Cooper’s Hill
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Visit Bedfordshire's largest remaining area of heathland in late summer to be stunned by the swathes of heather in full bloom |
This reserve is on the Greensand ridge, a geological feature which stretches across the county from Leighton Buzzard in the south-west, to Gamlingay in south Cambridgeshire. Historically the site would have been grazed by sheep or cattle and the heather would have been used by locals as fuel, bedding and for thatching roofs. The ashes from burnt bracken were also used as a source of lye for soap making.
Local records indicate that Cooper's Hill was once known as Ampthill Warren. The Normans are thought to have introduced rabbits to Britain in the 11th Century for their meat and fur. Warrens were set up on areas of light soil where landowners dug burrows to encourage the rabbits. Later, the seventh Duke of Bedford planted conifers on the heath, but these were felled in 1917 to help the war effort.
The reserve contains large areas of heather growing together with birch, oak, gorse and broom scrub. Invasive bracken threatens to kill the heather by shading it out. The north western corner of the reserve supports a small area of acidic mire and ponds, where the water table reaches the surface above the impermeable Ampthill clay. Marsh violet can be found here with willow carr gently shading the water.
The open heath provides a home to the common lizard and insects such as solitary bees and wasps. Woodland towards the north of the site grows over gently undulating ground with beech and lime in addition to the more usual birch and oak. The mocking call of the green woodpecker can often be heard, especially when disturbed from the ground where it gathers ants. Many nesting birds take advantage of the protection of the spiky gorse, which gives off its distinctive coconut smell in high summer.
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Plants: Gorse, marsh violet Birds: Tree pipit |
Plants: Heather, skullcap wood sage Insects: Small copper, green tiger beetle, grasshoppers, sand-nesting bees and wasps Reptiles: Common lizard Birds: Willow warbler |
Fungi: Fly agaric, brown birch bolete Birds: Goldcrest, siskin |