Delight, threat and dispair

Beautiful Scarlet Elf-cup fungus is popping up in lots of places around the nature reserve this winter. I couldn't resist taking more photos today in the adjacent woodland, which is part of the larger Site of Special Scientific Interest. However, I was really there to check on what you can see in the background - the 6-7 metre high bank of clay soil, building rubble and rubbish that is the edge of a massive area of illegal landfill spilling into the SSSI. A Stop Notice was put on this activity by the neighbouring landowner some weeks ago, but waste material is still arriving at the site and I've had to turn into a detective/informer for the local authority.

It is so depressing to see such things happening in one of the most wildlife-rich areas of the Chilterns. 34 years ago, when I first got involved with Dancersend Nature Reserve, there was no development along this side of the valley. It was not very special secondary woodland, but was quiet and peaceful and provided a buffer between the reserve (and larger SSSI) and scattered development along the nearby road. I can see from the reserve files that there was an opportunity in 1976 for the Wildlife Trust to buy this 27 acre area at a cost of around £5-6000. It was turned down as being too expensive with the note that "Unlikely to be attractive for 'recreational and development' as there is no water and no view". How apallingly short-sighted!! The buyer felled most of the wood and sold it on as a number of separate plots and by the mid 80s we were fighting a caravan park, built without any planning permission, and a series of 'agricultural initiatives' that needed mobile homes so staff could be on site. There are now various stable blocks and barns, roads, three bungalows that have no planning permission and one luxury house that somehow got planning permission - these are the people now carrying out all the criminal landfill operations!