Friends of Ray Mill Island Dry Hedging Project

Volunteers from Wild Maidenhead and the Friends of Ray Mill Island teamed up last weekend as part of a plan to help improve biodiversity at the much-loved riverside park, next to Boulters Lock in Maidenhead. The volunteers constructed a ‘dry hedge’ around a large beech tree stump, protecting an area of natural riverside vegetation from grazing geese to allow it to regenerate. Fungi and insects will colonise the tree stump as it decays, in turn attracting birds such as woodpeckers.

A double row of posts was hammered in around the site, with loose branches then used to fill in between the posts to create the ‘dry hedge’ barrier. All the materials were sourced on the island, from piles left by contractors after trimming back overgrown trees and shrubs.

Peter Gibbs, President of Wild Maidenhead paused from the work to say – “This is a great example of what can be achieved when community groups come together and combine resources. Wild Maidenhead’s Wilder Parks project aims to improve biodiversity in our town’s parks. Our volunteers are already working in Kidwell’s, Oaken Grove, Ockwell’s and Desborough and we’re delighted to now add Ray Mill Island to that list, thanks to the Friends.”

Local councillors Jack Douglas, Gurch Singh and Richard Coe dropped by to see how the work was progressing, and quickly found themselves roped in to help with the task! Visitors to the park were intrigued by the work, with many asking questions and expressing thanks and support when the project was explained.

Friends of Ray Mill Island founder Tara Crist was delighted with the result. “It looks fantastic! We’ll be planting up some locally grown native plants inside the enclosure later in the year. It’s wonderful that locals are wanting to join us in preserving the island's beauty through increasing natural habitats. We have so many exciting projects for the island and can't wait to show them off and get more people involved!

Nivi and Tara wanted to say a massive thank you to Ascot resident Shoshan Dagan, a Landscape architect who has volunteered to come on board to fully support the greening and rewilding projects on the island. We are truly grateful for all her time, wisdom and energy as we are no experts on these matters. She did a fantastic job of organising us on Saturday and we look forward to project planning with her. That is one of the beauties of volunteering , wonderful people appear in your life with all different talents and adds to enriching your own. We want to enjoy what we do for the island and have it be a fun process.