There’s always lots going on at Withymead, even when we are closed for autumn and winter. Almost immediately after we served our last cream tea on Sunday 25 August we embarked on an exciting phase in the reserve’s history when we completed the first stage of our ‘Improvements to Access’ project.
A new wooden welcome shelter has been installed to bring a better-defined starting point for visitors and greater weather protection for volunteers. Positioned next to the entrance path and visible from the reserve entrance once inside, it replaces a well-worn and rusting gazebo that had to be erected every reserve open day.
The ‘Improvements to Access’ project is taking place when the reserve is closed for essential maintenance and conservation tasks. It’s been made possible with substantial support from the Mend the Gap programme and match funding from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) ‘Access for all’ project. It is one of our biggest building projects to date. Phase One provides the new welcome shelter, replaces half the length of the current boardwalk to give wheelchair access through a section of the reserve and an enlarged viewing platform adjacent to the existing kingfisher hide. This phase also replaces fencing, provides a new visitor entrance, and will help the Withymead team introduce new groups and people to the reserve.
The vision of the Mend the Gap programme is that the outstanding landscape that links the Chilterns and the North Wessex Downs will be enhanced for and enriched for wildlife, residents and visitors, helping to heal and soften the scars left by electrification of the Great Western main line.
When visitors arrive at Withymead, the entrance path brings them into the historical site of Springfield Works, a boat building yard established by entrepreneur Samuel Saunders in the late 1890s. The original workshops associated with the works featured waney edge wooden cladding and corrugated tin roofs. Keen to reflect this heritage, the team at Withymead designed a simple shelter to complement the style of these buildings. Following planning approval from South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) and a tender process, the team were pleased to ask Wood U Believe It (WUBI), a small family business located in west Wales, to build it. In 2023, WUBI’s expertise in providing a mud kitchen and bespoke children’s wildlife hide for the Forest School area meant they understood what was needed.
The new welcome shelter features materials in keeping with the Saunders’ site, such as live edge larch and corrugated steel roofing, and has doors which fold back to offer display space for interpretation panels, leaflet holders and a big map of the reserve.
Prior to installation, Withymead volunteers excavated the footings and prepared a foundation base using materials supplied by nearby firm Peppard Building Supplies. This was topped with slabs donated by Neil Aldridge of Neil Aldridge Landscapes, another local firm which had donated slabs for the base of our children’s wildlife hide. This support in kind saved approximately £1,000 in building costs.
The shelter was installed on 17 September 2024 and will be fitted out with shelving in due course. The wardens now have a weatherproof building to store leaflets, information guides and species specimens safely and securely. In addition, it will act as a first aid station. It’s a win-win, and everyone is delighted with the result.
Photography credits:
Springfield Works, c1900. Credit: Oxford History Centre
Welcome shelter images, September 2024. Credit: Imogen Smart
Footings, August 2024. Credit: Jenny Hedge
