News / Really Wild Lockleaze
Sports centre pitches and ditches returned to nature
Lockleaze Sports Centre is being treated to a glow-up for nature.
A wildflower strip bordering the sports field, just ten minutes walk from Filton Abbey Wood train station and neighbouring the Concorde Way cycle path, is the latest addition to improvements for wildlife that include a pond, orchards and a wetland.
Really Wild Lockleaze has collaborated with the sports centre, conservation volunteers and local residents on the project.
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Last week’s planting session was a hive of activity with volunteers digging up and peeling back turf, then hoeing and raking the compacted ground to ready it for the wildflower seeds.
When the mix of plants, including brightly coloured poppies and cornflowers, bloom next year the field will be “buzzing with life,” ecologist Eric Swithinbank told Bristol24/7.
Volunteers met on Thursday last week and set to converting the turf of the pitch into a bed for wildflowers, the last step of the project which has included mass tree planting, pond digging and creation of a new wetland habitat – photo: Ursula Billington
The project has been a real group effort, project coordinator Eleanor Fairbraida said. The Bristol Bears helped to clear large areas of brambles and plant 470 native trees, and the Bristol Green Gym – who have their own community garden nearby – provided volunteers.
Lockleaze resident Martin Garrett identified the sports centre land and secured permission for the work.
“As well as putting in an apple orchard, small woodland and hedgerows, we’ve created a wetland area where the centre has dug big ditches for pitch run-off so they’re kind of boggy,” said Fairbraida.
“It’s a really exciting new habitat for the area. And our pond is already harbouring newts, frogs and dragonfly larvae.”
The trees planted adjacent to the field include lots of Alder Buckthorn, the food plant of the Yellow Brimstone butterfly which is rare locally.
“We recently found the trees covered in the butterfly’s caterpillar – so it’s working!” said Fairbraida.
“Our planting today includes Kidney Vetch to attract the Small Blue, and we’re creating a green corridor to lead the butterfly through the area.”
The new pond behind the sports centre provides deep water habitat, while the wetland area will be home to more marsh-loving species – photo: Really Wild Lockleaze
Craig Capel, the centre’s managing director, hopes the nature trail will make the area more welcoming – for sports fans and locals alike.
“We’re looking at how we provide a wider breadth of activity for the community we serve. Creating an inspiring space for people to sit and enjoy is a big part of that,” he explained.
“It’s really important for us to understand the impact of the area on local people’s health and wellbeing, regardless of if they want to be involved in sport.”
Sports centres can and should incorporate physical activity with social activity, time outdoors and access to nature, he said:
“We hope this can be a model to demonstrate that centres like ours can serve their purpose while also offering space for nature and for people to enjoy wildlife.”
The project has been a group effort led by (L-R) local resident Martin Garrett, Sonia Parsons of the Conservation Volunteers, Really Wild Lockleaze coordinator Eleanor Fairbraida and ecologist Eric Swithinbank, and Sports Centre managing director Craig Capel – photo: Ursula Billington
Swithinbank agrees the project could be a blueprint for bringing nature into urban areas.
“Historically we saw nature as belonging to nature reserves and the countryside, but we’ve realised that’s not really enough,” he explained.
“If we want nature to thrive we need to bring it into our farmland, our urban areas, and have all these pockets of nature connected.”
Really Wild Lockleaze resulted from Community Climate Action plan meetings that revealed residents’ worries around new developments eating up local green space.
“We’re lucky [in Lockleaze] to have a lot of big urban greens and all this marginal land around the sports centre that we can really improve for nature,” said Swithinbank.
The project was born from the community action plan meetings, like this one which took place with residents of Romney Road, with Eric (left) helping to explain what changes could be made for nature – photo: Really Wild Lockleaze
“We ask people what they want outside their house, and go wherever the resident interest is. When you see nature move in, it’s just so satisfying. And trees provide the oxygen we breathe, pollinators support our veg – it’s not just a nice to have, we really do need to support the nature that we live alongside.”
For resident Martin Garrett, the nature trail is a welcome new addition to the area.
“The volunteers are working their socks off – and they’ve done a great job! Locals overlooking the space or walking through it will be able to see nature and start to appreciate it,” he said.
“I’ve been a nature lover for a long time: it just makes you happier – you can feel it. So we want to get everyone in amongst it.”
The wildflowers already established on Thornycroft Close give an impression of what the strip bordering Concorde Way and the sports field will look like next year – photo: Really Wild Lockleaze
To join the planting on Thursday, September 26, turn up at Lockleaze Sports Centre any time between 10.30am and 1.30pm.
Follow Really Wild Lockleaze at www.lockleazehub.org.uk/really-wild-lockleaze
Main image: Ursula Billington
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