60 years of working towards a wilder Somerset

Somerset Wildlife Trust is more than a name, a logo or a reserve. It’s an ever-growing demonstration of how like-minded individuals, from all walks of life, can take action to secure the future of wildlife and wild places in our beautiful and diverse county. So, join us as we celebrate six decades of Somerset Wildlife Trust by looking at our past, our present and our future.

Newspaper clipping of article dated 30th October 1964 — Central Somerset Gazette (30th October 1964)

From small seeds grow mighty trees

In May 1912, banker and expert naturalist Charles Rothschild held a meeting at the Natural History Museum in London to discuss his idea for a new organisation to save the best places for wildlife in the British Isles. This meeting led to the formation of the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves (SPNR). Soon after the society’s formation, local conservation organisations (the forerunners to Wildlife Trusts) began to spring up across the country.

Fast-forward to 15th February 1964, when 15 people gathered at Taunton Castle for a ‘pre-formation’ meeting to discuss setting up a county trust for nature conservation. These founders each paid £1 as initial capital to establish the Somerset Trust for Nature Conservation (STNC), and the rest, as they say, is history.

STNC was officially registered as a charity on December 17th, and it was the original membership application form that set out what the Trust was to do: “The intention of this newly established Trust is to prevent the unnecessary destruction of Somerset’s wildlife. It will in addition help to preserve places of special natural history interest.” Thirty years later, STNC would be renamed Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Today, as we enter our 60th year, we’re working as hard as ever to put nature back into recovery, with vital support from over 23,000 members and the involvement of over 300 volunteers.

Protecting special places for wildlife

Restoring habitats to support a wide range of wildlife and natural processes has always been central to our work – Trusts under the SPNR umbrella were expected to be landowners as well as lobbyists. Having acquired our first 17-acre part of Westhay Moor at the end of 1964, it was soon made clear that the more reserves and wild places we purchased or leased, the more these places should be properly managed.

By 1982 the Trust boasted 32 nature reserves, 10 of which it owned outright. Today we now manage nearly 2,000 hectares of land across 66 reserves, 58 of which are owned outright. One thing we can’t say is that over sixty years the threats to nature have declined. But hope is important – our nature reserves are at the heart of our plans for a wilder future for Somerset. Without them, our remaining wildlife won’t be able to spread into new areas and create thriving populations.

Image of Mendip Conservation Volunteers taken in 1979 — Mendip Conservation Volunteers working on a dew-pond restoration task, 1979

Forever changing coastlines

Somerset is home to one of the most diverse stretches of coastline in the UK, reaching from the long sandy beaches of Brean to the rocky kelp forests of Glenthorne. This vibrant piece of coastline includes sand dunes, rocky shores, cliffs, salt marsh, tidal estuaries, mud flats and coastal deciduous woodland, with 80% having environmental protection.

But, despite the amazing diversity of habitats and wildlife along Somerset’s 53 miles of coastline, none of our reserves are located along that stretch. This has historically meant that the Trust (and SERC) have far fewer records of marine and intertidal taxa. This need for more data was addressed by the Trust through an intertidal biotope mapping project, carried out between 2016-2018, followed by two big coastal engagement projects, Somerset’s Brilliant Coast and Somerset’s Wilder Coast. Our two ongoing coastal citizen science projects – ShoreSearch and SeaWatch – continue to attract new volunteers.

Making wildlife count. Literally.

In 1984 it was highlighted that Somerset was one of the few counties not to have a biological record centre. It was concluded that our Trust was the only body able to fulfil such a role, so work began on establishing a permanent centre.

The Somerset Environmental Record Centre (SERC) was born. Today, SERC collects, manages, analyses and supplies data on wildlife and the surrounding environment, as well as playing a significant role in helping to develop our first Somerset State of Nature report, which was released at the end of 2023.

Speaking of making wildlife count, Somerset wouldn’t be Somerset without its abundance of spectacular species. Find out more about some of the key species we’ve helped over the last 60 years here.

Campaigning for positive change for nature

From the beginning, the role of the Trust was a persuasive and protective one – one of the greatest strengths of our Trust has always been our strong sense of local pride in the county and its biodiversity. There’s no better example of this than our history campaigning against peat extraction.

A prominent feature in our first meeting of the STNC in 1964, concerns about peat extraction has been at the heart of much that the Trust has done on the Levels and Moors ever since. It’s hard to imagine now, but the tranquil landscape used to be littered with large-scale machinery, digging up 250,000 tons of peat each year. Somerset is still sadly one of two counties where peat extraction is still taking place. The end of large-scale peat digging came in 1994, but the land was scarred and had little wildlife value. Today, the Avalon Marshes are an outstanding example of co-operation in the nature conservation movement and is a multi-layered story of creating rich habitat from the scars of peat extraction.

Image of John Keylock giving a talk to members at Great Breach Wood

John Keylock, co-founder of STNC, at Great Breach Wood

An image of volunteers coppicing trees at a nature reserve

Chris Billinghurst (centre) and volunteers coppicing at Long Wood Reserve, 1989 © The Journal Series

Our very first newsletter, 1964

Image of Woodland Management course members stood together

Chris Billinghurst and Bill Butcher (both seated on fence) with Woodland Management course members, 1983

Image of Christopher Hancock with his bike from 1999

Christopher 'Kiff' Hancock cycling to 74 nature reserves in five days, 1999

Image of a group of staff and youths celebrating our 40th birthday

Celebrating our 40th birthday at Fyne Court, 2004

Corporate volunteers restoring a pond at a nature reserve

Corporate volunteers restoring a pond at Draycott Sleights reserve, 2001

Many hands make light work

Volunteers play a key role in the conservation of Somerset. From practical work to surveying; reserves management to office and admin help, our volunteers are the lifeblood of our Trust. It’s impossible to explain how important our volunteers have been – their contributions have helped transform the organisation into the vital and influential charity it is today.

Organising volunteers and engaging with local communities across such a large county is no small feat. For almost as long as the Trust has been operating, we have had the support and enduring commitment from Local Area Groups. These voluntary groups – led and managed by separate chairs and committees – were behind some amazing events and activities over the years that have helped promote the work of the Trust, raise funds and, with their wealth of local knowledge and expertise, have brought people closer to nature in their communities across the county. This included recruiting and co-ordinating Volunteer Reserves Wardens, who still act as our eyes and ears on the ground and are an essential part of our reserve management (some of our 40 serving wardens have been with us for over 40 years).

Today, the Local Area Groups have been integrated into our Team Wilder approach, sharing expertise and networks to support communities and individuals to take action for nature on their own terms. We’re also incredibly lucky to work with Practical Conservation Groups across our county, who carry out essential habitat management tasks for the benefit of local wildlife. These Groups, alongside our hundreds of volunteers, come from all walks of life, with a range of skills and experience, to help create a Somerset rich in wildlife for everyone.

Your support truly makes a difference

From the outset, it was clear that there was an appetite for a new charity to try to conserve the wildlife and wild places of Somerset. Ten months after the ‘pre-formation’ meeting, the Trust reported over 400 members. By our first AGM in October 1965 the Trust had grown to 1,000 members.

We are incredibly fortunate to say that we still have many loyal and long-standing members, including five members who have been with us since 1964! We also have over 300 ‘Life Members’ who have made a lifetime commitment to supporting our work.

It’s amazing to think that we now have almost 23,000 members in 2024! From the original 15 founders to the huge support we have today, our members continue to be the bedrock of our movement, without whom we simply could not do what we do for the wild places and wildlife of Somerset. We know that this will continue to be the case, and in another 60 years our members will be just as important as they are today.

Feeling inspired?

In the current climate, we understand that many people may feel that there isn’t any hope, or that they can’t make a difference on their own, but Somerset Wildlife Trust is proof that one small act can birth a powerful movement that makes a valuable difference every day. No matter what it is about nature that inspires you, we’ve got something for you to get involved with. From taking part in an event, to volunteering, to helping wildlife on your doorstep, there is always plenty to discover.