November 2024

GREAT NEWS!

WE HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED AS A LOCAL WILDLIFE SITE by Leicestershire County Council, in conjunction with Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.

This is what the LRWT say:

'Local Wildlife Sites are areas identified and selected locally for their great wildlife value. The designation is non-statutory, but is recognition of a site’s significance with many sites being of county and often regional importance for wildlife. Examples range from field ponds, streams and reedbeds, to ancient woodlands, flower-rich meadows and hedgerows. They can be found on land including farms, small holdings, roadside verges and parks. With over 40,000 Local Wildlife Sites in the UK this is a well established system. In Leicestershire and Rutland we have 1,000 Local Wildlife Sites covering well over 3,000 hectares, but this is still less than 2% of the land area of the two counties. 

Why are they so important?

Local Wildlife Sites are the grass-roots of nature conservation. Not only are they important in their own right, but they also create a vital network of wildlife rich sites reaching across districts and counties. These qualities make the natural environment as a whole lot more robust and able to cope with change.'

WE ARE THRILLED TO NOW BE A PART OF THAT!

We have many species at risk of extinction, waxcaps, starlings and hedgehogs to name but 3, but we were accepted on the basis of being a publically accessible example of unimproved, acid grassland. It's the species-rich habitat itself that's special. 

Visit us - we have something to see all year round - Summer and Spring are beautiful, but the Autumn is great for a variety of fungus and low Winter light makes for great lichen examining! We have trails for you to follow and, if you contact us, are always willing to open up the church so you can see inside there too. 

2024 SUMMARY -

Wet Summer and Autumn weather disrupted our mowing schedules and put some of our timings right out of sync! Our medium grass got longer and is a bit shaggy around the edges. However, this is great shelter for inverts, hedgehogs and voles during the Winter - so although we have still strimmed down some areas, others have been left for now. We've added Lady's Smock to our species list this year and, at time of writing, our total stands at 305 and climbing. Our waxcaps have been putting up a fabulous display - definitely more so than in the last 2 years and our Little Owls again raised chicks in the Yew tree. Badgers have been enjoying digging up our turf again looking for leather jackets and chafer grubs. Great support by the locals and visitors mean we have far less litter than before - tributes are more natural in origin and are pegged down against the wind. Our contractors have continued to worked hard to follow our new management regime, leaving different areas to flower at different times and mowing at varying heights to aid biodiversity. All the growth means more seed heads and seeds don't always germinate where you want them to. The paths, car park and drainage gulleys are looking rather more lush than we'd like and managing this all by hand was becoming an impossible task. We have been experimenting with 'eco-friendlier' options again, such as burning growth off with a wand and steamer, using salt and strong acetic acid (white vinegar). These aren't long term solutions and we don't like using them but are useful tools to have in our fight against unwanted growth. The mini meadows in the kerbed graves have been floweriferous and, in a year where butterflies seemed to be conspicuous by their absense, we have been pleased to see quite a few on our yellow, dandelion tyoes (the hawkweeds, hawkbits and so on) and on our knapweed.

 All in all, its been another great year for Peckleton Living Churchyard Project. If you have visited us or supported us in any way - thank you!

November 2023

This Summer saw lots of people using our first 2 sets of trail cards to explore the churchyard, learning a little more about the architectures, the natural world and the cultural and historical aspects of the churchyard. The harebell put on a stunning, extended display. As i write this there are still 3 in flower! 

However, Winter is now coming on fast. Luckily for our little critters we have left lots of areas of tall growth uncut for them to shelter in during the colder months. The leaves will stay where they lie and the compost heaps and quiet corners will remain undisturbed til things warm up late next Spring. 

The Autumn saw a lot, and I mean a lot, of fungi popping up all over the place - predominantly waxcaps and brown roll rims but also some magic mushrooms and pestle puffballs. I think Autumn 2024 will have to be the start of a year of fungus study for us.

This Autumn saw the start of a year of me (Kate, project lead) trying to get my head around lichens. To launch this Tony Fletcher came along for a walk and talk and we were able to add to Ivan Pedley's list from 2021 and create a total so far of 92 lichen species living here in our little churchyard. Very happy with that. Early next year should see a lichen trail around the churchyard, allowing people to learn just a little bit about these fascinating organisms and to spot them growing on our site.

July 2023

Early this year a Leicestershire County Council SHIRE grant was secured to purchase hand tools for managing the churchyard (a large hay barrow was especially needed!) and to purchase a large noticeboard to advertise and celebrate the biodiveristy of the churchyard. This has been installed and the display is regularly changed - currently a display on 'Glorious Grasses' and '45 - the  number of species in flower one day in June' (not including the grasses, trees, roses, lavender or geraniums in the flower beds). 

The new management regime is visibly benefitting many species this Summer - many butterflies and other insect species have been seen so far. Evidence of hedgehog activity has been found again this year and the Little Owl pair have raised at least 2 chicks successfully. The Bird's Foot Trefoil has spread further around the site, as has the Lady's Bedstraw. There is much more Yarrow and the Hogweed is multiplying too - both of which are covered in insects on sunny days. The harebells are just coming into flower, though at the moment they appear to not be as numerous as last year. White clover is widespread and in flower now, as is the Stitchwort and Fox and Cubs. The knapweed is still in bud, with just a few early blooms already attracting pollinators. Ox-eye daisies in the kerbed 'mini meadow' grave plots are just going to seed - which will be collected and used elsewhere to boost biodiversity. 

The Spring was very dry and windy; however, more Pignut flowered this year than in any other - and the field next to the churchyard was also full of it, and of buttercups too. Chimney Sweeper moths, whose caterpillars feed almost exclusively on Pignut, were seen on quite a few occasions. Many forget-me-not species flowered, turning areas blue. Red Campion, Lesser Celandine, Vetch and Spring Beauty did well this Spring - the latter dominating an area under the Yew where nothing else had grown for a while.