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RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP

rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Newsletter January 2018

RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP

rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Newsletter January 2017

RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP

rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Newsletter September 2017

RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUPrspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Newsletter April 2018

Hello again,

And it’s spring again, I can hear the birds sing again, see the flowers bud, (thanks to Lou Rawls for

that) but don’t be fooled by the brief spell of balmy weather. As I write this the cold wind is picking up

again and snow is still forecast.

Please take care when feeding birds in your garden and, if possible, clean your feeding station

regularly to try to combat the spread of avian diseases. There is plenty of information on the internet

regarding this problem and the recent report on the subject.

As we come to the end of our season of indoor meetings I would like to remind everyone that we have

a good selection of outdoor meetings for you, including our coach trip. Please see the details within

the newsletter, bye.

Committee Activity 2017/18

The Committee has six members, namely Margaret Kirby, Secretary: Peter Chadwick, Treasurer;

Joan Hornby, Membership; Vivienne Chadwick, Programme Organiser, Elaine Cooke, Pin Badge Co-

ordinator, Jenny Wright, Publicity. Additionally Steve Hunter works in conjunction with Committee to

produce the quarterly newsletter that is received by all members. The Committee have met bi-monthly

during the 2017/18 year. They have dealt with correspondence from RSPB, enquiries from individuals,

organised a programme of monthly talks and outings, including two outings by coach. They have also

held a manned exhibition at RSPB Saltholme to raise awareness of the Cleveland Local Group as

a step towards increasing membership. The Committee is currently considering the development of

social media pages to further improve awareness of the Group.

Financial Report

Our drop in membership means that we have less money coming in. Our only income is the subs from

our members. We are therefore not able to subsidise the coach trips as we have done in previous

years, which is why the price has increased to £14 per person. We are also paying for our meeting

room now which is further reducing our account. We have not sent any money to RSPB this year,

but we are continuing to sponsor the roseate tern box and raise a small amount of money through

collecting used ink cartridges and stamps.

Membership Report

The group currently has 89 members, a reduction from the previous year when there were 97

members. We welcomed 7 new members during the year 2017/2018, but we need to encourage more

new members if we are to have a sustainable group.

Events Report

Since the AGM last April, we have had 8 indoor meetings, with an average attendance of 31 people.

Interestingly the best attended were Foxglove Covert and its development with Tony Crease (36) and

Birds Seen During the Biking Years with Gary Prescott (36). Both those speakers have agreed to

return next winter. The next best attended was Dean Heward talking about managing the environment

at Saltholme, which suggests that people like local subjects. The next best attended was the

December meeting, when the speaker was snowed in but 30 people came to hear about photography

and eat Elaine’s mince pies. It was a good evening with a variety of things to do – suitable for a

Christmas meeting. Paul Forster will be opening the coming winter session on September 10th with

the Wildlife Photography presentation he was going to give that night.

Fund Raising Report

Not a lot of people know this but Pin Badge Sales in 2017 hit a staggering £1 million pounds. Every

one of the c12,000 boxes around the UK are emptied and replenished by volunteers. Visiting each

box regularly, they have contributed around 3000,000 hours. Around 1,800 Fundraisers help distribute

the one million-plus badges, the range now includes insects, flowers, and bugs, as well as birds.

Total raised by a small but perfectly formed Cleveland Local Group of pin badge minders for 2017 –

2018 was a staggering £5,749.25. A Huge THANK YOU for all your hard work and dedication.

Christmas Raffle was also successful again thanks to all of you for putting your hands in your pockets

and for donating all the amazing prizes.

Publicity

Saltholme and the Local Group

We have worked hard this year at raising the profile of our Group at Saltholme, with staff and

volunteers, as well as visitors. We are finding that having a committee member who is also a

Saltholme volunteer provides us with an invaluable link! Changes in staff at Saltholme have provided

us with new opportunities, and we have felt a great interest in our Group. We have produced a flyer

which is in the leaflet rack at the Reserve, for visitors to pick up. This details our next few Indoor

Meetings and Sunday Outings, and we can update it regularly. We also had a manned display for a

Sunday in February in the viewing gallery, giving us opportunity to be very visible in the Reserve. We

plan to hold more of these events throughout the year to enable us to have face-to-face contact with

as many staff/volunteers and visitors as possible. In return, we always publicise Saltholme events on

our display boards at Indoor Meetings

Saltholme and Saltern (5th Edition)

Next year, 2019, will see the tenth anniversary of the opening of the RSPB/Teesside Environmental

Trust Reserve at Saltholme. The RSPB refers to the site as a former brownfield site, but clearly way

back it was a greenfield site.

The history of the area goes back to the building of a church at Billingham by Ecgred, Bishop of

Lindisfarne by 845 A.D. together with the founding of a village to support it. Billingham was given to

the Companions of St. Cuthbert. After the strife with the Northumbrians and the Vikings over the next

two hundred years, William the Conqueror in 1083 confirmed the former grant and gave the manor

together with Cowpen, Wolviston, Beaulieu, and Belasis, to the monks of Durham. Their land included

at least three miles of riverbank and foreshore. Thus the south-east corner of County Durham was

under the control of the Prior and monks of Durham until the Dissolution when control passed to the

Bishop of Durham in 1540. Prior Whitehead became the first Dean of the Cathedral and twelve of

the monks became the first prebendaries. The church continued to control the area down to modern

times. The Saltholme area was first referred to as “Holme” or “le Holme”, deriving from the Viking

word “holmr”, `a piece of flat low-lying ground by a river or stream, submerged or surrounded in times

of flood`. The area was certainly marshy in the coastal areas and to the north towards Greatham

Creek. The importance of le Holme as the Prior`s main sheep farm can be seen from the number of

ewes recorded about 1310 with 1021 at Holme out a total of 1696 for all the Prior`s manors. Even

Beaulieu`s contribution of 235 ewes was significant (Beaulieu was situated just over one kilometre

eastwards of Cowpen Bewley, later becoming Low Grange Farm before succumbing to suburbia.)

Beaulieu was very important as a centre for arable farming, whereas the villagers of Cowpen Bewley

were the salt makers.

All the early references to Holme come from the far-from-complete records kept by the Prior and

monks, and later by the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The writing requires expertise to decipher, the

easier-to-read copperplate not coming into use until the early 17th century. Then having deciphered

the text the next hurdle is to translate the results from Latin. So my thanks to the transcribers who

have brought historic records into the light of day.

The earliest mention of Holme is in 1276 in a charter Prior Richard made with a Walter Holme.

Then in 1296 we have a William of Holme having custody of a flock of sheep with 1086 ewes and

445 wethers(rams). (Following the national trend the flock declined to 331 sheep under the care of

Radulphus Holtby by 1464.) Also in 1296 at the Billingham manor court (probably held in the Prior`s

manor house at Beaulieu) we have mention of an Isabella of Holme. Other mentions of Holme are

Emma del Holm in 1370 and Richard of Holm in 1377. In 1627 Salt Holm is mentioned in the records

of the Deanery.

In the parish register for Billingham there is a baptism in 1625 of a Thomas Liddle, son of John

of The Houme. The “John Liddle of Salt Holme” who is buried in 1658, is another early reference

to Saltholme. A settlement at Holme is marked on the 1576 map by Christopher Saxton but the

Lordship of Acklam map of 1714 shows a “Saltholme Point” (on the North bank of the Tees roughly

opposite where the Riverside Stadium is now, and where the shore then turned northwards towards

Seaton.) The next Saltholme entry in the register is to the marriage of a Miss Kinderley of Salt Holme

who married Robert Turner of Stockton in 1743. She surely must be related to Mr. Kenderley who

embanked land at Saltholme in 1740 reaching up to about four miles in length by 1808. Opposite the

RSPB Visitor Centre this embankment ran about 330 yards east of the main road, an obvious remnant

being the track at Holme Fleet where the tern rafts are located in summer. At this time the “mouth” of

Greatham Creek would have been just upstream of the A178 road to Seaton.

The creation of the Saltern Wetlands was completed in the summer of 2014 with the breaching of

the sea wall. The newly-created salt-marsh took its name from the large mounds, called salterns, left

behind in the marsh area from salt-making in the medieval period. When salt was much dearer than it

is now sea-water used to be concentrated in salterns. There were salterns all round the coast between

Lincolnshire and Cornwall, with the East Coast, especially Lincolnshire, providing considerable exports

of salt. In the medieval period salt was very important for the preservation of meat and especially for

fish, so salterns are often found near major fishing ports such as Hartlepool. Because sea-water is

so low in salt, salterns were often located near small inlets and tidal marshes which were subject to

natural evaporation, and were only operated at certain times of the year. In Lincolnshire salt-caked

sand was taken from the spring tide line and placed in a trench along with sea water. The resulting

solution was then tapped and stored, whilst the de-salted sand was thrown away and the trench

refilled. The salterns on the Salterns Wetland consist of alternate thin bands of cinder and thick

deposits of silt. The presence of silt suggests a salt-making process similar to that in Lincolnshire. The

cinder was probably due to the use of sea-coal as fuel in the final step of evaporation in pans. With

evaporation occurring at the surface, the crystals grew there, allowing the salt to be skimmed off.

The villagers of Cowpen Bewley appear to be the salt-makers with the records mentioning “salt-pits”

with an early reference in 1296. Whatever the role was of a “salt-pit”–although from the above it seems

likely to have been the steeping trench - it came at an annual rent typically of 28lbs of salt. The next

150 years saw enormous economic and social changes leading to the end of feudal bondage and the

desertion of villages. In 1438 it is recorded that sixteen tenants paid £7 3s. 4d. rather than supplying

nearly half a ton of salt, with a similar rate still applying in 1536. Saltholme finally lived up to its name

in 1874 when the salt bed below it was proved, but salt production had to wait for suitable hydraulic

technology until 26 June 1889 when salt was first successfully produced there. John Fletcher.

Ring Ouzel

After receiving a call from that a friend, who is always in the know as to what rarities are about, I

contacted my Birding Pal…. yes, the same one who waves a white hanky!!! to see if she was up for

a rather long trip, agree to stand in a church graveyard for several hours, at 2 deg. C in the vain hope

that she might see a rare bird??? YES, she said.

Early on a bitterly cold but sunny Sunday morning, feeling a little overdressed, Thermal vest and

long johns, thermal socks, several layers of clothing, thermal hat, thermal gloves, woolly scarf, and a

warm outer coat, walking boots, binoculars, Scope, cameras, and most important of all a Hot Flask of

Coffee, we just about managed to get into the car!!

After a rather long journey we arrived at a beautiful little village with a lovely church, its steeple

popping up above the tall trees. Making our way to the church we encountered our first sight of a

bird.. it was a pair of Bullfinches, the male looking spectacular in the winter sun, walking on we met a

very informative elderly gentleman, he lived locally, and was happy to inform us that the bird we were

after had been in the area for the past four weeks. After two hours with no luck, we headed to the car

for hot coffee, refreshed and warm again, we noticed a field opposite the church had quite a number of

thrushes in it, this field had a rather large lake next to it, and then a very muddy path, we decided to

brave the cold wind and mud and head off, the lake was home to several little grebe, mute swans, and

moorhen, and over on the field we could see Mistle thrush, song thrush, black bird, and…….o yes…..

a Ring Ouzel.

This was a life tick for my birding pal, and she didn’t even get out her white hanky.

Hawfinch

Still feeling buoyed up we went in pursuit of our next target bird. Walking into the church yard we met

up with a few other like minded (crazy) birders, it was freezing cold…. They had seen them earlier,

mmmm…

Braving the icy blast, we waited, watched, and waited some more when a kind lady bird enthusiast,

pointed out the spot where they had last been seen, round the back of the church. We went there and

peering over a wall, hampered by bushes, we could just see into a large garden. Suddenly…YES…

we could see Hawfinch. Picture taken feeling well chuffed, not now feeling the cold, we got back to

the car to make our way home…

Was it worth it ..hell yes. Elaine Cook.

Diary of Events

Please note: venue for indoor meetings is Middlesbrough Rugby Club, Green Lane, Middlesbrough,

TS5 7SL. Indoor Meetings are at 7.30 p.m. Doors open at 7.00 p.m. All are welcome. Price: £1.50

members / £2.50 non-members. Outdoor meetings are informal birdwatching trips, usually meeting at

10.00 am unless otherwise stated. Please ensure you wear suitable clothing and footwear.

Monday 9th April 2018: Indoor meeting Subject: AGM and Evening Presentation. We are without

a leader at the minute and will always welcome people to volunteer to do committee jobs. We are

wanting leaders for walks and ideas of where people would like to go next year. The AGM will be

short, as usual, but anyone willing to do any of the work of the committee or be a leader on an outing,

please contact Margaret, Vana or Joan preferably before April 9th. There will be a short presentation

on a recent trip to Cuba by Vana Chadwick. This will be the last indoor meeting until September 2018.

Sunday 15th April 2018: Field trip Venue: Low Barns Low Barns Nature Reserve and Visitor Centre

is near Witton-le-Wear village and borders on the River Wear. It covers 50 hectares and is a Site of

Special Scientific Interest providing a wide variety of habitats including grassland, scrub, woodland

and a large lake with islands. Bird life is varied and abundant and includes the kingfisher. The site is

mainly flat with well-maintained paths. There are toilets and a volunteer-run café in the visitors centre.

There is a £2.50 charge per car for non-Durham wildlife trust members so contact committee members

if you want to car share. The post code is DL14 0AG. We will meet in the carpark at 10am.

Sunday 13th May 2018: Coach trip Venue: Old Moor RSPB reserve, near Barnsley. This is an RSPB

reserve situated between Barnsley and Doncaster in the Dearne Valley. We have visited many

times and always had a good day. In May we need to look out for great quality grebes performing

their courtship dance; brown hares boxing in the meadows; newly hatched butterflies; sand martins

returning to the nest bank; warblers, such as whitethroats, returning in full song; the swooping display

flight and ‘pee-wit’ call of the lapwing and early flowers like cowslip. RSPB Cleveland Local Group

Coach Trip – All welcome.

RSPB Dearne Valley, Old Moor on Sunday 13th May 2018Cost £14 plus any cost of entry if you are not an RSPB member

This is a flat reserve, with a café and toilets. There are 7 hides with scrapes, reedbeds and meadow

areas. In addition to the warblers, which should be around by then, there are nesting barn owls and

bitterns and nesting grebe. Also, the birds we see at Saltholme such as Avocets, lapwing. There

should also be plenty of wild flowers and dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies are encouraged.

We leave from Middlesbrough Rugby Club, Green Lane, Middlesbrough, TS5 7SL at 8.30am

prompt. There is plenty of car parking at the Rugby Club. If you are late, we will go without you.

The reserve is at RSPB Dearne Valley - Old Moor, Old Moor Lane, Wombwell, Bolton upon Dearne,

Barnsley S73 0YF. The journey should be about 1.5 hours. We will leave at 3.30 pm: estimated time of

arrival at Rugby club 5pm. www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/dearne-valley-old-moor.

Charging Policy. 1. No cheques will be banked until the day following the trip. 2. £5 per seat is paid

as a non-returnable deposit. Should you need to cancel a discretionary refund may be available as

finances allow. 3. We cannot be responsible for late comers at either departure time. 4. We cannot

guarantee the time of arrival at the reserve or on the return.

Illustrations by Steve Hunter, photos Elaine Cook. We are grateful to our all contributors, if anyone has

any relevant news or articles or illustrations/ photos you wish to be considered for publication please

let us know.

Cleveland Local RSPB GroupCommittee Members

Peter Chadwick: Treasurer. Tel. 01642 781274

Joan Hornby: Membership Secretary/Door Collection. Tel. 01642 299312

Margaret Kirby: Secretary

Vana Chadwick, Jenny Wright, Elaine Cooke: Other Contacts

Steve Hunter: Newsletter Editor.

Cleveland Local Group Website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Cleveland Local Group e-mail: clevelandrspb02@gmail.com

The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a

home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and

countryside will teem with life once again. We also play a leading role in a worldwide partnership

of nature conservations organisations. The RSPB is a registered charity: England and Wales no.

207076, Scotland no. SC0376549

Please cut off and return the slip below to book your place on the coach trip

RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP COACH TRIP to OLD MOOR

Please complete this form, and hand it to Margaret, Joan or Peter with £14 per head.

Or return with a cheque payable to RSPB Cleveland Local Group for the right amount to:

Peter Chadwick, 1 Seymour Grove, Eaglescliffe, Stockton on Tees, TS16 0LB. Phone 01642 781274.

Name of person making booking

Tel: E-address:

My party consists of ……..........people, I attach payment of:

Emergency mobile phone number to use on day if necessary:

✂

RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP

rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Newsletter January 2017

RSPB CLEVELAND LOCAL GROUP

rspb.org.uk/groups/cleveland

Newsletter September 2017