Jewell’s Lane.
This lovely tree lined lane running from Cawston Road to the Marriott Way is believed to be named after a local lawyer. The lane is part of a longer public footpath that crosses Marriotts Way and Henry Page Road and continues on towards Stonegate and then Cawston and Marsham Heaths. The path was at one time called Stonegate Lane.
Trees along Jewels lane include Sycamore, Field Maple, Ash, Birch and Beech. There is also a shrub layer (understorey) of Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Bramble , Honeysuckle, Ivy, Grasses and Nettled. The combination of all these plants with their different flowering and fruiting times provide excellent habitat for a wide range of birds, mammals and invertebrates. Grasses and Nettles are particularly important as food plants for many Butterfly larvae. Jewels Lane acts as a valuable green corridor between Aylsham and the Marriotts Way linking the town to the wider countryside.
If you look closely at the base of some of the bigger trees, you will see they don’t have a single stem or trunk but several stems coming from the base. This is an indication they have been cut back possibly several times or coppiced. This was probably done to keep the track open and stop vegetation encroaching onto the path. A number of British trees such as Willow, Birch, Beech, Hazel, Sweet Chestnut, Alder and even oak can be coppiced. When cut down to ground level they will send up several shoots from the cut stem, giving a multi stemmed bush or tree rather than one with a single trunk.
Coppicing was used as a way of managing trees and woodlands to provide a renewable crop of usable materials. The materials could be used to produce things like baskets and woven items (e.g. Willow), Palling Fences (e.g Sweet Chestnut), Brooms (Birch) and even furniture, as well as firewood. . The length of time between cuts would determine the diameter and length of the materials produced. Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s Foxley Wood is a good example of a coppiced woodland that is being managed in a traditional way.
On Jewels Lane you are likely to see and hear birds such as Robins, Blackcaps, Blackbirds, Wrens and Great Tits.
In summer Butterflies such as The Gatekeeper or Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Peacock can be seen feeding on Bramble blossoms. Ivy flowers are often home to Ivy Bees and Hoverflies.
Growing under the trees you can also find Hedge Garlic, also known as Jack by the Hedge a common hedgerow plant that both tastes and smells of garlic. Growing in gravelly pathway at the Cawston Rd end of the land you can see Pineapple-weed (a member of the daisy family), which smells faintly of pineapple. This low growing plant thrives on well trodden pathways.
