A Wildlife Haven and Community Asset for All
Annual Report 2016/17
Prepared by Ryan Dobson
Introduction
BBC Countryfile
Wildlife
Visitors
Fundraising
Watchtree Wheelers
Events
Education
Staff & Volunteers
Looking Forward
Appendix 1 - BBC Countryfile Visit
Appendix 2 - Wildlife Report 20163
Watchtree Nature Reserve Ltd. / Great Orton, Carlisle, Cumbria. CA5 6NLTel: 01228 712539
E-mail: Web Site: Company Registration No. 5214585 Registered Charity No. 1127029
Annual Report 2016/171
Introduction
On behalf of the Directors I am pleased to present our eleventh annual report on the work and progress of Watchtree Nature Reserve Ltd.This report will cover all areas of the reserve’s varied work,including wildlife and habitat development,the Watchtree Wheelers, visitor numbers, membership, events and much more. We hope the report makes for interesting reading and ifyou require any further information then please contact us directly and we will be happy to assist you.
The 2016/17 financial year marked a considerable change in our business, as our 10 year funding agreement with Defra ended on 31stMarch 2016. The most remarkable element of this report is our success in maintaining all the facilities and services as an independent and sustainable organisation. We have received financial support for new projects and our daily operation has been self-supporting. This report will look at how this has been achieved and the steps necessary to maintain sustainability.
We have created diverse ways of fundraising in response to funding pressures and have focussed our work on reducing costs. In many cases this has been achieved by nurturing the good will of our community, hence a large proportion of this report is dedicated to the generosity of our supporters.
There are many successes to celebrate and we hope you enjoy this look back at the last 12 months. The final section of this report looks to next year and beyond, where the wheels are already in motion for some exciting developments.
Figure 1: Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton during their January 2017 visit
BBC Countryfile
Watchtree is now many things to many people, but we are first and foremost a nature reserve. Among the highest accolades for a reserve is a visit from BBC Countryfile. In January 2017 we were fortunate enough to welcome the BBC Countryfile team for a third visit. Their initial intention was to simply film our impressive Starling murmuration; however, on discovering more about Watchtree they produced an interesting four minute piece which incorporated many aspects of the reserve. The show was presented by Carlisle’s own Helen Skelton and it was a real pleasure to introduce Helen to Watchtree and show her around – we have a feeling she’ll be back!
You can read more in Appendix 1 - BBC Countryfile visit.
Wildlife
Habitats
Grasslands
The haymaking and grazing was once again licenced to three of our neighbours. The grassland monitoring report from R. Jerramnotes that the meadows, whilst not achieving the floristic composition of the original 2002 habitat plan, have stabilised and are acquiring some diversity. Developing habitat for the Marsh Fritillary butterfly remains a key objective. Our volunteers have continued with the hedge laying programme. We aim to provide areas of wild bird food and insect pollinator crops, and with this in mind, three fields were ploughed and sown with nitrogen-fixing clovers to help prepare the soil.
Woodland and Scrub
We have a new woodland management plan which has been approved by the Forestry Commission. Over the next three years we shall be carrying out a 25% thinning of the woodlands, mostly the Scots Pine and Larch. We shall continue to manage in the hope that Red Squirrels will eventually make their home here. Our main aim now is to manage the woodlands for diversity of both habitat and species. Thinning will let the light in which will encourage ground cover in order to maintain a good diversity for our extensive range of breeding birds and insects.
Wetlands
The wetland habitats are developing into extensive reed beds, and in the constructed wetlands the trees are dominating the water edge, which we are continuing to coppice on a long rotation. The Great Crested Newt continues to flourish, and we also have large numbers of Smooth and Palmate Newts and lots of frogs and toads. Our pond life is abundant as the regular pond dipping sessions illustrate.
Other Habitats
The most under-rated habitat is the old concrete runway areas, which is interesting for its plant community and associated invertebrates, especially the Dingy Skipper butterfly and its food plant the Birdsfoot Trefoil.
Species
Birds
Our bird records are extensive, the main sources being from Liz Still who carries out a breeding bird survey, now in its twelfth year, and from bird ringing and nest recording. The main highlights of the season were the sighting of a Goshawk, and the capture and ringing of a Yellow Browed Warbler. A remarkable 67 Willow Warbler territories were recorded, where a territory is defined by the presence of a singing male, although it should be noted this does not necessarily mean a pair are present. Skylarks are now well-established, with 21 territorial males recorded. It was a thrill to have a pair of Lapwing breed again and rear a single chick.
There were 51 species of breeding bird at Watchtree in 2016, and during the breeding season 87 nests belonging to 25 species were identified. A full report of all species recording can be found in Appendix 2. A more detailed ringing and nest recording report, together with a summary of the breeding bird survey, will be available on the web site in due course.
Figure 2: Lapwing by the Lake
Butterflies and Moths
Butterflies and moths are extensively monitored and are important indicators of the health of our environment and climate. Fifteen new species of moth were recorded, the highlight being Treble-bar; this species, which feeds on St. John's-Wort, has not been recorded in the Solway area for the last 20 years. A micro-moth,Ptycholomalecheana,was the first VC70 record(vice-county) and the fifth Cumbrian record, and has not been seen in the county since 2008. Another micro-moth, Rhyacioniapinivorana, has been attracted to the reserve by the conifer planting, and was thefourth VC70 record.
The Speckled Wood butterfly, which has only recently arrived in north Cumbria, was a new species for the reserve. Two generations were noted so it is probably now resident breeding. However, overall it was not a great year for butterflies. The Dingy Skipper is doing well, although there was no increase in numbers or distribution in 2016, while the Wall did much better in 2016 than in previous years. The Dingy Skipper and Wall are Red List threatened butterflies in Britain; the Dingy Skipper is listed as ‘vulnerable’and the Wall as ‘near threatened’. Both butterflies are national conservation priority species (S41 species), and at Watchtree they can often be seen on the old concrete runways.
Other Species
The Watchtree wetlands provide a very clean water habitat for a host of invertebrates, the most obvious being dragon and damselflies; however, there were fewer Black Darter than in previous years. The ‘constructed wetlands’ is now a really good environment for these insects, and the largest of the species, the Emperor Dragonfly, is now a resident breeding species. The Great Diving Beetle is abundant within the water bodies, and its nymph is a voracious predator, perhaps accounting for the variation in dragonfly populations. We maintain a healthy bat population, and several of the bat boxes are well used by Pipistrelle Bats. Daubenton’s Bats can also be seen hawking insects over water at dusk.
You can read our full report on habitats and species in Appendix 2 - Wildlife Report 2016
Visitors
Every year we report an increase in visitor numbers, but never before have we seen such remarkable growth. In 2015/16 we recorded 18,316 visitors, whilst this year we recorded a 67% increase to 30,374. Undoubtedly, some of this increase is due to good weather through some of the winter months, although the majority of growth is believed to be as a result of increased marketing and the introduction of a wide ranging events programme. Our feature on Countryfile in January of 2017 also encouraged a spike in visitors during an otherwise quiet time of year. From the point of view of the visitor centre, it certainly seems that there was never a ‘quiet time of year’ in 2016/17, as the graph below confirms.
Figure 3: Total number of visitors in 2016/17 per month compared to previous years
Visitor Contributions
Visitor support is essential as we strive for sustainability, and we are pleased that such support is given gladly as detailed below:
Visitors Centre Donation Box
We received £6211 in donations through our visitor centre donation box alone, compared to £1,560 in 2015/16
Watchtree Café
Through our blackboards and other notices we have promoted the café as a charity outlet, encouraging people to use it because the profits support our work. This is another area of significant increase and in 2016/17 the turnover of the café was over £27,000, more than double the performance of the previous year, but expected given the increase in visitors. However, a larger range of products, including sandwiches and events focused around use of the café, have also facilitated this progression.
Membership
On the 31st March 2017 the total number of members was 530 and the membership scheme has a value of over £12,000. We are pleased to report that membership numbers have continued to rise but at a slightly lower rate, which is as expected.
Last year we reported that changes to the Watchtree Wheelers pricing structure had led to an increase in membership uptake and the figures rose by 75% from 2014/15 to 2015/16.
Membership benefits remain the same; discount on cycle hire, out of hours access, and regular newsletters. As we have increased the number and variety of events we host, we have maintained a membership discount in all areas.
Watchtree Calendar
Our 2017 Watchtree Wildlife Calendar was perhaps our best yet. The photography was excellent and we are grateful to all the contributors. This was our first calendar to feature our full event listings, which will hopefully lead to increased bookings. We doubled our output to 1000 calendars and for the first time – sold out!
Calendar sponsorship is now the key to its success and we featured 28 local business who all contributed £50 towards its production.Calendar sponsorship almost covered the cost of production; therefore, we made the bold decision to give away the calendar with a suggested donation, whereas in previous years we have sold it for £5 per calendar. This strategy paid off, increasing the number of calendars distributed and turning a healthy profit of over £1000 from the project.
Fundraising
Fundraising comes in many different forms,and for us the biggest fundraisers are donations, sponsorship and grants. Cafe sales, cycle hire and membership are also considered forms of fundraising and were covered in the previous section above.
Donations
- Christopher Barker donated £200 in September 2016 to be used as we see fit.
- Wigton Choral Society raised and donated £352 to the Watchtree Wheelers through carol singing services and events
- Harry Parsons and Ethan Catton raised and donated £301.30 to the Watchtree Wheelers through a sponsored cycle ride at Watchtree
- Carlisle Girl Guides donated £46 which was raised through a carol service collection to be used as we see fit.
- Story Construction donated £2200 in March 2017 to go towards the trails development project.
Grants
The composting toilet project reported in our last annual report is now complete, thanks to funding from CWMET and Cumbria Community Foundation. Since completion the toilet has been well used and is much more popular than the portaloos which were in use previously.
Also included in last year’s report was the signage improvement project which was funded by Tesco/Groundwork. The majority of these works are complete, and include new finger post signage and roadside entrance sign, however there is still a small amount to be spent.
At the very end of the financial year we were pleased to be awarded £50,000 from Sellafield, as part of their Community Choices programme, which will kick start our trails development project. We hope to match fund this amount which will enable us to resurface the remaining concrete trails which make up our cycling and walking network.
Greggs donated £980 for the purchase of two charcoal burning kilns that have enabled our volunteers to make use of otherwise unusable wood to produce our own charcoal which we sell.
Watchtree Wheelers
The Watchtree Wheelers Cycle Centre is now firmly established as a successful projectproviding a significant dimension to our recreational services. It is a unique service for groups and individuals with additional needs and an important income generatorfor the reserve.
During the year we have had many cycling triumphs, and below are just a few highlights:
- Watchtree Wheelers lead out the 2016 Tour of Britain stage from Carlisle to Kendal
- Philip Hindes MBE (2 x Olympic Champion cyclist) visited Watchtree to help inspire our young riders and raise our media profile whilst also supporting the NSPCC, via a social ‘meet and greet’ event.
- 2 young ‘wheelers’, Ethan & William, raised over £300 by cycling a combined 60 miles around our cycle trailsas their Personal Challenge for the Bishop of York's Youth Trust.
- Francesca Dearden fundraised to help buy a Boma 7 Off Road All-Terrain Wheelchair for her motherfollowing one of our Molten Rock demonstration days.
- Our Little Wheelers sessions continue to thrive, and we now welcome more than 10 junior riders every week.
The financial contribution of this project to the overall reserve is significant. As well as an annual turnover of £22,747 in 2016/17, the project has attracted visitors who contribute to the reserve as a whole through donations, café sales and membership. Our fleet of adapted cycles has also attracted many supporters and helped to raise the profile of Watchtree Nature Reserve Ltd as a charity in the community.
Our supporters tell their Watchtree stories better than we ever can, and below are a small selection of our cycle related feedback and testimonials collected through Facebook, Tripadvisor and direct emails:
“Had a brilliant bike ride at Watchtree today. Never thought my son would be able to ride a bike but there are so many different/adapted bikes to try that we spent a really enjoyable couple of hours cycling on a beautiful day. Well worth a visit.”
“We went along to watch tree after a friend told us about it, my daughter was able to pedal a bike but not balanced and not very confident. After just over an hour with the wonderful volunteers at watch tree she was riding a bike without help and pedalling around.”
“We spent a few hours here yesterday ages ranging from 3 -88 years old and all thoroughly enjoyed it including hiring the bikes,Big Thank You to all the staff as they couldn't do enough for us and most are volunteers.”
Events
The introduction of a diverse, organised events program was, we believe,largely responsible for the visitor and income increase in 2016/17. Events, such as our trail runs and outdoor theatres, attracted a new audience, who then return having discovered this ‘hidden gem’.However, not all of the events were a complete success and we must accept that there is some ‘trial and error’ involved in discovering what events work in this area.
Craft Sessions
These included glass fusion, felt making, photography and journal making. There were mixed results, although all sessions that ran broke even; however,four sessions were cancelled due to a lack of interest. The initial idea behind these events was to attract new visitors, make full use of our portacabin, and to raise funds for Watchtree.
Due to the increase in visitors and associated workload we have not continued these sessions into 2017. Whilst we are not ruling out reintroducing some sessions in the future, an increased focus on cost effective advertising in relevant areas would be essential to their success.
Trail Runs
Our first 5k trail run was hosted as a one off to gauge interest, and more than 70 people came along, which we considered a huge success. The events are free of charge to all who attend; however, donations and use of our café are encouraged. Following the success of our first event we introduced a monthly trail run, and later in the year extended it to a 5k and 10k distance. The 2017 Trail Run Series is now sponsored by Jardine Finan, and the £300 sponsorship fee has been used to produce banners and promotional artwork.