On their retirement in April 2002, Alan and Sylvia Williams decided to follow a lifelong dream and purchase 11 acres of unimproved grassland in East Staffordshire, with the idea of creating a nature reserve from the ground up.
The first years were spent forming the reserve; 5000 trees, of 24 different native varieties such as Oak, were planted by hand over the course of a winter; an already existing pond at the north of the reserve was cleared; a half acre wetland and reed bed was dug out at the bottom of the reserve, and a log cabin was installed to provide some protection from the elements.
A particular focus for the project was the majestic Barn Owl, now an endangered species which has been in decline since the 1980s, largely due to the removal of their habitats of classic barns and farm buildings. The wildflower meadow on the reserve is an ideal habitat for the primary prey of the Barn Owl, small mammals such as voles and shrews, and is maintained with this in mind. Several Barn Owl boxes have been installed around the reserve, which to date has seen the raising of 42 Barn Owl chicks, which have fledged into the natural countryside.
Despite not seeing any Barn Owls in the first few years of the reserve, in 2005 we had the idea installing colour cameras in 3 of our Barn Owl boxes, with the hope they would one day be used by a Barn Owl pair and an amazing unique insight into how these birds lived could be obtained. Just was our luck as in that same year a pair of Barn Owls roosted and raised a family of Owlets, which was all recorded by one of our cameras.
The reserve has seen a variety of successes over the years, largely captured through photos and video by ourselves. In addition to the 42 Barn Owls raised on the reserve, we’ve recorded 90 different species of birds, and a wide range of other protected and endangered species such as the Great-Crested Newt.
We started sharing this footage through a variety of mediums; firstly giving talks (accompanied by video footage) to local groups around the North Midlands, later developed a DVD telling the story of a pair of Barn Owls as they raise their young. The DVD was endorsed by Prof. David Bellamy, who we interviewed on the DVD.
We’ve appeared on TV several times in the past; firstly on BBC Midlands today three times in 2007 in their Springwatch and Autumnwatch segments, and also on Countryfile in 2016, where Ellie Harrison visited the reserve and learned about the work we’ve done.
Unfortunately, in 2018 Sylvia passed away which prompted us to consider the best way to safeguard the future of the Nature Reserve, which led to the establishment of Tean Valley Meadow Nature Trust, in December 2019. The trust, run by Alan and 4 other trustees now both maintain and improve the reserve, and run activities surrounding it to raise awareness and build support for the trust.