Improved (g4 modified) grassland in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire

MG6 or 7 at Oaks in Charnwood

As on a fine May walk, I ascended out of the Ulverscroft Valley back up towards Copt Oak Wood I was greeted by some glorious views of the valley, through which runs the Ulverscroft brook...the source of Bradgates River Lin.

Ulverscroft Valley

I was also greeted by an abrupt transition from the acid wet meadows of the SSSI (discussed separately) to the improved pastures which occupy most of the land between Charnwood Forests rocky, heathy summits.

Here the stone is buried by deposits of red Triassic clay, lain atop the mountains in a time of ancient deserts.

The resulting loamy and clayey, seasonally wet, acid soils with impeded drainage and low to moderate fertility were suited mostly to grass production for dairy and beef. They would likely have held the unimproved grassland subtypes exemplified within the Ulverscroft Nature Reserve SSSI and for centuries would have hosted traditional, ancient breeds under traditional methods until the Agricultural revolution.

This began in the 1700's, driven by the need to increase yields and dependability of crops. This was not a movement or greed, but of the need to achieve food security. It is difficult to imagine a Britain in which crops routinely failed, bringing an outcome of local starvation but this was reality.

The name of the game was maximising the yields obtainable from both land and animals and the "Improvers" set about innovating and driving forward the science in an effort to improve both the output of both land and breeds.

Much land over the Forest qualified as marginal or unproductive and would have been targeted as a priority for "Improvement".

In these wet, clayey pastures, drainage was improved via tile draining, periodic mowing or subsoiling. Ditches around fields were a popular feature, althouh interestingly, they aren't really a feature in this location beyond those associated with the ancient wood banks. Perhaps there was a reliance on the movement of water down into the valley?

Productivity would have been improved via artificial fertilisers and periodic re-seeding with mixtures of productive grasses and clovers. As they become available they may even have used pesticides to keep on top of both the noxious weeds (thistles, docks, ragworts) and the wildflowers now deemed weeds.

Generally, when the proportion of "undesirable species" gets too high, this is the time when the farmer should be reseeding the pasture and starting again.

The aim of all this work was to create l a highly nutritious sward befitting the increasing nutritional needs of the up and coming "improved" breeds, whose enhanced yield required enhanced inputs.

I was struck by the extent to which this pasture was the poster child for NVC community MG7 Lolium perenne leys and related grassland, seeming to conform best with MG7b Lolium perenne-Poa trivialis leys.

It contained the typical nitrophilic assemblage, neatly constant across the fields. Common mouse ear Cerastium fontanum, white clover Trofolium perenne and creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens were constant with docks Rumex spp. locally frequent. Daisy Bellis perennis gives a flavour of the Lolio-Cynosuretum of MG6, to which this type can be converted under a permanent pasture regime.

On that note, the overall impression I get over the Forest is that many of the improved grasslands, including this one are former rotational leys, permitted in recent decades to turn permanent and are transitioning to MG6 Lolium perenne-Cynosurus cristatus grasslands. Possibly the money and effort involved in consistent pasture management is no longer considered desirable.

Improved/semi- improved grassland around Charnwood also commonly involves a high proportion of meadow foxtail Alopecurus pratensis, with much MG7d Lolium perenne-Alopecurus pratensis grassland which is treated as hay meadow in which meadow foxtail and perennial ryegrass are generally dominant with cocksfoot, Yorkshire fog, common bent and creeping bent abundant and sweet vernal grass occassional.

In addition the species poor but g3a Lowland Meadow qualifying MG7c Alopecurus-Festuca pratensis Traditional water meadow community a realistic possibility along the Ulverscroft brook and Lin.

In places where it gets a bit rushy there is likely to be a bit of an MG6/MG10 Holco-Juncetum effusi rush pasture transition towards higher distinctiveness acid/wet grassland/rush pasture and mire subtypes, which would make sense in the context of the rushy wonders I found within the deeper Ulverscroft valley slopes where there are some really interesting communities

As a swift management aside, in grazing these pastures, it is important that stocking is timed well to avoid the wettest parts of the early spring to avoid damaging soil structure.

#NVC #UKHABS #Charnwoodforest