Ickwell Newsletter - Winter/Spring 2014/15

ICKWELL NEWS

WINTER / SPRING 2014 - 2015 News & Activity Reports | Volume 1 - Edition 1

WELCOME TO ICKWELL

An introduction

The Ickwell reserve is made up of approximately 10 hectares of woodland, meadow, lakes and grassland and is watered by the numerous springs that lie along the Greensand ridge, which cuts across the site. Areas of the reserve may be relict ancient woodland and part is Regency Victorian historic garden. The earliest known occupancy was in the time of the Knight’s Hospitallers in the 12th century.

Pupils and staff can access additional information, such as the historic time line, on the school’s shared folder: X:\ExtraCurricular\Upper\Environment\Ickwell information and photos Activities at the reserve are designed to enhance learning at the school and include science, history, geography and art. The reserve also provides many enrichment opportunities for pupils.

Creativity, Action and Service Through the Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) element of the school’s International Baccalaureate Diploma program, boys carry out conservation work at the reserve one afternoon each week. This includes coppicing and charcoal making, two activities that go hand in hand. Young tree stems are cut to near ground level, which encourages new growth. The cut wood is then used to make charcoal when dry or used to make spars/ poles as well as for thatching, as was demonstrated recently when the thatch on the honey house was restored (more details further on) CAS tasks this year to date:

Coppicing, with Mr Gunn lending a hand.

One of our trainers, Ed Burnett, shows how to use wood sustainably to make furniture.

Woodland skills are taught and what better than the skill of using a saw with muscle power.

Conservation grass management—-cut and clear to reduce fertility and improve the chances of more delicate grass and herb species.

A visit off site to help in the community Vineyard at Old Warden—monks grew grapes here in the 12th century and used them to make wine.

Tree seed collecting as this year we have planted our first new trees in our tree nursery.

Of course this isn’t all we’ve done!

• Ditch clearing • Surveying nest boxes

• •

Quarter staffing Charcoal marking

Ickwell is very varied in its layout as illustrated by the map below. A quick tour will shows how we manage its various areas, which roughly divide up as: •

Conservation meadows

•

Amenity grassland

•

Possible ancient woodland

•

Other woodland

•

Lake

•

Ditches and watercourses

•

Coppice woodland

•

Historic landscape

Please contact Chris Jones, Master in Charge, to arrange a visit.

The area marked Ickwell park is amenity and is used for camping.

5069 is possibly ancient woodland and 3158 is scrub woodland, part of which is being partially cleared to let more light in. The ditches and water courses are coming out of and into the lake are fed by two or three springs This 18th century map below can be found on a site maintained by Central Beds Council and shows the situation with the house in place but not the historic garden as it is now.

School visits over the last year Year 10 Biology investigation day

BSSC water quality investigations Pupils looked for indicator species and matched them to areas of the site.

Other users have included: •

“On Track Education”: a maintained alternative provision school for excluded children

•

Forest Schools project Bumble Bees group with Ann and Tom

•

Bedford Girls’ School Duke of Edinburgh bronze award weekend

•

Northhill Brownies

•

Parkside Federation maintained schools on Duke of Edinburgh

•

Bedford Prep and Upper school team activities

Other Visitors Open Evening In May an open evening for all staff featured a picnic and site tour. We hope to repeat this evening again next year.

Old Bedfordians & Friends In June there was a tour and tea for Bedford School’s Old Bedfordians and friends. About 50 gathered for lunch after a visit to the nearby Shuttleworth Collection. The Head Master joined us for lunch and an introduction was followed by a site tour.

History Afternoon In early September, a history afternoon involved further research on our archive held mostly under the care of Bedford School library. Participants were able to relate archive information to our site as laid out on the ground. We were also able to visit gardens of the adjoining Bury which used to belong to the school.

Professor Tim Moule Visit At the end of September we had a visit from Professor Tim Moule from Buckingham University, accompanied by one of his Garden History students, who also happens to be Manager of the Swiss Garden at Old Warden. Tim was fascinated by our site and was able to describe many features that we were not aware of.

The Sport’s Page In case you think it’s all play and no work here. Here to prove it is some more play!

If you thought horse sport was only about the 3.15 from Ffos Las, here is the 12.31 from Ickwell.

This summer we used a shire horse for the day to recover wood from the site in a sustainable way.

Here is Fred the horse at work. He is owned by the Walsh Family and is a frequent performer at agricultural shows, normally in the shafts of a plough with Paul on the handles. This was Fred’s chance to do some real work.

If you want to stand a chance of getting into the next Robin Hood production you would be well advised to hire our experienced team of Ivan and Dan who used some of our surplus poles to teach the ancient self-defence art of quarter staffing.

The Team Tony Young is the warden and responsible for all the site maintenance.

Chris Jones is the master in charge and organises the planning and use of the site.

Mr Palmer and Miss Bell organise the CAS boys.

Last term’s group of CAS volunteers.

Mrs Medley organises us all and is in charge of CAS.

Finally the honey house has gone from this to . . .?

See the next newsletter to be published this summer. It was designed to accommodate bee hives to provide honey for the estate.

An Ickwell study group runs at the school for boys in the Prep and Upper School who are interested in field ecology as a pastime or potential career. For further details please contact Mr Jones: ickwell@bedfordschool.org.uk

Where Are We? Ickwell is only 25 minutes drive from the centre of Bedford. There are no resident staff at the reserve and very few facilities however visitors are able to experience living and working in a conservation and historic area. Activities are very much to suit visitors and are always of a nature sympathetic to the site. Mr Chris Jones, the Master in Charge, can help with planning and approves all activities. Please book well in advance of your trip. This is best done by email: ickwell@bedfordschool.org.uk Local Map

Regional Map

Bedford School, De Parys Avenue, Bedford MK40 2TU Tel:+44 (0)1234 362200 Email: info@bedfordschool.org.uk www.bedfordschool.org.uk Bedford School is part of The Harpur Trust: a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: Company No. 3475202.

Registered Office: Pilgrim Centre, Brickhill Drive, Bedford, MK41 7PZ. Registered Charity No. 1066861.