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Notes
from Bringsty Common Manorial Court
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Paul
Friend
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Tree
management
As
previously mentioned, pollarding work and clearing of some trees
has been completed. There are plans to plant fruit trees at
various locations on the Common later in the year as the weather
this autumn and winter has not been conducive to doing the work!
If you have any ideas for locations please discuss with Paul
Friend or Mike Davies. Natural England will also be consulted. The
aim is to have sympathetic native fruits in suitable places rather
than an orchard!
Notice
Board
The
construction of a notice board at the Live and let Live for use by
and for Commoners will happen in the summer.
Football
pitch
Although
this is no longer used or tended by a football team, the football
pitch is used by Commoners and visitors alike to play games on. We
have had incidents of people driving on the pitch and churning up
the ground. BCMC intends to use some of its own funds to cut and
maintain the grass. The pitch will also be ditched with a barred
access point to prevent such vandalism and a grant from the police
will help with the costs.
Byelaws
A
copy of the bylaws for the common is included on page 8 to inform
our newest residents and to remind the rest of us what we and the
public can and can’t do!
Map
A
map is being prepared with as many house names on as possible to
help when we are asked for directions, get lost, or need to find
our neighbours.
Constitution
BCMC
has a constitution drawn up many years ago which no longer fully
reflects the responsibilities of the Manorial Court. In the coming
months it will be reviewed and amended.
Surfacing
We
will shortly be applying to the Secretary of State for Section 38
to use road planings on the common hard tracks as an alternative
surface to Type 1 aggregate.
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B ird
Notes
Tom
and Jennifer Weale suggest we should be looking out for siskins
and bramblings. Siskins (left) are winter visitors, about the
size of a goldfinch, typically from north and east Europe. They
are particularly fond of conifers. They tend to arrive in flocks
and then, just as suddenly, disappear.
Bramblings
are a common type of finch, and they often mix with chaffinches.
They are a similar size.
Note
for gardeners: please try to avoid hedge cutting between March and
August. You could be disturbing birds trying to build their nests.
Experience
the Bringsty dawn chorus!
Tom
and Jennifer have kindly agreed to lead an early morning walk to
hear the Bringsty dawn chorus. This will take place on Sunday May
9th. We meet at 5.30am at the Live & Let Live. And here’s
the best bit! Sue has kindly agreed to provide a full English
breakfast at 7.30am at £10 each. You’re sure to have an
appetite by then.
If
you’d like to come, please book by ringing Tom and Jennifer on
01886 821368 at least one week before. Sorry no dogs (they get a
lie-in).
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Veteran
Trees in Herefordshire
Janet
Parry
Veteran
trees are those which “by virtue of their great age, size or
condition are of exceptional value historically, culturally, in
the landscape or for wildlife”. The majority of veteran trees in
Europe are found in Britain, and Herefordshire appears to have a
high concentration of these veterans in the landscape. In 2005 the
Herefordshire Nature Trust (HNT) in partnership with the Wye
Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) set up a scheme
to survey all veteran trees within the Wye Valley area. I
volunteered to be a tree recorder and have been busy ever since
measuring trees with a colleague all over the county including
Bringsty.
For
this survey, a veteran is defined as a tree of more than 3.7
meters girth. Some species such as holly or field maple never
achieve this girth but all veterans will show several other
characteristics, such as missing limbs, holes in the trunk or
branches and many scars and tears, signs of lightning strikes,
epiphytes, fungal growth and rot. There may be evidence of
pollarding many years ago and the crown may be dying back with
lots of deadwood on the ground. It may be only partly alive or
even dead, upright or fallen, but these trees are a haven for
wildlife, giving home to birds, insects, bats and many plants
especially mosses, lichens and ivy. They enhance the landscape and
many have folklore associated with them. They often relate to old
habitation sites and act as boundary and way-markers.
The
big trees on Bringsty Common were mainly oaks and a few
small-leaved limes which are indicators of ancient woodland. It is
thought that some are the ancestors of trees of the original wild
wood which predominated after the last ice age ending 10,000
years ago. There were many examples of pollarded oaks where the
branches have been cut back at head height to be used as a
commodity for fencing, building, fuel and even fodder. The
branches regrow above grazing level and give another crop in
subsequent years.
the
gospel oak
The
project is contributing to the Woodland Trust's Ancient Tree Hunt
which is a national initiative to locate every old and interesting
tree in the country. Landowners
and the general public, both individuals and groups, are being
recruited to help locate interesting trees. The project started in
2004 and has a target of recording 100,000 trees by 2011. This is
quite a task but so far they have got about 60,000 records though
this changes daily. Recently, the National Trust has pledged to
add the records of another 40,000 of its own trees. If you want to
find out more about old trees and see the records already mapped
then the the website www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
is the place to look. The Bringsty trees should appear on there
eventually.
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mystery
lime tree
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Commoner
competition
Where
is this tree? A pint from the editor for the first correct answer
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Humpty
Dumpty
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The
Whitbourne pantomime featured
David Dodd, Mike and Cathy Shaw, with Andrew Dodd , Meg Dawson and
Stephanie Carpenter behind the scenes. Becky Shaw put on a
dazzling performance as a very girly Humpty.
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Herefordshire
Council byelaws
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Made
by the County of Herefordshire District Council in respect of the
areas of common land listed in the schedule.
1. Throughout
these byelaws:
"the
Council" means the County of Herefordshire District Council
"the
commons" means the areas of common land listed in the
attached schedule, all in the county of Herefordshire.
"the
schemes" means the schemes of management for each common
listed in the schedule.
"model
aircraft" means an aircraft which either weighs not more than
5 kilogrammes without its fuel or is for the time being exempted
(as a model aircraft) from provisions of the Air Navigation Order.
"power
driven" means driven by the combustion of petrol vapour or
other combustible vapour
or other combustible substances or by one or more electric motors
or by compressed gas
"jet-propelled
or rocket-propelled" means driven by jet propulsion or by
means of a rocket, other than by means of a small reaction motor
powered by a solid fuel pellet not exceeding one inch in length.
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2.
No person shall, except in the exercise of any lawful right or
privilege, remove or displace
any soil or plant.
3.
No person shall dig or take turf, sods, gravel, sand, clay or
other substance, or cut, fell, or
take trees or underwood
on or from any part of the common which is temporarily enclosed
by the Council for the revival of the turf, shrubs, trees,
plants, or grass thereon or set apart
for games if similar turf or other such respective substances
or products as aforesaid can
conveniently be dug or taken
or cut or felled from some other part of the common.
4.
A person shall not, without reasonable excuse, remove or displace
any barrier, railing, post or seat or any part of any
erection or ornament or any implement provided for use in the
laying out or maintenance of the common.
5
(a) No person shall without lawful excuse on the common, except in
the exercise of any lawful right of privilege, kill, molest or
intentionally disturb any animal, bird or fish or engage in
hunting, shooting or fishing or the setting of traps or nets or
the laying of snares.
(b)
This byelaw shall not prohibit any fishing which may be authorised
by the Council
6. A
person shall not, except in the exercise of any lawful right or
privilege, bring or cause to be
brought
onto the common any barrow, truck, machine or vehicle other than:-
(a)
a wheeled bicycle or other similar machine
(b)
a wheel-chair or perambulator drawn or propelled by hand and
used solely for the conveyance
of a child or children or an invalid..
Provided
that where the Council set apart a space on the common for the use
of any class of vehicle
this byelaw shall not be deemed to prohibit the driving in or to
that space by a direct route from
the entrance to the common of any vehicle of the class for which
it is set apart.
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7. (a)
No person shall light a fire on the common or place or throw or
let fall a lighted match or
any thing so as to be likely
to cause a fire.
(b)
This byelaw shall not prevent the lighting or use of a properly
constructed camping stove or cooker in any area set aside for the
purpose, in such a manner as not to cause a danger of or damage by
fire.
8.
No
person shall erect a tent or use any vehicle, including a caravan
or any other structure for
the
purpose of camping on the common except on any area which may be
set apart and indicated by notice as a place where camping is
permitted
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9.
Where
any part of the common has, by a notice conspicuously exhibited in
the commons
been
set apart by the Council for the flying of power driven model
aircraft, no persons in any other
part of the commons shall release any such aircraft for flight, or
control the flight of such
an aircraft, and no person shall:-
(a)
cause
such an aircraft to take off: or
(b)
without
reasonable excuse, cause such an aircraft to land in such other
part of the
commons.
Where
an area within a part of the commons so set apart for the flying
of power driven model aircraft
is designated by the Council as an area from which aircraft may be
launched and is described in a notice affixed or set up in some
conspicuous position on the common a person shall not release such
an aircraft for flight, or cause such an aircraft to take off, in
any part of the commons other that that area
10
No person shall (except in the case of a Fair lawfully held)
place on the common any show, exhibition, swing, roundabout or
other like
thing..
11
No
person shall without lawful authority fire or discharge any
firearm, or to the danger of any
person throw or discharge any
missile on the commons.
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12. Where
the Council set apart any part of the common as may be fixed by
the Council, and
described in a notice board affixed or set up
in some conspicuous position on the common for the
purpose of
any game specified in the notice board, which, by reason of the
rules or manner of
playing,
or for the prevention of damage, danger or discomfort to any
person on the commons may
necessitate,
at any time during the continuance of the game, the exclusive use
by the player or
players of any space in such part of the
commons - a person shall not in any space elsewhere on
the
common play or take part in any game so specified in such a manner
as to exclude person not
playing
or taking part in the game from the use of such space.
13. A
person resorting to the commons and playing or taking part in any
game for which the
exclusive
use of any space on the common has been set apart shall:-
(a)
not
play on the space any game other than the game for which it is set
apart;
(b)
in
preparing for playing and in playing, use reasonable care to
prevent undue
interference
with the proper use of the commons by other persons;
(c)
when
the space is already occupied by other players not begin to play
thereon without
their permission;
(d)
where
the exclusive use of the space has been granted by the Council for
the playing of
a
match, not play on that space later than a quarter of an hour
before the time fixed for
the
beginning of the match unless he is taking part therein;
(e)
except
where the exclusive use of the space has been granted by the
Council for the
playing
of a match in which he is taking part, not use the space for a
longer time than two
hours
continuously, if any other player or players make known to him a
wish to use the
space
14. No
person shall on any part of the commons which may have been set
apart by the Council for
any game play or take part in any game
when the state of the ground or other cause makes it unfit
for
use and a notice is set up in some conspicuous position
prohibiting play on that part of the
common.
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15. No
person shall without lawful authority:-
(a)
break
in any horse on the common;
(b)
drive
or exercise any horse on the common to the danger or annoyance of
any other
person.
16.
No
person shall, without lawful authority, turn out or permit to
graze on the common any cattle,
sheep, or other animals. And it
shall be lawful for any officer of the Council or person
authorised by
them
to remove from the common any cattle, sheep or other animal being
upon the common in
contravention
of this Byelaw.
17.
A
person shall not in the ground intentionally obstruct, disturb or
annoy any other person in the
proper
use of the common, or intentionally obstruct or disturb any
officer of the Council in the
proper execution of his duty, or
any person or servant of any person employed by the Council in
the
proper execution of his duty.
18.
No
person shall, by operating or causing or suffering to be operated
any wireless set,
gramophone,
amplifier, tape recorder or similar instrument, make, cause or
suffer to be made any
noise which is so loud or so continuous
or repeated as to give reasonable cause or annoyance to
other
persons on the common.
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19
An officer of the Council or person authorised by them, may,
after due warning, remove or
exclude from the commons, any vehicle whether animal drawn or
not, driven or placed upon
the
common or any structure (which shall include a caravan) erected or
placed thereon in
contravention of the Scheme or of any of the foregoing byelaws,
and may remove from the
commons any person who within his view
infringes any such byelaw or any provisions of Vagrancy
Act Acts.
20.
Every
person who shall offend against any of the foregoing byelaws,
shall be liable on
summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.
Repeal
of Byelaws
21.
The Byelaws relating to commons which were made by-
Bromyard
Rural District Council on 3rd
May 1951
Ledbury
District Council on 8 April 1902
Martley
Rural District Council on 9 September 1921 and 3 September 1926
and
Upton upon Seven Rural District Council on 17th
of August 1905, 22nd
of February 1906,
12th
of April 1928, and 23rd
of September 1947.
and
confirmed by the Secretary of State then in office, are hereby
repealed
In
operation since 12th
of August 1988
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Springtime on
Bringsty
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Dorothy Brookes recalls her
first spring
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My first spring took me almost by
surprise, the bracken being the first thing I noticed – its
growth rate I reckoned to be about four inches daily! Thomas
Hardy likened their first shoots to a bishops crozier, -what an
excellent simile!
New
lambs appeared daily; their growth rate was also something to
marvel at. One day they would appear ganging uncertainly behind
the ewes and within a couple of weeks they were sure-footed and
plump, skipping along. Oh that man could be so proficient!
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