By Parklands Primary SchoolChildren from Parklands Primary School visited the Copse several times during the Summer Term 2009. Year 1 and 2 took photos and wrote what they thought of the place:
If you would like to arrange a school visit please contact us.
Tom Broughton
The trees of Brandy Hole Copse, Chichester’s only local nature reserve, are the focus of a newly created trail around the copse. Friends of Brandy Hole Copse (FBHC) have designed a leaflet, freely available to download from the website, Brandy Hole Copse Tree Trail, to highlight 12 species of the many and varied trees that exist on this popular nature reserve.
Lauren Lelliot (7), Jenny Broughton (10) and Clare Fraser (11) studying leaflet on the Tree Trail.
Trail designer and FBHC volunteer, Judi Darley, said: “We have chosen 12 trees in the copse to highlight their natural features and mythical stories.”
For example, did you know: “Folklore tells of the importance of beech trees in helping to grant wishes. A wish made with a twig of beech was pushed into the earth under the tree. From there it was collected by the Wishing Fairies and carried deep into the under-wood for the Fairy Queen’s consideration.”
Volunteer website manager and leaflet editor, Tom Broughton, said: “The leaflet includes a map of where to find the trees. Each tree in the trail has a tree-shaped badge on it. If you know where the trees are, then you can easily walk around them in 20 minutes, but they are not all obvious! However, a more relaxed stroll around the 15 acre copse would allow you to enjoy the many other points of interest in the copse, including three ponds, pre-Roman dyke and World War 2 defences. This is an ideal activity for children over the summer holidays.”
The colourful and informative leaflet gives details of how to get to the copse, including bus stops and proximity to the Centurion Way cycle path. Brandy Hole Copse is only 1¼ miles from Chichester Cross.
Clare Fraser said of the Tree Trail “It was real cool, cos you got to learn a lot and it was really fun”.
To launch the leaflet a Family Event was held in the copse as part of the Festivities on Sunday 6th July. All participants received sweets sponsored by Waitrose.
Also, a free raffle was held with prizes sponsored by Hidden Nature. The lucky winners of a nest box were Mr and Mrs Lee of Emsworth and the winners of a tree ID guide were Mr and Mrs Farmer of Milton, Portsmouth.
The 12th Chichester Cub Scouts tried out some orienteering with a difference in Brandy Hole Copse on 24th June.
Twelve beautifully painted boards of creatures that live in the Copse were placed throughout the Copse. The Cubs then had to find all 12 boards using a map of the Copse as fast as they could.
It was an energetic evening with the Cubs running flat out round and round the Copse for more than an hour trying to find all the boards. They said they had a great time!
The painted boards were of the following creatures: Roe deer, Tawny Owl, Fox, Squirrel, Green Woodpecker, Bat, Bank Vole, Woodmouse, Speckled Wood Butterfly, Elephant Hawk Moth, Stag Beetle, Centipede.
Good weather greeted the St Pauls’ Ladies Group evening walk around the Copse on Wednesday 11th July. The group were met by members of the committee for the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse to hear about why the Copse is important for nature conservation and a popular natural area to explore.
The group heard about the Friends’ day to day concerns with managing the Copse and in particular the threat to this beautiful natural area from housing development proposals. They heard how the plans for one of the two major schemes identified by the District Council included the Copse and the two fields adjacent to it. The Friends are keen to raise awareness of the value of the two fields to the wellbeing of the Copse both for nature and for the enjoyment of people.
Judi Darley, one of the Committee members said, “It was a lovely evening and a good opportunity to meet with the St Pauls Ladies. Some of whom were able to share memories of how they have enjoyed the Copse for years, and for a lot longer than the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse (which, used to be called the Conservation Group) have been looking after it!”.
