Sudbury Common Lands Charity is now involved in some of the management at the park.

The cubs also planted trees in the Brundon Lane plantation to add yet more diversity to the structure of the woodland. They help out once a year and this time also put up birdboxes in areas which probably have another century or so to go before they begin to provide natural nesting opportunities for birds.

It is always encouraging to receive help from those willing to make a positive contribution.


Work under the Natural England conservation plan has now been completed. Pollarding, hedge-laying and further small-scale dyke reinstatement will all make their important contribution to the riverside ecosystem in due course.

The vision of the trustees 21 years ago, to join the grant-aided Suffolk River Valleys Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) scheme has finally borne fruit in the form of a County Wildlife Site designation.

Sadly this achievement cannot be shared with the charity's long-term supporter and Natural England's project officer, Tim Sloane, who recently passed away.

Small organisations like the Sudbury Common Lands Charity need supporters such as Mr Sloane to provide a human link to large bureaucratic agencies.

Management under the ESA scheme has encouraged uncommon plants, mammals and invertebrates to establish and the new designation recognises the Sudbury Common Lands as a key wetland habitat in south-west Suffolk.

The success rests on the restoration of silted dykes which are the lifeblood of the pastureland. These require annual maintenance to remain suitable for a range of species; the most recent of which is the nationally rare Scarce Chaser dragonfly.


Two years ago, work was carried out to convert a number of pillboxes to bat hibernacula. There is still much to be learned about wintering bats and their preferences so conversion of the pillboxes was largely an act of faith. The charity had converted the King's Marsh pillbox many years ago but the Dedham Vale and Stour Valley Countryside Project obtained enough money to adapt ten of these wartime structures.

These were recently checked for hibernating bats. One the charity's pillboxes is the first in Suffolk to have over-wintering bats, albeit only two.

This, however, compares very favourably indeed with the expensive state-of-the-art bat hibernacula in Thetford Forest which has only one occupant. So the fact that Sudbury is the first place in Suffolk where bats (a brown long-eared and a Natterer's – both woodland species) have chosen to over-winter in an adapted pillbox can also be regarded as a great conservation success for a relatively modest input.

It is once again cause for people to take some pride and interest in their local environment.


Every few years mature cricket bat willows are felled and removed from the riverside. This species grows extremely well in the damp soils of the floodplain and for every felled tree another one is planted.

The trees take about 17 years to grow to the required size. A number of these grow on the Cornard riverside but a reasonable window of opportunity has to be grabbed to extract them. Sometimes there can be a wait of up to three years until conditions are reasonable. Even then, the contractor's large machinery will inevitably cause some damage, although, as always, nature heals this very quickly.

All the top wood is stacked into piles which create a fantastic habitat for large numbers of insects, including wood boring beetles, as well as small mammals, foraging birds, basking lizards, mosses, lichens and fungi. These miniature ecosystems demonstrate that the manicured, over-tidy countryside is a much poorer place for wildlife.


Mother Nature works in a slow, measured way. Plants and animals generally take time to become established so improvements should be viewed over the long-term. If comparisons are made with 20 years ago, the changes are enormous.

The Sudbury riverside is now firmly established on the conservation map.