistory.co.uk/woodlands Thanks to the following: • Susan Edgington, The Disappearance of Buckden ’ s Woodland. Records of Huntingdonshire, Volume 2, Number 10, 1991. • Barry Jobling and his quote and picture from his guide of St Mary ’ s Church, 2022 and reviewing the article. • Richard Furbank with his memories of Diddington Wood. • The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust for use of their map and paper cutting. https://cambswalks.blogspot.com/2016/04/brampton - wood.html https://www.wildlifebcn.org/brampton - wood (Continued from page 13) Historical woods (continued) Brampton Wood today