Heathland Conservation at Surprise View

Join the Friends of Chevin Forest on Sunday 15th November 2026 to help maintain a region of heathland near Surprise View.

The Friends of Chevin Forest are working in partnership with Otley Town Council to help maintain and conserve an important region of heathland habitat near Surprise View on the Chevin. The maintenance of this important habitat is a key goal of Otley Town Council’s Biodiversity Working Group.

In this session, we will be removing any small trees and brambles that are impinging on the heathland habitat. On the Chevin, this habitat primarily consists of heather, gorse, and bilberry, and is home to a rich diversity of specialist species as well as playing an important role for CO₂ storage. Pioneer species, such as birch, can quickly turn this habitat into woodland, therefore we need to regularly remove these and other non-heathland species. Read more about the importance of our heathlands here.

We will meet at the Surprise View Car Park at 10:00 am (see us before paying for parking). Surprise View Car Park is located here (on Google Maps) and has a what3words location of: hardback.stack.sweep. We’ll return to the car park by 1:00 pm and plan to visit the Royalty pub afterwards for a drink!

We will bring tools and gloves with us, but if you have any secateurs, shears, or loppers please bring them along. Please also make sure you wear sensible footwear and layers of clothing suitable for the weather. Under 16s are welcome if accompanied by an adult.