Bluebell Beck, Middlesbrough

Bluebell beck winds through meadows and woodland through Acklam between Brookfield to the A19 Mandale interchange. The Friends of Bluebell

Beck is a group of enthusiastic volunteers who conduct remedial works to the beck, along with conducting regular conservation work along the length

of the beck.

A small part of the site is designated as a Local Wildlife Site for its meadow flora. It is neutral grassland has high species diversity with species of herbs

that indicate ancient grassland. Herbs include yellow rattle,

common spotted orchid, birdsfoot trefoil and common

knapweed. There are challenges with the budget and the

practicalities of cutting and removing the vegetation from

the meadow which is altering the botanical composition of

the grassland.

map 1853 from National Library of Scotland (maps)

map from 1913

Bank at Bluebell Beck in 2004 to compare with 2018

Fairy Dell, Middlesbrough

Fairy Dell, in the middle of Marton and Coulby Newham, is a haven for wildlife with its steeply wooded banks, becks, lakes, woodland and grassy glades. It is also a tranquil place for local people to enjoy a slice of countryside without leaving Middlesbrough.

The Middlesbrough Council continues to work with the Friends of Fairy Dell, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and a wide range of other environmental groups to restore this local beauty spot for wildlife and people. The 42 acre site is a mixture of natural woodland, parkland, an ornamental lake and a a number of flood defence lakes.

The site regularly wins awards from Northumbria in Bloom as

the Best Conservation Project and the active Friends Group maintain

the paths and boardwalks, pick litter, clear the beck, and work hard

to enhance the biodiversity on the site. They regularly host educa-

tional and fun events to encourage greater numbers of visitors to

the Dell to experience both the history and the beauty of the Dell.

The friends group decided to experiment with

creating a more natural area of grassland

within the park.

The park grassland was surveyed and an area

selected that was already rich in buttercups.

Into this area plug plants of native plants

were planted, including black knapweed,

cowslip and lady’s bedstraw. The grass cutting

which was 9-10 times a year was replaced with

annual late summer cut and rake.

Many of the plugs were not successful,

however each year the yellow rattle is more

widespread and prolific, weakening the

grasses. If wild flower plugs were planted now

they would more likely to be more successful.

Berwick Hills Local Nature Reserve,

Middlesbrough

Grid Ref: NZ 509 191

Mosaic of habitats including ponds, reedbed, hedges & rough

grassland. Breeding birds include sedge warbler & grasshopper

warbler. Ormesby Beck is important for water vole. Also a

designated as a Local Wildlife Site

Most of the site was used as allotments, their use declined

through the 1980/90s/2000s. And natural vegetation expanded.

In 2002 through the Middlesbrough Wildspace Project the are

was enhanced by woodland planting, pond creation and

consolidation of the allotments. The new meadow was created

when the area was cleared of old allotments shed and decades

of allotment use and fly tipping.

This removal required the land to be stripped and treated as special waste. The subsoil area was ploughed in Spring 2003 and a wild

flower mix from the company Landlife sown. This contained an annual/perennial combination wild flower seed mix which contained

annuals including Corncockle seeds, Cornflower seeds, 10% Corn Chamomile seeds, Poppy seeds,. Perennials included Ox-eye Daisy,

birds foot trefoil, scabious and knapweed. Lupin was also part of the mix -a non native. After a very dry spring the annuals flowered

late in the summer, they were very short and there was still a lot of bare ground, the flowering was better the following year when

more annuals germinated

Meadow in 2006, Oxeye daisy dominating with abundant bird foot trefoil and other vetches,

spikes of Lupin.

2006-2017 Area managed by cutting and raking except in most years this is not carried out.

This has resulted in the meadow being dominated buy oat grass and proportion of herbs

declining.