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An introduction into being a Wild Trainee

(C) Izzy Clarke 

A quick overview on what the east Wild Trainees have been up to with Izzy.

Over the course of my Traineeship, one of the major things I have gained a deeper appreciation for is simply the size and beauty of Gloucestershire. Being part of a land management team and helping to care for and enhance the wonderful habitats around our county has shown me what the environment we live in really needs to thrive.

As part of the east team, Holly, Jamie, Ruby, and myself work across a wide range of habitats throughout the county, from a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) grassland at Brassey, to a working dairy farm with protected flood meadows at Greystones Farm, down to ancient woodlands at Lower Woods. The varied landscapes we work in means that no two days are the same and helps keep our experiences of the traineeship fast-paced and exciting!

When we’re working on the reserves team with Dan Winter and Lorna Baggett, GWT Land Management Officers, we meet daily at Crickley Hill which acts as the base we work from. One of the most amazing things about this site has got to be the views you can see over Cheltenham and towards Gloucester as it looks completely different every day!

The view from the top of Crickley Hill car park looking over Cheltenham towards Gloucester with low cloud.

One of my favourite photos I’ve managed to get from the top of Crickley Hill!

About once a week we join the volunteers on tasks such as coppicing and dead hedging the perimeter of the adder habitat at Crickley Hill, ride clearance at Cooper’s Hill near Brockworth, and scrub clearance at Barrow Wake near Birdlip to improve visibility for care of the National Trust’s belted Galloway cattle.

Working with the teams of volunteers is a privilege - they’re all so lovely and enjoyable to work with! Days like this help to give us a taste of leading teams of volunteer, from creating the risk assessments to answering questions and making sure everyone is safe and happy. This was particularly helpful for Holly and I when we led a volunteer day clearing scrub at the base of Crickley Hill’s scarp so that the SSSI grassland could thrive once the bramble had been cleared.

National Trust belted Galloway cattle in pens so GPS collars can be fitted.

Rounding up the belted Galloway cattle at Barrow Wake to fit their GPS collars. These collars make it easier to track them down to monitor their health and enables a 'no fencing' contained area of grazing.

On days where we aren’t working with volunteers, we’re often up to something we’ve never done before or at a new site we haven’t visited. As a team we’ve installed a tree guard to protect a memorial tree from cattle on Crickley Hill, built a fence to help private landowners along the Laurie Lee trail in the Slad Valley to keep wildlife in the pond safe, and coppiced and dead hedged blackthorn trees at Strawberry Banks near Stroud. These days where it’s just us help to improve our friendships and teamworking ability. We make sure that we’re all happy which in turn helps us to work more cohesively as we play to each other’s strengths. One of the great things about our team is that we get along so well and we’re comfortable enough to have a laugh which really helps to lift our spirits.

Holly and Jamie smiling at each other in large holes dug in Shortwood Pasture, Crickley Hill

Holly and Jamie demonstrating the size of the holes we dug to hold the supporting posts of our tree guard on Shortwood Pasture, Crickley Hill.

Once a week we join Emma Settle, Land Management Advisor, and John Field, Wilder Landscapes Manager, as part of the Wilder Landscapes team where we often work on private land rather than on reserves. Through this we are gaining experience and confidence working with landowners and other stakeholders to ensure the best outcome for both people and the environment. On these days we typically work on natural flood management techniques, such as building and installing faggots to improve river speed and create habitats for fish, or tree planting to decrease the amount of surface runoff which affects soil erosion near rivers. When working with the Wilder Landscapes team, we get into the rivers and other water bodies which really helps us to understand these habitats and how our actions will have a positive impact.

Herd of brown cattle waiting near the gate to their field.

Livestock management is a key part of the training we receive, including keeping these cattle calm when we moved them for bovine tuberculosis testing.

On one of the first days with the Wilder Landscapes team, I worked with Richard Spyvee, Lead Wilder Landscapes Manager, at Cooper's Hill.

Here we used mel and drivel, a type of post rammer, to secure leaky dams in place. These help to slow the flow of water during high rainfall events and reduce the risk of flooding in the area. We also rounded up the conservation grazing herd of cattle for their routine bovine tuberculosis testing.

Working as a team of two with Richard was the perfect opportunity to ask questions about the work we were doing, check in with how my technique with any equipment was and hear more about his day-to-day work.

This day was key in improving my confidence and settling me into the role as it was in the first few weeks of the traineeship.

Small vole held in hands after catching them.

One of the voles we found nesting in the tree guards we were maintaining at a private site near Cleeve Hill, Cheltenham © Ruby Gabb.

An unexpected way we’ve been working with animals was during sapling aftercare at a private site near Cleeve Hill.

The recently planted trees are going to help prevent soil erosion by soaking up rainfall and slowing the flow over the land. When we plant saplings, we protect them from deer with tree guards, but we didn’t know there was a bigger threat at this site – voles!

The tree guards had become the perfect nesting sites for them, which damaged the young trees. To replace the trees, we unfortunately had to kick them out of their tree guard homes to encourage them to build elsewhere, but we also managed to get some amazing photos.

This exercise was a great insight into the different threats to tree planting schemes and how it could impact the time and resources of the Trust.

Occasionally we join forces with the west team for training and to learn new management techniques. As well as doing a first aid course together at Robinswood Hill, we met Emma at Greystones Farm to learn how to do water vole surveys. This involved searching for signs of latrines, evidence of feeding ground and potential burrows.

Together we've also worked with volunteers at Brassey to clear scrub which maintains the open aspect of the grasslands. Working as a combined Wild Trainee team gives us the chance to chat about what each team has been up to and compare experiences. Recently we have had reviews of our experience and what else we hope to gain through the Traineeship, training with the Communications team, IT security awareness and pine marten training to help familiarise ourselves with the reintroduction project in the Forest of Dean.

Group of Wild Trainees around clump of bramble they are clearing.

When we were joined by the west team and helped to clear scrub at Brassey, near Bourton-on-the-Water © Emma Settle.

This Traineeship has already been particularly insightful for me as my university degrees weren’t as practical as I would have hoped to prepare me for a role in land management and conservation. Through our practical work I’ve been able to familiarise myself and become confident with using a wide range of tools, conservation techniques and improved on my identification skills. Working with the different teams at GWT has created varied and interesting weeks that have been thoroughly enjoyable. For the rest of this year, there will be even more training opportunities that will help to build our CV’s and really prepare us for a role in conservation.

For anyone hoping to apply for the next year of trainee roles, I would highly recommend it!

Wild Trainees and volunteers around fencing at Greystones Farm

The east team working with a group of volunteers to remove the fencing and coppice the ditch at Greystones Farm © Dan Winters.

Jamie sat in the back of one of the trucks smiling

Jamie sitting in the back of Lorna’s truck as we accessed the bramble we were clearing at Stuart Fawkes, near Box, Minchinhampton.

Shortwood Pasture at Crickley Hill with late afternoon sun shining.

Shortwood Pasture at Crickley Hill after a day spent clearing ash dieback with Daniel.

Holly in the back of the truck smiling in front of fallen tree.

Holly in the back of the truck after an afternoon spent trying to remove the fallen tree in the background from across the Cotswold Way at Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth.

Holly, Jamie, and Ruby sat on log in the rain having lunch

Jamie, Ruby, and Holly having lunch after a morning spent at Greystones Farm in the rain © Dan Winters.

Holly and Jamie being sniffed by a cow at Greystones Farm

One of the cattle at Greystones Farm being very interested in Holly and Jamie and their lunch!

Ruby walking through the River Eye at Greystones Farm

Ruby having a quick walk in the River Eye at Greystones Farm in the sunshine!

Izzy smiling as she begins to fell a small tree at Chedworth.

Keeping spirits high at Chedworth as we were felling ash trees along a footpath!

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