## **’ - Trustees Report for period 6.8.2021 5.8.2022** Teazle Wood Trust, Registered Charity no. 1160532 ## **The object of the Teazle Wood Trust CIO is:** ## **To promote for the benefit of the public the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of woodland known as Teazle Wood in Leatherhead, Surrey.** August 2021 – August 2022 was a generally very positive and straightforward year, with a real sense of returning to a more normal routine after the disruption of the pandemic. A good variety and number of butterflies were reported in and close to Teazle Wood in summer 2021. Posting ‘finds’ on social media is a lovely way for the wider community to learn about what we share our environment with. We have plenty of keen experts willing to share their knowledge and answer questions. A ‘Gatekeeper’, for example, was spotted on the eastern edge of the wood and its ID confirmed by Keith Lelliott and Helen Middlemas. Helen added: “It is usually found near hedges, and along field and woodland edges. The Gatekeeper will lay its eggs on various grasses, and these will hatch most likely in August and September. It will over-winter as a caterpillar, and then pupate next June/July into the next generation of adults. This is one example of why leaving some long grass helps the insects to continue their life-cycle.” Our regular litter picks continued, with litter disappointingly building up badly at all countryside sites and including Teazle Wood. It shows that countryside is well-used, but we clearly must re-engage with the whole issue as a nation. The items found on litter picks continue to surprise. “There’s always something!”. Summer and autumn 2021 saw all kinds of strange finds, including a Spider-Man mask and a second pierced-heart bucket to go with the first one we found a few years ago. We re-use what we can – Caroline Cardew-Smith uses her heart bucket as a bean-gathering trug; the first one is used educationally in the Teazle Wood litter archive (showing people the variety of stuff that gets discarded in countryside). The roe deer who early in 2021 had two fawns is doing well – she sticks mainly to the eastern edge of Teazle Wood where she and her young are relatively safe. This year we noticed a local increase in cases of Lyme Disease, and we also became aware of some severe skin reactions in North Leatherhead to an unknown insect bite/sting. Oak Processionary Moth (which can cause very unpleasant skin reactions in people and animals) is in the area, and has been seen on trees at the Dorincourt site in Oaklawn Road and close to local schools. We have not yet seen it during regular surveys in Teazle Wood, but we obviously expect to find it in the near future. We are in an endemic area for Lyme, but we are concerned about the lack of awareness of this in the local community and in local GP practices. We hope we can liaise with both to become a sensible and ‘aware’ population. We worked again with our friends nearby – Wildlife Aid – to assist a distressed female fox. Expert assessment revealed an unusual injury – she had lost a lot of fur on her abdomen and had injuries perhaps caused by barbed wire or brambles that had caused a severe inflammatory reaction. Storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin hit in quick succession in mid-February 2022 and took their toll on Teazle Wood, with a few big trees down. The regular volunteer sessions expanded and proved very popular this year, with lively activity including litter picking, re-building of brash vehicle barriers, the surveying of the Wild Service trees, testing of water in the Rye Brook, butterfly surveys, volunteer photographic recording, local history / arts projects and footpath clearance. The unusually hot and dry summer of 2022 caused concern re. potential fire risk from anti-social behaviour, so extra monitoring sessions were introduced to address this, and great care was taken to remove broken glass when litter picking. Advantage was taken of the low water levels in the Rye to pull out old litter normally inaccessible in the river channel. A water source was provided at the top of the Teazle Wood ridge to ensure that local wildife could access water (this was well-used). Another dig by Surrey Archaeological Society in 2022 progressed their understanding of this area. ## **Teazle Wood Trust** Registered Charity no. 1160532 ## Financial Statement for the year ending 5 August 2022 ## **Cash balance at start of year 06/08/2021** Lloyds TSB Treasurers Account £13,491.08 ## L&DCPS ## £ 2,924.96* _*A grant of £5,000 from the_ _**Leatherhead and District Countryside Protection Society** has been made to Friends of Teazle Wood, with conditions regarding expenditure (the money can only be spent on goods and services associated with the constitutional objects of the L&DCPS - ecological and archaeological surveys, tree work, signage, projects concerned with litter clearance, etc.). These funds will be held by the L&DCPS for use as required, and the balance shown here._ ## **Income** Donations £ 1,266.00 ## **Expenditure** Payment to Surrey County Council for Lower Mole Partnership Woodland Management at Teazle Wood (Cheque no. 000006) £ 479.00 ## **Cash balance at 05/08/2022** Lloyds TSB Treasurers Account £14,278.08 ## L&DCPS ## £ 2,924.96* _*A grant of £5,000 from the_ _**Leatherhead and District Countryside Protection Society** has been made to Friends of Teazle Wood, with conditions regarding expenditure (the money can only be spent on goods and services associated with the constitutional objects of the L&DCPS - ecological and archaeological surveys, tree work, signage, projects concerned with litter clearance, etc.). These funds will be held by the L&DCPS for use as required. Nothing was spent in the financial year 20212022._ ## Signed by the Treasurer John Adam Boydell: ## _John Adam Boydell_ Signed by the Chair of the Trustees Lucy Elizabeth Quinnell: _Lucy Quinnell_