A CONSERVATION volunteer who first stepped into help restore overgrown commonland near Brentor now rich in biodiversity as ‘the man with the chainsaw licence’ was surprised and pleased to win the Green Award at the recent West Devon Mayoral Awards.

Will Walker Smith lives close to the two commons at Liddaton Down and Bowden Down, which have been restored with a light touch over the past 15 years as a rare piece of lowland heath, a nationally endangered habitat.

Part of the Brentor Commons Association, he works with other volunteers and other groups – including Tavi Taskforce – to keep the reserve free of bracken and bramble encroachment and provide the right environment for wildlife to thrive.

Moths, bats and butterflies and dormice can now be seen on the reserve, which is awash with bluebells in spring.

A grant of £44,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which is part way spent, has paid for moth traps and bat detectors and for training for people to use the equipment. It is also being used to stage events so people can find out more about the wildlife, with more to take place this summer.

‘I’ve been involved since the beginning, keeping the bracken down and everything else,’ said Will. ‘Lowland heath is a very endangered type of habitat because there is not much left.’

He explained that the land had become overgrown after being fenced off after problems with New Age travellers on the land in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ‘It had rewilded itself and up there because the cattle didn’t graze there. The bracken grew and the gorse grew and there were only a few pockets that were clear when we got it, so essentially we were restoring it. We came together with the aim of restoring it and doing it very slowly.

‘It was covered in bluebells so one of the first things we were doing on Bowden Down was rolling the bracken to crush it so it gets less vigorous.’ He said that work had paid off. ‘We have got dormice on the commons and a wide range of invertebrates. We spotted 250 species of moths and that was just in three or four sessions, if we had surveyed for longer we would have seen more, so it is a wonderful piece of habitat.’

He added: ‘My role when I started was helping out. I was the one who had the chainsaw licence, I worked as landscaper, so I came to help out with clearing. Then in 2007 the land manager was stepping down. I live literally right on the commons, so I said “yes, sure” and I took on the role. I have been doing it ever since with minimal resources ever since.’

Winning the award came as a surprise, after he was nominated by a fan of the reserve called Karl Cradick. ‘I didn’t even know he had done it. It is a lovely award to get. It is nice to have the recognition but I am one of many people who are involved up there. We are always trying to get more people involved on the downs, so if it gets more people involved as volunteer because we are all getting older. I am pushing 70 so my days of wielding a chainsaw are getting fewer. If the award brings people forward, that would be a bonus.’