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Photography Locations
Eades Meadow

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Eades Meadow is designated a National Nature Reserve of approximately 12.5 hectares of lowland grassland hay meadow and is special in that it has not been ploughed for over 100 years and has never been treated with chemical fertilisers, herbicides or any other agricultural chemicals.  This means it is a completely natural reserve, home to over 180 species of plant, a large number of insects, spiders and other invertebrates.  Many of the plant species once common, are now rare within the British countryside, including: green-winged orchid, cowslips, bluebells, bugle, betony, buttercups, birds foot trefoil, yellow rattle (this is a parasitic plant and is considered a true marker of old meadows), hogweed, pignut, pepper saxifrage, moon daisies, sorrel, medick, goat’s beard and a lovely pink flower spike called hoary plantain.

 

The meadow is managed as it would have been historically, being grazed by cattle in late autumn and early winter before being left to grow hay. The hay is then cut the following summer after the flowers have seeded, following a period of growth. The field is again grazed and the cycle continues.

Ipsley Alders

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Ipsley Alders Marsh is a 18 hectare grassland marsh reserve.  Designated a nature reserve in 1967 and bought by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust in 1985.  Spring water rises below most of the site making parts waterlogged all year round. 

 

As a grazed marsh it is home to some of the 170 species of plant that have been recorded here including hemp agrimony, common spotted orchid, fen bedstraw, marsh woundwort and water mint.  There are other Worcestershire rarities on the reserve including marsh stitchwort and blunt-flowered rush.  Winter is a good time of year to catch sight of snipe that feed on the site as well as all three woodpecker breeds in the woods along with tits and tree sparrows, the Alders also attract flocks of siskin and redpoll throughout the winter months.  Breeding birds include reed bunting, and grasshopper warblers.  Damselflies and dragonflies are also numerous in the summer, including the black darter.

Wirehill & Rough Hill Woods

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Rough Hill Wood, designated a Site of Special Scientific Inerest (SSSI) is an ancient woodland covering 52 acres owned by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and managed to provide open access. Sited on a hillside, the broad leaf trees are predominantly oak, with much diversity of wildflowers on the lower slopes. Coppicing has been reintroduced to the wood and there is a small area of heathland.

Our Garden

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Situated next to Wirehill and Rough Hill woodland means we are visited (if only briefly) by much of the wildlife that frequents the woodland and surrounding areas.  This can include Muntjac Deer, Fallow Deer, a family of foxes that visit each year with cubs and numerous birds and insects!

© Mark Barrett | Photography.

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