Norley – a village alive

NWG was set up to improve biodiversity in the Parish in 2014. We decided to commemorate those who died in the Great War by siting memorial plaques around the village often close to where they lived surrounded by wildflowers, red poppies in remembrance and other flowers they would have seen when they walked around the village. Due to changes in agriculture/poor maintenance of verges most of these flowers are rare or non existent. Every year since, these areas have been kept maintained and in one NWG took over the management of the Memorial Garden (MG) and plants grown to help pollinators Bees, honey, bumble and solitaries (as well as moths/butterflies) find both pollen and nectar. It helps visitors consider ways how they can make their gardens of greater value to wildlife. Chester Zoo designed a new information board at the MG to promote these objectives. The attached draft website can be used as a source of information/photos see http://www.marblewebsites.net/norleywildlifegroup/

in 2017 we saw in the nature reserve by Chester Zoo there were log piles covered in soil they we were told a German idea called Hugelkultur which although intended to grow produce would also proved a home for animals both as a shelter and somewhere to hibernate. We emulated this in the Memorial garden (See previous entry) and a variety of plants were put in position redcampion polypody ferns do rose and Scotch roses both on top and in front over the years it has thrived and both toads and frogs been seen there, attracted as the bug hotel enables them to eat the guests!

Since our inception nearly ten years ago we have maintained that the bedrock of any improvement in biodiversity has been growing plants that provide food for animals eg caterpillars, birds or for pollinators viz nectar and pollen. Originally there was opposition from some in the village who wanted everything to be so neat and tidy it was a green desert. Articles in the Norley news "Wild Norley" our Facebook page, wildnorley website (now defunct- soon to be replaced) our stand at the Garden show and by demonstration around the village ie 10000 snowdrops, 1000 native blue bells planted in the wildwood, the wildflowers grown around the Memorial Walk plaques, a kilo of hedgerow seeds sown, a thousand Wild English Daffodils planted around the village, cowslip plugs planted around the Norley sign and "untidy" wildflower meadows in the Memorial garden. This has won most villagers over. Many now even value ivy and keep patches of nettles in their own gardens (food for caterpillars)