Campaign to protect quirky historic woods up for sale for the first time in 100 years
A large section of a much-loved stretch of woodland in the heart of South Bristol is being auctioned off - even though most people in the area thought it was publicly-owned - and now a campaign is underway to protect it.
An area of around two and a half acres of the Nightingale Valley, a popular woodland area in the middle of Brislington, has appeared on an agents’ upcoming auction list and will go under the hammer on November 20.
The sale is of the former coach house and stable buildings that were part of the Wick House estate in Brislington dating back centuries. The entire parcel of land being auctioned is actually six acres, with more than half of it on flat land at the top of the valley behind Wick House itself.
The sale, which Bristol Live first reported last month, has come as a bit of a surprise to many in Brislington, who assumed that all the woods of the Nightingale Valley were owned by Bristol City Council. But now the people who regularly walk in the woods that stretch from Allison Road all the way to the railway line at St Anne’s are concerned whoever buys the southerly section could have plans to develop it, or close it off.
The coach house and stables, the three and a half acres of mainly woodland at the top of the valley, along with the two-and-a-half acres that form part of the Nightingale Valley that’s open to the public down to the Brislington Brook is to be auctioned by Hollis Morgan later this month with a guide price of £350,000.
The Friends of Brislington Brook, a group of local volunteers who work with the council to help care for the Nightingale Valley and St Anne’s Woods, said they want to raise awareness about the sale, and prepare a case for the woods to be kept open to the public. A Friends group spokesperson said the Wick House estate was broken up 100 years ago.
“The general public perception is that Bristol City Council owns Nightingale Valley in its entirety; that it is our public space. That is not the case,” she said. “The two-and-a-half acres within Nightingale Valley have been privately owned since 1924, when the Wick Estate was sold off in a piecemeal fashion. Bristol City Council maintained that they could not trace the landowner. Recently, the landowner died - a descendant of the person who purchased the land in 1924. His two beneficiaries registered the change of ownership with HM Land Registry in order to sell it at auction,” she added.
The two-and-a-half acres of the Nightingale Valley included in the sale has been managed by the council and local ‘Friends of’ groups for more than 20 years.
“The land contains a section of the footpath, a section of Brislington Brook and a plethora of flora and fauna on both sides of the valley. Nightingale Valley has been designated a Site of Nature Conservation (SNCI): it has both substantial biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna and important geological features,” she added.
The Friends group have begun a campaign to keep the Nightingale Valley open, and are trying to get the footpath through the woods recognised.
The group has been signing up older residents who grew up in Brislington, and remember using footpaths and going into the woods at the southern end of the Nightingale Valley, amid fears that the main footpath through the woods could be closed off by a new owner.
The hope is that if they can prove it’s always been accessible to the public, with local residents saying they grew up 50 years ago going into the woods recreationally, it will back up attempts to get access to the land enshrined by law forever.
The area that’s up for sale comes with its challenges, however. Part of the wooded slope that’s up for sale was a dumping ground in the past, and among the trees are hundreds of old barrels of tar, that have been slowly leaking for decades, probably since the 1930s.
READ MORE: Historic coach house and stables in Bristol to go to auction with guide price of £350,000
The task of clearing up the area is a challenging one. It has long been considered that work to remove the tar barrels could risk doing more damage to the surrounding environment than leaving them where they are.
The Friends group said it is keen to try to protect the woods, and some of the prospective buyers have already said they would cut down many of the trees there.
“Nightingale Valley is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest,” said a Friends group spokesperson. “It is also an Important Open Space. This means it has both substantial biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna and important geological features. The trees in and around the historic dumping ground provide essential habitat for a variety of species. One of Bristol's most iconic trees lies within the parcel of land that is up for sale.
“There is no guarantee that a developer would effectively deal with the tar barrel problem or respect Nightingale Valley's biodiversity. One of the contractors we met at a group viewing of the property said he would fell many of the trees within the valley. The land is also of historical interest,” she added.
“There are not many areas of ancient woodland left. It would be a sad state of affairs if we lose part of this one. Nightingale Valley may have a historic dumping ground within it, but developing the valley for this reason is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater,” she added.