About

Our vision is to transform a small, suburban, riverside farm from intensive agriculture to outstanding natural habitat delivering a broad range of social and environmental public goods. Our focus centres on biodiversity and regenerative land-management practices to deliver benefits such as

  • Flood mitigation
  • Carbon sequestration
  • Biodiversity
  • Improved river water quality
  • Leisure and quality of life
  • Sustainable agriculture and food production

Friends of Bartonsham Meadows formed in early 2020 in response to recent local land management practices, regional flooding, and the global climate crisis. The working group comprises ecologists, archaeologists, activists, historians and conservationists. The grass-roots group works with city residents, landowners and managers, wildlife and ecological experts, the Church and other stakeholders to create and conserve a thriving local environment on the meadows.

People

The working group of Friends of Bartonsham Meadows is a team drawn from local residents, representatives, experts and activists in ecology, archeology, history and local governance.


Charlie Arthur

Charlie Arthur is a local resident and works as a consultant archaeologist. He began his career excavating the medieval sites of Hereford and went on to work in Ireland and southern Africa.  He is often to be found walking or running in the meadows and is committed to making this an ecological and social resource that future generations will be proud of.


Mo Burns

Mo is Tree Warden for Central ward, committee member of the Hereford Branch of the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and grandma of 10. Mo wants Hereford to be a model healthy city for all generations, now and to come.


Gareth Dart

Like many in the vicinity, Gareth appreciates having the Meadows on the doorstep and found them even more attractive during lockdown when they served as an outdoor classroom as well as a place for exercise and contemplation. Gareth works as a senior lecturer at the University of Worcester and so is used to sitting on committees/working groups of various sorts. He is glad that the Friends of Bartonsham Meadow are one such that actually gets something done.


Anna Gundrey

Anna is a local resident and consultant ecologist.


Dick Jones (Treasurer)

Dick had a career in chemistry, accountancy and consultancy across many sectors including charities. He has always had a love of nature and volunteers for Herefordshire Wildlife Trust.


Bill Laws

www.billlaws.com

Bill Laws is the author of National Geographics’ Field Guide to Fields and Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History. He’s a founder member of Bartonsham History Group.


Jeremy Milln, Councillor

Elected to the Council in May 2019, Jeremy considers it a privilege to represent the Central ward, which includes almost the entire area of the City as Taylor knew it in 1757 plus the Victorian and later suburbs of St James and Portfields. Jeremy has a background in archaeology and curatorship, much of it for the National Trust, and particular interest in conservation and interpretation of the historic environment. Particular interests include the sensitive and socially beneficial adaptation of underused historic buildings, in green infrastructure in urban environments and in improving health outcomes through better housing.

Contact jeremy.milln@herefordshire.gov.uk for Council matters or jeremy.milln@gmail.com for everything else.


Will Steel

Will is a local resident and dog walker and is out on the meadows most days. He has a professional background in rights of way and is a former director of the Institute of Public Rights of Way & Access Management. He is keen to see the meadows managed in an environmentally sensitive way whilst maximising opportunities for the public to enjoy them.


Ruth Westoby

Convenor, Friends of Bartonsham Meadows

Ruth is a local resident compelled to act by her child questioning why the fields were the ‘wrong’ colour. She is a doctoral researcher at SOAS, University of London.

Partners

The Friends of Bartonsham Meadows are proud to work with partner organisations to share expertise and broaden support for our objectives. We value diverse perspectives and actively seek to engage with communities of interest across Herefordshire, the region, and more broadly. Please get in touch to be involved in this process.













Newsletters

Spring 2023 Newsletter

NEWS FLASH: Herefordshire Wildlife Trust sign long lease with Church Commissioners to create a floodplain meadow nature reserve at Bartonsham Meadows. Read on for the details… LAND MANAGEMENT UPDATE Words: Bill Laws The signing of the 25-year lease between the Church Commissioners, owners of Bartonsham Meadows, and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust has been welcomed by Friends of Bartonsham Meadows (FoBM).FoBM, which organised several community consultations and wildlife surveys at the site, had campaigned for the Meadows …

Winter 2022 Newsletter

HELLO Hello and welcome to our latest newsletter. In case you’ve been missing us we have now moved to quarterly newsletters. LAND OWNERSHIP / LEASE UPDATE As yet, unfortunately, the lease has not been signed. The Church Commissioners, who own Bartonsham Meadows, have agreed to lease the land to Herefordshire Wildlife Trust for twenty-five years. However, the signing of the lease has proven rather elusive. The Church Commissioners assured us that they have completed the …

August 2022 Newsletter

HELLO Welcome to our August newsletter. The big news is we had a great AGM! Thanks so much to everyone who came along and shared their enthusiasm for creating a biodiverse floodplain meadow at Bartonsham. We’ve written it up as a blog which is available here and follows various updates in our newsletter. THE HEADLINES The Church Commissioners told us they would be signing a 25 year lease with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust in September or …