A Suspicious Device

February is usually a quiet time of year for Three Cornered Copse. The mud and the cold weather tend to keep activity levels at a minimum, so it was exciting to learn that the bomb squad, accompanied by the police, had cornered off a part of the woodland because of a discovery of "a suspicious device".

The bank of daffodils at the top of the copse

Reports indicated that the device was a suspected grenade, which was duly detonated with a controlled explosion. Locals reported hearing the loud noise echoing up and down the woods.

As to the veracity of the grenade, (was it a toy or replica?), and to why it would be in the copse, it remains a mystery. As far as we know the copse has never been used for any military manoeuvres. After a few hours of yellow vest activity, the peace was returned to our parkland, and the police and bomb squad cleared up and departed.

Activity for the Friends group is still limited to individual projects of course, until the lockdown is lifted. Some three years ago the Friends began a planting schedule of native trees and shrubs, donated by the 'I Dig Trees" programme. The saplings were protected by a plastic collar supported by the cane. The plastic was starting to break down, become brittle, so it was time to remove these from the environment. The saplings were Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Common Dogwood and Guelder Rose. Each native species is significant for supporting specific insects. For instance Blackthorn is a habitat for the rare Brown Hairstreak butterfly. Some saplings had died, some had barely survived, but some had actually thrived. Most of the survivors were in bud and ready to start the Spring growth. We look forward to seeing the new shrubs begin to get established this year. The planting area certainly looks cleaner without the plastic.

We also look forward to tackling the jobs piling up in the copse. It is mainly an un-managed space, but all woodlands need management, and have always been managed, ever since there have been people to do so. The council's park rangers have been barely visible in the past 12 months, switching to Covid duties, and we need their tools to move trees and un-block the pathways.

More details of future workdays, and the restrictions that would apply, as always, are found on our website, www.threecorneredcopse.org.uk; also news of any more suspicious devices.

Simon Baxendale