Curry Woods Conservation Trust

       AGM of the Trust - January 17th, 2pm in the Old School Room, Curry Rivel.

The AGM was a great success though, as usual, we wished more people had attended. Surely there are younger people who are interested in environmental matters? I appreciate  working people are busy but those of us who are now retired but managed to volunteer and be interested in the wider world when  we were working can't understand why  the audience at our meeting s is always made up of ( all be it lovely) retirees? Rant over! Those present heard an excellent talk by Fred Giles of RoAM (more about that in the minutes)
 The minutes are available here:
​/agm-report-jan-2026​​​

I have previously talked about the Trust being in the process of buying the adjacent 2 acres of land previously owned by the late Derek Yeomans. There is much more about this in Peter's blog-  Yeomans' Copse . The sale has now been completed, with thanks to the Woodland Trust for making the process easy and transferring Derek's bequest to them to CWCT at a very reasonable cost.

Peter's next blog is now available to read in advance of its' publication in the Curry Rivel News . Click to read it: /peter-s-blog/a-mast-year

The trees planted in 2021-4 are now generally doing well and the survival rate is high inspite of the extremely dry summer. Our main problem has been ants - they love to make their nests in the tree guards, carrying large amounts of soil up the tubes and killing the saplings if it is not removed. We have been taking off these guards and those on trees which are well established as they can become more of a problem than an advantage after a while!  There are still guard round some of the trees in Yeoman's Copse and we have been removing those too. Sadly most of the ash trees Dereck planted about 20 years ago have suffered and died from die-back and will have to be felled. However it is an opportunity to plant some more biodiverse trees, as Dereck only planted oak and ash. We will be discussing the way forward with Reimagining the Levels and preparing for new planting.



Now in the mature woodland keen eyes will spot fungi, always thriving after wet weather. Look on the floor among the leaf litter, on tree trunks or on fallen trees, where they thrive.Bracket fungi on woodAscocornyne - also a wood rotting fungus

Lots more species of fungi to see in winter   - if you are walking through the CWCT wood please take some photos and send them to cwctrust@aol.com so we can publish them on the website.

Curry Woods Conservation Trust
currywoodsconservationtrust.com.
The Woods, Curry Rivel, Langport, Somerset TA10 0PW
  Email: cwctrust@aol.com  Website: currywoodsconservationtrust.com

Minutes of the AGM of the CWCT
  held in the Old School Room, Curry Rivel 
on Saturday, January 17th 2026 at 2.00pm
 
 Welcome by the Chair and Apologies for absence- Peter Goodenough welcomed everyone and said there were apologies from Peter Wallis and Elizabeth Anliffe-Clark
 The minutes of the AGM of the Trust held on January 14th 2025 were approved
 Chair’s Report - Peter Goodenough - see appendix 1
 Treasurer’s Report - Jeremy Dugdale - see appendix 2
 Secretary’s report - Sylvia Goodenough - see appendix 3
 Talk by Fred Giles of RoAM (Recorders of the Avalon Marshes)
    Fred explained that the recording of data is one of the most powerful things we can do for nature. The collection of data over time gives us an overview of how species are reacting to management and climate change, whereas , to quote Fred “a person without data is just another person with an opinion”. He explained how we could do regular transect monitoring locally and offered to come to the village to see how suitable our proposed transects would be. A transect is like an imagined tunnel, 2.5m on each side of a central line and 3m above one’s head and the commitment is to walk it once every week from April to October. Fred was talking about butterfly monitoring but many other species can be monitored similarly, with software to record results on line though pen and paper also works!. However, the value of the data recorded is both local and national and needs to be put on relevant databases. Ideally a team of several people, of a range of ages, should be involved in a transect as the data only becomes really valuable when comparisons can be made over a ten year period and so some volunteers may find the walk too challenging as time goes on. Fred is very happy to come to over to help with choosing suitable walks for transects and anyone interested should contact Peter pwgoodenough@aol.com or send a message via the website so Peter can contact Fred.                
 Questions and discussion- there were several questions and people expressed their interest in being involved in this environmentally important project. Peter also mentioned that there is a need to start recording both plants and animals on the Trust land this summer and that he hopes volunteers will come forward to help with this. The three Trust officers had all explained that Trust funds are very low after buying Yeoman’s Copse and that there are expenses to come. The trustees are all unpaid volunteers and they do not claim personal expenses so we were delighted to find that the donations box contained £75, which, together with the gift aid we can claim on it, goes a long way towards paying for the hall and making a donation to RoAM. Many thanks to our donors!
Two very interesting displays were set up near the refreshments and were appreciated both before and after Fred’s talk, often while clutching a cup of tea and piece of cake . The fascinating display on Bumblebees (Kath Thornton) revealed their many different species. They are another genus that can be recorded in a similar way to butterflies. Planting a Community Orchard (Kate Towers of Reimagining the Levels) described how a group in Compton Dundon have planted their orchard. Curry Rivel is looking to doing the same so this was very relevant to us. Kate also had information on RtL, the group that has helped us so much by securing grants to provide our trees, stakes and guards as well as some funds for maintenance. They have been invaluable.

There was no formal end to the meeting but people began to drift away from 4pm.

Appendix 1 Chairman’s Report
A very warm welcome to the CWCT Annual General meeting. Thank you for coming today After a descripton of how the Trust has developed in 2025 from me, Jeremy our Treasurer and Sylvia our secretary,we look forward to what we are sure will be a very interesting and relevant talk by Fred Giles from Recorders of the Avalon Marshes. A very relevant topic as I shall explain.
It is, in January, the five year anniversary of the purchase of the first land by the Trust from Somerset County Council. A great deal of work over two years had preceded the purchase. We have also now completed the purchase of an extra two acres, the history of which I described last year.
So, taking stock of the last five years, we have raised about £80 K from grants and personal donations. We were able to fund the purchase of Yeomans copse from grants and did not have to request personal donations this time.
We have established the Trust as a Charity and this has given considerable extra funds through the Gift Aid process and allowing us access to funding bodies which support charities.
We have worked with Reimagining the Levels to plant around 1000 trees and shrubs and have improved the hedges around the original land by traditional hedge laying and planting more species of shrub into them. We have protected a large area of the existing woodland from predation by deer and planted more trees into that space.
During 2025 the Nature Recovery Strategy for Somerset was published (Somersetcounycouncil.gov/citizensspace. )This excellent piece of work shows the low percentage of tree cover in Somerset and identifies Areas of Particular importance to Biodiversity. The wooded ridge on which the Trust is situated is one of those areas and optimal land use around the edges of the woodland is shown in a very informative interactive map. The trust land which is not wooded was shown as being ideal for extending the existing woodland, which is, of course what we have done.This extension of the woodland along the ridge is based on the main findings of the Lawson report which are summarized as the need to be bigger, better and more connected. That is, areas of particular importance to biodiversity should where ever possible be connected to other such areas, made bigger by increasing the relevant habitat and managed optimally. This makes our task even more exciting and relevant to improving the biodiversity on our land.
However it is time for the Trust to start to keep real scientific records of the biodiversity on its land. We know we have increased the variety of trees and shrubs because we know what we planted and this was recognized by the RHS who awarded us the Monk trophy for diverse planting. However, we do not have a record of the actual number and species of trees and shrubs that are thriving, Similarly we know that some wild flowers have thrived, in the hot Summer last year we had hundreds of pyramidal orchids on the North facing slope, fleabane, thistle, ragwort in quantity with smaller numbers of other such plants. But we have no records for insects and small mammals for example. This has to be remedied so that we can establish a data base of biodiversity over the years to come. This is where the expertise of ROAM will be so helpful.

We were delighted that we were able to welcome Cyril Harris as our newest Trustee during the year. Cyril owns woodland at Wick Hill, about half a mile from the Trust and has an excellent working sawmill there as well as extensive knowledge of tree husbandry and he and his associate Guy took on the onerous task of clearing the scrub around the trees in Yeoman’s copse and cutting the grass and clearing brambles in the main area during the autumn. May thanks to them both.
Future plans, apart from monitoring and recording the biodiversity will involve fund raising to remove dead and dying ash trees in Yeomans copse(ash die back) laying the hedges around the copse and planting a more diverse mix of trees and shrubs to replace the ash and improve the monoculture of oak that remains at present. The existing gate from the copse will be removes and used to replace our existing gate into the main land holding when the hedges are laid. Access into the copse will then be from the main area and the old entrance planted with shrubs.
So a lot to do and money to be raised, the Trust is now registered with The Rural Payments agency and we will be applying for environmental Stewardship grants when and if we are eligible.
So thank you for your attention

Appendix 2  Treasurer’s Report
Jeremy talked through the sheet below, copies of which were available.

THE CURRY WOODS CONSERVATION TRUST (CIO)
ACCUNTS FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
17TH January 2026
Transactions since last AGM
 
 Appendix 3  Secretary’s report
There have been 2 minuted meetings of the trustees during the year, but other informal ones between trustees. In March the trustees were delighted to hear from Peter that the finance to purchase the land to be called Yeoman’s Copse was in place, covered by the generous grants Peter and Jeremy have referred to. They were very happy to confirm that Peter should go ahead to finalise the sale and he was able to report that the Trust owned the copse before the end of the year.

Although Alan thought he had stood down as Treasurer in January the bank thought otherwise . The existing account had been set up before the Trust had become a registered charity and when the bank finally realised this they insisted on the account being changed from a community to a charity account. They also wanted Alan to be the signatory while the change went on, so he couldn’t escape as soon as planned and he prepared the financial report to go into the annual report to the Charity Commission which I finally submitted later in the year. Our report to HMRC was less trouble to prepare this year and Jeremy and I only had it rejected once before being accepted. However, the fly in the ointment is that HMRC are saying that the next report has to use special filing software, which may make things easier but of course has to be purchased- cost not yet known! It’s very frustrating as of course there is no tax liability to the trust at the end of it all!
  I also maintain the Trust website and am pleased to report that it gets a good number of hits, with Peter’s blogs still being particularly popular. These appear on the website first and then in the Curry Rivel News but they obviously appeal to a wider audience than just those who receive the CRN. If you haven’t looked at the website please do - the address is at the top of the agenda for this meeting.

Finally do please look at the really interesting displays and sample the refreshments provided. There is no charge but should you feel able to make a donation to the trust we would really appreciate it and there is a donation box by the refreshments. As a charity we can claim back 25% of small (under £20) donations through gift aid without needing to name donors. Any larger donation do need a gift aid form to be completed and the donor must be a UK tax payer. I can, of course, supply these too, also BACS information if you don’t have any cash on you and would like to donate!.
Thank you