Paxton Pits Environmental Education Centre
The Wildlife Trust now runs an Environmental Education Centre at the edge of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve which was funded by Natural England through Defra’s Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund and Cambridgeshire Horizons.
Partners in the project Huntingdonshire District Council manage the nature reserve with support from The Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve.
This fantastic new facility enables us to run our inspirational educational programmes on-site and to engage young people with the wildlife of Paxton Pits and the Ouse Valley.
The centre has much to offer with a large classroom facility leading onto a spacious veranda, a resource library, kitchen, toilets as well an enclosed wildlife garden with much to investigate and discover.
The many sustainable features include a sedum roof, light tubes and a wood burning stove, ideal for those winter sessions!
Visiting groups have exclusive use of the Education Centre for the day, with adjacent coach parking, as well as being led around the wider reserve to experience many outdoor learning activities. Community groups such as Little Bugs Club and adult learning workshops are also based here and have full access to the facilities.
For more information about the Wildlife Trusts Educational programmes please click here
For more information about groups for young people based at the facility please click here
To contact the education centre please telephone: 01480 473161 or e-mail: paxtonpite@wildlifebcnp.org
This project has been funded by Natural England through Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.
Paxton Pits Nature Reserve
The Paxton Pits Local Nature Reserve (LNR) is a wildlife haven nestled within the landscape of the Ouse Valley. The biodiversity of the site gives it SSSI status and is carefully managed by the Huntingdonshire District Council on advice from local experts, landowners, Natural England and The Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve.
The serenity of the site now disguises its industrial past which has shaped the landscape we see today. Due to the rich sediment deposits from the riverine system this area was chosen around a century ago for gravel extraction to supply the building industry. The post second world war era between the 1930’s and 60’s saw an acceleration in extraction which formed huge pits in the landscape. These were allowed to fill with water and an area was left for nature to re-colonise creating the idylic reserve which officially opened in 1989.
The extractions also gave archaeologists an insight into the much more distant past of the area which has been inhabited and farmed by humans for around 4000 years aided by the fertile riverine environment. Many animal fossils have also been unearthed including the jawbone of a woolly mammoth likely to date back 27,000–50,000 yrs!
Paxton Pits Nature reserve boasts a huge variety of habitat including meadow, wet grassland, scrub, arable fields, reedbeds and the freshwater lakes and river. This provides habitat for an abundance of wildlife throughout the year and the keen eye will see many species of dragonfly, butterfly, meadow flowers and a huge variety of birdlife across the reserve. Perhaps the best known visitor to the reserve is the Nightingale which migrates to Britain from Africa to spend the summer months and to breed. The breeding population in Britain has declined significantly making their ideal scrubland habitat on the reserve nationally important.
There are two main trails for exploration of the reserve, the Meadow Trail and the Heron Trail which also link to the wider Ouse Valley Way public footpaths. The Wildlife Trust now runs an Environmental Education Centre which sits on the edge of the Paxton Pits Nature Reserve giving easy access for visiting school and community groups. Huntingdonshire District Coucil and the Friends of Paxton Pits also run a visitor centre on the site.
For more information about the reserve please visit the Paxton Pits Website www.paxton pits.org
