Published by St Paul’s & Hampton Park Churches for the Tupsley Community Tupsley Community Newspaper
TupsleyVoice
Issue 65 Spring 2017
Delivered FREE to over 4000 homes in Tupsley
Women raking hay on Lugg Meadow – Image taken by Alfred Watkins circa 1900
Lugg Meadows Tupsley’s Precious Jewel Sometimes shrouded in damp mists, other times transformed into a glistening lake, inundated by the River Lugg; dotted with jewellike blooms in spring and turned golden with a flood of buttercups in summer: the Lugg Meadow is rather more than a convenient spot for walking the family dog. Rather, this meadow is a timeless treasure, at once a portal to the social and natural history of the medieval age and yet also an integral landscape for Tupsley’s community today, a space for agriculture, leisure and education and nationally important for wildlife. A parcel of the flood plain of the River Lugg, this 330 acre meadow is the largest surviving Lammas meadow in the country and one of only fourteen. A Lammas meadow is one where commoners have rights to graze the land from Lammas Day on 2nd August to
Candlemas on 2nd February. Livestock are then shut off from the land to allow the owners to take a hay crop. On Lugg Meadow the hay is allocated in strips marked with dole stones. Around 90 dole stones still stand in the meadow and are marked with a name, or initials, and date. This system has existed on Lugg Meadow for nearly 1,000 years. The most well-known and loved of the meadow’s flora and fauna are the snake’s head fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris) which flower in April and May. Usually a beautiful chequered purple flower, many of the fritillaries on Lugg Meadow are white which is a rare sight. The fritillary is found on traditionally managed flood-plain meadows and though nationally rare, can be abundant locally. Only a few sites in the UK are considered to hold wild populations, although many other sites have had plants introduced.
Each year, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, who own and manage areas of the meadow, holds a Fritillary Day to celebrate this special wildflower, this year Saturday 22nd April, from 10am to 2pm. Do come along to learn more about the meadow, its history and the beautiful fritillaries. The Trust is also collaborating with the Floodplain Meadow Partnership to survey the flowers each year so we can better understand, and conserve, this important part of our natural history. See articles page 3 about both events). One of the meadow’s other specialities is narrow-leaved water dropwort. Easily mistaken for the much commoner cow parsley, it is in fact a remarkably rare floodplain plant and Lugg Meadow supports the best population in the county. The meadow also provides a place for recreation and learning for people from across
Hereford but especially from Tupsley – a vast and glorious open space! It is fantastic for people of all ages to have such a wonderful place to explore nature. As well as the snake’s head fritillaries, Lady’s smock also flowers prolifically here in early summer before the meadow is overtaken by swathes of golden buttercups. Orange tip butterflies are seen in the meadow from April while banded demoiselle damselflies fly near to the river banks. Curlew arrive at the meadow in early spring though sadly only a few pairs now breed here. Listen out for their distinctive, bubbling call. While you may not be lucky enough to see an otter, you may well see paw prints or spraints by the river banks as the Lugg is a favoured habitat. It is important that we look after this wonderful site as it is a piece of living history and Continued Page 3
Tupsley Voice is a Community Newspaper published by St Paul’s and Hampton Park Churches, compiled and distributed by volunteers. Tupsley Voice does not accept any responsibility for the reliability or quality of the services provided by the advertisers. These adverts are a service which the publication provides for its reading public. Items for inclusion should be submitted to Tupsley Voice by e mail at tupsleyvoice@hotmail.co.uk. Printed by Impact Print & Design Ltd. Design & Layout by Douglas Kirkpatrick