West Berkshire Countryside Society

Dear Editor
The West Berkshire Countryside Society was set up on the 19th January by merging The Friends of the Pang, Kennet and Lambourn Valleys, The Pang Valley Conservation Volunteers, The Bucklebury Heathland Conservation Group and the Barn Owl Group.

Many of your readers will have personal experience of the excellent work done over many years to conserve, enhance and promote the wonderful landscape in which we live. We believe by bringing the groups together we can concentrate our volunteer effort more efficiently and with greater continuity.

Please allow me to assure your readers that our work of practical conservation, spreading understanding of the countryside via talks and conducted walks, caring for endangered species and fund raising to provide the funds to carryout these tasks will continue with even greater energy. We are quite sure that it will be even more necessary in the foreseeable future.

If you have any comments or queries, please contact me via our website www.westberkssociety.org.uk

Dick Greenaway Chairman WBCS

Friends of the Pang, Kennet & Lambourn Valleys Countryside Projects

The Friends were formed in 1998 to represent all the people who care for the countryside of this beautiful area in which we are so privileged to live. The main aim of the group is to support the work of Pang, Kennet and Lambourn Valleys Countryside Projects – project officers employed by the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), part of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The primary objective of the project officers is to work with local communities in the three river valleys to enhance their natural beauty and to help people appreciate the countryside. They also work with farmers and landowners to encourage them to operate in a more environmentally responsible fashion and, in return, help them apply for grants under schemes such as the Countryside Stewardship.

Over time, the Friends has become something of an “umbrella group” to include:

The Pang Valley Conservation Volunteers who undertake practical tasks such as hedge-laying, footpath clearing, planting hedges and wildflowers, and removing undesirable plants such as Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and Ragwort.

Bucklebury Heathlands Conservation Group who have slowly been removing the silver birch, Scots pine and other trees from Bucklebury Common to enable the re-establishment of heather, bringing with it species such as nightjars, glow-worms and lizards.