It started raining in September, and it seems to have rained ever since. This has presented new challenges for delivering work, but also meant we learned new things about the land at Cartersford. We knew a lot of the land would be wet, but with the onset of wet weather we learned where held water, where ditches ran, where ditches over topped and even found an old pond. Aerial images had hinted at the pond but we could not find it, so this was an exciting discovery. As it happened the pond had been infilled with grubbed out tree stumps. We dug out what we could and will return to this restoration at a later date. 

Throughout September and into October, the WTSWW Reserves Volunteers continued clearing the site. They removed waste, scrap metal, and rubble and completed fence repairs. Contractors replaced 500m of the worst fencing, securing the boundaries against the common. This work was supported by the UK Government SPF Rural Anchor Funding through Swansea Council. With the help of the commoner we gathered and removed the sheep from the land. As the external boundaries are now secure this became possible. Tree seedlings and newly planted tree whips may now raise their heads without fear of being nibbled by trespassing livestock.

In late September, now knowing that there is a continuous availability of water, we introduced cattle grazing. Six Dexter cattle were turned out, first into the rhos pasture and then rotated through the species rich grasslands. Cow Club Gower (a community conservation grazing group) provided the cattle. With a lack of internal fencing, we used a mix of geo-fence collars and electric fencing to control their movements. The small herd's final task was to work through the areas for tree planting, helping to clear the ground ahead of the mower.

The winter months have all been about restoration. We have been planting, starting the slow retrurn of areas of the land to woodland and wood pasture. We also been increasing the resilience and diversity of the grasslands. Over 900 tree whips have been planted. This was a mix of hawthorn, rowan, blackthorn, silver birch, hazel, common oak along with some crab apple and black poplar. In the grasslands, where summer surveys show enhancement could be beneficial, including the recently crushed & cultivated area of tipped rubble, volunteers have planted over 1500 tiny Devils Bit Scabious and Whorled Caraway plant plugs.

Thank you to Celtic Wildflowers for their donations. We recieved established Oaks, Crab Apple and Black Poplar. Thank you to Davis at Salix RW also for the plant plugs. thank you also to the Gower Society and Swansea Wildlife Trust Local Group who applied to the Woodland Trust for trees from their free trees for communities scheme. A final thank you to Love Trails Community Fund who donated 20 tree planting spades.

The work continues. By the time you read this another 400+ trees will have been planted by volunteers from The Gower Society Green Team and Gower Society Youth. Through spring and summer 2026 more surveys and monitoring will be carried out and it will be exciting to see how things develop.