valmai williams
Fri, 12 Jun, 10:21 (2 days ago)
to OTV
Hi Martin
Thank you for your updates. All interesting to hear.
I have visited the verges in question periodically and noted that the yellow rattle has almost become a success story in itself. Considering that it rained almost every other day through the autumn and winter after the first sowing and then the drought after the second, I think it is worth celebrating small achievements at the moment. Also that we didn’t catch Covid19 from William Powell that day in March!
One of the serendipity benefits of OTV, as I see it now, is drawing attention to the fact that the verges are already abundant with very modest wild flowers like pink clover, vetch, daisy etc. which generally go unnoticedI and I think are probably sown when developments like bypasses take place. A good example of this is the hospital roundabout in Bronllys and the road into the village which is a feast for the eyes for long periods until the council start cutting back allegedly for safety purposes. They seem to be more restrained in this in recent years just trimming the edges, but I get the feeling that they will gradually push the boundaries given the chance.
When Cadw restored Bronllys Castle a while ago, I was pleased when it was confirmed that all the ongoing maintenance on the surrounding grass areas would be maintained in an environmentally friendly way. Planted with wild flowers etc. I have been very disappointed to find that it all meant nothing and a maintenance team come in and strim the banks along the road and around the Castle back to the earth on a regular basis. The few flowers we have planted there ourselves over the years, cowslips and primroses, have just about survived within an inch of their life! Lately I noticed that due to the virus, these same banks and verges have gone wild and looked beautiful. I was ‘on the verge’ of phoning Cadw to say how lovely it was and to suggest that they left the cutting back till later in the summer, except for light trimming along the pavement, when suddenly this week, I was broken hearted to find that everything has been cut back with a vengeance. Other people have commented on it as well. So I will now definitely be contacting Cadw about this issue. Wish me luck!
Thinking back to my childhood in the area, I don’t remember the fields being filled with much obvious colour. A lot of grasses and certainly no poppies. I only came across these when I lived in Hertfordshire for a while in the 70s. I saw a wild meadow in Llandefalle a few years ago which had a multitude of grasses and yellow rattle which I had never knowingly seen before so it is nice to see it doing so well on the school verge.
Keep up the good work.
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