Wild About Clifford (WAC)

Groups

Wild About Clifford (WAC)

Clifford Chambers village lies 2 miles SW of Stratford upon Avon. It is a cul-de-sac village bordered on the northern edge by the River Stour, by the B4362 to the western end and to the south and east by land owned by Alscot Estate.

We are fortunate to have a diverse range of habitats in a small area. Other than gardens, significant habitats for wildlife include the Stour and its banks, the Manor gardens, St Helens churchyard, the old Orchard, the oak tree ‘walk’ and the Recreation ground and the allotments. The first three of these sites are recognised as Ecosites by Warwickshire County Council with nearby Martins Wood and the Tramway cutting two further Ecosites within 1 kilometre. Regenerative farming at Alscot estate, from September 2024, also promises to be an important initiative for improving our wildlife.

WAC was formed as a community group in 2017 and became a registered charity in 2019 and currently has c80 members. Its charitable purposes are ‘to promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment by promoting biological diversity primarily in the village of Clifford Chambers…’ and to advance the education of the public in such matters.

WAC currently sends out a seasonal newsletter and runs typically 5 events per year including walks and talks on nature and the local environment. WAC hopes to acquire land in future to promote greater biodiversity.

Successful projects

Our ‘2020 Vision’ is a 10 year plan and includes a focus on ‘Habitats and Homes’ – an on-going never-ending part of our conservation and education effort. The idea is to improve habitats, both public spaces and gardens, to make them more wildlife friendly and where necessary to help some of our endangered species by making and providing ‘homes’.

As a flagship project to get people involved, the ‘Habitats and Homes’ project started with a focus on hedgehogs. We have improved their habitat by encouraging wilder gardens, building log piles, planting hedges, making holes in fences and providing food stations – whilst discouraging use of slug pellets and other pesticides. Initial results were encouraging. Hogs flourished and we have established a good breeding population.

We have identified a range of other species in decline that we know we can help in our local environment. These targets for our education and ‘homes’ initiative will include swifts, owls, house sparrows, starlings, solitary bees, stag beetles and bats We have made over 200 ‘homes’ at community events. Having designed the homes and cut the wood in advance, villagers were invited along to assemble the various boxes either for their own gardens or for various community spaces including the churchyard and recreation ground.