More grass-cutting in Southern Epping Forest

On 15th July I wrote an article relating to what I perceived as over-enthusiastic and un-sympathetic grass-cutting that was taking place in Wanstead Park and other parts of Epping Forest. (see here). Another article followed, reporting on scrub-cutting which destroyed plants in full bloom by Perch Pond and elsewhere in Wanstead Park in August (here).

On 30th September, the cutters were out again, this time on Wanstead Flats. This time there were four tractors plus ancillary trailers, and the cutting was taking place on and near the embankment to the west of the playing fields that are know as the Dell area, but was historically brickfields.

 This embankment slopes towards the east, and for many years was in large part thickly overgrown with gorse. Those areas that weren't gorse-covered were either somewhat sparse grass vegetation - providing a habitat suitable for mosses and lichens, and perhaps particularly mining bees and wasps, and other insects - or more grassy in the vicinity of a spring which used to issue here. This itself gave rise to a marshy area which was rich in wetland plants rare elsewhere on Wanstead Flats. The spring disappeared many years ago, victim perhaps of pipe-laying works on nearby Centre Road. For years, however, the marshy area survived to some extent, provided for by at least some drainage from the slightly higher ground and the environment and vegetation which had been created by the spring.

At the bottom of the embankment - separating it from the managed environment of the playing fields  - a low mound stretches north to south. On the mound and on the embankment side of it a wide variety of flowering plants and grasses found a home, and included some of the more interesting species in this part of Wanstead Flats, as well as an attractive aspect. As an example, Early Hair-grass, Yellow Oat-grass, Sheep's Fescue, Red Fescue, Soft Brome and Grey Sedge have all been recorded in this immediate area.

A tractor mows the wildflowers on the Flats

The whole area was scalped on 30th September, and the questions are why does such severe grass-cutting need to take place here, and what changes to the plant species that lived here will result? I suspect one of the arguments for close-shaving the embankment will be to keep the gorse-growth down to provide habitat for insect species, but also might include the idea that the gorse provided cover for certain men using it for nefarious purposes. The fact that it was also used by a variety of birds for their purposes is of course of lesser importance.

Above the embankment that runs along the southern edge of the Dell area, a horse ride is marked out by the familiar white posts. I'm often asking that acess paths should be managed much better to keep them open, and particularly in Wanstead Park. In the Park, many paths are now almost impassable or indeed have disappeared because of failure to keep them clear of brambles. On 30th September, four tractors were available to mow the embankment, plus the horse ride. The horse ride - also used by pedestrians, of course - was nowhere near overgrown, and plenty wide enough for pedestrians and horses to pass each other comfortably. And yet here was a tractor with grass-cutter attachment mowing down the wild-flowers growing alongside the track. Not bramble - just lightweight attractive flowers!

There does seem to be some anomaly here, or have I just got it all out of proportion?

Paul Ferris, 5 October 2010