A small cobblestone farmhouse which has housed our meeting room and education space since 2011. The gardens comprise a reasonable sized pond, set within a woodland, and a paved area with raised wildflower beds.
Where?
Ivy House lies in the triangle made by Patrington Road, South Carr Dales Road and Church Lane in Hollym, Withernsea. GR TA 34436 25081.
The gateway opens onto a small grassed hardcore area with parking being recommended on the gravelled council apron on South Carr Dales Road.
What can be seen there?
This small haven serves as a meeting place for the committee, and for social events, as well as interest talks and a place of education for all ages. It has a pond to the south, a walkway through the woodland, a paved area for outdoor events and raised beds used by the Young Nats for their projects.
A former private dwelling and tree nursery shows in the mix of flora within the grounds. The house and gardens are not generally open to the public outwith one of the organised events.
What can be seen there?
The previous owner of Ivy House, Mr Robin Graham, operated a tree nursery and there remain a number of ‘exotic’ non-native trees and shrubs together with some interesting and locally scarce native species including Bird Cherry (Prunus padus). Some plum trees donated by a local nursery produce an early show of blossom enjoyed by bumble bees. Many unsafe Lawson’s and Leyland Cypress trees have been replaced by a variety of native trees and shrubs, and a pathway circuit delineated by branches and woodchips has been put down. Old rotting tree stumps are clothed in a variety of mosses and there are several woodland species such as Primrose, Spurge-laurel, Stinking Iris and various ferns. Woodchips and rotting wood are proving valuable for scarce fungi such as earth stars, cup fungi (Peziza sp.) and Dryad’s Saddle bracket fungi.
The lawn car park has grassed over naturally and the wild flowers thereon attract numerous insects. Rat’s-tail Fescue, thought to have been introduced in sand used to bed down the patio pavers is an unusual species of grass here and Slender Trefoil is a minute plant which is not seen if not looked for very carefully.
Despite its location next to the busy A1033 the garden reserve attracts a wide variety of vertebrates including Greater Crested Newt, Hedgehog, Rabbit and Fox. Roe Deer cheekily bed down in the veranda of Ivy House! Bird species seen include Tawny Owl, Woodcock and Coal Tit. Robins, Blue-tits and Tree Bees (Bombus hypnorum) utilise the bird boxes. The diversity of both native and non-native plant species provide hosts for species-specific organisms such as leaf miners, plant galls and pathogenic fungi. A record for these largely overlooked species is kept. An example is a wasp-like insect called Blennocampa phyllocolpa whose larva neatly rolls the leaves of Field Rose into tubes. This species is rare mainly because its host is uncommon in Holderness.
The name ‘Ivy House’ is apt as the house, woodland floor and several trees are clothed in ivy of several varieties including the attractive ‘hen’s foot’ ivy.
History
During the Autumn of 2009 we were informed that we had been made the beneficiaries of a will from a local Hollym farmer, Mr Robin Graham, in that we had been bequeathed an old cobblestone farmhouse and outbuildings set in a fairly established little woodland. Ivy House, appropriately named because the rampant ivy had had almost devoured the whole front of the building, in some areas being over a foot deep. The various legal procedures were finalised in October of that year and then, under the watchful eye of Jeff, the hard work started to clear the place of tonnes of unwanted materials, rickety wooden sheds and old outhouses, and mountains of rubbish which filled more than 10 skips as well as many trips to recycling centres. This took many hundreds of man-hours from members, volunteers, villagers, two Centrica work gangs and various family members dragged along to help!
Under the care of Fred, after more than a year of letter writing, filling in applications, telephone conversations and meeting with officials, we had planning consent for the change of use of Ivy House.
By summer 2011 work on developing Ivy House into the Society’s home base and resource centre had gathered significant pace. Fred had had a frustrating time applying for grants and donations to bring in sufficient money to keep the project moving forward. Steve Moore and Rebecca Sunshine brought in experience, electrical work, and Centrica gangs to provide muscle power and enthusiasm.
The Annual Report for 2011 stated that Ivy House was nearing completion, the office was in use, and plans were being put in place by Margaret for a Young Naturalists Club. The Young Nats. Exciting plans that would enable primary school children to be introduced to nature – but without funding it would have to be put on hold, a huge disappointment, until 2 days before Christmas when a letter was received awarding the Young Nats £7500! After years of filling in applications, the Christmas Fairy award, as it became known, seemed to trigger a flush of large donations that helped towards project completion and the official opening of Ivy House.
