Author: Neela Bradshaw

Our Group is continuing with its work in The Bourne Community and is poised for the onset of 2026 with a programme already drawn up in outline.

Looking back over the past 12 months reveals a successful period in which all our main sites and the local footpaths have been kept in good order and drawn favourable comments from residents. Particular achievements included once again the award of “Outstanding” for the Middle Bourne Lane Community Garden in the RHS In Bloom Competition, and the conduct of a weekend Bioblitz centred on The Bourne Green. We also took part in wider events in Farnham including the 2025 Walking Festival and Heritage Open Days for which the theme was Architecture. Within that, in keeping with our major interest in biodiversity enhancement we included a talk on the architecture created by animals ranging from ants and bees to badgers and otters ending with a mention of the Master Architect of the animal world, the beaver.

Going forward, our intention is to continue with our well established range of activities including Toad Watching in the early spring and a monthly Bee Transect Walk around Lower Bourne.

We also aim to participate in Heritage Open Days 2026 which has a challenging theme based around everyday histories of working lives. We kick off this full programme on 4th January in Burnt Hill wood and look forward to working with Members and Friends throughout the year ahead.

(The picture on the right shows Mavins House /Mavins End built by Harold Falkner in 1927.) The second event was a talk in the Maltings by Noel titled ‘The architecture of South Farnham provided by people and animals’. Starting with the pre-historic dwellings in the area, Noel took the audience through the subsequent development of the area including the late nineteenth / early twentieth century building boom arising from the growing population of Farnham. Having spoken of human building activities he went on to describe ways in which modern buildings could help support wildlife, for example by the use of Swift Bricks. To end he shared the wonder of animal architecture as illustrated by ant mounds, Badger setts, otter holts and beaver dams.  

Both events were well attended  

For a more detailed account of these events Click here  

We have kept busy throughout the first part of the summer, a period marked by variable weather conditions including an intense heat wave in July that caused a Health Warning to be issued.

The Old Churchyard was looking lovely for the Palm Sunday service held there, and after that our priority became preparation of the Middle Bourne Lane Community Garden for the RHS In Bloom competition which took place in early July. In the immediate run-up to that we had to take action to warn the public of the presence of a wasp nest close to the footpath path. This also affected the route for the judge’s tour but he had a close look and accepted the idea that the presence of the wasps was a sign of the overall good health of the site. It is good to be able to observe that, despite their rather aggressive reputation, wasps are now recognised as an essential part of the array of pollinating insects that serve us and the planet well.

We have been keeping it under strict control along The Bourne stream for many years and held our main session this time in mid July when we were pleased to find little that needed attention. That work was combined with trimming the other vegetation along the excellent footpath running between Tilford Road and Waverley Lane also known as Boreas Dene.

As this update is being prepared we are putting the finishing touches to our plans for the Bioblitz on the Bourne Green area to be held on 1st-2nd August led by Myung Hye Chun. We are also making sure we will be ready for our participation in this year’s Heritage Open Days in September, the theme of which is Architecture. We shall be leading a Guided Walk and making a Presentation on the human and animal architecture of South Farnham.

All the dates for our activities are given on the Calendar.

There has been plenty to keep us busy throughout the months of April and May this year. In part this has been due in part to our routine programme of site maintenance and in part to special events.

Everyone was pleased on the day to see Twinkle the Donkey taking part in the procession once again after an absence for a couple of years.  Elsewhere the maintenance load was increased by the exceptionally dry weather which made watering essential at the Crossroads and Middle Bourne Lane.

Other routine events included the re-start of the monthly Bourne Bee Transect programme on 14^th May. We were also pleased to support Hive Helpers in the launch of their Bee Trail at the Museum. This is a signed route throughout the central part of the town and for which guide booklets are available at the Council Offices.

As May draws to a close we are beginning to focus on the maintenance of the Middle Bourne Lane Garden which will be judged once again in early July, and also to think about Heritage Open Days 2025, the theme for which is Architecture. This will give us a chance to highlight some of the buildings and heritage of the place where we all live.

After starting the year in fine style with our Social in the Community Hall we have kept up with tasks on various sites, paying particular attention to the Old Churchyard in order to ensure it will be in tip top condition for Palm Sunday on 13th April. Removing invasive brambles has been an especially demanding task there but the crocuses provided a wonderful backdrop. In parallel, Toad Watching has been in progress on Boundary Road, brilliantly organised by Lisa Malcolm and Myung Hye Chun. Many thanks to them and to everyone else who has taken part.

And soon after that we expect the MBL Garden to be judged as part of the In-Bloom Competition. Shortly after that we plan to conduct a Bioblitz on The Bourne Green  in order to record what wildlife is present there.

Later in the year we plan to participate once again in Heritage Open Days for which the theme this year is Architecture. We shall certainly offer a walk to show off The Bourne’s  interesting buildings and we may prepare a talk as well which could include something about Nature’s Architecture.

So, a busy year ahead for which we shall need lots of help from all volunteers so please look out for the Calling Notices.

St Peter’s Church in Wrecclesham was built in 1840 and burials in the immediate churchyard close to it commenced shortly afterwards. In 1886 another burial area was opened across the road and this became a second part of the churchyard complete with its small lychgate. A war memorial was added in 1923 and the whole site is now a prominent feature on School Hill. It is still in use for burials which are likely to continue for about two more years.

After discussion it was agreed that contact should be made with the Vicar of St Peter’s to further explore the possibilities. This was quickly done and resulted in BCG making a formal proposal that, after carrying out simple tasks such as clearing the accumulated litter that was visible all over the site, BCG would guide biodiversity enhancement work to be done by a group of Wrecclesham volunteers. When this was agreed by the Parish Church Council, BCG took immediate steps to draw up an outline plan with the aim of generating momentum for measures that would assist wildlife in spring 2024 as well as starting the process of setting up the new local group.

No time was wasted and a Start-Up session involving BCG members and Wrecclesham volunteers was held on 27th January 2024 with a total of 20 taking part. This was successful in collecting a large amount of litter, installing 3 woodcrete nest boxes and clearing a space for a compost area.

In the following month further discussions were held which led the Vicar to invite Martin Angel to speak about the Biodiversity project in Church on Sunday 18th February 2024 prior to a follow-up work session on site on 25th February. An invitation was also received from the Wrecclesham History Project for Noel Moss to talk about the Churchyard project in March. This was accepted as an opportunity to explore more fully the heritage aspects of the new project as well as generating further local interest in the project. This is important because, the intention is that the Wrecclesham Conservation Group, once it is fully formed and set up, will take over all the planning, organisation and practical work needed to keep the site in excellent condition with BCG ready to support, assist and advise as necessary

Two main stages of work are scheduled for the remainder of 2024 as funding becomes available. These are a Bioblitz to be held over the weekend of 22-23 June and a programme of wildlife-friendly planting. This will include perennial wildflowers and spring-flowering bulbs such as snowdrops, daffodils and grape hyacinths.

Opening Work Session.  Our work programme for 2024 started on a bright sunny morning on 7^th January with a well attended session in Burnt Hill Wood led by our Waverley Ranger, Vicky Keller. We were delighted to welcome new members, Jean and Mike Curry with their son Matt and also Ellis Bowman, a new D of E candidate. Together we cut out a mass of laurel and other invasive shrubs at the summit of the wood and were impressed with how Vicky got the bonfire going at the first attempt and kept it alight throughout the morning.

Social Event. After that strenuous morning it was a great pleasure for everyone to meet up again in the afternoon to enjoy a Social in St Martin’s hall, the first such event since 2019. 30 members and Friends together with some invited guests were able to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere as well as the refreshments and the fascinating Wildlife Quiz prepared by Martin Angel for which the three winners were presented with attractive books by Heather Angel generously donated by the author. In a fitting conclusion our Chairman shared a few thoughts about the past year and an outline of what lies ahead in the year ahead.     

Essential Work. In January, a small group led by Charles Fearnley with his folding ladder completed the annual task of cleaning all our 20 bird nesting boxes positioned throughout The Bourne. We also responded to a request from neighbours to clear a small fallen tree from The Bourne Stream.

A New Project. At the end of January we also managed to squeeze in an opening work session for a project we are helping with in the picturesque Churchyard of St Peter’s Church in Wrecclesham. This was a very satisfying exercise because a large amount of embedded litter was removed and three new nest boxes installed. We are now working hard to get a new conservation group formed there to undertake biodiversity tasks in that part of Farnham.

As usual, during the summer, we worked hard on our sites to make sure all was well for the In Bloom judging in July. This year those preparations had a new edge to them because the Middle Bourne Lane garden had been entered in the ‘Its Your Neighbourhood’ competition for the first time as well as contributing to Farnham’s entry in the Large Town category.

In recent days we have found out the results. In the case of ‘Its Your Neighbourhood’ this meant sending a team of four to the Wisley Garden Centre where we were delighted to learn that we had been awarded the top grade of ‘Outstanding’.

Our rewards did not end there because overall Farnham had its best ever year in the competition, earning gold medals and ‘Best in Category’ in all sections they entered including a Gold for Biodiversity. We had of course played our small part in those achievements and were able to attend the town’s evening event at Badshot Lea Garden Centre to be presented with a Certificate of Excellence. Additionally Martin Angel was made Farnham’s Biodiversity Champion.

We are very pleased indeed at the results this year and acknowledge that they are due to the hard work of members on all our sites throughout the year. THANK YOU ALL! 

The national theme for Heritage Open Days 2023 was” Creativity” and our Group decided to support this by giving a Talk on the subject and conducting a Guided Walk both of which took place in the week commencing 11th September. Advertised by the Farnham Society in their HODs leaflet, both were well attended and all the indications are that they were well received by members of the public who attended.

A good deal of research was necessary for both the subject matter and the ideal route for the Walk in the general area of Bourne Wood. It soon became apparent that historically The Bourne has been a very creative place and continues to be so today. This was described in detail in the Talk which, appropriately, was given in the Church of St Thomas –on-The Bourne, itself a good example of creative architecture which directly led to the creative music of the fine Choi that is still keeping the tradition alive today. Another musical example concerned the nationally famous Rock Choir created by Caroline Redman Lusher in The Bourne in 2005.

Creativity of a collective nature for the community included the building in 1892 of Taylor’s Hall (today often called the Scout Hut) as a social club for young people, and the setting up of Woodlarks Campsite followed later by the Woodlarks Centre, both aimed at easing the lot of disabled people. In 1940, when our nation was in grave danger, a different sort of creativity came into play with the construction of a line of defences against a possible invasion, the results of which can still be seen in the Wey valley in the area of Waverley Abbey and elsewhere.

The Talk concluded by clearly demonstrating that creativity is still alive and well in The Bourne as shown by the Garden Designs of Cathy Stewart, the history books of Bishop Christopher Herbert, the paintings of Yasmin Osborne and the wildlife photography of Heather Angel.

The Creative Walk commenced on a warm Saturday morning at the busy Cricket Pavilion area and set off along Dene Lane and into the calm of Bourne Wood, taking in along the way Lobswood Manor,the former home of Sir James Barrie, and a tremendous view of the RSPBs Farnham Heath reserve. A stop was made to view and discuss the use of the Wood for filming and there was another stop in Sable Wood to hear from the owner, Bruce Callander, about how it is managed for the benefit of the environment and members of the public. On return to the Green a final stop was made in the Church of St Martin- By -The Green where Brian White had kindly provided some welcome refreshments and also introduced the walkers to this delightful village church.

The Group’s thanks go to all who helped prepare and deliver these two events including Simon Bradbury, Charles Fearnley, Noel Moss, Myung Hye Chun, Wendy Scoble and Clinton Bradshaw.