Latest news with #ClumberPark
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
House martins in Clumber Park get helping hand after dry spring
Nesting birds in Nottinghamshire have been helped by National Trust rangers as the dry spring weather hampered their ability to make homes for the fledgling martins in Clumber Park near Worksop were among those affected, as the lack of muddy ground meant they had less material to use to build their comes after a spring which the Met Office said was ranking as the UK's driest in over a century earlier this trust said rangers "came to the rescue" by creating areas of saturated soil to allow the birds to "have a successful nesting season". Gareth Jones, countryside manager for Nottinghamshire for the National Trust, said the lack of rain presented an obstacle to house martins, which typically are around Clumber Park between March and October and make their nests on the ground under the eaves of homes and buildings. "During the recent hot spell, water has been in short supply, so the rangers in the estate yard that we work from have been creating artificial pools of mud by filling potholes with water and bringing soil in, to create mud pies for birds to help them build their nests," he said."They need mud, and with climate change and everything like that we need to help them."There's mud still about, but they have to travel longer distances using stored energy, so in the time of using nests it's very energetic for them trying to find mud, so providing little bits of mud here and there just helps shorten the distances to travel."Mr Jones said other animals had also benefited from the rangers' interventions, with stoats, weasels and other mammals as well as birds profiting from extra sources of mud and said members of the public can also assist any animals if they find them in and around their gardens."It's literally just as simple as creating some mud and keeping it there," he said."They may not come straight away, but as they build and maintain a nest through the summer you'll see them coming down to [sources of] mud, just to help repair the nest if it gets damaged."Every little helps."
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Lost mansion revealed as spring sunshine bakes Clumber Park
The remains of a lost mansion in the Nottinghamshire countryside has had its outline revealed by the baking spring the UK experiencing the driest spring in over a century, water usually in the soil has evaporated away to reveal the outline of the stately home which once stood at the heart of Clumber Park, near of the walls of Clumber House, which was taken down in 1938, and its formal garden terrace have started to show at the National Trust trust said the "parch marks" are "giving visitors a window into the rich history of the park". A spokesperson for Clumber Park said: "Clumber House was considered one of the finest non-Royal houses in the country."Built in the late 1760s, the house had over 100 rooms filled with paintings and treasures, as well as particularly impressive gardens." Countryside manager Gareth Jones, who took the aerial images, said last year up to 22 May, 280mm of rain fell on the year, he has recorded just shadows of the past structures were previously revealed during the dry summer of 2018, when a previously unknown sundial was revealed by the imprints in the earth.
