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Edwin Trout joined the Woodcote Conservation Group in September 2024. He has written the following article:
A year with Woodcote Conservation Group by Edwin Trout
At the first work party following the recent AGM I was asked what I’d enjoyed most during my first year as a member of the Group and I didn’t have a ready answer. I’d been involved in a variety of activities, and they’d all had their appeal. Considering the question later, I thought I’d pen a few lines of reflection on my first year – an indication of what other ‘newbies’ might expect if they’d care to join. I joined the Woodcote Conservation Group in September 2024 at the village fete, on hearing Rachel’s inspiring account of the Group’s work to restore the Lower Greenmoor Pond. Although I no longer live here, Woodcote is where I grew up and my father still lives in the family home. I’m not far away and visit him each week. I thought perhaps some of my visits could combine two purposes: I could easily contribute a couple of hours once month on my way to see Dad. For such a modest annual subscription, there was nothing to sway the impulse and so I signed up.
I waited to hear and, having missed the memo about the annual fungus survey, I gathered there was a work party at the Greenmoor ponds. I turned up willing to help, clad in wellies and a shabby old coat, and was made very welcome by Liam and Rachel and the half dozen already there. The task was to clear the weeds that were choking the upper pond. Armed with mattocks, some were digging up the growth and jettisoning it by the water’s edge. My job was to collect the discarded plants in a wheelbarrow and move them to a heap away from the pond: laborious work, but satisfying, though I was ready for the tea and biscuits where they were produced after an hour or so. This was an opportunity for introductions and a brief chat. If I couldn’t remember all the names, I learned that every other man seemed to be called Phil!
It was much the same in November – though with a different cast of faces – then in December we turned to coppicing stools of hazel at the Group’s allotment. It was a large turnout this time – perhaps double the number of regulars and more new names to learn. Perhaps it was the prospect of retiring to the Red Lion afterwards? Anyway, we got the work done – cutting and stripping the slender poles of hazel – and it was all very convivial, with seasonal mince pies at the tea break.
I’d also been introduced to another aspect of the Group’s annual cycle, the autumn bird walk in November. Led by John Sandford, we followed a route through Dean Wood and out on to the fields beyond, observing and noting all the different birds in view or earshot. Nothing remarkable perhaps, though for me a highlight was seeing a considerable flock of partridges in the open fields beyond Dean Farm. The same route has been followed each quarter for over 15 years so the Group has a useful set of records reflecting ornithological trends over time.
The new year got off to a slow start for me, as I was without a car for a couple of months, and so I missed the annual toad patrol on Greenmoor Hill, in which volunteers ensure the safe passage toads from their winter habitation in the woods to breed in the ponds. My next turnout was in April when, together with my son, we joined in a work party at Tidmore Pool. There were only six of us, but it was light work, removing thistles and nettles in the surrounding sward to give room for the emerging wildflowers to prosper. Conversation with Liam and Rachel at the tea break, prompted me to dig out my schoolboy studies of Woodcote’s geology and its effect on the supply of building materials.
It will be no surprise that the plight of Greenmoor’s Lower Pond has been a preoccupation of the Group for some time, and the exceptionally warm and dry weather last summer coincided with plans to reline the almost empty basin. Besides fund-raising – helped along by a coffee morning which my wife and I were pleased to attend in early June – an emergency task in the short term was to translocate the remaining tadpoles and other pond life from the residual puddles in Lower Pond to the (by this time) greater body of water in Upper Pond. There was an abundance of volunteers for this one, and more women than men this time. It might have been little more than a gesture, but it felt good to try and save what remaining pond life there was.
The tadpole rescue was also an opportunity to publicise a walk planned for the following Friday to see woodcock ‘roding’ and to listen for bats under the leadership of Andy, the Group’s ‘batman’. We gathered by the ponds that evening and were issued with bat detectors before setting off into Birchen Copse, then College Wood as the light began to dim. The hope was to see the secretive woodcock in their seasonal flight, viewed against the evening sky as the males mark their territories between the trees. I’d attempted to see this once before, without success, and so was keen to experience roding. I was not disappointed. Although the burst of flight is only momentary, I caught four of the six sightings that evening. Then as we returned though the gathering shadows, we switched on the detectors and – with Andy’s expertise – were able to identify the various species of bat on the wing that night.
Another walk followed next month, but this time to see butterflies at the Holies, the National Trust hillside overlooking Streatley. I signed up, but as the weather was uncharacteristically wet and windy that day, I wasn’t hopeful of an enjoyable time. How wrong I was! Although there were only four of us, we managed to dodge the rain and saw many more butterflies than expected, though sadly not the Chalkhill Blue that the location is known for. And what interesting company too, with conversation in between sightings that spanned a range of subjects. As a bonus, I used the WCG’s monthly email reminder to visit South Stoke that evening to hear Simon Booker give a talk on wildlife photography entitled ‘Strictly Nature’, an activity Woodcote Conservation Group members had been invited to.
Just as autumn 2024 had been spent at Greenmoor ponds, so autumn 2025 was directed to work at Tidmore Pool. In October, we started to renew the fence of woven withies, trimmed from the hedgerows, and we completed it in December with hazel coppiced from the allotment. It was enjoyable being creative, rather than cutting back vegetation, and satisfying to see the results of our labours in a tangible form.
But before we ended the year, I was able to conclude my first 12 months with a repeat of the event I’d missed when joining: the fungus survey in College Wood. I’m no expert, but am interested in fungi, and so was delighted to secure a place on this fully subscribed event. It was attended by a wide range of Woodcote residents, families with children included, and led by six very knowledgeable members of the Fungal Survey of Oxfordshire, all of whom were happy to share their expertise. I certainly came away with increased knowledge and some useful tips on identifying fungi.
So how has my first year been? If I can’t pick a favourite activity, I can at least identify some of the pleasures:
- Meeting new people – many of them inspiring with their knowledge and enthusiasm.
- Connecting with community – for me, keeping in touch with ‘home’, for others, perhaps a way of getting involved with village life.
- Putting something back – and doing something worthwhile.
- Physical exercise – who needs the gym?!
- New experiences – for me, seeing woodcock roding was a long-held ambition.
Benefiting from the expertise of others, and learning something new about wildlife – for me, this was particularly the fungi, bats and butterflies, but maybe for others, the owls that were the subject of a talk which sadly I missed.
If this speaks to you, Woodcote Conservation Group would love to hear from you!
Edwin Trout, January 2026
This article was published on page 14 of the March 2026 edition of the Woodcote Correspondent