A new footpath has been completed at Twywell Plantation, Kettering, Northamptonshire. (The pictures to the right show the path both after and during construction.)
Twywell forms part of a much larger grassland and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (managed by the Wildlife Trusts) and lies on the site of an old ironstone quarry.
The quarry used to feed the nearby steel works at Islip and was mined up until the late 1940s after which, in the 1950s, it was planted with non-native conifers.
Jonathan Plowe, woodland officer for this site, said:
‘The site is popular with visitors and the existing paths were getting wider and wider, damaging the important limestone grassland on the rides, as well as pushing people too close to the old quarry workings. The rides also become very wet and were almost impassable in winter. So, it was decided that a new path was needed and using partnership funding we managed to achieve this.'
This project was made possible thanks to generous Gift Aid funding of £10,000 from the Waste Recycling Group Ltd, administered by WREN.
The Trust is gradually restoring the wood, mainly through natural regeneration, from conifers to native broadleaves. Since the Trust began thinning the wood five year’s ago, it has also developed the best displays of wild strawberries you will ever see (see right) - they cover the ground like a white and red spotted green carpet (but please don’t eat them!).
However, Jonathan says:
‘You’ll need to be quick if you want to see strawberries because they will soon be no more til next year. However, you can still spot other wildlife, including birds, butterflies and if keep your eyes open, evidence of old railway lines, reminiscent of the heavy industrial landscape that would have been here 60 years ago.’
The site can be found just off junction 11 on the A14 at SP945775. For more details visit the Trust's our woods page for Twywell.
