Education

As expected, the summer term has been the busiest time of the year for us hosting a variety of end of term school visits, uniformed group visits, and summer family events including the return of our annual BUG Lab bug hunting events.

We worked with 615 young people on various educational visits and were supported in this with 94 hours from education volunteers.

Pupils from Clipstone Brook Lower School and Greenleas Lower in Leighton Buzzard returned to Rushmere Country Park to compare different habitats as part of their studies and learn about plants and animals. John Hellins Primary School pupils (Towcester) visited for their end of term activities.

Flitwick Lower School and Maulden Lower School pupils enjoyed visiting the Working Woodlands Centre, Maulden Wood and Maulden Heath studying different habitats and woodland.

Badger Hill Beaver Scouts and Badger Hill Cubs have both visited Clophill Lakes Nature Reserve this quarter and enjoyed discovering more about the wetland birds that inhabit the site.

We were excited to work with a group of Young Carers aged between 5 and 12 years old, at Rushmere for Central Bedfordshire Council. The group were challenged in teams for a shelter building activity.

Our regular summer BUG Labs in partnership with Central Bedfordshire Council and The Bedfordshire Natural History Society took place at Linslade Wood and Tiddenfoot in Leighton Linslade, Rushmere Country Park and Clophill Lakes this year. Nearly 100 young people joined us on these events with their families. One of the Rushmere events was meadow focussed, and one was focussed on heathland creatures as part of Heathland Awareness Week. The two sessions at Clophill Lakes Nature Reserve were very popular.

Both the Youth Ranger Programme and the WISE Wood sessions have started again this September. A group of pupils from local school Henlow Academy have started their journey of woodland discovery for the next 6 weeks and 11 young people have joined us as Youth Rangers to complete their John Muir Discovery Award at Clophill Lakes.

Partnerships & Development Projects 

‘Putting More Peat on the Map’

Following the successful first phase of this project to research the peat resource in the Flit Valley, the Trust has secured a further £36k from the Environment Agency’s ‘Lowland Agricultural Peat Water Discovery Pilot’ to continue work for another year.  With Phase 1 showing that the Flit Valley still has significant surface peat deposits, vital for wildlife and in the fight to mitigate the impacts of climate change.  These deposits are not secure, and action is needed to reverse the decline over recent decades – the next phase will be surveying further areas and developing plans for delivery projects, including at Clophill Lakes and Sandy Smith Nature Reserves.

The project has caught the attention of our local MP for Mid Bedfordshire, Blake Stephenson, who recently met with us to discuss the project – not least because good peat and wetland management can also contribute to reducing flood risk.

Clophill Riverfly Surveys

The Riverfly surveys, monitoring aquatic invertebrates sensitive to pollution, has continued through the summer on the River Flit at Clophill Lakes with the support of a range of volunteers.  In our August survey we recorded our first ‘trigger level breach’ – where the score for the survey drops below a pre-determined level, indicating there may be an issue. 

Fortunately a follow-up, and the September survey, both exceeded this score – it is thought that the most likely reason behind August’s low score is the prolonged dry weather, which has an impact on river flows and oxygen levels, as well as concentrating existing pollutants.  But with the September survey including a healthy number of shrimps, mayfly and caddisfly larvae, it is clear that a recovery is underway.

Greensand Country

Summer has been a marginally quieter period for the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership, following the hive of activity in Spring with the annual Greensand Country Festival and Greensand Ridge Walk.

Work continues to raise awareness of Greensand Country. We used Clophill Lakes as a base for a circular walk encompassing the Lakes, the Greensand Ridge Walk, old St Mary’s Church, Chicksands Wood and Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. This was a good way to discover some of the key characteristics of Greensand Country and how the different landscapes of the Greensand Ridge and the Flit Valley fit together. 39 people joined us on the walk, a record number of walkers.

We have also been working to raise awareness of the heritage around Cainhoe Castle, with our first Heritage Open Day. This included experts in medieval hammered coins and textiles, along with interactive displays and ‘have a go’ activities with Norman food and medieval building materials.

Planning has begun for a year of celebrations for the fortieth anniversary of the Greensand Ridge Walk in 2026, along with a project programme made possible by the support of a local charitable trust.

Sites we maintain

A highly productive quarter across both our Western and Eastern portfolios. Despite fire incidents, heatwave conditions and equipment downtime, the team and volunteers delivered extensive habitat and infrastructure work with Friends groups and Ranger-led tasks supporting biodiversity management, site safety and community engagement.

Eastern Sites

Clophill Lakes Nature Reserve and Wider Landscape Management

Routine maintenance included full mowing and strimming of grass paths, entrance roads, and mounds, plus clearance and signage works ahead of events.

July saw continued Himalayan balsam control at both Clophill Lakes and Sandy Smith Nature Reserve. Balsam has been particularly severe this year, with a notable increase due to winter flooding. Bracken control was undertaken at Maulden Heath, and a ragwort buffer strip was pulled at Sandy Smith to prevent spread into the surrounding horse paddocks and hay fields.

In August, balsam control continued at Clophill Lakes alongside hay cuts at Steppingley Hospital, the Working Woodlands Centre, Deadman’s Hill A6 RNR, and Clophill Lakes.

September included continued hay cutting at Clophill Lakes and at Duck End Nature Reserve, with additional scrub work at Centenary Wood. The team also began scrub and willow clearance at Clophill Lakes and completed pond maintenance at Sandy Smith. Fence repairs were carried out at Maulden Heath, where metal intermediate posts were trialled — a more durable and efficient alternative for the challenging sandstone soil conditions.

 

Elsewhere on the site, following the boardwalk fire in August, rangers coordinated emergency response, debris clearance and arborist support. Subsequent cut-and-collect operations were completed across all meadow compartments and Dog’s Off Leads Area (DOLA), and preparation began for the new sand-martin bank installation. Grazing rotations with the grazier were managed throughout, and additional improvements included new fencing, repaired gates, signage upgrades, and riverfly-survey mowing. Volunteers supported balsam removal, youth ranger activities and event setups at Cainhoe Fields and Ampthill.

Western SLA Sites

Linslade Wood

Two main volunteer days delivered bramble clearance and hazel coppicing, supported by regular patrols and ad-hoc volunteer maintenance. Benches were replaced, bird boxes repaired, and glades raked following previous hedge-laying. Path restoration from the picnic area to the radio masts continues to be established successfully.

Knolls Wood

Fence rebuilding at Sandy Lane and vegetation clearance completed, supported by three site patrols ensuring continued accessibility and safety.

Studham Common

Three action days focused on bracken control and general clearance on East Common. Damaged fencing was repaired, and path cutting resumed once conditions cooled.

Tiddenfoot Waterside Park

Three action days took place this quarter, including seasonal pond clearance and dead-hedging using brash from scrub removal. New throwline signage with what3words locations was installed. Despite one cancellation due to bad weather, volunteer turnout was strong, and additional work included path clearance, fallen branch removal, and site prep for Canal Fest.

Clipstone Brook / Heath Wood / Riverside Walk

Regular patrols ensured watercourses remained clear, obstructions were removed, and fallen willows were dealt with. Persistent vandalism of signage at Heath Wood continues to be monitored.

Rushmere / Stockgrove

Volunteer tasks included meadow cutting, fence and gate repairs, and bracken and heathland management in Oak Wood and Lords Hill. The vandalised Giant’s Chair was repaired following several weeks of closure and site teams responded to a significant fire in neighbouring woodland in August, working alongside fire services.

Biodiversity & Heritage

Rushmere Country Park

Visitor numbers and performance of the catering facility followed closely to the previous year with a slight increase in sales over the key Summer period.

We had a mystery shopper from Green Flag attend the site who gave us green for all of the categories. The judge stated “a fabulous site and well used. I know it well as a regular user. Lovely café and terrace too”. 

Events Update

Summer Fayre & Dog Show (6 July)

Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious with heavy rain which severely affected the visitor numbers.

Insect self-led trail – From 19 July

Bug Lab (Education team led) 31 July

Heathland Bug Lab (Education team led) 14 August

Xplorer Challenge 21 August

Volunteering

Clophill Lakes

We welcomed local community groups, councillors and friends to our formal opening ceremony on 4^th July. Despite having been open since the 5^th April, getting everyone together in July provided us with an opportunity to thank the local community, volunteers and staff who have worked so hard to get the Nature Reserve open. New members of café and visitor services staff joined the team ahead of the summer holidays.

Volunteers

Practical and conservation volunteers have been regularly working on site and we recruited over 20 site wardens. The site wardens provide a visible presence on site, helping to welcome visitors into the site, provide information and to ensure, gently, that site rules are obeyed.  From this cohort some volunteers have moved into café and visitor services roles, supported events, and some have joined the practical and conservation groups.

Ecology infrastructure

Throughout the summer, our three conservation projects at Clophill Lakes were installed: a tern raft, swift tower and sand martin bank. These provide additional habitats for the birdlife on site.

Visitor Services infrastructure

Commemorative benches have been installed at various locations throughout the site, providing seating and £3,600 in donations. These are made by Darren of Bedfordshire Woods, using locally sourced green oak. More benches will be installed over winter.

Arson

In the early hours of the 2^nd August Clophill Lakes was subjected to a huge arson attack, which destroyed the boardwalk between the lakes plus a number of dog bins, leaving GST with an estimated £100K of damage. Fundraising efforts were launched immediately, and we have raised over £60K towards our target so far.

 

We held our first ‘Late at the Lakes’ Cheese and Wine night to fundraise for the boardwalk appeal. A huge success, we sold out in three days. Alongside the event we held a silent auction. The event was held in a ‘pop up’ courtyard of marquees decorated with fairy lights and hops, and included hand made table settings and live music. In total this raised £2,063 for the boardwalk appeal, and it gave us confidence to do more next year.

 

 

Volunteering

We remain at capacity for volunteers in Quarter 2, with an active waiting list. We undertook one work experience placement in this quarter, providing a broad range of experiences across all three sites.

We have had two engagement activities for volunteers including a ‘walk n talk’ with senior ecologist Phil Irving in Stockgrove and a trip to Marston Vale Forest Centre for the Western Volunteers. We launched our treat fund for volunteers to enable task leaders to provide their groups with a little ‘extra’ from time to time at the discretion of the task leader.

After a successful funding application to BLCF Whitbread fund we have been awarded a grant to undertake a Volunteer Leadership Programme, with a particular focus on Rushmere and the surrounds (this is a geographical requirement of the fund). This year-long programme is designed to deepen engagement with volunteers – especially those who would like to get more involved, and to extend our capacity to lead simple tasks with volunteer leaders (ie tasks run by volunteers), rather than staff, where needed. The first stage of this will be to undertake focus groups with the volunteers to distil the ‘volunteer experience’ they get with The Greensand Trust and to give us general feedback. The first of these were undertaken in September, with more planned for October.

In August we were awarded two CPRE awards for Clophill Lakes, both of which mentioned the high level of volunteer engagement.