Look out for

Butterflies

• Brimstone
• Brown Argus
• Brown Hairstreak: the reserve is at the centre of the only known breeding area in the region
• Comma
• Common Blue
• Gatekeeper
• Green-veined White
• Holly Blue
• Large Skipper
• Large White
• Marbled White
• Meadow brown
• Orange Tip
• Painted Lady
• Peacock
• Purple Hairstreak
• Red Admiral
• Ringlet
• Silver-washed Fritillary
• Small Copper
• Small Skipper
• Small Tortoiseshell
• Small White
• Speckled Wood
• White Admiral

Moths

• Drab Looper
• Rosy Footman
• Devon Carpet
• Waved Black

Notable beetles of deadwood (ancient woodland indicators)

• Abdera biflexuosa
• Agrilus laticornis
• Chalcoides nitidula
• Trachodes hispidus.

The birds (not all breeding) include buzzard, goldcrest, treecreeper lesser and greater spotted woodpeckers.

FEATURES

The wood is on a gentle west-facing slope, with heavy soil of the Lower Lias clays . These damp calcareous soils support a varied and distinctive flora that includes Herb-Paris, Adder's-tongue, Violet Helleborine, Spurge-laurel and Birds-nest Orchid.

The canopy is dominated by ash and oak, most of the latter having been planted at the end of the 19th century, though much older trees persist along boundary banks. Only 2 compartments had been converted to conifers in the 1960s and these are being removed.

Derelict hazel coppice, birch and field maple are major components of the current woodland structure, along with various shrub species.

Blackthorn thickets are extensive in places around the margins of the wood and along interior rides, and are the target of enhancement management.

This reserve was acquired in partnership with the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Size: 56 hectares (138 acres)

Directions

Grid Reference: SO 972 560 O.S. Map: 150

Take the A422 eastwards from Worcester (starts off the A44 as it comes in from J5 of the M5), turning off left to Grafton Flyford about 8 km after crossing over the motorway.

Please park by the Three Parishes Village Hall (SO 963 557) and follow the footpath eastwards to the reserve.

Public transport

There are some bus routes running along the A422 - see local information sources for timetables.

Site Access and safety

The various entrances to the wood are reached via public footpaths and bridleways over the surrounding farmland. This ground can be soft and uneven in places, and especially so the rides in the wood. The entrances in the south-west and eastern boundaries have kissing gates.

Contact

John Tilt
9 Meadow Close
Flyford Flavell
Worcestershire WR7 4DE
Telephone: 01386 792458