THE team at Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre have teamed up with pupils at Stokesay School to begin the introduction of a bluebell wood to the Onny Meadows.

Pupils from the school were originally involved in planting the trees to make the woodland areas in the Onny Meadows when the Centre was opened back in 2001 with the Centre’s own Marketing Manager, Jade Marriott-Lodge being among the pupils that were involved.

When it was decided that work would begin to create a bluebell wood to diversify the species and habitats in the meadows, the next generation of pupils at the school were invited to take part.

Coppicing began in the area back in February and bluebell plants have been transplanted from a nearby thriving woodland onto the meadow where they will flower.

“The area of woodland we selected for our bluebell wood has recently been coppiced, which is a traditional way of managing woodland that allows sunlight to reach the woodland floor and provides a niche for species such as bluebells to grow,” said Grant Wilson, manager at the Discovery Centre.

“Rather than wait for the bluebells to colonise the woodland naturally, which would take many years, we planted the bulbs to speed up this natural process. Whilst it’s unlikely that the bluebells will flower this year, we hope that in future years, our visitors will be able to enjoy one of nature’s great springtime spectacles as they walk through a beautiful bluebell wood. We are really excited about this project and it has been great to have the school involved.”