The Bramley Link ‘’For 36km the Wey and Arun Canal generally remains in its rural state as it crosses the Surrey and West Sussex countryside. However for 2km the route through Bramley was built on durig the 20th Century, and a significant number of residential properties and infrastructure now block the route of the original canal.’’
The Peak Oil Taskforce warns the UK’s decline
of oil will hit within the next 5 years.
How can communities respond to the challenges and
opportunities of Peak Oil and Climate Change?
TRANSITION CULTURES - future planning in:
Food produce Low Energy consumption Economic growth Education for communities Transportation Re-localizing communities through PERMACULTURE
Other predictions say we have 30.
Context
Land + Nature
Built Stewardship Environment
Land tenure + community governance Permaculture
Finance + Economics
Design Principles
Health + Spiritual Wellbeing
Tools + Technology
Culture + Education
Tanyard Basin Bramley, Guildford 51°12'4.75"N 0°33'39.45"W
Aim The restored canal enhances the area and increases the local community’s interaction and recreation with the site. The Productive Woodland & Wildflower Meadow elements accelerate vegatative productivity and provide more wildlife habitats with the ultimate goal to create an ecologically interesting & sustainable community. Local schools will also benefit from a new healing garden and wetland education centre.
Objectives Re-opening canal as a link to the South Coast and for leisure boating, weekend/residential moorings. Utilising the site as a learning resource, resilient and rich in biodiversity.
Through correct plant management a productive woodland can be grown, emulating the natural ecosystems of the planet and working in harmony with nature.
Restored Canal Healing Garden
Wildflower meadow attracts birds, bees and other insects Productive Woodland
Tanyard Basin Healing Garden incorporates a planting scheme of natural healing plants. Compact Wetland
Wildflower Meadow
Constructed wetland incorporates reed beds and other wetland plants, creating new habitats and ecosystems.
Tall trees on site
Ash Fraxinus excelsior
Alder Alnus glutinosa
Crack Willow Salix fragilis
Elder Sambucus nigra
Walnut Juglans regia
English Oak Quercus robur
Small trees + shrubs on site
Field Maple Acer campestre
Hazel Corylus avellana
Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
Crab apple Malus sylvestrus
Ivy Hedera Helix
Blackberries Rubus fruticosus
Vegetative survey Scatterings of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Willow species (Salix) , Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) & Oak (Quercus species)
Hazel (Corylus avellana), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) & Field maple (Acer campestre) grown in hedgerows and newly coppiced.
Burdock (Arctium lappa), Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Horse tails (Equisetum) & nettles amongst adult trees
Walnut
Hawthorn
Sycamore
Oak
Bindweed
Nettles
Horsetails
Coppiced Hazel
Burdock
Nettle (Urtica dioica) overgrowth on site of original canal
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Existing site key
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Tanyard Basin
Existing Trees
Fence
Original Canal
Road
Bridleway
Coppiced Wood
Pipeline
Pump
Cranleigh Waters
Path
Proposed site key
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Tanyard Basin
Productive Woodland
Coppiced Wood
New Canal
Wildflower meadow
Path
Constructed Wetland + Education Centre
Healing Garden
Canal boats
Proposed site section
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Site Composition Proposed Canal + constructed wetland
Current coppiced woodland + proposed Productive woodland
Wildflower meadow + Healing garden
Proposed site planting Tall + Pioneer Species
Small trees + Shrubs
Woodland Plants
Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra)
Field Maple (Acer campestre)
Wild Garlic (Allium ursinium)
Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
Crab Apple (Malus sylvestrus)
Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris)
Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Golden + Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurelus + p. nigra)
Walnut (Juglans regia) Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) Bird Cherry + Wild Cherry (Prunus padium + p. avium)
Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)
Lemon Balm (Melissa officianalis) Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium)
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) Hazel (Corylus avellana)
Sorrel (Rumex acestosa) Bramble fruit (Rubus fruticosus + rubus idaeus)
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Tall + Pioneer Species - 10 years Wych Elm: 500 year lifespan. Less affected by Dutch Elm disease as English Elm. Fast growing. Selected for stately aethetic & trial plantings for re-introduction.
Tall + Pioneer Species
Young leaves & immature fruit are edible.
Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra)
Silver Birch: 90 year lifespan. Tough and fast growing, it has associations with 229 insect species therefore an important conservation species. Sap can be used to make a drink, tea from the leaves, essential oil from the inner bark. Outer bark is waterproof and can be used to make tiels & vessels while young branches are good for thatching and fences.
Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
Red Oak: Selected for this site for its rich autumnal colour. It grows rapidly and tolerates many soils. Oaks are renowned for being an excellent conservation tree,
Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
with over 200 associated insects. Acorns ripen in spring and eaten by deer, squirrels and birds. They can also be roasted and used as a coffee substitue. Responds well to coppicing. wood is valued for furniture making. Walnut: Only a few selected for planting on site as they have an inhibitory effect on the growth of nearby plants. A beautiful tree with a large canopy. Nuts can be eaten and used as a wood poplish. Leaves can be crushed and used as an insect repellant. Wood is valuable in furniture making. Ash: 200 year lifespan. Has a light canopy and is the first to lose leaves in autumn so good for the woodland. 41 associated insects. Great for coppicing with a good flammable wood. Wood can also be used for tool making, unbrella handles, hockey sticks etc. Bird + Wild Cherry: Both trees selected for their flowers + fruit and attraction to birds and insects. Wild cherry is known to live up to 200 years and is very fast grow-ing. Both are happy in woods and hedgerows. They can be coppiced and the dense timber is good for firewood. Wild cherry wood is well rated.
Walnut (Juglans regia) Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) Bird Cherry + Wild Cherry (Prunus padium + p. avium)
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Silver Birch
Red Oak
Walnut
Ash
Bird Cherry
Wild Cherry
Tall + Pioneer Species - Mature (50yrs+) Tall + Pioneer Species Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra) Silver Birch (Betula pendula) Red Oak (Quercus rubra) Walnut (Juglans regia) Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) Bird Cherry + Wild Cherry (Prunus padium + p. avium)
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Silver Birch
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Bird Cherry
Wild Cherry
Wildflower meadow Depending on the Ph and fertility levels of the soils in the proposed site, the wildflower meadow can function very well alongside the woodland
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Provides a gorgeous habitat benefitting wildlife and butterflies and also a good production source of organic matter.
Sheep Sorrel Rumex acetosella
Red Campion Silene dioica
Cuckoo flower Cardamine pratensis
Red Clover Trifolium pratense
Harebell Campanula persicifolia
Pignut Banium bulbocastanum
Meadow sweet Filipendula ulmaria
30cm tall, most soils, food plant for cater -pillars. Leaves great salad addition and thirst quenching eat on hot day. Can sur -vive mild winter.
Often found in wood -land and shady areas. Likes damp soils. Vivid flowers from May - Sep -tember.
Liked by orange-tip butterfly. 45cm tall, leaves and flowers hot cress-like flavour, good in salads.
Great for meadow, 60cm tall. Successfully self-sowing in full sun, draws in lots of bees + is food sources for caterpillars. Young leaves + flowering heads eaten raw or cooked. Sweet herb tea made from fresh or dried flowers. Dried leaves add vanilla flav -our to cakes.
Not to be confused with English bluebells. 1.2m tall + grows well in full sun up to 30cm tall huge carpets of growth in suitable conditions. Excellent paper glue from sap in bulb and stem. Edible leaves and flowers with delicate sweetness good in salads. Can be harvested during winter.
Grows 60cm tall, root matures late summer, delicious taste like sweet chestnuts, Seed and flowers used as cumin substitute, leaves as parsley like garnish.
Grows 1.2 m tall, long history of medicinal use – dried leaves as flavouring for herb tea, or sweetener for other teas, Flowers as flavouring in alcoholic drinks, also into a syrup used in cooling drinks and fruit salads, essential oil from flower buds in perfumery.
Healing garden A ‘Healing Garden’ with a planting scheme of natural healing plants.
Local school children are encouraged to see, touch and smell the variety of plants grown within the garden.
Local timber from the site is used to construct the round structure of the Healing Garden. The spiling style is in keeping with rural fence structures ensuring it fits in with the environment. Peppermint Mentha × piperita
Basil Celery Nettle Ocimum basilicum Apium graveolens Urtica dioica
St Johns Wort
Rosemary
Hypericum perforatum
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Echinacea
Aloe Vera Rosmarinus officinalis Echinacea angustifolia Aloe Vera
Chicory Cichorium intybis
Asparagus
Silver Birch Betula Pendula
Camomile
Dandelion
Lavender
Garlic Asparagus officianalis Chamaemelum nobile Taraxacum officianale Lavandula officianalis Allium sativum
Wetland Education The site currently holds the opportunity for wetland
creation. This wetland habitat creation is an
ecological bonus and improvement to the area, leading towards an SSSI.
The proposed wetland runs the length of approximately 100 metres and is situated to the east of the canal. Wetland plants follow the nature of the site’s productivity and therefore, is edible, usable or provides nourishment to wildlife
The Wetland Education Centre will be constructed from local coppiced timber and outer walls will be woven using the same ‘spiling’ effect used in countryside fences and hedgerows. This ensures the structure remains considerate to its surroundings and can be constructed and deconstructed relatively easily, without much damage to the environment.
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Wetland Vegetation Reed Mace: Native grass growing in shallow waters, forming excellent wildlife habitat, up to 3.5m tall. Exceedingly productive root crop. EDIBLE: Roots can be eaten raw or cooked, ground into a flour, used as a soup thickener. Young shoots eaten like asparagus in spring. Immature flowering stems eaten raw or cooked. Seed roasted produces nutty flavour. Pollen used as protein rich additive to bread&flour. NON-EDIBLE: Autumn stems and leaves used for weaving, good source of biomass - compost heap & fuel source. Fibres for paper. Plant used as grey-water & sewage treatment. Watercress: Prefers slow flowing water. Grows in mild winters so harvesting year-round. Leaves often used in salads and seeds can be ground into a powder and used as a mustard. Water Fringe: Native plant whose stems grow up to 1.5m long, floating on the water with leaves it looks like a small waterlily. Makes a good compost material. Flowers, leaves and leaf stems can be cooked like spinach. Bogbean: Native plant growing up to 30cm tall and 60cm wide. flowers very beautiful. Main reason for including this species is that leaves are an extremely effective bitter tonic for digestive system and proven to benefit the treatment of muscular weakness in M.E. Marsh Mallow: Grows up to 1.2m tall and 60cm wide and is very tolerant. EDIBLE: Leaves & flowers can be used in salads from late spring til late summer, raw or cooked. Root eaten raw or cooked. Used to be dried, ground & moistened to create traditional ‘marshmallow’ sweet. Tea made from the flowers & root. NON-EDIBLE: dried root can be used by teething children. Stem fibre used in paper making. Glue made from the root and an oil from the seed used in paints and varnishes. Swamp Milkweed: Grows 1m or more tall. Young edible shoots cooked and used as asparagus substitute. Older stem tips used as spinach. Flowers rich in nectar and attract a lot of insects. Non-edible uses may not be used today but it is a very productive and interesteing plant. Reed Mace Typha latifolia
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Watercress Nasturtium officinale
Water Fringe Nymphoides Peltata
Bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata
Marsh Mallow Althea Officinalis
Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incanarta
Current site
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Current site South Facing
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