Old Warden Tunnel
 |
An oasis of wild flowers, bird song and a wonderful view among a sea of arable fields |
Just off the Greensand Ridge path, this reserve offers much interest if you venture 'off the beaten track'. As the path winds past mature hawthorn and blackthorn bushes, large ash and oak trees, it is hard to imagine that you are on top of a railway tunnel through which stream trains once passed.
Coming out of the woodland, you emerge to magnificent views of the countryside, with a steep cutting covered with grassland and scrub falling rapidly away from you.
A summer visit will reveal wild flowers more common to the chalk in the south of the county. Pyramidal orchid, dwarf thistle, together with hoary plantain, a pretty relative of a common lawn weed, are seen. The scrub provides nesting sites and song posts for summer warblers and the cutting can echo with the song of willow warblers and blackcaps. Autumn sees the fluffy seed heads of old-man's-beard cloaking the hedgerows.
 |
Plants: Ox-eye daisy, fairy flax, cowslip, salad burnet Insects: Orange-tip and speckled wood butterflies |
Plants: Pyramidal orchid, bee orchid, yellow-wort Insects: Marbled white, common blue, meadow brown and gatekeeper butterflies Reptiles: Common lizard Birds: Buzzard |
Plants: Old-man's-beard |