Marlborough Common

Written on 09 July 2026.

Annual cut for hay

On Monday, 13 July, a farmer will be mowing the Common for hay.  Hay meadows and land such as the Common are maintained in this way every year, and we’ve managed the Common this way for the past 15 years except for one year during Covid.  The hay will be dried out and baled, and cleared before the Saturday parkrun. 

Our Grounds Team carried out multiple wildlife checks daily for over a week at different times of day - including the 4am dawn chorus - to make sure there were no ground nesting birds.  Had they found any, the cut would have been cancelled.

We appreciate it can be quite a shock to see it immediately after cutting.  Please be assured the areas that have been cut will regrow to provide winter cover, and it will look beautiful again later this year and next year, as mowing scatters the flower seeds.

 

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