Small red-eyed damselfly (image D Morris)

The 11th of August saw the first “recorded ” sighting of the small red-eyed damselfly, (Erythomma viridulum) in the Millennium Country Park. One of the commoner species in Europe, it only reached Britain eleven years ago. Widely established in the south-east it is slowly spreading  northwards.   If they become established in the Wetlands you can expect to see them between July and September. 

British Lumberjack Sports Association in action, Woodworks 2010 (image Don Morris)

There are certainly some better feelings better than reaching the end of a two-day event like Woodworks! with just about everyone saying – “that was great” and without major mishap; but not many.

The weekend proved as ever, to be a great little wood and tree festival, full of dedicated, skilled and sometimes splendidly odd exponents of country crafts and dressing up in period clothing, whilst managing to exude a little of the music festival vibe. No rain certainly helped.

Click here to see what you missed; it was a good one. Dates for 2011 have been provisionally set – 3 & 4 September; why not put it in your diary now?

One of the high points, as always was the chainsaw carve up each afternoon, in which Ian Freemantle, Luke Wesley, Chris Pratt and Andy Barton competed against the clock to produce a thing of beauty from the proverbial oak sow’s ear. They managed to do this both days and the resulting sale, overseen and commentated on, in entertaining style by Chris Addy of the British Lumberjack Sports Association, raised over £400 for the Marston Vale Trust.

More than 3,000 people visited over the weekend and just about everyone had a great time.

The Churchfitters (image James Elliott)

Big thanks to important people

An enormous thank you to our sponsors this year - Park Woodfine Heald Mellows LLP solicitors, National Westminster Bank, NFU Mutual and www.liveinbedford.co.uk without whom it wouldn’t be possible to do this kind of thing.

However, there are  a few unsung heroes of Woodworks 2010 who gave up their time wihtout complaint,  lent us things or just kept on keeping on  - we would like to give them a big hug…

Michele at www.fabnights.co.uk who produced and managed all the great music over the weekend – good luck with everything Michele.

Phil at www.lightrefreshment.co.uk who along with his mate Dave, looked after all our power needs at the festival – thanks for being scary.

Lynne at www.setupscenery.co.uk  for lending us a stage and thus giving all the artists a lift

Stephen at www.marstonvalecommunityrail.org.uk once again, for making trains run on Sunday and arranging buses to the Forest Centre

If you watched BBC1 at 7.35pm on Saturday 4 September you may have seen the Forest’s moment of fame in the National Lottery Award’s Best Lottery Funded Environmental Projectcategory. In a show fronted by shiny-jacketed Torchwood star John Barrowman, in which the Forest’s representative twelve staff, volunteers and trustees were glimpsed only briefly, decked out in their finest bib and tucker, we failed to romp away with the top prize.

A disappointment certainly; but the winning entry, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust were always going to provide strong competition. It was a big effort to spread the word in two rounds of voting through the summer of 2010. In the process we have received strong support and words of encouragement from organisations large and small, partners, politicians, sponsors and most of all from members of the public who like what the Forest is all about and are happy to help. It’s been a rewarding if time-consuming process.

We don’t know how many votes we received in the final round but are proud to have got that far and hope you were pleased to see a Bedfordshire finalist on Saturday night telly. It’s not often we get a minute on prime time BBC TV and that’s good enough for the time being.

We’re going to win next time!

Anna Charles

The Park’s new Head Ranger, Anna Charles joined the Forest Team in July after working on the National Trust’s 5,000 acre Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire.

Anna worked for a year as a full time volunteer at Rutland Water after completing a degree in Zoology at Leicester University, then gained a host of experience doing short contracts around the country before joining the National Trust as Assistant Ranger and later, Ranger.

Since being a kid Anna has been interested in wildlife. She was, she says, always the one turning over logs to see what was lurking beneath. “I spent eight years working on a beautiful, estate of woodland, chalk downland, commons and farmland, which only served to fuel my love of wildlife and helping others enjoy the outdoors” she said, adding “I am very excited to embark on my new role; the Millennium Country Park is a fantastic place.”

To contact Anna – 01234 762614, anna.charles@marstonvale.org

Works near completion on Elstow Brook

Intense activity over the last six months has resulted in the creation of important habitats at the Grange Estate near Willington. Back channels will bring water into neighbouring woodland from Elstow Brook and from the Ouse at the Bulge, further to the north. The Environment Agency contributed £20,000 to the project which has created refuges in which fish can spawn and escape peak flows after heavy rain.

You can help

To get involved in volunteer work at the Grange Estate later in the year, sign up for our Commentree mailing list or visit the Bedford River Valley Park web sites.

More information – Darren Woodward, 01234 762603, darren.woodword@marstonvale.org

David with artificial harvest mouse nest

Sven’s on a mission. He and Forest Volunteers, Diane and David have been boring holes in tennis balls and attaching them to tree stakes. This behaviour which would be seen as being a bit strange in some circles has quite an exciting purpose – giving a mouse a home. And not just any mouse; the harvest mouse, micromys minutus, Britains smallest rodent has been affected by highly efficient agricultural systems in recent years and needs a bit of a helping hand.

The harvest mouse’s prehensile (gripping) tail allows it to live an aerial life amongst trees, reeds and long grasses and at only 5-11g can live quite happily supported only by grass stems. It usually makes a beautiful nest of dried grasses woven amongst upright stems but Sven, our Park Ranger, is convinced that they are happy to take a short cut and use an adapted tennis ball instead.

These curious mouse houses are now dotted around the Park. Rest assured, we will bring you updates on their success during the summer.

More information about harvest mice

 The ‘Gateway Play Trail’ was officially opened on Thursday 17^th June by Andrew Lingard, Forest Sites Manager, Forest of Marston Vale and Carrie-Anne Rowley, Bedford Borough Council when year 4 pupils from Wootton and Shelton lower schools got their first chance to play on the equipment.

 It was thanks to these pupils that the Play Trail took the shape it did. Through  activities and design workshops held at the Forest Centre in Marston Moretaine, the Wootton and Shelton lower school pupils helped the Forest team discover  more about which  play activities children liked, and what play ‘equipment’ might be suitable for a woodland setting.

 The Forest team then set to work with the help of a local contractor, RDT Woodland, to turn the children’s ideas, sketches and models into reality. The play features, created entirely from oak logs extracted from woodland management projects in the Marston Vale, are robust and durable, and fit naturally into the woodland environment.

The project was supported by Bedford Borough Council and BRCC and is one of a number of projects around the borough of Bedford.

Tony Talbot, Chief Executive of the Marston Vale Trust  said: “Thanks to Bedford Borough Council for its vital support with this rewarding project. We are delighted with the Gateway Play Trail – already pupils have been ‘road testing’ the equipment and have given it an all round ‘thumbs up’.”                                                                                                                          

He added: “The beauty of the trail is its subtlety in the landscape and the fact that it sparks children’s imaginations – they can be as creative and adventurous as they choose.  The fact that the timber comes from good woodland management of the area’s semi ancient woodlands is an added bonus.”

To find out more about the Gateway Play Trail or the Forest of Marston Vale contact Andy Lingard, Forest Sites Manager Tel: 01234-762617 or email

Visitors to the Park will have spotted notices advertising the Trust’s application to Central Bedfordshire Council for a premises license. This will allow us to hold events in four grassed areas within the Country Park. These are:

• The grass between the Centre and the small lake in front of the café
• The overflow car park
• The large meadow used for Woodworks
• The large meadow used for car parking for large events.

 The license will allow us to carry on with activities as usual; the likes of Woodworks and our tribute night as well as anything that requires a marquee, such as weddings and some of our successful corporate events.

 Whilst we currently don’t have plans to hold any new or different events in the Park, the license will bring us into line with Central Bedfordshire Council’s requirements and give us some flexibility to run additional events in the future should opportunities arise.

 More information Sue Harrison

Volunteers enjoy a newly completed bench seat

Work continues at the Grange Estate, north of Willington at the heart of Bedford River Valley Park.  At the beginning of March pupils from Willington Lower School planted over 100 trees and later in the month Forest Volunteers constructed two oak benches supplied by Podington saw mills and also installed six bird boxes.  Later, in May volunteers put in two more benches and a new pedestrian gate which will allow access to the new woodland once the entrance path has been surfaced in the autumn.

“All these works are making the Grange Estate more accessible and attractive” said Darren Woodward, Project Officer with the Forest Team. “Good paths, gates and places to sit all help to make the Grange somewhere most people will be able to get to”.

Money from the Forestry Commission will soon pay for more volunteer tasks; if you fancy taking part, please get in touch with Darren or keep an eye on the events page of the Bedford River Valley Park web site.

Darren Woodward

Tel: 01234-762603, 07946 577590