Welcome to the autumn edition of our news and prayer letter.
Yes, meteorological autumn has begun, though it’s still warm enough at the time of writing for shorts and sandals. I note that the weather forecasters still equate ‘good weather’ with dry weather and fine days. We know that in reality we need more rain, quite a lot more in fact, for our fields, woods, rivers, reservoirs and water tables.
News of forest fires, catastrophic droughts in parts of Africa, devastating floods in India and Pakistan: these bring home the fact that climate chaos is a present reality. What we are trying to do at Foxearth Meadows may seem trivial in the face of these huge issues. I don’t think it is. We have a practical job to do to maximize the benefit for nature in our small bit of land. We also have a job to do to educate and inspire people so that our reserve has a wide influence for good.
I’ve been asked a good few times how the reserve is doing with the heat and shortage of rain. Pretty well, is my answer. Yes, some ponds are lower than we’d like them to be, but there’s plenty of life and verdancy. I believe our reserve is a hopeful place. I’ve listened to young people who feel, ‘Why bother? When I’m your age the world may hardly be habitable’. As a Christian I have hope in a God who loves and doesn’t give up on loving all that he has made. It’s my hope that, wherever people are coming from, they will find hope at Foxearth Meadows that we can make a difference and that we have a future.
Please do read this newsletter. I hope it may inspire you to get involved and support our work and that of A Rocha UK, and I hope it’ll give you a bit of hope.
Songs of Praise at Foxearth Meadows
Tune in to BBC's Songs of Praise on Sunday 25 September at 1:15pm. That’s the Sunday of the 'Great Big Green Week’ (25 September - 2 October), and the programme will focus on 'Caring for Creation'.
The hymn singing was filmed at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford - just a few miles from the reserve - on the hottest evening of the year (Tuesday 19 July). You can read about it in the September edition of the Bury & West Suffolk magazine.
On 1 September Aled Jones arrived with a film crew at Foxearth Meadows. A Rocha UK's Chief Executive, Andy Atkins came to be interviewed. Some of our volunteer team were busy scything and raking and the Rev. Lynda Sebbage (Rector of the Barrow benefice) brought a delightful bunch of children to learn about dragonflies and damselflies and do some arts and crafts. Several hours of filming will be edited down to about three minutes, so we’ll be watching with interest to see what survives the cut!
If you miss the episode, catch up on BBC player here (episode available from Sunday afternoon).
Events coming soon
Evening bat walk and moth trapping
Tuesday 27 September, 5:30 - 7:30pm For more info + booking please see here.
'Source to Sea' river clean-up Re-scheduled for Monday 10 October at 9.30am
Each year we try and clean the river of human rubbish on our section of the Stour, and as far as we can extend upstream and down. We value the help of kayaks and canoes owned by friends of the reserve (including members of Sudbury Canoe Club). We do the clean up as part of the Marine Conservation Society ‘Beach Watch and River Clean’. We have now found another date for our ‘Source to Sea’ river clean-up – Monday 10 October at 9.30am - as the original date coincided with the day of the Queen’s funeral. Please be in touch if you would like to be involved.
Volunteer work parties
These continue on Fridays, but we would welcome newcomers if anyone is interested in joining our happy band. One quote heard is, 'It’s like outdoor gym but it’s free!' As well as being in a beautiful place, getting plenty of exercise, learning skills and enjoying great community, you will be contributing to our vital conservation work as we seek to enhance the site for nature through managing its many and varied habitats. Examples of recent tasks undertaken include:
Rebuilding the footbridge across the western ditch to maintain the Public Right of Way access across the meadow;
Clearing vegetation from ponds to improve dragonfly habitat;
Coppicing willow stands to create dense structure whilst allowing light in to increase numbers of flowering plants;
Mowing and removing arisings to restore our flower-rich grasslands;
Digging out foot drains and silt traps to maintain control of water movement and levels.
This is but a fraction of what we do, so do contact Mark or Andy if you are suitably enticed.
*STOP PRESS*
In the last few days before ‘going to press’ we’ve received approaches for visits to the reserve by local schools and for adults with learning difficulties. It is likely these visits will be mainly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We’ll be needing some extra volunteer help for this. We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in helping.
Local Eco Church Support Group
This is a new venture, and maybe an adventure in learning together? Working to green our churches and put creation care into the mix as a key part of our Christian mission, we can sometimes feel it’s an uphill struggle or we get stuck as to how to make more progress. Will it make a difference if we meet informally to share ideas and information, source some good advice and encourage and pray for each other?
We’re giving it a try, and the response suggests we may be meeting a need. The first meeting was planned to be at Andy & Jane’s house in Sudbury, but take-up meant we needed more space and Great Waldingfield kindly offered a venue at St Lawrence Church.
19 people came and shared some of their encouragements and challenges. Our guest speaker was Mark Prina. He gave us an invaluable insight into mowing regimes for a nature-friendly churchyard.
If you’d like to be in the loop with information about future meetings, please be in touch with Andy.
Trees and woodland management at Foxearth Meadows
Our spring and summer editions included updates on our tree and woodland management. Here we include as a bonus not one but two more articles written by Mark (originally published in the local ‘Parish News’).
Remarkable Trees (Part One)
'The indifference to old trees makes a mockery of our supposed new respect for the environment'. Thomas Pakenham, ‘Meetings with Remarkable Trees’ (1996)
There are a couple of contentious points in the above quote: are we indifferent to the trees gracing our landscapes and have we acquired a respect for the natural world? Maybe and maybe not but, I would suggest, we have a tendency to overlook both in the busyness of life. I have been touched by several trees at the meadows indeed to the point of hugging a couple as I wrapped my tape measure around their midriffs. To qualify for these ponderings the trees can be alive or dead but must be standing. Continue reading Mark's article here.
Image: Monterey Cypress. Resurrected but not revived.
Remarkable Trees (Part Two)
'…to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness: that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified'. Isaiah 61:3b
Following the logic of Genesis 1:26-28, where humans are made in the image of the Creator and given dominion over his creation, then all the trees included in this final part of the series can be viewed as being planted by the Lord even if man’s agency is involved. We may try to regard ourselves as being separate from nature, not dependent on it, and exempt from any responsibility for it. The Bible says the opposite. Continue reading Mark's article here.
Image: Ash at kissing gate: showing dead upper branches.
Trainee Vicar at Foxearth Meadows
Normally we have two ordinands each year who come to spend a week with us on a ‘social context placement. Much of the time is on the reserve, but some is spent meeting people in the community and especially people doing Eco Church. This year we were persuaded to take not two but three. Our last edition included pieces by Chris and Nathanael. This time we hear from Amy.
My name is Amy and I am currently training for ordained ministry in the Church of England. As part of my training, as June turned into July I was lucky enough to have a week’s placement at Foxearth Meadows. I was particularly fortunate as Andy and Mark had organised a very busy, interesting and thoroughly enjoyable week. Below are 5 of my highlights.
First, on the Sunday after a long drive down from Manchester it was lovely to head down to the reserve and spend some time playing games, walking around the reserve, worshipping God and toasting marshmallows with Eden’s Christian Youth Café.
Monday began with a definite highlight for me of bird ringing. It was utterly amazing and such a privilege to be able to hold and release some of the birds after they had been ringed. This is something that I definitely hope to get involved in again in the future if I can find opportunities to do so closer to home.
We had some home schoolers join us on Wednesday who really enjoyed pond dipping. Their top finds included sticklebacks, a dragonfly nymph and a leach, which definitely got the biggest reaction.
Saturday was National Meadows Day and so the reserve had an Open Day. Fortunately, the weather was good and we had many people come and enjoy the reserve. It was truly amazing to see so many people, particularly families, enjoying and exploring wildlife. Again, pond dipping was a big favourite as well as craft activities.
FoxeARTh also encouraged us all to take the time to observe the details in nature and so appreciate the small as well as the big in God’s beautiful creation. At the end of the day, I was hugely honoured to be given by Joshua (10 years old) his drawing (pictured) of a dragonfly nymph emerging to become an adult. It will stay on my wall to remind me of Foxearth Meadows and my wonderful week there in the years to come.
My fifth and final highlight is probably cheating a bit. It is meeting such a range of people who were passionate about God’s creation and doing their own little bit to care for it, each in their own way. I found each of these meetings inspiring on their own but together they reminded me that we can all make a difference and how we do that is as unique as who God made us.
The reserve as an outdoor classroom
Andy writes: One of our aspirations is to be an educational resource for children and young people. The reserve has great potential for this and several schools came on visits before lockdown.
We have extended a re-invitation to all local schools to bring students to the reserve. Take-up has been slow; Covid caution and transport costs are factors. So we were pleased when a local primary school brought their whole staff to the reserve one day after school. Their plan is to include visits to the reserve for each year group integrated into their curriculum.
In the meantime Mark has been developing activities for home schoolers, with one family visiting regularly and a group from Eden’s Youth Project spending an afternoon on the reserve. Their visit combined picnic, crafts and learning activities. It was good to see the youngsters so enthused. We need young people to be inspired to expand their understanding of the natural world, and to protect it for their future and that of future generations.
The day after this visit Mark and Andy were in Dickleburgh, Norfolk where Early Years and Year 6 of the local primary school were spending the day in the church and church hall for a carousel of mini workshops (for 6 groups of 5, or was it 5 groups of 6?) led by representatives of different faiths. The day was called ‘Faith and Nature’. Toucan Tango (a glove puppet) helped the youngest to think about looking after the rainforest and keeping a home for nature. The Year 6 students found out that anagrams from the word CREATION developed the theme of climate change and the disaster of ‘I CARE NOT’! The highlight was Mark using a giant Jenga set to bring alive the potential of biodiversity and habitat loss, pollution and invasive species to cause ecological catastrophe.
Summer visits and events
‘Pretty well a perfect day …’ Dragonfly I.D. Walks
David Chandler is a wildlife guide and author and serves on our Steering Group. His Dragonfly I.D. walks have become a perennial favourite, and this year David led two walks on Saturday 23 July.
David writes: ‘It was pretty well a perfect day for it. The sun shone and the dragons and damsels responded. The brown hawkers were a delight and there were plenty of them – Foxearth Meadows can be a very good place to enjoy our only true dragon with amber-tinted wings. There were banded demoiselles, beautiful as ever, a handful of enigmatic white-legged damselflies, small red-eyed damselflies mating on Island Pond and comfortably outnumbering red-eyed, imperious emperors, feisty four-spots and a solitary southern hawker, common darter, deep red ruddy darters, azure, common blue and blue-tailed damsels – 13 species in all – we did well."
One of the participants has generously passed on a set of great photos from the day (see below). We asked Sophie to introduce herself. She writes: ‘I am currently studying Animal Conservation Science at the University of Cumbria. My mum heard about the reserve through a volunteer and brought me along for the guided walk as I didn’t know much about dragonflies and damselflies. It was brilliant to discover the reserve and speak with David on the reproduction, identification and life of these fantastic creatures! Being able to interact with professionals in their field of knowledge is a great way to discover what amazing wildlife the UK has to offer’.
Images: Small red-eyes damselflies mating; Brown hawker ovipositing
Female banded demoiselle; Four-spot chaser
Ruddy darter; Male banded demoiselle
Over the summer Foxearth Meadows was visited by a number of different groups. Here are some of those who’ve enjoyed the reserve:
FortKnights is a Youth Group for young people with learning difficulties. They enjoyed games, a nature walk, toasted marshmallows and a sing-along round the firebowl from Elvis to George Ezra!
New Life Church is a local congregation which meets at Thomas Gainsborough School in Great Cornard.
Kerry Butcher writes: ‘It was a very – VERY – hot Sunday morning at Foxearth Meadows in August for our, what is becoming an annual, church outdoor celebration service, a contrast from last year’s thunderstorm threatened morning.
That is of course the excitement, nature and jeopardy of an outdoor event, Foxearth Meadows a wonderful, accommodating, calm oasis of different habitats to entice our senses. As people began to arrive we were encouraged to pause…to reflect on what we could see, feel, hear, smell, taste – soaking up all that was around us. With 2 Corinthians 4:16 as a key verse for our service: ‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day’ - we felt we were perhaps melting away!
We created a large stickman, representing our wonky bodies and wonky lives – ‘wasting away’. Testimonies were shared to encourage us in those desperate times when our health or circumstances – our wonky lives and bodies - are so challenging and it feels impossible to keep going. How CAN we be ‘renewed inwardly’? Keeping our focus on God came up time and again, along with prayer, reading, singing ‘loudly!’, meeting together, accepting our weaknesses and changing what we can no longer do for new things we CAN do.
We finished our time with a reminder of the God who created everything in love and his redemptive plan for everyone through our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!’
Eden’s Christian Youth Café
4 o’clock Community(Nicky Lawson writes) ‘We're a family-friendly ‘fresh expression’ of church from nearby Chadbrook benefice, which we started this year, building on our successful 4pm Messy Church. Since January we have been gathering most weeks at 4pm with a variety of informal events both indoor (e.g. Café Church and ‘Shine’) and outdoor (Forest Church and Socials). Our outdoor events have included a stargazing walk, dawn chorus walk, organic farm visit and Forest Church in community woodlands and at Foxearth Meadows. We really enjoyed our July visit to Foxearth Meadows, where we were asking, ‘What can we learn about God from dragonflies?’ It was amazing to find how His incredible design has inspired human flight, and teaches something of the mystery of how we will “be changed” just like the dragonfly which changes to live in completely different realms (water and air). We also now know the difference between dragonflies and damselflies!’
To find out more Nicky is happy to be contacted on 07938 681319 or email, or look at the website for upcoming events. The next Forest Church will be on 16 October 2022.
St John’s Methodist Church Holiday Club (Mark reports) To end their week of activities, families with children arrived at Foxearth Meadows on Saturday 27 August for some direct contact with God’s creation. Activities included: outdoor games, pond dipping for aquatic invertebrates, nature walks and a bug hunt using sweep nets and butterfly nets. The children enjoyed using the ‘pooters’ to suck minibeasts into pots for examination, although just as much fun was when a game developed as to who could suck up the most spiders (of which we had limitless numbers!). For this competition the girls definitely held sway with any early squeamishness (from boys!) soon forgotten.
Causeway Fellowship 'Thirty members from Causeway (a monthly church and club for people with learning disabilities) enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at Foxearth Meadows on August Bank Holiday Monday. The afternoon began with a time of worship led by Helen on her guitar. Our group loves to sing so ‘Allelu, Allelu, Allelu, Alleluia, Praise ye the Lord’ and ‘Oh we love to worship Jesus’ (to the tune of The Hokey Cokey) were great fun. Then came the best bit, the picnic and as it was Julie’s birthday, her mum brought some delicious cakes to share. The afternoon wouldn’t have been complete without some fun and games. Some of us tried our hand at Hoopla and building up bricks to see how high we could build them before they all fell down.
Others took a walk around the reserve. We all departed two hours later happy, hot and tired. We hope you will have us again next year!’ (Lynne Fish, Sue Gilbert & team)
Ukrainian refugees enjoy the reserve
It’s always our aim that the reserve is a place of welcome for people needing the healing and peace of being in a beautiful place and close to nature, so we were delighted when the local support network for Ukrainian refugee families took up our invitation and came to the reserve on two days during the summer holidays.
There were games to have a go at and nature activities, as well as time to stroll along the footpaths and boardwalk. But no doubt a big part of the benefit was the chance just to get together and to enjoy friendship and mutual support around a generously shared picnic.
Here is feedback from a couple of those who came:
‘Thank you for inviting us to Foxearth Meadows – a wonderful place where you can get close to nature. We received many positive impressions. Special thanks to the team who introduced us to this reserve and enthusiastically talked about the plants, insects and animals characteristic of the area’. (Nataliia)
‘Many thanks to the volunteers for a lot of positive impressions from the diversity of flora and fauna of Great Britain. We learned about the existence of several species of dragonflies. We will definitely visit this place again’. (Inna)
FoxeARTh days give people an opportunity to look/draw/paint at Foxearth Meadows. Some who’ve come are experienced artists, others beginners willing to have a go, with ideas, materials and encouragement on hand.
To find out more please contact Stella Davis on 07599 398866 or email artwisestella@gmail.com
Thank you to all who supplied photos of different events, and to Albert Butcher or his nature shots.
Prayer pointers
For those who pray, here are some prayer pointers:
We give thanks for the many opportunities over the summer to welcome groups and individuals onto the reserve. Please pray that they’ll have been helped and inspired by their visits.
We give thanks for the hard work and goodwill of our volunteers and pray that they are enriched in some way by their involvement.
We give thanks for the opportunity for Foxearth Meadows to feature on Songs of Praise and pray that the message is clear and the impact good.
Please join us in praying for:
Our new government not to lose sight of the urgency of tackling the environmental crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Some of the campaign proposals have given deep cause for concern.
Our local churches to take a lead in the ‘ecological conversion’ that our society needs.
Our A Rocha UK sister reserve, Wolf Fields (in urban, West London) which is advertising for a new manager to continue the inspirational work pioneered there by Kailean & Kim Khongsai.
Mark, our Manager, as he plans future conservation work on the reserve and also liaises with neighbours around the reserve.
