Basking at Bicknoller
Some mornings ago I spent a quiet hour in Bicknoller Quarry, much of it sitting on a rock in the sun and just listening and looking. I heard stock dove and wood pigeon, song thrush, blackbird and blackcap, robins, a …
Projects & Issues
Missing Hedges in the Quantocks National Landscape
For wildlife habitats, as migration corridors, for biodiversity, preventing soil erosion, providing carbon sinks, and as part of the heritage of our landscape it seems everybody loves a good hedge. Local MP and Environment Minister Rebecca Pow recently said: “Hedgerows …
Butterfly survey Over Stowey Customs Common April – September 2023
We have completed our first year of the butterfly transect walks on the Common and have submitted a complete season of data to the National Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. We walk a standard route and repeat every week in the middle …
Working for Action over the Destruction of Hedgerows
Hedges for animal habitats, hedges as history, hedges for soil erosion, hedges for biodiversity, hedges as carbon sinks, hedges as flood defences, hedges for winter food, hedges for rare plants, hedges as regional features, it seems everybody loves English hedgerows …
A Year of Quantock Wildlife Watch
This month sees us one year in to our ambitious Quantock Wildlife Watch citizen science project. To date we have 446 people who have recorded >1,800 species through a total of c7,500 observations and the numbers are growing all the time. …
Crowcombe Stowey Road Passing Places?
Having lobbied Somerset Highways for some improvement of the road condition between Crowcombe and Nether / Over Stowey, we conducted a poll with our social media followers to get their views on designated passing places. We asked: “Many of you will …
Admire the Mire: The Plants of Ramscombe Mire
Set up in 2020, the mire at Ramscombe is one of Friends of the Quantocks’ conservation projects to protect the rare plants found in this habitat. Join John Andrews, Friends of the Quantocks Chairman, looking at the plants of our …
2023 Annual Quantock Deer Count
The 33rd annual end of winter deer count took place on Sunday 05th March 2023 organised by the Quantock Deer Management & Conservation Group (QDM & CG). The total number of Red Deer counted fell slightly this year to 643 …
Why is the Crowcombe – Stowey Road in Such a State?
Over a month ago we wrote to County Highways about the deteriorating condition of the road across the Quantocks between Nether Stowey and Crowcombe. We still await a reply. As we all know, the metalled surfaces are broken down at …
Car Park Plans in Jeopardy
Following a number of years of planning and consent work undertaken to replace the existing ‘unofficial’ Crowcombe Park Gate car park with a purpose-built replacement, all plans have had to be placed on hold following the tragic death of the …