Local ecologist invites community to 'get involved' in orchid count

Prior to 2005, Lodge Field in Ironbridge was a derelict site that had been grazed by horses and was being invaded by coarse grasses and brambles. Local ecologist John Box took it upon himself to volunteer his time and advise the Lodge Field Group, which had just started up, and who shared the management of the site with Telford & Wrekin Council.

He had the vision of restoring the meadow, which was undoubtedly lovely years ago, by correct management to increase the biodiversity of wildflowers and in turn butterflies, bees and much more besides. This is achieved by restricting mowing and removal of the cuttings to just once per year which reduces soil fertility and in turn allows wildflowers to thrive. Since the second world war we have lost 97 per cent of our wildflower meadows and they are now one of the rarest habitats in the UK.

Each year, John invites anyone from the local community to share his passion and to get involved in a count of the orchid population in the field. Orchids as well as being beautiful are a good indicator of species rich meadow and Lodge Field is now the home of both common spotted orchid and a few marsh orchids. At the first count in 2005 a total of 19 orchids were recorded. Over the years this number has steadily grown to a peak in 2022 when a staggering total of some 5,146 were counted.

Last year about 40 people of all ages took part in the count and is a great example of how citizen science can deliver monitoring results that are really useful for demonstrating the success of the restoration of this species-rich hay meadow and for the habitat management employed.

The meadow as well as being beautiful is now a haven for wildlife of all kinds which is not only just regularly maintained by Ironbridge Meadows Group (IMG) but who also carry out surveys of the flora and fauna and regularly host many related activities for the local community including a moth evening, dawn chorus walk, bat evening to name but a few, together with an annual picnic with music Lodge Field is now a statutory Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in recognition of its high nature conservation and as a place for quiet enjoyment of wildlife and is adjacent to The Beeches LNR.

Credit for all this must not only be given to John Box who’s passion over the last 20 years has driven this project, but also to the IMG volunteers and of course Telford & Wrekin Council who have embraced this from the start.

The 20th annual orchid survey this year at Lodge Field takes place starts at 10am.

By Malcolm Crump - Contributor