Written by Lilla Györkös, Wildlife Recovery and GIS placement student
On a surprisingly sunny afternoon during an otherwise extremely wet week in early June, a group of South Yorkshire farmers dedicated to grey partridge recovery gathered for a farm walk to celebrate their farmer cluster’s successes so far. They were joined by several GWCT staff, who advise on and help monitor conservation work across their land.
For the past three years, the Limestone Ridge Nature Recovery Group near Doncaster, made up of seven core farmer members, has been working on establishing high-quality, partridge-friendly wildlife habitats on their land with the help of Dr Francis Buner, Head of Wildlife Recovery at GWCT. Farmers in the Limestone Ridge area are all conventional farmers who predominantly grow milling wheat and barley, potatoes and sugar beet. The work of this group highlights how quality wildlife habitats can co-exist alongside intensively farmed land on one of the most fertile soils in England.
Oakbank Advanced PARTRIDGE sown in May 2025 and autumn 2025
The aim of the walk was to showcase the cluster’s work and increase participation in the project among local farmers. Highlights included several plots of advanced PARTRIDGE wildflower mixes developed by Oakbank and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, four new beetle banks, and several kilometres of newly planted or traditionally laid species-rich hedgerows.
An autumn-sown advanced partridge mix strip stands tall next to a pristine filed of spring barley, while a newly sown flower-rich grass margin has just emerged from the seed bed.
Insect populations will be monitored by GWCT researchers from the Allerton Project over the coming years to assess the abundance, diversity and connectivity of these newly established habitats. Winter and breeding bird surveys have already started this year with corn bunting, quail and yellow wagtail, alongside breeding sedge warbler, reed bunting, linnet, whitethroat and wild grey partridge having been recorded both within and near the established wildflower mixes.
Dinner kindly hosted by the Limestone Ridge Nature Recovery Group farmers
The well-attended event ended with a dinner, where participants discussed future work on the project, and Mike Woolhouse, the driving force behind this fabulous project, was crowned the local partridge champion. It is hoped that seeing the group’s success so far will encourage neighbouring farmers to join the project and expand the network of wildlife-friendly habitats in the area.
All photo credits to Dr Francis Buner