Sallowsprings
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A traditional hay meadow rich in wild flowers set in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty |
The wild flowers that thrive here today, belie the fact that this was once part of a caravan park. Now, the delicate umbels of pignut flowers in spring are followed by the purples of common knapweed in summer attracting butterflies and other insects to feed. Walk through the meadow before its annual cut and you are taken back in time to when there were meadows like this found almost everywhere.
The mature hedgerow to the east is centuries old, composed as it is of a variety of native shrubs including holly. It leads to a small section of Sallowsprings Wood, but the remainder of the wood is not part of the reserve. Here yellow archangel and bluebell flower before the dense canopy of the tree leaves closes over in summer.
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Plants: Yellow archangel, cowslip, pignut, foxglove, bluebell, ox-eye daisy, bird's-foot-trefoil |
Plants: Common knapweed, common sorrel, meadow vetchling Birds: Blackcap, willow warbler |
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