The Lye Valley - reports, dissertations, talks and articles
FoLV Chairman's report for 2021-2022 by Judy Webb
FoLV Chairman's report for 2021-2022 by Judy Webb
REPORTS
Judy's 'Wild Oxford' Lye Valley reports are available on the BBOWT website (links at bottom of that page).
Judy was one of the speakers at a BBOWT event at the University of Oxford's Museum of Natural History on 26 Sept 2018, held to show the progress made with the Wild Oxford project over its first five years.
Peat and Carbon in the Lye Valley Fens J A Webb, February 2021
Alkaline Fens & the Importance of Lye Valley SSSI Fens within Oxfordshire and Nationally/Internationally J A Webb, 2014
Two reports on the Lye Valley, commissioned by Oxford City Council:
* Environmental Impact Assessment
MSc dissertation by Oxford Brookes student Adam Bows on fen restoration in the Lye Valley (and in Chilswell Valley and Raleigh Park) is available here as a PDF
MSc dissertation by Oxford Brookes student Darcey Haldar on estimating the carbon stock in the Lye Valley’s peat fen and also an estimate by Judy Webb of the carbon in the North Fen, based on this data, are available here as PDFs.
An abstract is provided for both theses.
TALKS GIVEN BY JUDY WEBB (Updates pending)
8 January 2018: Mammals and their habitats in the Lye Valley from before the last Ice Age to today: evidence from their bone remains. A talk to the Oxfordshire Mammal Group held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. A related article by Dr Alison Leaf, Events Officer for the Oxfordshire Mammal Group, 'When giant bulls and wild horses roamed free', appeared on page 40 of The Oxford Times on 8 March 2018.
31 July 2017 Allotment Wildlife' Friends of Lye Valley AGM
Lye Valley officially designated a Local Geology Site by the Oxfordshire Geology Trust - Oxford Mail, 13 July 2017
17 Jan 2017 Wildlife Secrets of the Lye Valley given at Bullingdon Community Centre, with slides illustrating the wildlife found in the Valley - from foxes, deer and badgers to rare orchids, lizards, glow worms and scarlet tiger moths. See POSTER
1 June 2016: Lye Valley and Hogley Bog given at the invitation of the Cheney Over-50s Club in Cheney School Community Hall, Headington, with photos illustrating the diverse vegetation, which provides a habitat for insects, amphibians and reptiles and the 22 rare wildflowers dependent on the special water chemistry of the fen, including the Grass of Parnassus, Parnassia palustris. Judy explained how these rare and beautiful species, documented by botanists since the 17th century, are under threat from development. Loss of green areas to buildings and roads affects the flow of the alkaline, calcium-rich, water to the fen, on which the species depend, by starving the springs that provide it - see Summary of Threats.
22 May 2014: The Lye Valley and the 'twinkling stars in the shadowy grass'
2014 Biodiversity Lecture at Oxford University Botanic Garden - The rare and spectacular wildflowers that survive in the Lye Valley and the history of their discovery by the early botanists of the 16th, 17th and 18th century -
24 January 2013 Early Oxford Botanists and Rare Plants of the Lye Valley
given to the Rare Plants Group of the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire (ANHSO) on 24 January, hosted by the Plant Sciences Dept of Oxford University. For some of Judy's slides, click here
16 January 2013 The Wildlife of the Lye Valley and Hogley bog: part of Oxford's Rich Natural Heritage
Magdalen College Auditorium, hosted by Oxford Civic Society
ARTICLES - SOME PAST MEDIA COVERAGE
June 2018 The Lye Valley starred in an Oxford Times 'Limited Edition' article* by Wendy Tobitt of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) *Link taken from Friends of Lye Valley website
The Oxford Mail, 13 July 2017: Lye Valley recognised as Local Geology Site by Oxfordshire Geology Trust based on its 'extraordinary hydrological and geomorphological features which interact with the biodiversity in the valley'.
The Oxford Mail, 25 November 2016
A new masterplan - The Vision for the Lye Valley - "aims to join up conservation efforts on the parts of the nature reserve under different ownership". For more information see the separate Friends of Lye Valley website
15 September 2015: Judy appeared on Oxford local TV, Channel 8, recording species in the west side of the Lye Valley transect.
An Oxford Mail article on protecting pond life, 5 February 2014, included comments by Judy, Chairman of Friends of Lye Valley, on help to protect the Lye Valley given by The Freshwater Habitats Trust.
21 January 2014: Judy and people from BBOWT* (Andy Gunn, Wild Oxford Project Manager, and Wendy Tobbit), and Oxford City Council (Carl Whitehead, Park Ranger) were interviewed live in the Lye Valley during Radio Oxford's breakfast programme presented by Phil Gayle on Tuesday,
*Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust
A programme in the BBC 1 series Urban Jungle broadcast on 1 August 2013 (but filmed earlier in the year) included footage taken in the Lye Valley North Fen and Town Furze allotments, with Judy talking to Chris Packham about wildlife.
DEFRA, Biodiversity News, Issue 47, Autumn 2009, page 27: 'Caring for a green lung at the heart of Oxford' refers to Judy's work in the Lye Valley. A link to this former newsletter published by DEFRA is no longer available. It has been replaced by Nature News
Judy's 'Wild Oxford' Lye Valley reports are available on the BBOWT website (links at bottom of that page).
Judy was one of the speakers at a BBOWT event at the University of Oxford's Museum of Natural History on 26 Sept 2018, held to show the progress made with the Wild Oxford project over its first five years.
Peat and Carbon in the Lye Valley Fens J A Webb, February 2021
Alkaline Fens & the Importance of Lye Valley SSSI Fens within Oxfordshire and Nationally/Internationally J A Webb, 2014
Two reports on the Lye Valley, commissioned by Oxford City Council:
- Investigation of the possible ecological effects on the Lye Valley Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the riparian zones of the Lye and Boundary Brooks as a result of development on Southfield Golf Course . A pre–EIA* assessment.
Report by Dr Judith A Webb to Oxford City Council, October 2007
- Investigation of the possible hydrological effects on the Lye Valley Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the riparian zones of the Lye and Boundary Brooks as a result of development on Southfield Golf Course'. A pre–EIA* assessment.
Report by Dr Curt Lamberth to Oxford City Council, 2007
* Environmental Impact Assessment
MSc dissertation by Oxford Brookes student Adam Bows on fen restoration in the Lye Valley (and in Chilswell Valley and Raleigh Park) is available here as a PDF
MSc dissertation by Oxford Brookes student Darcey Haldar on estimating the carbon stock in the Lye Valley’s peat fen and also an estimate by Judy Webb of the carbon in the North Fen, based on this data, are available here as PDFs.
An abstract is provided for both theses.
TALKS GIVEN BY JUDY WEBB (Updates pending)
8 January 2018: Mammals and their habitats in the Lye Valley from before the last Ice Age to today: evidence from their bone remains. A talk to the Oxfordshire Mammal Group held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. A related article by Dr Alison Leaf, Events Officer for the Oxfordshire Mammal Group, 'When giant bulls and wild horses roamed free', appeared on page 40 of The Oxford Times on 8 March 2018.
31 July 2017 Allotment Wildlife' Friends of Lye Valley AGM
Lye Valley officially designated a Local Geology Site by the Oxfordshire Geology Trust - Oxford Mail, 13 July 2017
17 Jan 2017 Wildlife Secrets of the Lye Valley given at Bullingdon Community Centre, with slides illustrating the wildlife found in the Valley - from foxes, deer and badgers to rare orchids, lizards, glow worms and scarlet tiger moths. See POSTER
1 June 2016: Lye Valley and Hogley Bog given at the invitation of the Cheney Over-50s Club in Cheney School Community Hall, Headington, with photos illustrating the diverse vegetation, which provides a habitat for insects, amphibians and reptiles and the 22 rare wildflowers dependent on the special water chemistry of the fen, including the Grass of Parnassus, Parnassia palustris. Judy explained how these rare and beautiful species, documented by botanists since the 17th century, are under threat from development. Loss of green areas to buildings and roads affects the flow of the alkaline, calcium-rich, water to the fen, on which the species depend, by starving the springs that provide it - see Summary of Threats.
22 May 2014: The Lye Valley and the 'twinkling stars in the shadowy grass'
2014 Biodiversity Lecture at Oxford University Botanic Garden - The rare and spectacular wildflowers that survive in the Lye Valley and the history of their discovery by the early botanists of the 16th, 17th and 18th century -
24 January 2013 Early Oxford Botanists and Rare Plants of the Lye Valley
given to the Rare Plants Group of the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire (ANHSO) on 24 January, hosted by the Plant Sciences Dept of Oxford University. For some of Judy's slides, click here
16 January 2013 The Wildlife of the Lye Valley and Hogley bog: part of Oxford's Rich Natural Heritage
Magdalen College Auditorium, hosted by Oxford Civic Society
ARTICLES - SOME PAST MEDIA COVERAGE
June 2018 The Lye Valley starred in an Oxford Times 'Limited Edition' article* by Wendy Tobitt of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) *Link taken from Friends of Lye Valley website
The Oxford Mail, 13 July 2017: Lye Valley recognised as Local Geology Site by Oxfordshire Geology Trust based on its 'extraordinary hydrological and geomorphological features which interact with the biodiversity in the valley'.
The Oxford Mail, 25 November 2016
A new masterplan - The Vision for the Lye Valley - "aims to join up conservation efforts on the parts of the nature reserve under different ownership". For more information see the separate Friends of Lye Valley website
15 September 2015: Judy appeared on Oxford local TV, Channel 8, recording species in the west side of the Lye Valley transect.
An Oxford Mail article on protecting pond life, 5 February 2014, included comments by Judy, Chairman of Friends of Lye Valley, on help to protect the Lye Valley given by The Freshwater Habitats Trust.
21 January 2014: Judy and people from BBOWT* (Andy Gunn, Wild Oxford Project Manager, and Wendy Tobbit), and Oxford City Council (Carl Whitehead, Park Ranger) were interviewed live in the Lye Valley during Radio Oxford's breakfast programme presented by Phil Gayle on Tuesday,
*Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust
A programme in the BBC 1 series Urban Jungle broadcast on 1 August 2013 (but filmed earlier in the year) included footage taken in the Lye Valley North Fen and Town Furze allotments, with Judy talking to Chris Packham about wildlife.
DEFRA, Biodiversity News, Issue 47, Autumn 2009, page 27: 'Caring for a green lung at the heart of Oxford' refers to Judy's work in the Lye Valley. A link to this former newsletter published by DEFRA is no longer available. It has been replaced by Nature News