Clun & BC Shropshire Wildlife Trust

Clun and Bishop’s Castle Branch, Shropshire Wildlife Trust
Report for Annual Parish meeting 2024

We have an active branch which covers an area from Chirbury in the North, west to the Welsh border, south towards Ludlow and east, to just short of Craven Arms, with about 300 members in the branch, which covers several parishes including BC, Clun, Newcastle, Bettws, Clunbury and Hopesay. We run a winter monthly talks programme and have summer outdoor activities as well. We try to make connections with all sections of our community.

Although we do not have working parties run under the auspices of the branch, we liaise with the Community Wildlife Groups and many members are involved in several such groups and butterfly conservation mapping and habitat improvement. These activities include our affiliated group, the River Clun Monitoring Group, the Habitat Mapping programme for the Nature recovery network. and individuals work on Memorial Hall grounds, verges, biological litter picking(Himalayan balsam), Dormice, moths and butterflies, invertebrates, birds, botany, pine martens and many on their own land to improve conditions for nature there eg hedges, meadows, nest boxes and so on. We have a long term plan to improve biodiversity on the Castle grounds, in conjunction with English Heritage.

We are grateful to the parish council for their support of our activities, especially RCMG in the past and going forward, as it was their sponsorship which allowed us to consolidate the work of the group in 2022 and their further sponsorship in 2024 has been welcomed. Liaison with the council has largely been through the Clun Climate and Environment Group, which has significant membership from SWT members.

Mary Eminson, SWT Branch Secretary:  ClunandBC@shropshirewildlifetrust.org.uk
01588 640921