A stream meanders through the meadows of this lovely steep-sided valley, a National Trust property on the edge of Dalby Forest. Higher up the dale becomes narrower and is known as Dovedale Griff, formed by glacial melt-water from ice fields at the end of the last ice age. When the climate warmed and the permanent ice began to thaw, melt-water poured downslope and trapped by ice dams which eventually burst to release a torrent of water cutting the deep steep-sided griff. Back to the present and a management plan to control the pervasive bracken. Twice a year the bracken fonds are cut, thereby weakening the rhizomes. The plan is now in its third year and the change is very noticeable. Large areas are now virtually bracken free with grasses and wildflowers thriving, and butterflies, moths and crickets in abundance.
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