Now in its second year, our Summer Gathering is an opportunity for members and allies to come together to socialise and gain an insight into some of our work over the past twelve months. This year we were very lucky to have talks from ecologist Albert Knott, Dr Helen Wilson and Daniel Brown from the Two Moors Pine Marten Project. The event was held at the Two Bridges Hotel, who very kindly stepped up and invited us to use their splendid Fountain Room.
The event opened with an insightful talk from Albert Knott, who guided us through the refreshed Land Management plans he has created with us for our land holdings, and explained how the actions we are beginning to take will benefit vital habitats and boost biodiversity. He spoke about our hopes to re-wet areas of our land in the Swincombe valley, by diverting water back into historic tin streaming features, which will expand the mire habitat. In addition, he talked us through self seeded conifer removal at Sharpitor and explained our plan to gradually thin the conifer stand at Pudsham Meadows and replace some of these trees with native broad leaved varieties. Another notable project was our plan to hold more water at Pudsham Meadows by digging a small pond at the damp lower end of Sylvia’s field. This will be hugely beneficial for a broad range of invertebrates, including dragonflies.
Albert has been employed by Natural England and its predecessors since 1987 and involved in National Nature Reserve (NNR) management. With 38 years of National Nature Reserve management, he has experience of land management across a wide range of habitats, including: woodlands, heathland/moorland, meadows, chalk grasslands, grazing marshes and soft sea cliffs. His expertise in managing a variety of habitats is a fantastic asset for us, and we are delighted to have him on the team as our Ecological Consultant.
Following on from Albert’s talk, we heard from Dr Helen Wilson, who is also one of our regular Conservation Volunteers. Focusing on the content of her book, ‘The Remarkable Pinwill Sisters,’ she shared the inspiring story of the three Pinwill sisters, who established their own wood carving company in Ermington, and then Plymouth, in 1890. This business went on to become one of the best in Devon and Cornwall, and it all began when their mother asked a master wood carver to train up three of her seven daughters, while he was working on refurbishing their local church. Many of the sisters’ early commissions were for work in Dartmoor churches, especially the restoration of existing late medieval chancel screens, such as at Buckland in the Moor and Manaton, or reinstatement in the medieval style, such as at Mary Tavy and Lydford. Later work included 27 bench ends at Sheepstor and complete furnishing at Postbridge. Often thought of as a male dominated profession, it was wonderful to see examples of their delicate and ornate work, which was highly admired and sought out at the time.
After a refreshing tea break, we heard from our third speaker, Daniel Brown. His riveting talk covered basic pine marten ecology and introduced tracks and signs that people can look for, as well as presenting results from 2 years of radio tracking and wildlife camera work on-and-around Dartmoor and South Devon. There was brilliant footage of pine martens in the wild, including of a mother and her young, captured on wildlife cameras, and we were able to see the huge area that these ferret-sized animals can travel in one night. Using tracking collars, a map was illustrated in various colours to show the territories of each individual, as pine martens are solitary animals that generally only come together to breed. The translocation of pine martens back to Dartmoor has been a success, largely due to the hard work of the team, including Daniel, behind the project.
These native predators have now bred for the first time on Dartmoor and losses to roads (the main danger to a pine marten) have thankfully been very low. Each animal is identified by the unique pattern of its cream bib, beneath its chin, and camera stations are sometimes baited with peanut butter to attract the animals over to be filmed. An interesting point Daniel shared was that some recorded bib patterns have not been recognised on their database, meaning that these reclusive animals may, in fact, have had a small residual population on Dartmoor. Daniel continues to educate farmers, foresters, landowners and communities about pine martens, supporting them in making choices that mean we can live alongside these animals and help them to thrive.
To finish our gathering, we had a delicious buffet and enjoyed music from local folk band, Banned From The Moor. A staple in the folk tent at Widecombe Fair, they played a mix of local, Irish and Scottish tunes, and even called a couple of dances for us. It was excellent to catch up with members in person and showcase positive news from Dartmoor with new faces who are interested in our work.