The ‘Natural’ State of Holt and Little Witley

It is interesting to speculate what the natural environment of Holt and Little Witley would be like without man’s influence. There are two obvious features, the River Severn and Ockeridge Wood, that are apparently ’natural’, but both have in fact been drastically modified over the years, indeed man has had such an impact on the two parishes that no ‘natural’ habitat features remain.

Without regular dredging the locks and weirs at Holt Fleet and Grimley the River Severn would be a little more than a meandering marshy stream in the summer and a wide flooded vista for most of the winter. Other watercourses such as Grimley Brook and Shrawley Brook have been affected by land drainage and alteration of their courses, so that they no serve primarily as large drainage ditches.

Ockeridge Wood is an ancient wood, but has been heavily modified by management practices such as the growing of standard and coppice (Hazel growing beneath oaks) and more recently conifers and poplars. The Hazel was grown as source of wood for items such as hurdles and the oaks primarily for structural timbers for buildings and ships. The later introductions, conifers and poplars, were grown for soft wood timber and paintbrush handles. Other woodlands in the parishes are either relatively young or have again been altered by management regimes similar to Ockeridge Wood. Even areas of naturally regenerating woodland such as had occurred along the west bank of the Severn, north of Holt Fleet bridge, owe their composition to those species which prevail and survive in the nearby managed woodlands.

A relatively limited range of habitats would occur naturally in Holt and Little Witley. The dominant habitat would be woodland, not pure oak woodland, but a mixture of species, dominated by oak. The better draining ridges along the present course of Tenbury Road and along Bank Lane in Little Witley would be expected to favour ash-maple, Small-leaved Lime, oak and oak-birch woodland, with a rich ground flora including Bluebell, Dog's Mercury, Yellow Archangel, Ramsons and Sanicle. The damper brook and river valleys would consist of oak and birch giving way to in the particularly wet areas along the actual watercourses themselves. The Severn floodplain would contain reedbeds.

These habitats would not however be unchanging. They would be affected by varying climatic conditions and the actions of animals living within them. A clearing in the drier areas, produced by the falling or death of a large tree, might be kept open and enlarged by the browsing and grazing action of large herbivores such as deer, Bison and Aurochs. In such a clearing, meadow like conditions would prevail, with Cowslip, Adder's Tongue, Meadowsweet, Common Spotted and Green-winged Orchid, and Wild Daffodil growing.

The tree felling activities of Beavers would create clearings in the wetter areas. Beavers might also create ponds by the damming of the brooks or even the main river channel. In these ponds course fish wood thrive and Elk would feed on emergent and submerged vegetation. Ospreys would hunt the fish.

In the forest and clearings Wolves and Lynx would prey on Red and Roe Deer. Each autumn Brown Bears would fatten on forest berries and nuts beofre making for denning sites on Woodbury Hill or in the sandstone caves near Bewdley.

Rare examples of the habitats and wildlife that ‘should’ exist in Holt and Little Witley can be glimpsed at nearby and more distant locations. The Wyre Forest’s 6500 acres is all that survives of a tract that once stretched along the Severn Valley from Worcester to Bridgenorth. It is one of the largest and best remaining ancient woodlands in Britain. Many rare species of flaura and fauna can be found here. Regularly occurring birds include Sparrowhawk, Woodcock, Tawny Owl, all three woodpeckers, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Raven and Hawfinch. Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Dipper are associated with Dowles Brook within the forest. Summer migrants include Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Wood Warbler, and Spotted and Pied Flycatchers. Redwing, Siskin and Redpoll occur in the winter.

The only extensive truly natural forest left in Europe in situated on the Polish-Belarus border. Bialowieza Primeval Forest contains not only natural vegetation, but also the associated herbivore and carnivore assemblage. The forest dates back to 8,000 BC and is the only remaining example of the original lowland mixed forests (pine, beech, oak, alder and spruce) which once covered much of Europe. The forest covers 150,000 hectares, of which 10,502ha are designated as National Park. The park is 88% forested. Plant life is extremely diverse with over 900 species recorded. Principal tree species include Scots Pine, Spruce, Hornbeam, Small-leaved Lime, oak, Sycamore, Field Maple, Ash, Silver Birch, Aspen and Black Poplar. The tree stands are of primeval origin and mostly multi-layer, multi-species and different-aged ones. Some of them as a whole are aged more than 200 years, and many individual trees that form the stands are 250-400 years old.

Bialowieza's animal life totals 11,000 species, including 62 species of mammals and 200 species of birds. It is inhabited by some 300 European Bison along with Elk, Red and Roe Deer, Wild Boar, Lynx, Wolf, Fox, marten, Badger, Otter, Stoat, Beaver and numerous bat species. Bialowieza is also home to the Tarpan (the Polish Wild Forest Horse). The Brown Bear is the only extant large mammal that is missing from the faunal assemblage. The 228 bird species include Corncrake, Black and White Storks, White-tailed Eagle, Peregrine, Tawny and Eagle Owls, Crane and Raven. In addition 7 reptile species, 12 amphibian, 24 fish and over 8,500 insect species occur.

This is the sort of species assemblage that ‘should’ occur in Holt and Little Witley, and most of the rest of the UK.