Conkers and the community

A couple of years ago I spotted a story about the demise of the humble horse chestnut tree so I wrote a blog about it. What I didn't know was this was going to be the start of an amazing story.
I've included the link to the original story :-

https://jeremysnewsthoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/bonkers-its-end-of-conkers.html?m=1

So I wrote that and a few people read it, around a year later I was chatting to another Councillor prior to a meeting. During this conversation with Richard Kingstone I explained the situation of the reduction in Conker trees, Richard then used this to create a press release connected with the work he does in Wigginton Park.
And this is where the miraculous happened.

At the start of the month I was taking part in a litter pick with Dosthill Park Wildlife Group when I spoke to Mr and Mrs Moseley who were sitting on a bench over looking the river. Mr and Mrs Moseley had seen the article that Richard Kingstone had got in the Tamworth herald about conkers. The two of them had not only read the article but taken it upon themselves to plant and grow 10 conker trees AND they would like to give them to me and Richard to plant and support the growth on the conker tree.

So having spent the weekend in my care they have now been passed to Richard for planting in Wiggington Park.

So a big thank you to Mr and Mrs Moseley for growing these trees!!!

I have to comment on the whole series of events, 2 councillors having a chat and generating a tiny bit of interest sparked a year long project by two members of the community who we didn't know and now we have 10 new conker trees in Tamworth.

So linkages between 2 members of the public, the use of social media, printed press, public open space and the community groups looking after them all coming together with no intention as such and doing something small yet mighty.

It's just amazing how communities work when we have a mutual goal.

Squirrels on pills

 This week The Times newspaper reported an alternative way of controlling grey squirrel populations in a hope to protect the native red squirrel and also native trees for future generations, Read it here.

Its estimated there are 3 million grey squirrels in the UK compared to around 200,000 reds, oh and there might be around 25,000 black squirrels. since greys arrived reds have been squeezed out of the uk by these immigrants (I suspect as they came from the usa Brexit ain't going to bother them). i didn't realise that aside from the impact on the red squirrel greys also strip bark from native trees leaving them exposed to disease. Oh and Greys also carry Squirrel Pox !

Photo borrowed from BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7573535.stm

So why have I decided to write about this ?

I suppose it links to my "End of Conkers" entry in October, The British countryside is changing !!!

The first thing that springs to mind is "oh Red Squirrels are cute with their hairy ears". Then I thought, I wonder when i last saw a squirrel, well it was the other day on the way to the school run and yes it was grey squirrel, I don't think I have ever seen a black squirrel. And this made me ask the question  is it better to see a red squirrel or no squirrel at all ?

Living in Tamworth Squirrels are not uncommon and its always fun to spot them when out with my children. 

So the suggestion supported by Prince Charles is not to cull but to put contraceptives in Nutella in specialised traps that will only feed grey squirrels and stop them breeding, this will reduce the population from 3 million to 300 thousand in 5 years. What the article doesn't tell us is how fast the red squirrel population will grow with the absents of greys. I'm no expert in this field either but surely greys have now to a large extent become a part of the british eco system and so I would suggest that any action must be carefully measured. The last think we need is a Myxomatosis crisis but in squirrels. 

I don't know what the answer is to be honest but what i do know is human intervention brought them here and I always worry about human intervention to try to reduce any human created issue, I have way to many questions to get to a conclusion including Is there actually a problem to be solved here or a change to our country. I'm sure we have done more damage to the country side through industry than we care to measure.

I've sort of ran out of steam with this as I'm not sure of my conclusion. 

There is something that doesn't feel right about this but I'm not sure what, for now I am going to enjoy looking out for squirrels (like the one below outside St. Edithas church Tamworth) and leave the debate for those who have actual knowledge and not based solely on emotion. 

Bonkers it's the end of the Conkers !!!

Conkers to run out within 15 years !!!! and it doesn't look like its due to Brexit (phew sigh of relief)

http://news.sky.com/story/conker-trees-could-vanish-from-uk-in-15-years-10617877

   This story really concerns me for a couple of reasons. I grew up with older brothers and a conker tree at the end of the front garden, so grew up playing conkers. To lose them is to lose the opportunity of my children having similar childhood memories, or is it?

   I've noticed and discussed with people in the area the brown leaves of the Horse Chestnut tree and until now we have been at a loss, but we now understand what is happening to the trees themselves. a moth from Europe (oh hold on! more immigrants from the borderless Europe, thought we'd voted to keep them out?) well it's their caterpillars that are causing the problem eating the leaves from the inside out causing them to go brown early and conkers not to form fully. Combine this with mature trees being cut down due to their size or potential danger of diseased limbs and that these trees are not being planted as they used to be due to their relatively short lifespan (apparently it's councils according to the article) and we have less and less conker trees with a prediction of no more in 15 years time. 

 So back to the game of conkers I remember from my childhood. 

It must have been 4 years ago when I took my 2 sons to collect some conkers I had spotted next to the road in Bolehall, I took them home, bored a hole in them and mounted the conkers on a boot lace. The next hour was a series of

"what do we have to do?"

"I can't do it"

"he won't let me hit his"

"dad can you take me out to get some too"

Fun was clearly being had by all. I posted a comment on my facebook wall about the boys playing conkers and quickly got a comment "Have you Health and Safety checked this game?" this was tongue in cheek comment but I wonder what truth was in the comment. since then I hadn't thought about it until a few weeks ago. 

 Again this year I walked out with my 8 year old to collect conkers near Ninefoot park, we found loads just on the path. This surprised me as its a route for school kids so I asked my kids why there would be so many.  The answer I got was shocking, the kids just pick up the fallen green spikey cases, throw them at the floor to see them split and then leave the brown shiny conker. It appears to me that this may satisfy a short attention span and a sense of destruction but it goes no further. I actually wonder if these kids actually know how to play conkers, why have their parents not shown them? maybe their parents didn't know, maybe I hadn't realised how lucky I was a s a kid to have a conker tree at the end of my front garden, the things I have taken for granted. 

I wonder how many people are as panicked as I am about the end of the conker, maybe my concern is just because this great tree produces conkers rather than the environment, It's amazing what people think is the most important issue of the day. 

I may write a blog about the oak trees challenge with Knopper Gall wasps and Clanker later this week. 

When I grew up we were warned about rain forests being destroyed and the next ice age or global warming, I don't remember worrying about our own woodlands and parks, our mighty oak and the horse chestnut tree. 

so what shall I do?

A)collect conkers and teach kids to play?

or

B)collect conkers and plant them?

or

C)maybe both A&B