As some of you have noticed there is a pretty display of Spring bulbs in Worthen churchyard at the moment, pretty but expensive in more ways than one.
Last year the Parochial Church Council decided to clear up the churchyard and recruited a posse of volunteers to carry out the task, OK so far, the place had been neglected and like any garden, management is needed.
What happened next was not only disgraceful and tragic, it was, in fact, a crime.
The volunteers chose to commence their activities right at the beginning of the nesting season and continued throughout the entire summer so that both first and second hatchings were lost. Ivy was ripped from walls and trees, ivy which contained the nests of Wrens, Robins, and Thrushes. The nests of Nuthatch, Long-Tailed Tit, Green Finch, Chaffinch and many others were disturbed and were deserted by their owners.
In The U.K. it is a crime to destroy or disturb the nest of any bird, with the penalty of large fines and even a prison term for repeat offenders as those who commuted these acts of wilful cruelty most certainly were. To make the matter still more serious a number of Red List species were in the habit of raising their young in what had been the safety and seclusion of the old graveyard, not anymore!
Ground-nesting birds had their nests trampled and strimmed into oblivion and the secret places beloved of Dormice, Shrews Voles and the poor beleaguered Wild Bees were torn out, so devastating was this carnage that it will be years before this site will again be able to host these rare and precious guests.
When the complaints began all concerned claimed ignorance of any wrongdoing, this is nonsense, I am in a position to know that at least some of those who carried out the work were well aware of the damage they were doing, I know because told them myself. If the P.C.C. were indeed unaware of the law in this matter, should they be in charge of this lovely place?
Many of the ancient Yew trees were damaged by the hack and slash methods employed, those who complained were dismissed as “tree huggers” by these vandals who in a gross display of wilful ignorance they continued their butchery.
When the Parish Council became involved and ordered that the “work” should cease we hoped that at least there would be no further inroads made, now we are not so sure.
The P.P.C seem to be remarkably proud of what they have achieved and their self-congratulatory attitude to the mayhem they have caused is beyond belief.
It is, however not only the loss of so much valuable habitat and so many rare bird species which should cause disquiet to the residents of Worthen Village. Such damage was done to some of the trees that a qualified Tree Surgeon has had to be called in to effect repairs and stabilise some of the damaged trees, and the great mass of undergrowth ivy and branches has had to be left on the site by the volunteers has had to be disposed of very carefully as it contained poisonous plant material.
So who is going to foot the bill for all this stupidity? You, the residents of the village are going to pay for what has been done. Insult added to injury?
Unfortunately no amount of money can restore what has been lost to the village and this year instead of the sound of birdsong and the wonder of watching fledgling birds grow to adulthood, all you have is a display of pretty, but lets be honest very common spring bulbs of the sort you can see in almost every garden in Worthen at this time of the year.
I have no objection to the correct management of the churchyard, but it must in future be carried out at the right time of year and with the supervision of someone who knows what they are doing.
Lastly, I must admit to my own negligence in not reporting this matter to the authorities at the time. Some of those concerned were friends and I allowed that fact to cloud my judgment. Their behavior since my attempts to stop their activities has been such that this consideration on my part will not occur again.
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