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Conserving Walden Countryside's
wildlife for you to enjoy

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Walden Countryside is a community interest company that seeks to create public access nature reserves and to promote the conservation of traditionally managed countryside in north Uttlesford.

OUR THREE NATURE RESERVES IN THE WALDEN COUNTRYSIDE

Noakes Grove, Sewards End

 

Noakes Grove

Noakes Grove from the air.

Noakes Grove 1758

A map of Noakes Grove from 1758

fox & cub

Foxes breed breed at Noakes Grove .

Noakes Grove is the reserve we acquired first and the only one we own outright. It has four main habitat types three of which appear on a 1758 map in exactly the positions they are now. The then woodland area gives its name to the whole reserve and has lasted 600 years since a Mr Nokes was given permission to create a small-holding by clearing a virgate of forest belonging to the monks at what is now Audley End.

The wood has some very big oak trees and a good showing of bluebells in the Spring. The ancient hedge has a great variety of shrubs as is normal for very old hedges. The pasture land has been used over the years for a variety of agricultural uses but is now grazed by our small flock of Wiltshire Horn sheep. The sheep are moved to a new quarter of the pasture every few weeks and the parts that have not been grazed for some time have a wonderful range of wildlowers. The pyramidal orchids are espially abundant.

The scrub area only developed when the Reeve brothers (the farmers of the area for most of the 20th century) abandoned grazing the area sometime around 1970. It is the habitat of a large population of Wild Liquorice - a very rare and local plant in East Anglia.

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Kings Field, Hempstead

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Kings Field Hempstead

Kings field - between road and intensive arable

BARN OWL

Barn owls nest in an owl box at Kings Field

brdge building

Building the bridge from cricket bats to pond corner

 

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Most of Kings Field straddles the Bumpsted Brook (a tributary of the Ouse) and is developing into flower-rich meadows following the sessation of ararble farming in the 1990s. The field between the road and the brook is called the "cricket batn field" as the cricket-bat willows were planted in the 1990s and are doing well. One day they may play for England.

The grassland area is grazed on a rotation basis by our sheep.

There is a pond dug in 2023 which has already attracted a range of dragonflies and damselflies.

Scotch Patch, Ellis Green, Wimbish

 

Scotch Parch / Ellis Green

Scotch Patch and Ellis Green

adams pearmain

Adams Pearmain

 

Scotch Patch is a one acre traditional orchard planted with local varieties of apple, cherry and plum. It is no pesticide nor artificial fertiliser use (like all our reserves). and so has a good variety of wild flowers and insects. The hedgerow is shown on the earliest maps of the area and the roadside hedges have wonderful mature oak trees, while the rest of the hedges have mainly elms regrowing as young trees after the decline of Dutch Elm Disease.

Scotch Patch is the southern part of a large area of common land which is, in effect, a nature reserve and, along with Scotch Patch, is a Local Wildlife Site. Like Scotch Patch it is open to visitors on foot at all times.

 

 

dinosaur walk

The home-educated Wild Child group walking to Kings Field from Noakes Grove.

treasure hunt

Treasure hunting....

While children are always welcome as part of family groups visiting any of our reserves, we put great effort into providing special activities for children.

Wild Child is an open-air club, mainly at Noakes Grove, for home-educated 6 - 11-year olds who study willdife, have fun and sometimes camp out. The club meets once a fortnight year round. There is no charge for Wild Child but donations are welcome.

We also organise open-air wildlife orientated birthday parties.

There are also children's activities that use our reserves to provide other activities: a forest school for Bell Nursery (2-3 year olds) and mindfulness or relaxation training on a one-to-one basis for children of any age.

 

Walden Countryside - outside our reserves

Local Wildlife Sites

  • There over a hundred local wildlife sites (mostly in private ownership, some publicly owned) in the northern half of Uttlesford.

  • Walden Countryside aims to work with the owners of these sites to maintain and improve their value for wildlife

See full details of the sites in your parish.

 

Copyright 2024
Organic Countryside Community Interest Company
Trading as Walden Countryside

Company number 06794848 - registered in England
VAT No: 947 3003 31

23 Tye Green, Wimbish CB10 2XE

01 799 599 643

Updated 28 August 2024