Author Archives: ashridgevolunteersblog

  We often think of ozone as a stratosphere pollutant, where it does a useful job blocking out harmful ultraviolet radiation, but it is harmful to breathe, damages our crops, and is now thought to be behind the collapse in … Continue reading →

Last February the volunteers helped the Trust dead-head some saplings in Frithsden Beeches. Pollarding is a pruning practice which removes the upper part of a tree promoting a dense head of foliage and branches. It has been common since medieval … Continue reading →

The National Trust slogan “for ever and for everyone” is a recent proclamation and would have been sorely tested on a May day in 1996 when thousands of visitors arrived at Ashridge. The night the ravers came to Arcadia. This … Continue reading →

  Ashridge should boast about their special plants like the fleawort, or the pasque flower, the green hellebore or the orchids for they need special conditions and protection for growing success. The conservation code kicks in when the Trust need … Continue reading →

Summer has gone, the wild flowers are finished so no more buzzing around the Beacon for the beneficial insects. The honey bees have flown home to the safety of their warm hives, while the worker wasps have all died in … Continue reading →

The packed program of special events continues through the Autumn and Winter at Ashridge – The following list will help you when organising your volunteering time-table for the next four months. There are at least fourteen events to consider – … Continue reading →

Forty  years ago in 1978 George Lucas became the creative myth of today’s Hollywood, at a time when the Ashridge Visitor Centre was run solely by the volunteers! Star Wars the movie – a scrappy little underdog of a sci-fi … Continue reading →

The ragwort, a really beautiful weed, has been shining out on the hills but, perhaps thanks to the volunteer’s labour, it was not over-abundant as in earlier years. Ragwort makes the hills glint o’ gold, and to walk there feels … Continue reading →

The Editor is away on holiday!  

Holloways are a common feature of the Chiltern landscape, cutting into the chalk escarpment as they rise up to the plateau from the Aylesbury Vale. The volunteers are familiar with the pathways around the Beacon skirting Piccadilly Hill, in use … Continue reading →