The ‘ Great Green’ Feb. 2011

Last summer the little Great Green got tidier and tidier till the boundary became quite clear – and revealed not much of a boundary at all. Well, of course, when it was the Village Green it would have been open grass right up to the houses, whose bit of garden for growing food and flowers would have been at the back.

It would be wonderful to know how the Green was used when it was common land. Did young goose herds watch over half a dozen geese, or a Little Bo-peep look-alike have to go chasing stray sheep? Did the ploughman at the end of a long day bring his horse to drink and cool down at the unfenced pond in the corner of the Green? Was there a maypole, or stocks? Was there a clear track across the Green, or was it criss-crossed with paths? When the old red-brick school was built in 1837 on part of the Green, legal papers mention it was ‘bounded on the north west by the road running from Appleton to Eaton as the same is now staked out and intended to be inclosed’. So we have a fairly precise date for the demise of the Great Green as generations had known it. But we do not know whether there was an outcry, as there had been at earlier enclosures, or whether the old pattern of keeping a few livestock grazing on the Green had already died out. After all, grazing was not available to everyone, but everyone would have used the Green for recreation. What really offended was that the Lord of the Manor was within his rights to dispose of it as he thought fit.

The small remnant that survives and is being recovered now is hardly a shadow of its former glory, but can still be recreational. There should have been a seat by now, but delay in getting permission to take down the cypress trees has put things back, and the winter has come and gone with more activity taking place under the soil than above it. The Brownies planted bulbs, and these are coming through untrammelled by red tape, so look out for a patch of golden crocuses and a little later for wood anemones. It will be a bold bird that nests there, but last year a couple did. The cherry tree stumps had a bad attack of fungi in the autumn, lovely to look at but not good for the wood, and they will not support a seat now, but will sink into genteel decay and provide a home for many beasties as they do so. The little coppiced hazel on the other hand is growing well.

You will see a big difference when the cypress trees come down, but simply clearing the space is not what it is all about. By the end of this year there should be real progress to making it a pleasant place to rest awhile, and we shall see whether it is possible to grow attractive plants without drawing the attention of today’s uninvited grazers. Anyone for the job of deer-herd?

Rosemary Page

The Great Green Project May 2010

One of the pleasures of taking on the task of tidying up the remnant of the Village Green on Eaton Road has been talking to people passing by, and hearing their stories about it. Most of the younger people say 'I never noticed it before', but older folk tell of playing round the cherry tree (the one now strangled by Ivy and cut down), of walking over the grass to Mrs White's shop opposite the Thatched Tavern, of picking blackberries, of the wrangle to make it Parish Council property, and of how this used to be the prettiest part of the village, when you had a clear view of all the thatched houses with the open green in front of them. A tale has been told of a Traveller who claimed it had been sold to his grandfather 100 years ago by the Rector of the time, a likely story! But the confusion over ownership was real, and the Parish Council paid £200 to the Crown in 1978 through a compulsory purchase order to acquire it for the community.

Not been much has been learnt from clearing the tangled undergrowth, no objects of interest apart from those little shards of blue and white crockery that get everywhere, and more wine bottles than beer bottles, a sign of modern times. Many years ago Mr. Ronald Martin cleared it up when it had become a dumping ground, so this may account for the lack of artefacts. There is some mystery as to why the land shelves away from the road, as if the topsoil has been removed. Does anyone know why this is as it is? A shallow ditch along the boundary holds no water, even after the wet winter.

Passers -by also ask questions, the most frequent being, 'What is going to happen now?' followed by 'Are you going to take down the cypress trees?' The answer to the latter is probably yes, following checks with all interested parties. They are gloomy and mask the shape of the lime tree, and though birds sing from them they are not used for nesting. Whether there should be a formal boundary between the Green and the Almshouses is a matter for debate. None of the older maps show one and in 1977 the Public Enquiry recommended that the 'pleasure ground' should include the land right up to the shop, but this was disregarded in the interest of privacy for the Almshouse residents and the trees were planted at that time.

As to what is going to happen next, a seat is planned, it will be locally made and it will be unique. The Green will become greener with more grass in place of ground elder, but at least one bramble patch will be encouraged to grow so there will still be blackberries to pick. A young hazel tree that was inadvertently cut down will be encouraged to become a bush, so please no-one remove the brambles that are protecting it from deer. Flowers and blossom are noticeably absent at present so colour and scent will be incorporated into any planting that is undertaken. The cherry trunk standing alone like a totem pole will come down, because it is dead, but before that happens, does anyone know when it was planted and by whom? Not everything dead will be removed, logs will be left for insects to live in, and in the high up brambles, a collar dove has already hatched a brood and a sparrow is renovating a nest.

It's your space, Appleton people. How would you like to see it used?

Rosemary Page

17th May 2010

"Great Green Project" background

What’s happening along Eaton Road, just beyond the Almshouses?

Why has a perfectly good bramble patch, home to countless tiny creatures, been brutally demolished?

Whose is that bit of land anyway?

The small triangle of land between the Almshouses and May Tree Cottage with trees along its boundaries is a remnant of Appleton’s Great Green that as ‘wasteland’ was enclosed in the early 19th Century by the squire, Robert Southby, raising the hackles of the common people of the village and leading indirectly to Appleton’s reputation for great bell-ringing. But that’s another story. It was not however awarded to him in the Inclosure Act of 1831 and it remained without an owner till the Parish Council bought it by Compulsory Purchase Order in 1978 as a ‘pleasure ground’. Today the piece of land is the responsibility of the Parish Council and is being spruced up by volunteers so that it becomes an asset and an adornment to the village. The plan at this time is simply to make it as green and grassy as possible while leaving enough hedge and bramble to give refuge to birds and insects, and make a feature of the native trees, hazel and hawthorn, holly and ivy.

The Brownies raised some money a little while ago for the community and as it is the Centenary year of Girl Guiding, they are considering how it might be spent on the site to mark the occasion and add to the amenities of the village. This should not stop anyone else coming up with ideas, and passers-by have already made suggestions. So far these include seats, a tree, a painted board with village map and information, and purposely made wild-life habitats.

We are very grateful to the Jeffreys at Appleton Manor for allowing us to put the brambles and dead wood on their land for burning when the right day comes. Bonfires are not popular but disposing of this highly combustible material locally in this way saved us money and does not have to be polluting.

Another thing the plot needs is a name. It cannot be "The Green" as that is now associated with the cross-roads by the War Memorial. Any bright ideas?

If anyone would like to know more, contact Rosie Page: tel. 01865 864808