Nature Features

Gledhow Valley Woods is a ribbon of woodland and grassland running through a suburban area of north Leeds. The valley is surrounded by housing and the busy Gledhow Valley Road runs through its centre. Gledhow Beck flows along the valley and empties into Gledhow Lake.

Martin Calvert  has been chair of the Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods since 1996. He told BBC Leeds how the volunteer group makes a difference to the urban woodlands.

"The group started because it was felt the woodlands weren't been managed very well. It wasn't something one person could do but it needed an official group to be formed.

"The group takes on small scale improvements like constructing footpaths and we help to keep water courses open. The city needs mixed areas like the woods to keep mixed species happy.

"We are lucky not to have a major problem with vandalism. There was a time when cars were driven into the woods and burnt out. Putting tree trunks across the access routes has stopped that, although we sometimes have a few needles discarded in the undergrowth.

"We have also placed some benches and boardwalks in the woods and, apart from a few scribbles on the benches, we have avoided too much vandalism.

"Once a month we have an 'Action Morning' and between 20 and 40 people attend. We make it an achievable task so a difference can be seen at the end of the day, things like litter picking can really make a difference.

"One recent scheme saw us planting wildflowers in a meadow habitat. Thirty people attended and we didn't just scatter the seeds but we dug out some small squares of ground within the meadow and planted flowers there to give them a head start for next year. We have put in around 550 plugs in this way.

"Increasing the number of wildflowers growing in the area goes a long way to helping butterflies and bees in Gledhow Valley.

"Every little improvement helps and we do what we can in our small area. The work we do is carried out under the guidance of a ranger and we get ideas from other environmental groups.

"We are a friendly group, to take part in one of our action days you just need to turn up in some old clothes and, after a health and safety briefing, you can get stuck in. We have over 200 people on our mailing list and we think that's a good number for a small local group."

For more information on the Friends of Gledhow Wood take a look at the group's website www.fgvw.co.uk - see link top right.