West Beckham Green and East Beckham Common Short Back and Sides

A very blustery, but mostly dry autumn morning in North Norfolk. After meeting up at the West Beckham Old Allotments site, the group was split, with Val, Doreen and Ed going just around the corner to West Beckham Green and Trevor, Alan, Maria and Mark heading off to East Beckham Common.

At this time of year, the leaves are turning golden brown and falling off the trees. Purple sloes and deep red haws are in abundance.  We have had some rain, so the meadows are a lush green and the paths are not too muddy, but wellies are still a good choice in footwear!

East Beckham Common

The East Beckham Common site is a broad strip of land following a track between agricultural land. It has mature trees as well as mixed hedging. There is a very pleasant picnic table halfway down with a cleared grassland area and Felbeck Trust has created a small pond at the top.

Pretty Picnic area halfway down the East Beckham path

After devoting work parties to other projects in 2025, we were surprised to find the site was just in need of a morning tidy up. Trevor and Alan got on with the hard work of scything and raking around the created grassy area and the pond. Mark and Maria were lopping and trimming the path to free it from any low hanging twigs, bracken and brambles. The pond was starting to fill with water after the summer drought. During the morning at East Beckham Goldcrest, Redwing, Fieldfare and a Buzzard were spotted / heard.

Mature trees alongside the path through the East Beckham site

At the East Beckham site, a dog walker came across us, mentioning that she used the path every day as part of her dog walk and, after exchanging a few pleasantries, she thanked us for our efforts maintaining the site.

Maria, Alan and Travor, tidying up the tools after a good morning's work

West Beckham Green

Situated at the northern end of West Beckham village, this is a section of land between the village and agricultural land. It has a couple of paths running along its length with many mature trees and clearings. It has lovely a picnic table area deep in the wood, as well as a very robust bench in another secluded area.

Val, Doreen and Ed got stuck into some path clearing to maintain access to the site. As well as cutting back Holly and brambles, they also shifted a Silver Birch tree that had fallen across the path. Another job was Bracken pulling, particularly from the Snowdrop area. This work allows light to penetrate to the woodland floor – this way the Snowdrops can flourish and can be seen by visitors to the site.

Jay and Redwing were spotted, while a Green Woodpecker was heard calling.

The next work party is on Thursday November 6th at WBOA.

Mark Cheetham

October 25th 2025