One of the oak trees felled by Herefordshire Nature Trust during this year’s coppice coup at Lea and Pagets Wood Nature Reserve has found a new lease of life and a new home – as a sculpture standing outside the swimming pool in Ross-on-Wye.
The carved sculpture is part of the Ross Wild Connections work to the area and will depict the wildlife that adorns the route of the group’s wildlife walk project.
Once felled, the oak tree was set in concrete so that it could be used as the material for the sculpture – meaning, along with the butterflies of Lea and Pagets Wood, the people of Ross are also going to benefit from the felling.
Residents can watch sculptor Tom Harvey work on the piece outside the swimming pool this week. Harvey, who also created the sculpture of peregrine falcons at Symonds Yat, started work on the piece on Monday, April 7 and will finish this Friday (April 18).
His style of work sees him use a chainsaw to start the carving with the fine detail added using hand tools.
Jessica Blake of Ross-on-Wye Wild Connections told the Journal: “The carving will depict wildlife and biodiversity in and around Ross and will show the animals that can be seen on the wildlife walk we are developing.
“Images of otters, foxes and badgers will be carved into the sculpture which will remain at the site where it is being carved.”
Youngsters from Ashfield Park School are expected to go along and watch Harvey at work and Ross Wild Connections hopes the sculpture will provide inspiration for the wildlife walk.
It has been a busy year for Ross Wild Connections in which volunteers have also turned their hands to a bit of coppicing.
The northern end of the Town and Country Trail has had some tender loving care, giving old coppice stools a new lease of life, creating a new playground for insects and birds.
With the help of Herefordshire Council and students from John Kyrle High School, the rubble and waste has been removed from the entrance of the trail and the ground is now seeded with a wild flower mix to bring some welcome colour.
A lesser known haven for wildlife can be found at Wilton car park. A neglected area collecting litter, this corner has been given the Ross Wild treatment.
Wilton pond is tucked behind the skateboard park at the base of the woods which rise to the red sandstone cliffs (home to garden chervil since 1865).
Stalwart volunteers have been working at the pond clearing rubbish and invading trees.
Sticklebacks and minnows with a taste for small amphibians are brought in by the flood water, and are kept in check by the pond drying out in warmer months.
Wild Connections say the management of trees around the pond will help it retain water for longer to give further support to the pond life and our amphibian friends.
The project’s quest to link these little havens with a wildlife walk continues.
Over the coming months the project will produce information leaflets and education material to help people enjoy the wildlife in the area.
Anyone or any group who would like to help with the landscaping around the new sculpture outside the swimming pool should contact Jessica on 01432 356872.
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