Bottle banks

Glass is the easiest and best material to recycle. Recycling jars and bottles greatly benefits the environment by saving energy and reducing the quarrying of raw materials.

Do not worry about removing labels, but it would help if lids or caps are removed. Please rinse jars and bottles and put them in the right colour bank, with blue bottles in the green bank.

If you cannot get to the new sites in Totley please continue to use the sites at Tesco on Abbeydale Road and Sainsbury’s at Archer Road. These two sites account for 20% of all glass collected in Sheffield

Hidden reserve

The 0.8 hectare reserve lies between Twentywell Lane and the Midland railway cutting, accessed through a narrow gap in the stone wall. If you decide to visit it, please keep to the upper dirt path from which most of the reserve can be adequately seen.

Twentywellsick Wood is a typical but small example of oak/birch woodland mostly on steeply sloping ground. It features a number of associated woodland bird species such as nuthatch, treecreeper, wren, robin and two species of woodpecker.

Other species can often be seen passing through; for example, long-tailed tits flit from tree to tree as they move through the valley. The occasional hooting of a tawny owl can be heard in the autumn months as territories are set up in the area.

The steep bank of the reserve is covered by thin acid soils giving rise to a ground layer dominated by bilberry and wavy hair-grass, with occasional bracken. The high rainfall levels support a number of typical mosses such as Hypnum cupressiforme and Dicranella hteromalla. Other higher plant species of note include the delightful golden rod and hard fern.

At the bottom of the slope nearer the railway, the soils become deeper, more clayey and less acid allowing a wider range of higher plants such as bluebell, red campion and wood stitchwort to grow. Here the canopy contains a number of large ash trees as well as an understory of hazel.

The oak woodland requires little day to day management. Work consists of repairs to boundaries and removal of species such as rhododendron and sycamore. A problem for this reserve is the irresponsible dropping of litter over the wall, which constantly needs clearing.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has worked since 1946 to protect, conserve and promote the diversity of Yorkshire wildlife and habitats for the benefit and well-being of both wildlife and people.

Why not become a member and mark your support for their work to conserve Yorkshire’s precious wildlife. Members receive the magazines Yorkshire Wildlife and Natural World, three time a year; opportunities to enjoy many different events throughout the year; and quality publications available only to members such as the Trust’s superb Nature Reserves Guide.

If you want to be more active you can also volunteer to work on your local nature reserve or on one of the Trust’s many and varied projects.

For information or queries on membership contact: Dawn Wallis - Membership Secretary, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, 10 Toft Green, YORK, YO1 6JT. Tel: 01904 659570 E-mail: yorkshirewt@cix.co.uk Registered Charity No. 210807

Adopt an owl box

Adopting a nest box costs £12.50 a year. At the end of every year adopters are told what kind of birds have roosted or nested in their box, how many eggs were laid, and how many young owls reared. You can adopt a box in one of seven regions of Britain but, because it is essential the birds are not disturbed, the Trust cannot say exactly where the nesting box is.

Adoption forms are available from Adopt A Box, Hawk and Owl Trust, 11 St Mary's Close, Abbotskerswell, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 SQF. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope.

Arsenic health warning

Nearly 70% of 569 soil city samples taken at 500 metre intervals across the city and analysed by the British Geological Survey, contained more of the deadly poison than the Government guidelines. Now people are being advised to take extra care when cooking and preparing vegetables, removing all soil and thoroughly washing them.

Not all soil arsenic can be absorbed by humans but scientists warn that long-term exposure to low levels of the toxin can cause a wide range of illnesses, including cancer.

The city council is currently conducting a four-year programme to identify contaminated sites, such as high lead levels in Totley. But officers were, unaware of the abnormal arsenic concentrations throughout the city until alerted by the British Geological Survey’s report .

Japanese Knotweed

• at the bottom of Old Hay Lane,
• on the left of the track at Ryecroft Farm,
• by the stream down from Shorts Lane,
• on land adjoining Totley Hall Lane,
• on the corner at the end of Church Lane.
• in a garden adjoining the village green,
• on Long Line on land belonging to Sheffield Tigers.

Methods of control need to be persistent and carried out over a long period. All the methods have drawbacks and are labour intensive.

Herbicide can be sprayed onto the foliage in late summer/early autumn regularly for several years. A more precise approach is to cut the stem and apply a measured dose directly into the hollow stem.

Cutting needs to be carried out over at least five years. Cut stems should be composted on a layer of polythene ( to prevent regrowth) or burnt within the confines of your own garden. Crowns should be burnt.

If the weed is coming onto your property from adjoining property, the best solution seems to be to co-operate with the neighbouring landowner in co-ordinating control efforts. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 does provide some protection. Contact addresses:

The Environment Agency, Victoria Square, Bodmin, Cornwall. PL31 1EB.

The Countryside Group, Planning, Transportation & Estates Dept. New County Hall, Truro, Cornwall, TRI 3AY.

http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/Environment/knotweed/jap4.htm

Stella Wood