Bleyswycks Bank and Parkers Piece were purchased by the LOHP in autumn 2007 and named after their former owners. The sites, in the parish of Thelnetham, are adjacent to one another and contribute a further 5.3ha to the land managed for wildlife in the Little Ouse Headwaters. They have over 500m of river-front, including the only section that, although overdeepened, has not been canalised and still has meanders. These sites are particularly strategic for the valley's wildlife because they lie between Thelnetham and Blo'Norton Fens, two of the fragmanted sites included within the Waveney and Little Ouse Valley Fens SAC. Part of Parkers Piece was included within the boundary of the Blo'Norton and Thelnetham Fens SSSI to ensure that it could not be managed in a way that would threaten the hydrology of Thelnetham Fen.
On the 1885 Ordnance Survey map, part of Parkers Piece is labelled as 'Thelnetham Fen': it is clear that this area supported fen vegetation that was continuous with that on Thelnetham Middle Fen, one of the village 'poors' fens. Deep peat, characteristic of the other fens in the valley, underlies much of the area. However, aerial photograph evidence shows that both sites have been used for arable agriculture at some point in the last 60 years. In the 1980s free-range pigs were kept on Parker's Piece, resulting in enrichment of the peat. This, together with drying-out of the valley as a result of artesion abstraction, compounded by droughts, resulted in the development of tall, coarse vegetation, dominated by stinging nettles and creeping thistles. Wetter conditions in the valley since 2000, have resulted in the re-development of elements of fen vegetation amongst the coarse perennials - pond sedge and occasional plants of yellow meadow rue for example.
Over the last thirty years, a former tree nursery on Bleyswycks Bank has been allowed to grow unchecked and unthinned. When the LOHP bought the site it was so deeply shaded by rows of scots pine and other species that even stinging nettles struggled to survive. The tall pines on the river bank cast a dense shade over Bettys Fen on the north side of the river.
Restoration work began at the end of February 2008, with the felling of the former tree nursery on Bleyswycks Bank: only field maples, sallows, a clump mature oaks were left standing. A line of ash, parallel with the southern boundary, was pollarded to create a shady walk, screened from the rest of the site. 
This work has transformed the landscape: these views of Bleyswycks Bank, taken from Bettys Fen on the north side of the river, show how the removal of Scots pines has let much more light into Bettys Fen and opened up the view downstream.
In April culverts were installed in the ditches to allow vehicle and, eventually, pedestrian access along the river bank. The ditches were re-profiled to make them more attractive to water voles, which we hope will re-colonise the Little Ouse headwaters.
The road-edge of Parkers Piece was fenced in June to deter unwanted vehicle access: a wide-access kissing gate close to Thelnetham Ford allows pedestrian access. Stock fencing of the whole site will be completed later in the summer once the risk of disturbing breeding birds has passed.
In autumn 2008 fencing was completed in prepartion for the introduction of stock, once major restoration work is completed in 2009. Wide access kissing gates, generously funded by the CLA, will allow easy access for parents with bugies. They will also allow access to the site for the disabled. We regret that parts of this fenland site may be too wet to allow easy disabled access at some times of year but expect that the riverbank path, once completed will allow dry access and enjoyment of the views and much of the sites' wildlife. Please contact the LOHP if you would like to arrange disabled access to any of our sites through the main field gates.
In December 2008 we undertook an archaelogical evaluation of the areas of Parkers Piece from which we plan to remove the degraded peaty surface. Removal of material that has been disturbed and enriched by former agricultural activities will expose a wetter and less nutrient-rich peat surface on which some of the area's rarer plants should eventually re-establish. In 1958 archaelogist Basil Brown found a scattering of Iron Age finds at the western end of Parkers Piece, on a sandy area near a meander in the river. Although archaeological finds were less likely on the peat areas, away from the sandy margins of the former fen, we needed to be sure that our plans would not disturb or destroy anything of archaelogical importance. Following guidance from Suffolk County Council's archaelogists, we contracted the Cambridge Archaelogy Unit to check an extensive network of trenches and undertake a metal detector survey of the site. No significant finds were made and so the go-ahead was given to start work on the excavation, while maintaining a watchful eye for artefacts. Work on the excavation should begin in the early spring as long as the ground conditions are not too wet.
At the same time, contractors cleared an area of scrub to make way for the new wetland. The scrub, which was of low value from wildlife, had invaded the site when the water table was very low in the 1970s and 1980s. It will be replaced by a new area of mixed native shrubs that will be planted on the spoil arising from the surface lowering work. This will be spread on drier southwest corner of the site.
In February 2009, snow melt and heavy rain resulted in a rapid rise in the river level. The river overtopped its bank and flooded most of Parkers Piece and all of Bleyswycks Bank. This set back plans to start work on the final and most
radical phase of the project, the lowering of the land surface by removal of degraded and rotted surface peat.
Luckily the dry and sunny weather in mid-March dried the site out sufficiently for work to start on Bleyswycks Bank on 23 March. The site will look devastated for the next few months but, weather permitting, we expect work to be completed by mid-May. Our experience of the re-greening of Betty's Fen following similar work, suggests that it will start to look much better by the end of the summner.
Please visit this column again for updates on the restoration work during 2009.
Back to map of sites