Lost Meadows
During the first UK lockdown, I like many others, took solace in nature. My daughter, Lila, and I spent time in our local meadows, which were just bursting back into life after a long winter. It was during this time that I learned of future development plans for these green spaces. The meadows closest to me had been sold with plans to build 85 new houses. I was upset by the news, particularly because I had been reading about the decline in meadows and their importance for biodiversity. Meadows are home to a vast array of insect, plant & animal species. In the UK this particular habitat hosts a larger amount of vulnerable species than any other, making them one of the most important & precious ecosystems we have.
Unfortunately, the story of the development of our local meadow is not unique. Since 1930 UK meadows have declined by 97% and there is little protection for the remaining 3%. The majority of those that remain (75%) are vulnerable as they exist in tiny patches which can easily be destroyed. Patchworks of these overlooked green spaces are being sold off little by little by independent landowners. Although the plots of land may be small, the overall picture is much bigger & more worrying. The loss of our meadows means that nature in decline has become an overall trend in the UK.
© Images courtesy of Totnes Image Bank.
(L)Tea in harvest field at Higher Lake Farm c1930. 2L J.T.Manning, right Mrs Manning and daughter Ruby.
(R) Haywain at Seccombe Farm, Blackawton, c1940. Geoff Pillar (bro in law of Edith Tucker, Instart), Edith James, Jean Forsyth, John Kelland (farmer).
A small, pollinator meadow in our local village lists over 60 plant varieties alone. These plants & flowers host an interconnected web of life which thrives in this habitat.
Lila & I made lumen prints from some of the many plants, flowers & organic material we found in our local meadows.
Image - 35mm lumen of Wax Cap Mushrooms
“A lawn when you come to think of it, is nothing but a meadow in captivity. Modern lawns have little or no wildlife value. Most are green deserts, marinated in chemicals, comprised of only a few garden species, and shorn stupid once a week in summer. But in the middle age, a lawn was more like a meadow; it was a ‘flowery mead’, bursting with perfumed wildflowers and herbs and grasses. These gorgeous semi-wild acres were an integral part of medieval life, used to their full for walking in, dancing on, sitting in. And in houses and castles where privacy was hard to find, they were the perfect places for lovers to share secluded passion”
— John Lewis Stempel, Meadowland
Buglife estimates that our invertebrate population has now declined by 60-70%. This includes pollinators such as bees & butterflies, which are essential to the functioning of a healthy eco-system and our own food security. A lot of these species depend on rich habitats such as meadows to thrive. Unfortunately, due to the intensification of farming, farmland flowers are now critically endangered with a loss of 96% in 200 years. This has a knock-on effect for the life dependent on it. Without flowers & invertebrates, farmland birds are drastically declining and harvest mice have seen a drop of 70% in recent years. The list of extinct and endangered plants, insects, birds and other mammals in the UK is long and it grows day by day.
Image - dead bee 35mm lumen
This gallery contains images that I have created of endangered & extinct species using historical images sourced from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. I have listed the species below with their rate of decline;
Skylark - declined by 75% between 1972 and 1996. Population still declining
Farmland Flowers - declined by 96% in the last 200 years
Bees - One third are in decline. Some species, such as the short-haired bumblebee (dependent on grassland habitats) are already extinct
Butterflies - 70% of species are declining and some species are already extinct. The Mazarine Blue butterfly (commonly seen in European meadows) became extinct here when haymaking practices changed.
Hedgehog - Fewer than a million hedgehogs remain. This is due to habitat loss and food scarcity (loss of insect & invertebrates)
Spotted Flycatcher - declined by 87% since 1970
Corn Bunting - declined by 88% between 1967 and 2012
Wild Thyme - Classed as vulnerable and almost completely extinct in arable habitat. A main food source for butterflies
Grey Partridge - declined by 91% between 1967 and 2010
Pheasant’s-eye - declined by 92%
Turtle Doves - declined by 93% since the 1970’s
Harvest Mice - declined by 70% since the 1970’s
Treesparrow - declined by 93% between 1970 and 2008
“"The steady, quiet and under-reported decline of our meadows is one of the biggest tragedies in the history of UK nature conservation; if over 97% of our woodland had been destroyed there’d be a national outcry. Without the roar of chainsaws or the sound of mighty oaks crashing to the ground, meadows with undisturbed floral histories going back generations are being ploughed up in a single afternoon."
— Dr Trevor Dines, Plantlife Botanical Specialist
“I'm Audrey Compton and I farm Deer Park Farm with my husband, John Whetman. We are active farmers - but we are also old enough to remember what meadows were like in the 1950s, before ploughs, fertilisers and sprays changed our landscape for ever. My sister and I used to take a 'long-cut' through a small meadow on our way home from primary school. There was a tiny stream shimmering through the middle, with a rotting wooden bridge; there were as many flowers as grasses and the scent of meadowsweet still takes me back there in an instant. The meadow was humming with insects - mysterious things that crawled into our ankle-socks and stung us in retribution; beautiful tortoiseshell butterflies looking crazily exotic; warm and chubby bumblebees searching for the tastiest flower. Occasionally there would be a few cattle grazing there and we'd cross the stream cautiously in case they resented us. The hedges were massive, part of the field really, creating multiple shade and textures. It was magic! But just a few years later, it was a housing estate.... We are incredibly fortunate to have a marshy field at Deer Park farm that has, with a little grazing, become very similar to that magical meadow from my childhood.”
— Audrey Compton, Farmer
“We find ourselves in the midst of an extreme biodiversity crisis where over a million species of plants, insects and other animals are on the brink of extinction, while other species, stressed by displacement, are increasingly brought into contact with expanding zones of human habitation and agriculture. Accordingly, COVID-19 can in no way be read as a black swan event. We’d do better to understand it, instead, as a kind of initiation into a new era of crisis, intrinsically connected to the extractivist models of growth that dominate our global economy and the ecological imbalances that they bring.
”
— Ashish Ghadiali, Writer & Activist
“As a farmer or custodian of the land I manage it seems obvious to me to stop fighting against the natural occurrence of beneficial wild habitat. 70% of my land is suitable for productive grassland farming, the remaining 30% wants to revert back to its natural untamed state. A large part of modern intensive agriculture is centred around spraying, draining and cultivating these ‘less productive’ areas. I’m not fighting them, just embracing their benefits and using native livestock to manage them as generations before us did”
— Sam Bullingham, Farmer from Taw River Dairy
Aside from building & development, the intensification of arable farming has driven the loss of meadows. The latter also threatens wildflower species, as herbicides & seed cleaning have stopped the spread of flowers.
Farmland flowers are now critically endangered with a loss of 96% in 200 years. Those threatened include all of the species pictured opposite in an historical drawing ‘Flowers of the Cornfield’ sourced from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
To illustrate pesticide contamination I contaminated prints of wildflowers that I photographed in the farms & fields of Devon & Cornwall.
Image - Lumen print ‘Flowers of the Cornfield’
“I grew up in “the olden days” surrounded by wild meadows and a diverse array of animals. I felt connected and intrigued by the magical effects they seemed to have on both myself and the environment surrounding them. This has provided me with a visual anchor that I have always been able to hold onto. The swath of flowers and grasses remind me of a marching band, in full swing, leading an infinite parade of some of the most important elements of our existence as human beings. It's fast becoming a forgotten and neglected chain that has weakened, lost links and suffered as a result of abuse from one of the very species that is reliant upon it. As a humbled member of that species, I strive to become a strong link in this chain for the sake of my children and the speedy recovery of our long suffering planet.”
— Robin Fox, Rewilder & owner of Foxworthy Farm
“I worked in this meadow for a year as part of a team restoring & maintaining this natural habitat. I now work as a herbal practitioner. There are so many traditional wild herbs which are hard to come by now due to the loss of habitat. The plants we are losing are precious and many have medicinal values as well as being important for biodiversity. Meadows are an important host for many plants & mycelial networks to thrive. We should be protecting and studying these spaces and the networks of life that exist within them”
— Rebecca Clelland, Herbalist
“Because of the rapid destruction of meadows in the UK, meadows like these are vestiges of an era of beauty and diversity that will take us generations to re-establish. Protecting and promoting these sanctuaries seems like a duty to the planet and all life that inhabits every niche it can find. Anyone who has seen the fascination and joy in a child's face exploring a meadow would agree that there are endless wonders to discover in meadows, and endless things we can learn about ecology that are priceless. All the magic of creation is contained within even the smallest seed.”
— Ross Perrett, Market Gardener
Since starting this project “Build, build, build” has become the new Conservative campaign slogan and answer to rebuilding Britain post Covid-19. Planning is about to be deregulated and these fragile ecosystems will be even more vulnerable. Where I live in South Hams the growth in building will be the highest in the country, at an estimated increase of 117%.
In a changing world it is vital that we protect meadows and increase the amount of land for species rich habitats. Aside from their importance for biodiversity, soil carbon research has shown that meadows have a positive impact on CO2 emissions, storing carbon within the soil. Between 1990 - 2006 the loss of grasslands accounted for around 14 million tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere.
As planning is deregulated these fragile ecosystems will potentially be more vulnerable as housing projects spring up across our green & pleasant land.
Read on to learn about some UK meadows which are currently under threat.
Get in touch if you have a meadow story to share.
Helen Stewart
Radyr Court Woods & Meadow
I took this photo around 2005 when our local meadow was still grazed and before the current landowner nabbed it and continues to try to develop it for houses.
As you can see it used to be stunning and had a purpose. It does not look like that now. Historically it was part of a farm and because it’s within the protected Taff River Corridor, it's actually very unsuitable for development. After the new land-owners, Nabatean Ltd, a subsidiary of the Plymouth Estate bought it, the land became unmanaged to support their development plans. The horses were evicted of course.
We are currently opposing their third attempt to build houses on it, as we’ve been successful on two prior occasions, on Appeal. But of course they keep trying and so we are campaigning to stop them yet again from threatening our community green space, important wildlife habitats and the lovely rural character of the area.
The development would destroy an area of mature trees, many with Tree Protection Orders, shrub & meadow, which is bordered on it’s north side by Hermit woods and the ancient Radyr woods, a SINC and diverse wildlife haven.
Now with covid and the climate emergency, the value to our community of this space is immeasurable. Our children are being deprived of magical real life experiences and memories. Are we supposed to just accept that this golden era of meadows is gone forever, as we continue to lose our local meadows one by one? Not in a million years !
