Judy and Charles Levien began turning their private seven-acre plot in Foulsham into a haven for nature in 1991.
This summer, nearly thirty-five years on, it has officially become one of Norfolk’s County Wildlife Sites, under the ‘habitat created and managed for nature conservation’ criteria.
Their vision of a verdant woodland of native trees, flower-rich meadow and fecund ponds, lush with water plants and animal life, has clearly been achieved.
Charles cleaning out the pond(Image: Judy Levien)
Also evident is their inspirational dedication, passion and love for their small, but important corner of Norfolk.
Prior to Judy and Charles’s arrival, the area was used for growing red fescue grass, principally for supplying golf courses with seed.
Faden’s 1797 map of Norfolk shows that the site was once part of Thembelthorpe Common.
This, like so many other commons, suffered enclosure, and was eventually farmed for arable crops.
Judy developed her appreciation of nature during childhood, and particularly the love of wildflowers from her mother.
But sadly, Judy and Charles are from a generation that have witnessed first-hand the devastating results of Britain’s post-war agricultural policies.
This involved the systematic removal of hedgerows, drainage of ponds, housing estates built on our heathlands, and the plantation of non-native pines in our woodlands.
Land that was not deemed ‘productive’ was viewed as fair game for development.
The greatest destruction was to our ancient meadows.
Mechanisation meant that hay was no longer needed for horses, and flower-rich hay meadows were ploughed for crops.
Across the UK 98% of meadowland disappeared in just a few decades, with Norfolk’s meadows being particularly hard hit.
Witnessing this loss was a catalyst for Judy and Charles, and they set about creating their own woodland and meadow.
During 1991, over a period of four days, 1,200 tree saplings were planted over a three-acre area, with many of Judy and Charles’s friends and family helping to plant the young trees.
Judy meticulously mapped out where each individual sapling should go, indicating the tree species with coloured canes.
The wood has now matured nicely, and the path that runs through it sits beneath a luxurious canopy of translucent green.
Between the wood and the ponds, an open area was seeded with a mix of wildflowers, maturing over time into a beautiful meadow full of butterflies, bees and numerous other insects.
Across the whole site, over 130 plant species have been recorded.
Formerly, meadows prospered from regular cutting, and a hay meadow earned its keep by providing fodder for livestock.
Judy and Charles’s meadow is cut in late summer by a local farmer.
Its luxuriant, organic, and I’m sure, very tasty hay, feeds the farmer’s small herd of highland cattle during the winter.
A lonely old black poplar stood grandly in one corner, an increasingly rare sight in the English countryside now.
Sadly, it was felled by a gale some years ago.
But unsurprisingly, Judy took and propagated cuttings.
The tree lives on, with four black poplars now at home in the wood, and three standing majestically in the meadow.
An erstwhile vista, now lost to most of us.
The log lovingly kept by Judy.c(Image: R.L.Morgan)
Old Common Wood has two ponds, the largest of which a small boat can be paddled across.
The ponds have been expertly sited, and hold water, without the use of a liner, even in the heat of summer.
Each is full of aquatic plants and brimming with life.
Leaving nothing to chance, Judy made a scale model of the large pond in clay to show the profiling she wanted.
This proved invaluable to the digger driver who teased the edges, leaving exposed subsoil and gentle slopes.
This has provided ideal habitat for plants that thrive on low fertility, and the diverse flora is proof of its success.
The display of native orchids this year, I’m told, was exceptional.
Maintaining this habitat involves hard work, so through September, Charles gets busy with a mechanical scythe, cutting and removing all the summer growth from around the ponds.
Judy had the forethought to keep a rather touching and personal log of Old Common Wood, diagrams and photos track its progress, from the very beginning to the wildlife haven it is now.
Thumbing through this delightful record, I asked Charles what the greatest surprise of the last thirty-five years had been.
I was expecting the answer to be the sighting of a rare butterfly or unusual bird, but
“How it raises one’s spirits up” was the response.
There is an old saying that I love, and I know it’s well worn, but I think it still resonates all the same.
“Society is made great when old men plant trees, the shade of which they will never sit under.”
Thirty-five years ago, Judy and Charles had a beautiful vision, and now they can sit beneath the shade of their own trees, or in the middle of their sun-drenched meadow, or by their pond, watching dragonflies flick back and forth.
A “win-win” I think it’s called.
Leaving behind a better world than the one we found may be a rather highfalutin aim, but Judy and Charles are proof that it is something we all have the power to do, however large or small.
Legacy, as we grow older, is something many of us think about, but surely, a meadow, ponds and a woodland that could last a thousand years, is the greatest legacy of all.
View toward the meadow(Image: Judy Levien)
What is a County Wildlife Site?
A County Wildlife Site (CWS) in Norfolk is a non-statutory area of land recognised for its significant wildlife value.
Led by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the CWS system is a partnership with Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service and Local Authorities.
These sites are considered important for biodiversity and complement nationally protected areas by providing a network of habitats for wildlife.
Norfolk has over 1,300 CWS, ranging from heathland and meadows to woodlands and ponds, and they are vital for maintaining the county’s natural heritage.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust visits many County Wildlife Sites each year, providing advice to landowners on how to manage the land for wildlife.
Find out more: norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/cws.