Winners of the 2006 Living Wetlands Award
Back in action after the cancellation January's workparty (an LOHP first!), volunteers at our February party made a huge impact on restoration of the oldest section of hedge on the Frith. To prolong the life of the old hedgrow shrubs and trees, many were pollarded and bramble that was smothering them was cut back. New shrubs will be planted to thicken the hedge before the brambles are allowed to start to grow back - but it won't be long before they are once again providing a welcome source of nectar for butterflies and blackberries for the birds - and other local blackberry pickers! Posted 15-02-10
Winter walkers who braved icy roads to join our traditional winter walk were rewarded with glorious sunshine and sparkling snow. Over 30 people and doggy friends were able to use our new bridge over the Little Ouse, to cross from Blesywycks Bank to Betty's Fen, and our older bridge to return from Blo'Norton Fen via Thelnetham Fen to Parkers Piece. Sadly just missed by most people at the end of our walk, a barn owl drifted over Parkers Piece, hunting for small mammals in the snow. For more information on walking routes in the Little Ouse valley, click here. Posted 03-01-10
The lure of mulled wine , together with a beautiful morning and roaring bonfire, resulted in record attendance at our December workparty on Hinderclay Fen. Volunteers cleared birch seedlings that are invading the open fen habitats. Once established in the wet fen areas, the birch trees shade the reed and sedge beds and cause them to dry-out. Many of the fen's rarer plants and animals decline as a result. Click here for more information on LOHP workparties and here for information on Hinderclay Fen.Posted 24-12-09
This spectaular spider encountered on the LOHP's autumn walk, was found crossing the footbridge from Thelnetham Fen to Blo'Norton Fen! A relative of the common garden cross spider, this is the uncommon 'pyramidatus' variant of Araneus marmoreus. It (briefly!) joined thirty walkers and assorted dogs in a circuit from the White Horse in Thelnetham though Thelnetham Fen, the LOHP's newly restored sites, Parker's Piece and Bleyswyck's Bank, Blo'Borton Fen and Betty's Fen. We hope open full public access to Parkers Piece and Bleyswyck's Bank by the New Year. Posted 4-11-09
More ponds for more wetland wildlife The severe drought that hit East Anglia late this summer re-emphasised the need for more, deeper ponds to support our wetland species through dry summers. LOHP volunteers have been in action again on their favourite task, digging new turf ponds at both Hinderclay and Blo'Norton Fens. Posted 14-11-09
New fen nears completion: work to lower the surface of Parkers Piece and Bleyswycks Bank will be completed by mid-June. Removal of degraded surface peat has exposed a less enriched and wetter peat surface suitable for re-establishing some of the rare fen species that are still found in the adjacent remnant of Thelnetham Fen. The site will look very raw for several months but plants will colonise quickly. Mowing and grazing will help to encourage the rarer plants and prevent fast-growing species such as stinging nettles from becoming dominant. Posted 01-06-09
Bovine lawnmowers are in action again on Blo'Norton Lows this summer. Very friendly, very small calves are hard at work keeping the grassland under control and allowing less common meadow and fen plants to increase. Posted 29-05-09
Mud and sunshine were the perfect ingredients for our May workparty on the Frith. Volunteers deepened and enlarged one end of an overgrown ditch to provide open water to sustain dragonfly populations during the summer. Mud packs and face painting were all free! Posted 29-05-09
Our multi-talented Southdown lambs on the Frith helped to clear up the thistles dug up by volunteers at our April work party and entertained visitors at our spring open day on 26th April. Although, arguably, past their most delightful phase, the lamb's woolly socks and beards have a charm of their own! The LOHP was pleased to be able to open the Frith in collaboration with opening of gardens in Redgrave as part of the National Gardens Open Scheme. Posted 26-04-09
Ratty's return! One of the notable absences from the Little Ouse Headwaters for many years has been that most delightful of small mammals, the water vole. A Biological Action Plan species, and recently fully protected by law, the return of water voles to the headwaters has always been one of the LOHP's targets. Clear signs of their activity on Blo'Norton Lows in early April is fantastic news and shows that the LOHP's management work in the valley is helping some of our 'lost' species to re-establish. Posted 8-04-09
No longer just part of the 'Wetland Vision' for which we received funding, the return of Bleyswycks Bank and Parkers Piece to fenland has finally begun. After a year of planning and obtaining consents, work started in late March on lowering the surface of our two newest sites to recreate conditons suitable for the re-establishment of fen plants and animals. The LOHP is very grateful to the many funding bodies that have contributed into making this vision a reality. Posted 24-03-09
LOHP wins a Suffolk 'Creating the Greenest County' award. At a ceremony at Ickworth Hall on 18th March, the LOHP was awarded 'Greenest Community' for 'outstanding work to protect the landscape and biodiversity'. We are delighted to have received this recognition of the Project's achievements from the Suffolk Strategic Partnership's 'Creating the Greenest County' initiative: it is a tribute to the many volunteers and supporters who have contributed to the LOHP's achievements over that last six years. Posted 18-03-09
Siskins and a barn owl rewarded the hardy volunteers who braved icy roads for the LOHP's February workparty on Blo'Norton and Betty's Fens. Over 30 noisy siskins were feeding on the alder cones and a now regular barn owl quartered the neighbouring fields whilst we pollarded re-growth on a huge fallen crack willow to maintain dense cover for nesting birds. Click here for more information on LOHP work parties. Posted 08-03-09
Pollards restored in slow stages. Our long-term programme of restoring the pollarded oak trees in the Frith hedgerows now involves a three-stage reduction in the old branches. Although the trees look rather inelegant during this protracted process, the Forestry Commission advise that this method involves much smaller risk to the tree than the conventional method of cutting off all of the branches in one step. Pollarding should increase the life of the tree by many hundreds of years, at the same time creating superb habitat for wildlife. Click here for more information on pollarding. Posted 24-01-09
The LOHP's midwinter meander in the Little Ouse Headwaters saw over 30 people and assorted dogs braving the new year's cold to meander from Suffolk to Norfolk, from the Waveney to the Little Ouse valley and from Redgrave to South Lopham and on to Blo'Norton. They were able to see the Frith and the Lows, both LOHP sites, as well as part of Redgrave and Lopham Fen, ending up at the well-deserved Cross Keys in Redgrave. Posted 01-09
Archaelogical investigations have just been completed on Parkers Piece in advance work to lower part of the surface and enable high quality fen vegetation to re-establish. In 1958 archaelogist Basil Brown discovered a scatter of Iron Age artefacts near the meander at the drier, western end of the site. This indicated a need for careful checking of the deeper peats to the east in case any further archaelogical remains had escaped earlier cultivation and digging for fuel. However, neither test trenches nor a metal detector survey revealed any archaelogical evidence and so we now have the go-ahead to start the surface-lowering work in the next few weeks. We will remain vigilance for archaelogical remains as this work progresses. Posted 01-09
Natural England announce funding for LOHP's Wetland Vision: the LOHP is delighted to announce that it is to receive a share of the £2 million funding announced by Natural England in November for projects contributing to the national Vision for Wetlands . This will allow us to expand the area of Parkers Piece and Bleyswycks Bank on which we can re-establishment conditions suitable for re-establishment of the rich associations of plants and animals that were typical of the area's valley fens. We know from old maps that these sites were formerly part of Thelnetham Fen, the intact remains of which are still of international importance for their wildlife. Posted 12-08
Finding the LOHP sites has just beome a lot easier with the installation of finger signs on the road verges, pointing the way to the footpaths. These green oak signs, made by local craftsman Raymond Warren are emblazened with the LOHP swallow and will soon be appearing on all of our sites. Posted 10-08
Fourteen muddy volunteers dug a magnificant new turf pond at Hinderclay Fen at our September work party. By providing water for aquatic species throughout dry summers, the pond will extend the range of fen species that can persist at this already very diverse site. Turf ponds dug in recent years at Blo'Norton and Betty's Fens on the north side of the river have been colonised by a wide range of aquatic plants and invertebrates, including species that have not been from these fens for many years. Posted 09-08
Parkers Piece - the next stage of the restoration work has been completed, with a high quality stock-proof fence now enclosing the site to allow it to be grazed within the next year. Grazing will be a major tool in the restoration of the site, encouraging a rich variety of plants to recolonise the area. Grazing stock will also contribute a welcome and very appropriate element to the landscape of this part of the valley. Kissing gates, generously funded by the Country Landowners Association, and wide enough to allow buggy and wheelchair access, will allow public access as soon as the major restoration work is completed.Posted 09-08
Hundreds of people enjoyed the LOHP Summer Fayre on the Frith on 29th June, celebrating the completion of our Heritage Lottery Fund 'Your Heritage' grant. Visitors were entertained by demonstrations of working sheep dogs, bird ringing and birds of prey, live music and Morris dancing, local food and crafts. Posted 07-08
The Emperors of Hinderclay Fen The rich variety of wildlife at Hinderclay Fen is again in evidence this year with the discovery of one of the UK's most spectacular moths, the Emperor. The males fly during the daytime, searching for the nocturnal females. The equally spectacular caterpillars feed on heather (Calluna vulgaris) which thrives on the sandy heathland above the fen.Posted 05-08
Groundworks near completion at Bleyswycks Bank and Parkers Piece, with the construction of culverts to allow access over the ditches, and grinding-out of the stumps of the plantation trees felled in February. The next phase of work will involve both fencing the site to allow grazing, and removing degraded peat to expose a surface, closer to the water table and more suitable for the re-establishment of fen plants. This work will start after the end of the bird breeding season. Public access routes will be openned in 2010, once major restoration operations are completed. Posted 04/08
£40,900 Biffaward for restoration project: the LOHP is delighted to announce that Biffaward have given a substantial grant towards the restoration of Parkers Piece and Bleyswycks Bank over the next two years. Biffaward is one of the major the Landfill Communities Fund schemes: it awards grants to community and environmental projects using funds raised from landfill tax credits (the tax paid by landfill site operators)donated by Biffa Waste Services. Click here to keep up-to-date with the restoration work.
Lambs return for Easter - or is it Christmas? The welcome return of lambs to the Frith, along with the song of the first chiffchaffs, usually heralds spring in the Little Ouse headwaters... but this Easter saw them playing in the snow. The cows have also returned to the Lows for the 'summer'. As well as being a familiar and much-loved element in the landscape, the grazing stock on both of these sites play a vital role in restoring swards with a richer mix of flowers, grasses and the many invertebrates that they support.
The Birth of a Fen: In mid-February the first step was taken in an exciting programme to re-create fenland on Bleyswycks Bank, one the LOHP's two newly purchased landholdings. Clearance of the plantation woodland from the site will be completed before the bird breeding season: later in the summer the area will be fenced for grazing, and part of the surface will be lowered to re-create a wetter and less enriched substrate suitable for the establishiment of many of the species for which the Little Ouse and Waveney valley fens are internationally famous. Public access to the site will be opened in 2009 once the major restoration work is completed.
Winter Warmer Walk: 26 people and a record number of beautifully behaved dogs shook off the Christmas pounds and enjoyed the winter landscape and wildlife of the Little Ouse Fens on our traditional annual walk. For other events and ways to improve your fitness while enjoying this beautiful valley in 2008, click here and here!
The LOHP is delighted to announce that we have just completed the purchase two important pieces of land adjacent to the Little Ouse River in Thelnetham. The parcels of land will be named “Parker’s Piece” and “Bleyswyck’s Bank”, after the previous owners who were keen to see their land maintained for nature conservation and for the enjoyment of current and future generations of local people and visitors.
The purchase has been made possible by a major contribution from the Tubney Charitable Trust
together with generous donations from the DJ Getty Jr Charitable Trust, St Edmundsbury Borough Council, the Alan Evans Memorial Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation. Restoration of this neglected land to its former glory as species-rich fen, together with creating good public access, will cost an estimated £120,000. We have already made a start on fundraising for this important work with grants from the Tubney Charitable Trust, the national charity Plantlife, the Kirby Laing Foundation, the Linley Shaw Foundation and the Fitzmaurice Charitable Trust: applications have also been made to other grant-giving bodies to meet these costs.
More information on this project will be appearing on the web-site in the near future.
Hunt for local treasures: all revealed! For the intrepid hunters who cycled, walked or drove round the headwaters in search of local treasures in glorious sunshine on Bank Holiday Sunday, all is now revealed: click here to download the questions and answers:
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Cycling or driving route
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Driving: Mr & Mrs Parker, Redgrave
Cycling: The Tooth family, South Lopham
Walking: Julia Stansfield & Jeremy Bloomfield + Ben
The LOHP is very grateful to The White Horse at Thelnetham, the Cross Keys at Redgrave, the White Horse at South Lopham and Gressingham Foods Ltd of Redgrave for donating the prizes.
Kings of the Little Ouse:
Our bird ringing team at Hinderclay Fen have ringed a bumper crop of kingfishers this year: nine birds by the end of August, including three juveniles. They are best seen from the bridge between Blo'Norton and Thelnetham Fens - usually as a flash of brilliant blue passing along the river at high speed. If you are lucky, you may spot one fishing from a low branch of an alder or willow overhanging the water.
Hundreds of new homes
for bats are appearing on trees in the Headwaters, thanks to donations to our Riverlink Appeal, the generosity of the suppliers, and the invaluable help of local bat experts Arthur Rivett and Nick Woods. The boxes should provide roosting sites for several of the bats species recorded in the valley, which include local and national rarities. They are made of Woodcrete, a concrete and sawdust mixture that should keep them safe from attack by woodpeckers - watch this space for reports on their popularity!
Four-spotted and broad-bodied chasers
were amongst the dragonfly species spotted on Betty's Fen on the LOHP's June Dragonfly walk. Although the damp weather limited the number of species on the wing, it helped everyone obtain excellent views of these magnificant insects sitting on the vegetation, waiting for the sun to come out again. Our thanks to local naturalist Arthur Rivett for his expert guidance. Betty's Fen boasts over 15 species of dragonflies - on sunny days, many of can be seen easily from the raised walkway.
Mud meets muscle:
our May work party saw a muddy but happy band of volunteers digging a new pond on Blo'Norton Fen. Our increasingly dry summers mean that water for aquatic plants and animals is in increasingly short supply - new ponds are needed to ensure that standing water remains throughout the summer. Look out for it, and for dragonflies that will colonise it in the coming weeks, as you walk along the river-edge board walk.
Re-discoveries and new discoveries at Hinderclay Fen this year underline the importance of this of this lovely site and the success of the LOHP's management work. Recording by the eminent naturalists of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, together with computerisation of our growing inventory of past records, is helping to build up a more complete picture of the fen's changing wildlife. Highlights have included the re-discovery of green haristreaks and the fist appearance of hairy dragonflies!
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Thistle-pickers picnic!
In temperatures more like July than April, volunteers embarked on our third annual thistle-dig on the Frith. Thistles can become a real pest in pastures and hand-digging is the most environmentally friendly way of controlling them whilst getting a superb sun-tan! Join us for the May work pary when will be getting very muddy instead, digging a new pond on Blo'Norton Fen.
Record numbers of volunteers
enjoyed the spring sunshine at our March workparty on Hinderclay Fen. They also completed a fantastic amount of management work, helping to improve the wildlife habitat on this beautiful and varied site. They were rewarded at the end of the morning when a barn owl flew out from a tree and across the fen. Click here for more information on LOHP workparies. 
New life for old pond:
the Frith field pond, infilled in the 1960s and re-excavated last autumn (see below), is already teaming with life! After a bone-dry start, the pond filled during this winter and to our amazement has alreay been colonised by aquatic plants from dormant seeds in the old pond bed. A crowd of aptly-named whirlygig beetles are also a delightful feature of our lastest patch of water.Click here for more information on the Frith. 
Bash and mash
- or was it mud and spud? Hinderclay Fen's open work party (scrub bashing!)on 13th February was followed by a very successful winter picnic lunch of baked potatoes and beans, cooked in the embers of the morning's fire. The Fen wardens led a post-lunch guided walk for regulars and new visitors to see all of the exciting restoration work that has been done on this lovely site in the last few years. Click here for more information on the fen. 
Bumper year for moths on Hinderclay Fen Suffolk Moth Group's nocturnal visits to Hinderclay Fen last summer revealed a rich moth fauna. The 249 species recorded included Poplar Lutestring, Lobster Moth, Reed Dagger, Double Lobed, Mere Wainscot, Silky Wainscot, Cream-bordered Green Pea, Pinion-streaked Snout and Blackneck, all of which have very localised distributions.
Walking into 2007
Thirty people (and a few dogs) enjoyed one of the few dry mornings of the Christmas break on the LOHP's now traditional walk to shake off the Christmas excess and enjoy the quiet lanes and footpaths of the valley. This year's pace was brisk making the walk successful on both counts! Watch this site for summer walks and events if you would like to see more of the valley and its wonderful wildlife. 
Mulled wine, mince pies ...and more of Blo'Norton Fen restored to wetland. Volunteers at our December work party enjoyed beautiful sunshine and seasonal refreshments while removing recent scrub from the west end of this internationally important fen. Saw Sedge, one of the most important features of this site, still survives below the some of the scrub that invaded the fen when it dried out in the second half of the last century but it is being lost as the shade increases. Join us at our January work party to complete this important task. 
Mystery of the Waveney/Little Ouse valley solved...
LOHP members and friends were privileged to hear Professor Richard West FRS, explaining his exciting new theory about the formation of our unique valley and its fens at our AGM in December. His theory, based on his own extensive field work, explains, for the first time, the mystery of why the sources of the Little Ouse and Waveney arise on either side of a flat field - the Frith - in a through valley at the height of only 25m (75') above sea level. For those of you unable to join us for his talk, we will be producing a printed version of his lecture in the new year. Watch this website for more information.
The LOHP is Spring Watching! We are grateful to Andrew Woodger of BBC Radio Suffolk for inviting us to make a series of Video Nation Springwatch films for the BBC 'Where I Live' website for Suffolk. The first of these, made in spring 2006, at the end of a long bleak winter, can be viewed by clicking here, the second, about bird ringing in the valley, can be viewed here, the third, about restoration of the Frith can be viewed here and the final film, made at a work party on Blo'Norton Fen, can be viewed here.
Restoration of the Frith gathered pace this autumn with new projects starting to return some of the lost features of the field.
A pond that was infilled in the 1960s but is visible on maps going back as far as 1833 has been re-excavated: sadly, the current low water table means that we will have to wait for it to re-fill but we hope that it will eventually provide a wetter area for snipe and other waders in winter and a home for dragonflies in at least some summers.
Heather seed, harvested from Knettishall Heath Country Park a little further down the valley, has been spread on an area of the field to see if we can start to restore the heathland that was lost when the field was bulldozed in the mid-1950s. We are very grateful to Suffolk County Coucil and their staff at Knettishall Heath and to Natural England (through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme) and our Riverlink Appeal funders for making this work possible. For more information on the Frith, click here.
Walking with bats At the LOHP's second successful bat walk 35 people enjoyed a seeing soprano pipistrels emerging between the door and the top of the gothic arch in the dusk at Thelnetham Church. Walking down to the valley's fens in the gathering darkness we were accompanied by constant bleeps from the bat detectors. The ultrasonic voices Soprano and Common Pipistrels were a constant feature but later analysis showed that we were also accompanied by brown long-eared, Serotine and Barbastelle bats. New funding through the Riverlink Appeal will allow us to make the fens even better habitat for these amazing animals: this will including the installation of bat boxes. Our thanks to local experts Arthur Rivett and Nick Woods and to other members of the Suffolk Bat Group for a brilliant evening.
Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists record recovery of the Blo'Norton Fens Some of the best naturalists in the county have been busy recording the recovery of the wildlife on the recently restored Betty's Fen and adjoinng Blo'Norton Fen this summer. Many typical and uncommon fen species have already re-appeared, including stoneworts and pondweeds in the new scrape, and scullcap and brookweed around its margins. One hundred beetle species have been recorded already and the list continues to grow. This beautiful eleplant hawk moth caterpillar was found on greater willowherb.
Blo'Norton opens its fens On Sunday 13th August forty local residents joined a series of guided walks around the village fens: Betty's Fen, Blo'Norton Fen, the Lows and Little Fen. For some this was a regular route, but for others it was a first introduction to the walks, wildlife and landscape available on their doorsteps. The LOHP has an open access policy: the Blo'Norton Fens are always open for walking and quite enjoyment of our unique valley.
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New kestrels for the valley Broods of kestrels on the Frith and the Lows were ringed before they fledged from our new boxes in mid-June - you can see the action on our Video Nation film! The rings will provide information on the life-span and dispersal of the birds if they are recovered in the future. Changes in the management of the valley's grasslands and fens are providing more suitable habitat for kestrels and we look forward to our new youngsters gracing the skies in the coming months.
Housing boom at LOHP sites Demand for the new nest boxes put up on the LOHP sites this spring has been very high, with almost all now occupied by young families. New residents include two families of kestrels and one of tawny owls, for which the LOHP sites provide excellent hunting grounds. Generous donations to the Riverlink Appeal enabled us to buy the new boxes, most of which are made from recycled car seats (for supplier see our Links page)and are both more durable and vandal-proof (greater spotted woodpeckers and grey squirrels the chief culprits) than wooden ones. 
Norfolk and Suffolk united!On 27th April the new footbridge across the Little Ouse, uniting Blo'Norton Fen in Norfolk and Thelnetham Fen in Suffolk, was officially opened by Cllr John Baskerville, Chair of Norfolk County Council, and Cllr Jeremy Clover, Chair of Suffolk County Council. The event was attended by local people, representatives of the local councils, visitors from our partner 'TEN' projects in the Netherlands and Germany, five species of butterflies and a cuckoo, all making the best of a perfect spring day. Funding for the bridge came from the European Union through the TEN project: project leader Ben van Os said that it was a 'truly European bridge', linking not only Norfolk and Suffolk, but also all of the countries who had taken part in the project.
The bridge was built by Norfolk County Council's Engineers and arrived in spectacular manner by helicopter last November.
New boardwalk for Blo'Norton Fen To make the going easier for walkers, and to protect the fen vegetation on the wet ground along the paths, this winter has seen the construction of new boardwalk at Blo'Norton Fen and the protection of other sections of path with a tough 'Netlon' mesh. The boardwalk is made from recycled plastic which lasts much longer than wood and gives a non-slip surface. The mesh can be a bit slippery but is rapidly 'disappearing' as the vegetation grows up through it. The new path across Betty's Fen has also been stablised with mesh and has been open for public use since the beginning of May.
Art and information All of the LOHP sites now have interpretive pannels, designed by Norfolk student Erica Phillips, with information about history, management and wildlife. They are displayed on oak trunks sculpted by local tree sculptors Ben Platts-Mills, Andy Manning and Ray Brooks. 
LOHP wins Living Wetland Award It was announced at the World Wetlands Day Conference in London on 1st February that the LOHP had been chosen as the winner of the CIWEM/RSPB Living Wetlands Award 2006. This national award recognises multi-functional projects that demonstrate the sustainable use of wetland habitats. The award was presented at the CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) Annual Dinner in April.
This is a major achievement for our small, voluntary project and we would like to thank all our volunteers and the funding organisations who have contributed to this success.
In addition to receiving the award, the LOHP is featured as a "best practice" case study on a CD-ROM produced to launch "A 50-year vision for wetlands", an initiative sponsored jointly by the RSPB, English Nature and the Environment Agency.
'Quiet Lanes' initiative reaches the headwaters After a successful pilot scheme in North Norfolk, this County Council designation of lanes in South Norfolk is intended to promote quiet enjoyment of our rural lanes.
