Winter management at Chark Moor

Our scrub contractors have made impressive inroads on the scrub, with a few acres at the southern end completely cleared. It is already looking transformed. The stumps of small trees, saplings and gorse have been treated with glyphosate straight after cutting and stained blue to indicate treatment.

They are burning the arisings on dry ground, keeping the fire small and controlled and on a sheet of corrugated, galvanised steel to retain the ash. It’s a tough site and the workers have to drag the cut branches and gorse some distance across very tricky terrain to the bonfire. There they use loppers to reduce the branches further for the fire.

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 At the same time, our Knight Fencing are fencing the cleared corral area to improve access before moving on to repair the perimeter fences. This is important so ensure that the site is stock proof as summer grazing is crucial to keeping the scrub down and improving the habitat for the rare marsh fritillary butterfly.

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