ABOUT US

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Bringing the landscape back to life

Since 2007 we have been working to conserve the Wyre Forest and its variety of habitats, including its species rich wildflower meadows, traditional orchards and wood pasture.

We work in close partnership with the Guild of St George, Natural England, Forestry England, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, The Woodland Trust, Butterfly Conservation and local landowners.

Our team of around 40 dedicated volunteers help us carry out important conservation work and care for our herd of 50 pedigree Dexter cattle that carry out an extensive conservation grazing programme.

ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY

MARGARET TUNSTALL

MARGARET TUNSTALL

Operations Manager

DEBBIE BLADES

DEBBIE BLADES

Office Manager & Company Secretary

SALLY PENDERGAST

SALLY PENDERGAST

Farm & Land Manager

KATE QUINTON

KATE QUINTON

Community and Volunteer Officer (Maternity Leave)

DAISY HAYWOOD

DAISY HAYWOOD

Volunteer & Community Development Officer

MATT COPEMAN

MATT COPEMAN

Volunteer & Community Development Officer

RICHARD CHANNING

RICHARD CHANNING

Woodyard Manager

SEE WHAT WE’RE DOING ON INSTAGRAM

wyreclt

This week, we took our apples (two trailer loads f

This week, we took our apples (two trailer loads full!) to get pressed. Local family business, Son & Styles, based at Lower Blackstone Farm on Stourport Road, scrat, press and bottle our apple juice for us. We’re excited to taste how the juice turns out from this year’s harvest! #localbusiness #applejuice #wyreforest #localfood #heritageapples #traditionalorchards

Ruskin Land is being featured at the UK Universiti

Ruskin Land is being featured at the UK Universities’ Climate Innovation Showcase as part of the 26th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties @COP26UK being held in Glasgow next month. The research project, being run by the University of Birmingham @unibirmingham Institute of Forest Research @biforuob, is exploring how fantasy fiction can engage people imaginatively with actual forests, and therefore encourage positive action on the ecological and climate crises. For more information, visit this website: https://buff.ly/3vysk0Y ⠀
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#climatechange #cop26 #ruskinland #forestecology #fantasyfiction #wyreforest

Here’s Primrose, who was born in April, enjoying

Here’s Primrose, who was born in April, enjoying the autumnal sunshine with her mum, Heather. Look how much she has grown in just six months! Primrose will mostly be grazing on grass now, but will still take milk from her mum now and then until she’s around 1 years old. By not forcing early weening on our calves, our cows are able to form strong family bonds with each other, plus continue to benefit from their mum’s nutritious milk! #dextercattle #wyreforest #conservationgrazing

Across the UK, 90% of traditional orchards have be

Across the UK, 90% of traditional orchards have been lost since the 1950s. Orchards support a huge variety of wildlife – today, whilst picking apples, we saw a green woodpecker, lots of fungi, and all sorts of spiders. The sales from our Ruskin Land apple juice help fund our work in conserving and managing the Wyre Forest’s rich orchard and fruit heritage #wyreforest #orchard #heritageapples #applejuice #conservationvolunteers

Taking the cows for a walk. ⠀ ⠀ Some of the si

Taking the cows for a walk. ⠀
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Some of the sites which we graze aren’t accessible by vehicle, so when we need to move the cows on, the only way is by foot. And if they need any encouragement, a bucket of windfall apples does the trick! ⠀
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#conservationgrazing #dextercattle #wyreforest

Heathland is a rare and threatened habitat – ove

Heathland is a rare and threatened habitat – over 80% of heathland has been lost since the 1800s. Without management, open areas of heath and grassland soon become dominated by pioneer species, such as silver birch. This was beginning to happen in an area of heathland in Ruskin Land, so we got some of our volunteers to help remove the birch saplings, the arisings from which we will use during one of our education visits to demonstrate how besom brooms were traditionally made in the Wyre Forest #wyreforest #conservation #volunteers #heathland

Its World Mental Health Day on Sunday, and we’re

Its World Mental Health Day on Sunday, and we’re marking it by promoting and celebrating the mental health benefits of being in nature. ⠀
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Yesterday, we hosted a respite day for the parents and carers of children with disabilities, from the Balsall Heath Children Action Team Support. We ran a Colours of Autumn workshop, where we led the group on a walk around the woodland, and made nature weavings from foraged material. ⠀
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‘This is a refresh for my mind and body – I need more of this.’⠀
‘This place is lovely, fresh, its helping me already, its clearing my head.’⠀
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#WorldMentalHealthDay #wyreforest #natureart @balsallheathcats @thehivejq

Look what we found, basking on the sunlit wall of

Look what we found, basking on the sunlit wall of our wood workshop: a common lizard. At this time of year, they’re busy fattening up on flies, centipedes, spiders and earthworms, before they go into hibernation from October, where they remain alone underground or in deep leaf litter until they emerge in spring, ready for the breeding season #wildlifewednesday #wyreforest #commonlizard

Our sawmill is in operation today, making fence po

Our sawmill is in operation today, making fence posts from a trunk of Ruskin Land oak, which will be used to carry out conservation grazing at a local farm. If you’re looking for local and sustainably sourced timber for a project, then get in touch with our woodyard manager at richard@wyreclt.org.uk #wyreforest #woodyard #sawmill #timber #worcestershirehour

This week, we hosted PhD students from the Birming

This week, we hosted PhD students from the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research @biforuob. The innovative doctorate programme, based @unibirmingham, brings together a range of disciplines to explore the biggest scientific, social and cultural challenges and opportunities facing our forests today. It was wonderful to show the group around Ruskin Land, and involve them in some of our conservation work #wyreforest #forestry #research #conservation

Our Ruskin Land apple juice is now available in th

Our Ruskin Land apple juice is now available in the @BewdleyGardenKitchen. The wonderful café, based in the Jubilee Gardens, just behind the @BewdleyMuseum, is a big supporter of local and seasonal produce, and we’re delighted to join their menu! #bewdley #wyreforest #ruskinland #applejuice #localproduce

We’re on the lookout for a budding film-maker, t

We’re on the lookout for a budding film-maker, to help us produce a short video about our work which we can share with our stakeholders. If you know of anyone looking to gain some voluntary work experience, and a chance to unleash their creativity with our stunning site in the Wyre Forest as their inspiration, then please get in touch with Daisy at daisy@wyreclt.org.uk #worcestershirehour #wyreforest #workexperience #media #film #ruskinland

This week, our volunteers have been clearing brack

This week, our volunteers have been clearing bracken and bramble in one of our coppice coupes. This is in preparation for tree planting which we’ll be carrying out this winter, as part of our Green Recovery Challenge funded project with the @WoodlandTrust. It’s a big job, but thanks to our volunteers, many hands made light work of it #wyreforest #coppice #conservation #volunteers #treeplanting #wildlife #habitatmanagement

Request for help! Do you have any crates or storag

Request for help! Do you have any crates or storage boxes we can borrow to temporarily store our apples in, before we send them to get pressed? If so, get in touch! info@wyreclt.org.uk #apple #applejuice #wyreforest

Our Dexter cattle are more than happy to help us i

Our Dexter cattle are more than happy to help us in the orchards at this time of year. They love apples, and excitedly follow us and our volunteers about, munching on rotten and bruised windfalls that we leave behind whilst harvesting. #dextercattle #conservationgrazing #wyreforest #apples #traditionalorchards #applejuice

Our volunteers have been busy picking apples from

Our volunteers have been busy picking apples from local orchards this week, which will later be made into our Ruskin Land apple juice. If you’re based locally and have a glut of apples that you don’t know what to do with, then get in touch. We’d be happy to take them off your hands in return for pruning and taking care of your trees, so we can help support the wider network of traditional orchards across the Wyre Forest. #orchards #wyreforest #apple #applejuice #volunteers #conservation

A good friend of WCLT, Wade Muggleton, who has wor

A good friend of WCLT, Wade Muggleton, who has worked with our volunteers and provided us with training on orchard management for many years now has just written a book on the topic. ‘The Orchard Book’ distils Wade’s 20 plus years of orchard know-how to provide practical guidance to those looking to plan, plant and manage their own orchard. The book is out next month and available to pre-order from Permanent Publications @permaculture_uk at https://shop.permaculture.co.uk/the-orchard-book-plan.html #orchard #fruit #wyreforest #volunteers #permaculture

Richard, our Woodyard Manager, has been busy proce

Richard, our Woodyard Manager, has been busy processing some of our timber to be used as log seating for a local school’s new outdoor classroom. The project is being designed and delivered by @Groundworkwestmids as part of the national Nature Friendly Schools programme, which is giving thousands of children from some of the most disadvantaged areas in England the opportunity to get closer to nature. We’re delighted to be able to support the project. For more information, visit: https://www.naturefriendlyschools.co.uk/ #naturefriendlyschools #outdoorclassroom #forestschool #woodyard #timber #wyreforest

If you’ve walked around @RuskinLand recently, yo

If you’ve walked around @RuskinLand recently, you might have spotted these strange mounds of sawdust on the ground. This is where our stump grinder has been in action, grinding down the stumps of trees which we have previously felled. This is part of our woodland ride management work, as it will allow us to more easily mow the grass and maintain the rides as valuable habitat corridors throughout the Wyre Forest. #conservation #woodlandmanagement #wildlifecorridor #wyreforest #ruskinland

The heather has come into bloom across Ruskin Land

The heather has come into bloom across Ruskin Land, and its looking beautiful. Why not visit us today for a bank holiday stroll and see for yourself? #ruskinland #wyreforest #woodland #worcestershirehour

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For more information about what we do or to enquire about our products events and courses, call us on

01299 488083

or email us: info@wyreclt.org.uk

St Georges Farm
Tanners Hill
Bewdley
DY12 2LS

WCLT is grateful for LEADER funding that has supported forestry machinery and new timber storage buildings.