Grass Wood is a splendid ancient woodland quite near where I live. As a Telling our Story volunteer I was delighted to get an invitation to join the volunteers and staff celebrating the 40th anniversary of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust becoming the custodians of the reserve. The morning promised lectures and then an afternoon stroll to Grass Wood to admire the wood in its autumn colours. 

On arrival at Grassington Town Hall, I was struck by two things: how many volunteers had come along (the room was packed) and the amazing cakes. I chatted to several volunteers and soon realised the level of commitment that many in the room had shown to Grass Wood, with many of the volunteers having volunteered for over 5, 10 and even 40 years!

After looking at the exhibition at the back of the room, I took my seat and admired the beautiful photos of the fauna and flora of Grass Wood being projected onto a huge monitor.  

Graham Standring (Living Landscapes Officer for Grass Wood) welcomed attendees and outlined the programme for the day - he admitted to being bowled over by the number of people who had come along. 

Gordon Jackson from the Grass Wood Volunteer Supporters Group - then gave a fascinating lecture on how the reserve had developed from the 18th Century. Initially under the Duke of Devonshire’s ownership, through to a timber merchant’s then to the Forestry Commission and finally to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust - 40 years ago on 4 November 1983. Over the years the elm and ash wood had been re-planted, harvested, and replanted with conifers. He explained that the first 32 years of the Trusts ownership being spent removing the conifers and profitably selling some of them as Christmas trees. The majority of that work being done by volunteer work parties. Gordon also talked about the fascinating archaeology of the wood and directed us to look at the display a the back of the room and request an e-copy of the reports

Jonathan Leadley (North Regional Manager) then presented the Trust’s wider work and explained how the Lawton principles 'bigger, better and more joined-up' - related to Grass Wood. He explained that he saw 4 key issues of concern for the wood: that all the ash trees will be lost to ash dieback (alas that is perhaps 30% of the trees in the wood); a huge recent increase in visitors and disturbance; wider landscape fragmentation with serious impacts on nature; and the climate crisis including how that would impact the choice of trees for the future.

In the final presentation, Rachael Bice (Chief Executive) gave her thanks to volunteers and staff for all their work in Grass Wood over the last 40 years.  She described it as 'people and place intertwined,' noting that teams and individuals and partner organisations had all played an important role in making Grass Wood what it is today. 

After a bring-your-own lunch and fortified by cake we headed out for a short stroll across the fields to Grass Wood.
 

On arrival we stopped for a group photo of all the attendees and then spit into two groups. My group had hardly gone 100m into the wood when there was a shout of stop! There was a slow worm crossing the path between walkers of our group . Graham was delighted to see it, explaining it was only the second that he had ever seen in the wood.  

He went onto explain the various marks on the ash trees – unfortunately, they had extensive ash dieback and needed to be cut down. The ones near the path which would become a danger to the public would need bat surveys before they could be cut down; and those further back and away from the path could be left standing as although they were dead they posed no danger for walkers. Standing dead-wood also has many benefits for wildlife, such as providing a place for invertebrates to live which is a vital food source for the bird species in Grass Wood. 

My group headed further into to wood and enjoyed the glorious autumn colours . I briefly stopped to pick-up a large part-deflated helium balloon, that had snagged in the undergrowth. On catching-up with Graham, he reported that volunteers are always picking them up. After that chat, we started talking about the plastic tree guards and Graham explained that having removed 2 skips and many carloads of plastic tree guards, the wood is now almost free of them and they are only now used where species would not survive nibbling deer without their protection. He added that as an alternative to plastic tree guards volunteers use wigwams of twigs to protect the hazel. 

I briefly joined the second group as they were inspecting evidence of past lead production and other industrial archaeology, almost hidden in the undergrowth. Hearing about how important it was to protect it while managing the woods. Then it was time to head out of the wood, only briefly stopping to admire an owl box high in the trees  A double rainbow greeted us as we left the woods to head back to Grassington, a fitting end to a brilliant day - celebrating people and place. 
 

If you'd like to find out more and visit the stunning Grass Wood nature reserve, you can start planning your visit here