Discovering Hidden Biodiversity at Cutt’s Orchard, Brockweir Findings from a report written by James McGill. Summary Report: Andy Stott. Web editing: Gill Stott Site Description Survey Results Part 2: Managing for wildlife Introduction and summary We don’t know what biodiversity Read More
By Alex Crawley, Grazing Management Ltd. In the rolling landscapes of the UK’s rural heartlands, a quiet revolution in habitat restoration is being driven not by machines or monocultures, but by the hooves of cattle and the sure-footed browsing of Read More
Do you have a favourite tree? We don’t mean a favourite species of tree, but an individual specimen that you particularly admire. The Parish Grasslands Project is putting together a guide to some of the most notable local trees, and Read More
Introduction This report summarises a talk delivered to the Parish Grasslands Project Group on 25/10/2025 by Ciaran Clark, Project Manager of Bees for Development, a Monmouth based charity that supports sustainable beekeeping and pollinator conservation around the world. Ciaran outlined Read More
The Parish Grasslands Project decided that 2020 was the year when we should actively start to address the climate emergency. When we were set up nearly 20 years ago our efforts were focused on wild flower meadow conservation. While that Read More
We’ve become used to hearing how climate change is affecting distant continents. However in recent weeks its effects have been all too evident on our collective doorstep. Storm Dennis brought flooding and disruption into our community, and that surely underlines Read More
Jon Dunkelman, a member of the Monmouthshire Meadows Group, is compiling a field guide to grasslands fungi of the lower Wye Valley. Local mycologist Elsa Wood is providing the fungi expertise and a couple of photographers have been recruited to Read More
Once again members of the Parish Grasslands Project made arrangements for children from the St Briavels Play Group and St Briavels School to visit and see the variety of wild flowers growing at Hollyside Farm and to use sweep nets Read More
The people who arrived to fuel the growth of settlements in the areas of Brockweir and Hewelsfield from around 1830 onwards would have been compelled to maximise the produce from the plots they, in most cases, ‘appropriated’ on the commons Read More
Sunday May 23rd was a beautiful, hot, sunny day, perfect weather for a relaxed walk around John Josephi’s orchard. Around two dozen people turned up to hear John start by explaining that he had inherited the land from his father, Read More