When you think about it, an airfield is potentially a pretty good place for wildlife. There are usually large tracts of unused ground, which are inevitably left to go to grass; and, of course, for safety reasons access to those areas is restricted. Members of the general public will never visit them unless invited and airfield staff aren't going to be regular visitors, either.
So it's strange that so few airfields appear to emphasise this aspect of their service to the local community.
But that's certainly not true of Enstone. Enstone is a comparatively small airfield in Oxfordshire. It was built during the Second World War and therefore has a hard runway as well as taxiways and dispersal points. But it's in a rural setting, with no large towns within miles of it.
When Paul Fowler, manager of Enstone Flying Club, came to the airfield two years ago he quickly noticed the potential. It hasn't taken much work to turn the airfield into a haven for wildlife - it's more a matter of not doing anything, but leaving some areas as 'set-aside' land, to allow the flowers and insects do what they like.
The policy has been successful on many levels. Pride of place goes to the orchids, which grow, among other places, almost on the doorstep of the clubhouse (itself something of a preserved wonder: it's one of the light bomb fusing huts from WWII). The orchids grow in expanses of (currently) uncut grass, and attract large numbers of insects.
Elsewhere on the airfield there are large stands of trees. These can be used for play (the airfield has close links with the Wychwood Project, which gives children who wouldn't normally come into contact with trees the chance to explore them) but they're also a habitat for a number of wild birds, including buzzards and hobbies. There are kites in the area - not on the airfield yet, but they should soon find it! - and Enstone already has three species of owl and two species of bat.
Bees and a cinnabar moth cluster
round a thistle flower
And to feed these birds of prey, the long grass is full of rodents, including voles. There are plenty of deep hedges, too (and on the subject, Paul has taken up the craft of hedge laying).
Enstone has regular visits from the Oxford County Council and other local councils' Conservation Units, and local pilots are humourous about the conservationists who sometimes come to look around the field. However, the quiet publicity which such visits can give the airfield is valuable when it comes to getting the local population on its side. It's also part of Paul's philosophy of giving the non-flying members of families something to do - there's a bar, a small play area for children, and (new this year!) a swimming pool. Catering is, Paul hopes, coming soon.
For the future, Paul has plans to grow the club side of the operation and to increase the number of aircraft housed on the site. To accomodate them, there is talk of a row of hangars. But none of this will affect the emphasis on wildlife.
A common spotted orchid
The other species on site are the
bee orchid, pyramidal orchid and
the marsh orchid
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