VOLUNTEERS behind a nature reserve which forms part of the iconic view from Symonds Yat Rock have scooped an award.

The Coppett Hill Common Trust (CHCT) won the hotly contested AONB Farming Awards for 2017, following 30 years of voluntary work on the hill.

They were presented with the award by the chairman of the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Councillor Phil Cutter, at the Monmouthshire Show.

Ray and Frances Thomas, founding members of the Coppett Hill Common Trust (CHCT), received the Farming Awards’ Trophy, along with a cheque for £400 and the winner’s certificate, on behalf of all the shareholders of CHCT.

They said: "We are very pleased to have won the award. It is a fantastic achievement and a testament to all the hard work put in by the management team and the volunteers over recent years."

The 250 acres of Coppett Hill was designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in 2000, and is one of the largest in Herefordshire.

The trust works to maintain and improve the habitat for wildlife whilst allowing access to the common by the public. The current management works hard to retain the original philosophy of the founding fathers of the hill 'to safeguard Coppett Hill and its wildlife for future generations to come'.

Management is undertaken by volunteers and includes input from grant-givers the Forestry Commission and Natural England via the English Woodland Grant Scheme and the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme.

A local commoner grazes his sheep on the hill while volunteers manage scrub, coppice and woodland, clear and create ponds and survey the wildlife.

Runner-up in the Farming Awards, receiving a cheque for £200, was Alan Morgan and his son William, who farm over 160 acres of land at Gadr Farm, on the western edge of the AONB near Cwmcarvan in Monmouthshire.

The Wye Valley AONB Farming Awards are now in their 10th year. Shortlisted entries were visited and judged by an experienced panel including Andrew Blake, Wye Valley AONB manager, David Price, NFU Wales, Caroline Hanks, Farming4Wildlife, and previous award winner Jim Herbert of Lewstone Farm, Herefordshire.

Patrick Chatterton, CHCT company secretary, said: "It is really nice to have such a lovely pat on the back and recognition of the part we play in managing the AONB and it will be great to share the news with all our local supporters. It is good to realise that at 250 acres we are a significant part of the AONB and that the iconic view from Symonds Yat is actually Coppett Hill.”