Previous CDC-guided Working Parties in 2026

Our web editor often doesn't get round to updating this section! They do manage to send a monthly e-mailer which usually includes a re-cap of what happened at the previous Working Party. You can find those e-mailers here.

• Tuesday 8th September 2026 - 3 of us cut back laurel regrowth in the rain, collected litter, trimmed holly away from main paths and marvelled at the foam forming on sweet chestnut as the rain reacted with saponins in the bark (short video of this phenomenon on our Facebook page here).

NO Working Party in August

• Tuesday 14th July 2026 - aborted due to unforeseen circumstances; only 1 volunteer on the day.
• Tuesday 9th June 2026 - cutting back laurel regrowth and as much as possible of a laurel tree previously missed near Cops pond; walk back through the small field to see what wildlife about; attendance 5.
• Tuesday 12th May 2026 - circa 7 volunteers surveyed the middle section of Iron Age entrenchment for the extent of bluebells and continued to create barriers to deter use of informal paths to protect the woodland floor.
• ADDITIONAL DATE (at short notice) Thursday 30th April - mapping extent of bluebells in south-western area.
• Tuesday 14th April 2026 - 8 of us cut back vegetation where intruding on main pains, attempted to create barriers to deter use of additional paths formed over winter, and pulled invasive variegated archangel from near Brandy Hole Pond.
• Tuesday 10th March 2026 - 5 of us went on a bird walk. We saw or heard 25 of the 31 species we’ve recorded in the Copse; records can be found on our Birds webpage. 
• Tuesday 10 February 2026 -  a really productive morning cutting back overhanging vegetation to keep paths clear (and encourage visitors to stick to paths); tackling invasive non-native plants (cotoneaster, cherry laurel and Portuguese laurel); and litter-picking as we went. Also checked that old piles of cut laurel were not rooting. 7 people attended.
• Tuesday 13th January 2026 - CANCELLED for safety as contractor still working at Willow and Cops Ponds and some tree felling work happening elsewhere.
  

Previous CDC-guided Working Parties in 2025

Our web editor forgot to keep this section updated! For now, due to lack of time, we are relying on our monthly e-mailers to give a re-cap of what happened at the previous Working Party. You can find those e-mailers here.

• Tuesday 9th December
• Tuesday 11th November
• Tuesday 14th October
• Tuesday 9th September
• Tuesday 12th August
• Tuesday 8th July
• Tuesday 10th June 
• Tuesday 13th May
• Tuesday 8th April
• Tuesday 11th March
• Tuesday 11th February
• Tuesday 14th January
  

Previous CDC-guided Working Parties in 2024

• Tuesday 10th December - 10 of us coppiced for stakes which will be used by a local charity for their allotment project - with life busy before Christmas and it being a very cold day, we knocked off early! Copse seemed pretty much unharmed by Storm Darragh, but a regular volunteer and visitor to the Copse spotted that a couple of trunks beside the main path had shifted, so these were reported to Chichester District Council for inspection. 
• Tuesday 12th November - 11 of us made short work of cutting chestnut stakes for a dead-hedge project elsewhere, whilst helping to manage the Copse for biodiversity. We had time to explore and think of what else needs doing as the seasons and opportunities change. 
• Tuesday 8th October - laurel bashing (so effective that we didn't find any more to do when we looked in November!). Pleasing turn-out.
• Tuesday 10th September - pond water levels were too high for us to access, so it was back to the satisfying task of clearing laurel (as an alien species that suppresses biodiversity). Pleasing turn-out.
• Tuesday 13th August, 10am to noon - 7 of us cut back existing paths and explored the wildlife to be found in the neighbouring field, where open areas proved rich with flora, and crickets! Next to no butterflies (weather cool and blowy) although 5 speckled woods cheered us in a sunny glade on our way back to hang up our tools.
• Tuesday 9th July, 10am to noon - wildlife survey intentions were abandoned due to cool damp weather. Between the 5 of us we managed to cut back laurel in the Copse and clear an overgrown path through the adjoining field, enabling it to continue to be used.
• Tuesday 11th June, 10am to noon - back to 6 of us and another go at clearing duckweed from Brandy Hole Pond (subsequently determined that this will need to be a professional job). A half-hearted attempt to look for butterflies (weather mostly too dull and cool) morphed into observing other insects, birds and plants in the adjacent uncultivated small field which complements the Copse.
• Tuesday 14th May, 10am to noon - only 4 of us this time and still too dull/cold for butterflies! We pulled variegated archangel (invasive species), cut a small amount of laurel (used to top up a dead hedge) and made a start on clearing duckweed from Brandy Hole Pond.
• Tuesday 9th April, 10am to noon - it was too gloomy/cold for butterflies, so we looked to see what plants we could find - over 40 different species. Once again there were 6 of us.
• Tuesday 19th March, 10am to noon - 23 different different species of birds seen or heard in our bird survey, where 4 volunteers joined 2 CDC staff members in the drizzle. Particular highlights were the grey wagtail (notable for its sunny yellow colouring and likely to be nesting nearby) and the tiny firecrest in bright spring plumage that we encountered at close quarters.
• Tuesday 13th February, 10am to noon - more cutting chestnut stakes and control of laurel. 6 people participated and we are really starting to see a difference in the amount of laurel standing (and the piles of brash, which need to decompose for the woodland floor to recover). The larger laurel trees will need professional felling, which we hope CDC can arrange (although maybe not now before this year's nesting season).
• Tuesday 16th January, 10am to noon - cutting chestnut stakes to use offsite for Strategic Wildlife Corridor projects and control of laurel. 3 volunteers joined 2 staff members from Chichester District Council's Environment team. The north part of the Copse was somewhat flooded with a couple of trees down and ice to break through on the paths!
  

Previous CDC-guided Working Parties in 2023

• Tuesday 12th December 2023, 10am to noon - cutting chestnut stakes* and control of laurel. 6 people participated even though it poured (the stakes had been cut by 11am, but we were having such a good time that we declined to go home early!). Willow and Cops ponds were overflowing; ephemeral ponds were highlighting lower ground; and, more alarmingly, it was evident that run-off from the Lane was entering the Copse from the west.    * The stakes have been used along the Hambrook chalk stream at 5 landowners' locations. They hold coir rolls in place alongside the undercut of the bank and different native aquatic plants are inserted in the coir. As well as enhancing the biodiversity of native vegetation along the bank, which in turn filters the water, the rolls also provide instant habitat for water voles that can burrow into them.
• Tuesday 14th November, 10am to noon - cutting chestnut stakes for conservation project elsewhere in Strategic Wildlife Corridor. This was a change of plan from more laurel cutting as only 2 volunteers attended, likely due to windy rainy weather.
• Tuesday 17th October 2023, 10am to noon - control of laurel (third Tuesday of the month). 9 people participated - our best turnout yet! We felled the laurel by the entrance from Bristol Gardens, the only two other laurels we found in that section east of Centurion Way, plus another near the top of the bank by Brandy Hole Lane. A good turnout resulted in a really productive morning and we made a noticeable difference to light reaching the woodland floor. Future Working Party(ies) will focus on cutting back laurel within the western areas of the Copse.
• Tuesday 12th September 2023, 10am to noon - pond investigations. 7 people participated. Water level was extremely low in Willow pond and there were no plants. Fauna included Ramshorn and Lesser Pond Snails; Water Hoglouse; Pea Cockles; Freshwater Shrimps; Pond Skaters; Water Beetles; Daphnia; Cyclops and a young Swamp Spider. Biotic index 4/10. No evidence of invasive alien species was found at Cops pond, where work hoped to eliminate Parrot’s Feather and New Zealand Pigmyweed was previously undertaken circa 2017/18. No pond dipping was undertaken in Cops pond due to difficulty of access and to avoid risk of contamination, if fragments of invasive species survive. Brandy Hole pond was blanketed with pondweed and sampling difficult - our most obvious catch was the Common Backswimmer beetle.
  
• Tuesday 8th August 2023, 10am to noon - making records of trees. 6 people participated. We identified 26 different species of tree and expect there are still more to be found. We touched and sniffed and really looked at the different ways trees grow, finding that several of the taller woodland oaks are likely to be of the same vintage (circa 200? years old) based on girth. As ever when really looking, there were surprises: a green crab spider (Diaea dorsata) found on turning over a leaf; and a patch of woodland floor hopping with young common frogs (Rana temporaria). Enchanter's nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) told us of sun-dappled woodland and is an ancient woodland indicator species.
• Tuesday 11th July 2023, 10am to noon - observation and records of butterflies. 3 people participated. Also supporting dormice habitat in the Copse (2 people).
• Tuesday 13th June 2023, 10am to noon - control of Laurel. 6 people participated.