1 minute read
Creating a legacy
Diligent, decades-long management of privately owned land has created a wonderfully wild place that will shape the future of South Leicestershire’s natural landscape, as Wendy Tobitt reports.
The sound of insects buzzing and whirring among the flowering grasses and wild flowers is almost deafening as Ben Devine, Head of Nature Recovery, strolls through one of the meadows at Ash Tree Farm in Bi eswell.
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Ben is here with landowner Michael Coates to walk over his 35-acre corner of southern Leicestershire and discuss their latest plans. This is an exciting time for the Trust as we work with Michael to continue and develop his vision for nature. Michael and his family have chosen to leave this land in our care, as a future legacy gi in their will. The land will continue to be managed as a special place for nature to recover and for people to reconnect with nature.
“From our initial surveys we know that Michael has been looking a er Ash Tree Farm exceptionally well to help nature return to land that would likely have been intensively farmed,” explains Ben. “It really is an extraordinary place for wildlife, and we don’t yet have the full picture of all the insects, amphibians, birds and mammals that live here.”
Michael’s family moved to Bi eswell 44 years ago, gradually buying up fields to make spaces and places for wildlife. Woodlands were planted, ponds dug, and wildflower seeds sown on some of the old pastures where ca le and horses had grazed. Over the years, nature reclaimed the farmland, almost by accident to begin with and then by design.
Michael has welcomed nature in – such as this swollen-thighed beetle on a buttercup.
“Michael has told me about the joy he and his family have had, watching how much has changed as the woodlands matured and the wildflowers took over the meadows to let nature in,” says Ben. The ancient ridge and furrow field pa ern dating back 500 years or more to Tudor times shows that this land was once farmed with oxen and horse
