Natural England - Brothers' efforts transform National Nature Reserve

Brothers' efforts transform National Nature Reserve

Castor Hanglands National Nature Reserve (NNR) is looking very different thanks to the efforts of David and Edward Smith.

Edward and David Smith

The brothers have volunteered at the site for four years through a scheme managed locally by MENCAP. During that time they’ve been involved in a wide range of tasks including footpath maintenance, butterfly glade creation, gate installation and the erection of deer fencing. This October they are helping the NNR staff to clear encroaching scrub from the margins of a flower rich meadow.

Ask David what he enjoys doing most and he’ll smile broadly and tell you it’s ‘dragging and burning’. Edward meanwhile is too busy heaving a massive log towards the fire to think about the question, but he is clearly relishing the task.

Supervisor Burma Canham, who works for MENCAP and oversees the brothers’ activities, can vouch for their enthusiasm. “David and Edward volunteer every week – they even came out last winter when it was snowing. They both enjoy being busy and being in the countryside – they’ll be waiting outside their house in the morning when I go to collect them”.

Jim Frith, the Reserve Manager, is also out with the brothers most weeks. “They work incredibly hard and achieve so much that it can sometimes be a challenge to keep up with them!” It’s obvious too, from the conversation and laughter over lunch, that both staff and volunteers enjoy working as a close-knit team.

Chris Gardiner, the Senior Reserves Manager, is pragmatic about the value of volunteering. “It can take significant staff time to organise and manage – the boys really enjoy coming out here but if there wasn’t a real benefit to the NNR we wouldn’t be able to justify it”. He points out the long section of recently installed stock fence “but without Edward and David we couldn’t have done that this year – we would really miss them if they didn’t volunteer”.