Old Warden Tunnel, once part of the railway line between Bedford and Hitchen, is a home to a variety of plant and animal life.
This Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve is also promoted by Bedfordshire’s Let’s Go website.
Author Archives: JC
Flitwick Moor
Flitwick Moor is a SSSI wetland with an interesting mix of fen, meadow, wet woodland, and fragile peaty soils.
Following the 5-mile Two Moors Heritage Trail provides an excellent introduction to this site.
Totternhoe Knolls and Quarry
The landscape at Totternhoe Knolls and Quarry is the result of many centuries of quarrying, which has developed into flower-rich chalk grasslands. The reserve can be accessed from the National Trust car park off Castle Hill Road (OS ref SP986217). The site is crossed by green lanes and footpaths, allowing lots of exploration. In spring the reserve is home to several orchids and on sunny days, there are also likely to be plenty of butterflies, including the Duke of Burgundy and Small Blue. The reserve also has Chiltern gentian, a rare flower, in bloom in August.
Interactive Map and Tags
We’re trying a couple of new features.
- There’s now an interactive map of our Places to Visit. It’s a bit more fun than just a list and you can see if there’s somewhere to visit nearby. It’s under the “Explore” menu item.
Click on a place marker and a small panel will open up telling you a little about the place. There’ll usually be a link in the panel back to our page about that place, too, where there may be more information.
- We’ve tagged places to note some of the subjects they’re good at. The subjects are listed under “Looking for Something?” in the sidebar. Click on one of the words/tags and you’ll see a list of places that may be able to help.
Give them both a try.
Priory Country Park, Bedford
Priory Country Park is an established green area of around 360 acres made up of lakes, meadows and woodland, partially enclosed within a bend in the river Great Ouse.
It is managed, for the benefit of both wildlife and visitors, by Bedford Borough Council.
RSPB, Sandy: The Lodge
The RSPB reserve at Sandy is their HQ. It is a great place to go spotting birds and is also very good for dragonflies.
Rushmere Country Park
Rushmere Country Park includes the former Stockgrove Country Park. It is jointly owned by the Greensand Trust and Central Bedfordshire Council. It is managed by the Greensand Trust. There are two entrances, each with a visitor centre and car parking.
There are a variety or habitats including lakes, ancient woodland, conifer plantations, meadows and heath.
Sandhouse Lane Nature Reserve
Managed by the Greensand Trust, this ex-quarry is a small area of scrub, grassland, ponds and lichen heath on dumped asphalt. Great Crested Newts occur on the site. This site is good for dragonflies and Butterflies in spring and summer and Lichens can be seen all year round.
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch: 26-27 Jan, 2013
Don’t forget that the weekend of 26th & 27th January 2013 is the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch.
This survey is fun and gives the RSPB very important information about our bird populations. The more results they get the better their information will be, so do try to take part. It takes just one hour and you can pick an hour on either day to suit yourself.
These two links will tell you how to do it and what to do with your results:
Now, once you’ve done that, why not add your records to YounGnats, too?
Harrold-Odell Country Park
Harrold-Odell Country Park offers lakes, a river, meadows and woodland with trails and activities in North Bedfordshire.