Green Lane Woodland Spinney

Background information

Bordering the edge of the Green Lane housing estate & Mascalls Farm is a small 2 acre (0.83 ha) woodland which can best be described  as a ‘spinney’ .  As far as I have been able to find out and certainly confirmed by viewing Google Earth back to 1940 this spinney has always been here and in exactly the same spot & size. Historically it is likely to have been part of the farm estate which was difficult to manage and so left as a wooded spinney, possibly for hunting rabbits and wood pigeons in the winter.

1940

1960

1990

2015

As seen in 2009

Today it is owned by Paddock Wood Town Council and has had virtually no management for 20 years or so. A public footpath runs through the middle of the wood with a second path entering from Green Lane, midway along the woods length. I produced a report on the wood for the council in 2009 and in the course of preparing the report carried out a few wildlife surveys on the wood. At the time the ground flora certainly pointed to the wood being ancient woodland, indeed in the wood had a fantastic display of spring flowers (bluebells, wood anemone, dogs mercury, violets, garlic mustard, stitchwort, cuckoo flower, primrose etc) all of which confirmed its status as an ancient wood.

A visit on 21 April 2016

Following on from earlier visits to Whetsted Wood and Foal Hurst Wood I thought a return visit to Green Lane Spinney was in order. A chance to see the spring flowers once again.

In a gentle 45 minute walk around the wood for I was able to see the same plant species in flower as in 2009, but there was a noticeable difference, from what I noted in 2009.

The ancient woodland indicator flowers were patchier and less abundant. The flora was more ‘weedy’ with more vigorous plant species seen in greater abundance. The bramble was denser and there was much more grass to be found on the woodland floor, particularly along the main footpath and along the eastern edge, adjacent to the farmland. Additionally the ditch which borders the farmland, which seven years ago as a riot of different flowers, was much poorer in both in different species and number of plants in flower. I also saw hybridisation of garden polyanthus with the closely related primrose plants

 

Primrose & Polyanthus hybrids

I suspect that an increase in nutrients was proving to be beneficial to the ‘weeds’, at the expense of the more delicate woodland plants.

The best area for the traditional woodland spring flowers was in the northwest area, adjacent to the houses numbers 10- 20 in Green Lane, furthest from the farmland.

Bluebells in the north west corner.

Question : Why should have things apparently changed in seven years ?

I wonder if spray drift of fertilisers and/or herbicides from the farmland has had a detrimental effect on the more delicate woodland flowers and allowed the more vigorous plants to prosper. In addition evidence along the path would seem to indicate that dog poo is being allowed to accumulate on woodland floor, which along with dog urine would greatly increase the nutrients available to the woodland plants.

The future ?

It would be a shame if the transformation from ancient woodland spring flowers to ‘weedy scrub’ was to continue.  As was the case in 2009 the wood could benefit from coppicing / thinning of the trees and also the bramble needs cutting back. Should houses be built upon Mascalls Farm, to the east of the wood, then the possible problem of spray drift will disappear, although an increase in more dog owners would do little to resolve the build-up of nutrients from dog waste.

Perhaps it is just that this  is what happens to ancient woodlands in areas of increased urbanisation, human pressures eventually change the make-up of the woodland habitat. It will be interesting to see what happens to this little remnant of the vast ancient forest, which once clothed much of Kent & Sussex for thousands of years, as the years (& increased  houses) roll on.