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SANCTUARY Around the regions Wiltshire MOD Boscombe Down Students were asked to think of a project that could be run on the airfield over the next year – they came up with ‘Discovering World War II MOD Boscombe Down’. Briefly, Boscombe Down has been operational since 1917. The historic environment currently has structures from every major phase of airfield architecture, from the World Wars to the Cold War and beyond. The WWII footprint, including expansion period, is a poorly understood resource at the airfield location, so recording this period is extremely useful and timely. Bob Clarke, Emma Elton with students from the QinetiQ Apprentice Training School © Crown The Conservation Group at MOD Boscombe Down continues to monitor intrusive groundwork at the site. All archaeological watching briefs and mitigation work is organised in partnership with QinetiQ Facilities Management and contractors engaged to carry out ground work. Alongside this a number of historic buildings have been recorded and placed on the Heritage Environment Record; continually maintaining the visibility of the conservation effort both on site and to the wider heritage community. A number of interesting discoveries have come to light, including concrete railway sleepers, now used as curbing, that were part of a large temporary goods yard laid for the construction of the main runway in 1944. Followed by the discovery, through records, that tunnels cut in the chalk during World War II were assessed in 1984 as gas-proof refuges! A survey of these tunnels is proposed next year. From late February this year (2016) Bob Clarke, Boscombe Archaeologist and Emma Elton, co-director of Broad Town Archaeology (an organisation committed to introducing the community and especially young adults to their local and national heritage), have been working with students from the QinetiQ Apprentice Training School during their weekly enrichment sessions. The team delivered a number of bespoke group sessions blending illustrated talks with handling sessions – everything from samples of waterlogged timbers from Flag Fen over 3,000 years old to the reassembly and assessment of two real skeletons, one Roman, the other Saxon. The earthwork survey team © Crown The teams are currently producing earthwork surveys for all identified structures and in so doing are applying both new skills from the archaeology classes and those they have learnt in aviation maths and science – often without realising it! The current recording project will add valuable information to the MOD archive and wider Heritage Environment Record. Moreover, World War I has, recently, moved beyond living memory, removing that tangible link between those who experienced the war and young people today; a similar situation is rapidly approaching for WWII. The chance for students to experience the world their grandparents were directly involved in allows them to engage with earlier generations with a better level of empathy and understanding. It is hoped a full account of activities will appear in a future edition of Sanctuary. Bob Clarke Boscombe Down Conservation Archaeologist Emma Elton Broad Town Archaeology 78 SANCTUARY 45 2016
Merseyside Altcar Training Camp Sefton Coast. The following year a more detailed survey found 517 spikes, many having been damaged by mowing. This led to an agreement to delay mowing selected areas of the ranges until 15th July each year so that the orchids could flower and set seed. Subsequently, numbers of flower-spikes on C and I-ranges increased in most years, reaching a total of nearly 32,000 by 2016. This is now by far the largest population of this English Red Data Book ‘Vulnerable’ species in the north of England, being comparable in size to colonies found on a few nature reserves in the south. As elsewhere, green-winged orchids at Altcar show a wide range of colourforms from deep magenta through to salmon-pink and white. Perhaps because of the generally damp soil conditions, flower spikes are often up to 30cm tall providing a spectacular backdrop for the many local people who attend guided walks in May to see and photograph them. Guided walk on I-range during the orchid season © Phil Smith Altcar Ranges is managed by the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association for the North West of England and Isle of Man, Altcar Training Camp occupies approximately 250ha on the Sefton Coast north of Liverpool in Merseyside. Much of the area was reclaimed from the shore in the late 18th century, before becoming the Altcar Rifle Range in 1860. It is now one of the UK’s premier facilities for small arms marksmanship training. Flanked to the west and south by high dune ridges and to the east by the River Alt, the ranges consist of almost level sandy grasslands, often waterlogged in wet winters. To ensure uninterrupted sight lines from the firing positions to the targets, the ranges are managed by mowing several times a year. Altcar Conservation Advisory Group, representing relevant statutory and voluntary organisations and individuals, as well as the Training Camp authorities, was set up in 1977 to support and give advice on the management of the Altcar estate. The Group has developed a Conservation Management Plan for the site and also arranges a series of guided walks for the public each year to what is otherwise a restricted area. Back in 1985, local recorders were amazed to discover 35 flower-spikes of green-winged orchid Anacamptis morio on C-range as a new plant for the Other orchid species colonised those ranges that had the modified mowing regime, in particular marsh-orchids Dactylorhiza, up to 25,000 flower-spikes of several different species and hybrids having been counted. They are accompanied by a rich variety of other plants, creating a visually spectacular meadow habitat that was once commonplace but has now largely disappeared from the wider countryside. This conservation success story could not have been achieved without the helpful and willing co-operation of a succession of Training Camp Commandants and their staff over a 30-year period. Philip H Smith & Steve Cross Altcar Conservation Advisory Group SANCTUARY 45 2016 79
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THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE SUSTAINABIL
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Contents Sanctuary Awards 2 The San
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INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
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SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT AWARD WINNER
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT AWARD WINNER
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also the best in the UK and possibl
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An archer’s wristguard and shaft
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of which is devolved across four UK
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the Commitments on the ground, give
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place. In addition, the scheme shou
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deer and aurochs (wild cattle). The
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One of the ephemeral pools supporti
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MOD and Ulster Wildlife A partnersh
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Forget it! This plant is a curse th
Page 29 and 30: Castlemartin choughs are in a safe
Page 31 and 32: The new ‘state of the art’ head
Page 33 and 34: In 2001, the Royal Navy requested t
Page 35 and 36: within the population, indicating n
Page 37 and 38: though still not insignificant part
Page 39 and 40: the Plain that was taking place as
Page 41 and 42: A goshawk nest with four healthy ch
Page 43 and 44: grave goods (including 24 amber and
Page 45 and 46: The bus now displays the artwork an
Page 47 and 48: Armoured Support for Grassland Mana
Page 49 and 50: to have no impact on predation, a f
Page 51 and 52: Releasing red squirrels in the Ball
Page 53 and 54: Impatiens glandulifera from the riv
Page 55 and 56: Abseiling into the mouth of Ogof Go
Page 57 and 58: The original sandbag revetment of t
Page 59 and 60: Whittington Ranges reinstated after
Page 61 and 62: MOD is experienced with managing Ha
Page 63 and 64: MOD hitting favourable targets on S
Page 65 and 66: Merville Barracks Energy Consortium
Page 67 and 68: A whinchat nest © Andrew Bray popu
Page 69 and 70: Secondments Developing staff and wo
Page 71 and 72: Ascension Island study area and loc
Page 73 and 74: System (SUDs) ponds have both pollu
Page 75 and 76: Delivering social value across the
Page 77 and 78: Around the regions with the conserv
Page 79: Date Description of event 10 April
Page 83 and 84: Lancashire Holcombe Moor Training A
Page 85 and 86: Wiltshire Imber Conservation Group
Page 87 and 88: Kent and East Sussex DIO SD Trainin
Page 89 and 90: West Sussex Thorney Island Each yea
Page 91 and 92: Derrick Johnson, of the Essex Bee K
Page 93 and 94: North Yorkshire Catterick Training
Page 95 and 96: Anglesey, Wales RAF Valley the proc
Page 97 and 98: Northern Ireland Ballykinler and Ma
Page 99 and 100: Pembrokeshire Castlemartin Range a
Page 101 and 102: 2017 Sanctuary Awards Nomination Pr
Page 103: Contacts SUBMISSIONS If you would l
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SUSTAINABILITY

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