Dean Green Team

Wildlife Conservation Group in the

Forest of Dean

Gloucestershire

23 October 2012

The Bearse

Grid Ref SO573058

A return to the Bearse to continue making glades for butterflies. This is part of a nationwide project to create butterfly corridors across the country and encourage them to spread. It was such a dull, dismal day that it took a while to get the fire started to burn off the wood.where we took down further small trees to clear the south facing banks. Some of the team took a walk along the valley to see the travertine sands which accumulate in Slade Brook.

The team are taking a break along the track we were clearing although the boughs hanging over the track can clearly be seen.

Travertine Sands

These are natural dams formed when spring water, saturated in lime, runs over an
obstruction in the stream bed, resulting in the deposition of travertine, a porous,
crumbly limestone. They are beautiful and mysterious, especially in the autumn gloom.

Many of the small beech and birch were removed from the bank beside the track.