Available online
Description
This programme is about Whittlesea Mere, originally an area of open water and swamp, which was drained in the nineteenth century to produce agricultural land, and how ecologists can use historical ...as well as present-day field evidence to understand such an area. The evidence includes the occurrence and success of various plant and animal species, certain field observations and agricultural practices, and documentary evidence from a county archive office.
This programme is about Whittlesea Mere, originally an area of open water and swamp, which was drained in the nineteenth century to produce agricultural land, and how ecologists can use historical ...as well as present-day field evidence to understand such an area. The evidence includes the occurrence and success of various plant and animal species, certain field observations and agricultural practices, and documentary evidence from a county archive office.
| Module code and title: | S323, Ecology |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S323; 16 |
| First transmission date: | 08-10-1974 |
| Published: | 1974 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:22:41 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Edward Milner |
| Contributors: | John Bliss; Eric Duffey; Stuart Onyatt; John Sheail |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Agricultural practices; Documentary evidence; Field observations; Holme Fen; Huntingdonshire; Land reclamation; Plant distribution/succession; Woodwalton Fen |
| Footage description: | Shots of farmer with tractor in the Whittlesea Mere area of Huntingdonshire removing a pre-historic tree trunk from the soil. Several shots of the Whittlesea Mere area. Shot of a large copper butterfly, Chrysophanus dispar. (Song 'Whittlesea Mere' written and performed by Frank Sutton accompany this and several other sequences in the programme.) Eric Duffey, an ecologist, on Woodwalton Fen. He briefly describes the ecological history of the area. John Sheail in the Huntingdonshire County Records Office, explains how the ecological history of the Whittlesea Mere area over the past several hundred years can be pieced together from the records in the county archive. As he talks he shows several documents - an account book, a deed, maps, etc. He goes over a map of 19th century, Woodwalton Parish in detail. Shots of 19th century prints showing life on the old Whittlesea Mere before it was drained. Also early photographs of fishermen and reedcutters Shot of a print showing William Wells, a land owner, who drained the Mere in 1851. Shots of drawings showing the work of draining the Mere in progress. Commentary discusses the sharp drop in the level of the land due to shrinkage of the drying peat beneath the soil (Sound over pictures "Level of the land", by Frank Sutton). Shots of the area at the present showing evidence for the land subsidence (as much as 10 feet in places). John Bliss, a local farmer, presents some of this evidence. Shots of a farmer in a mechanical digger removing a pre-historic tree trunk from beneath the soil. Commentary explains the technique. Shots of tree being pulled away by a tractor. Shots of preserved pieces of acorns and leaves which help to give a picture of ecological conditions thousands of years ago. Shots of modern peat digging in process (with machines) Eric Duffey among the flora at Woodwalton. He points out the secondary colonisation on abandoned peat cuttings - common reed, purple small reed (Calamagrostis conescena) and fen grass, bush grass (Calamagrostis epigegos). He then points out survivors of the original Mere flora growing on a thin layer of bog peat - Myrica gale; Calluna Vulgaris; Luzula pallescens; Dianthus armeria; Viola stagnina; Sphagnum moss. Duffey briefly examines some of the fauna which has established itself among the secondary vegetation. Shots of a pitfall tap filled with wolf spiders. Pardosa paludicola. Duffy describes the animal. Shots of the Large Copper butterfly. (Chrysophanus dispar = lycaena dispar). Commentary explains that this species became extinct in this area in the 1880s and was re-introduced from Holland in the 1960s. The conditions favourable to this butterfly were created and are maintained artificially. Shots of water level being raised in the reserve and great water dock plants (Rumex hydrolapathum), the butterfly's food being planted by hand. Shots of adult Dutch butterflies being released in the Woodwalton reserve. Shots of a survey of large copper butterflies on the reserve in progress. The number of eggs found on the great water dock leaves are counted. This survey is done yearly and suggests that the introduction of the large copper has been a success. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71329 |
| Production number: | 00525_1134 |
| Videofinder number: | 1040 |
| Available to public: | no |
