Bennett’s Patch and White’s Paddock
Wildflower meadows, native woodland and wildlife ponds house bats, badgers, hedgehogs, and abundant plant, bird and butterfly species.
Wildflower meadows, native woodland and wildlife ponds house bats, badgers, hedgehogs, and abundant plant, bird and butterfly species.
As its name suggests, Himalayan balsam is from the Himalayas and was introduced here in 1839. It now an invasive weed of riverbanks and ditches, where it prevents native species from growing.
An old allotment transformed into a reserve by the local community, now an excellent spot for birds and butterflies.
Piddocks are a boring bivalve. No, we don't mean dull... we mean that it bores into soft rock, creating a burrow. In fact, they're the opposite of dull - they glow in the dark!
At night, the pretty, white blooms of white campion produce a heady scent, attracting feeding moths. Look for this wildflower along hedgerows and roadside verges, and on waste ground.
The small white is a common garden visitor. It is smaller than the similar large white, and has less black on its wingtips.
Neill, Kay and the other volunteers at Bennett's Patch and White's Paddock have been monitoring the slow worms at the site for the past five years. Read on to find out what they've…
The large white is a common garden visitor - look out for its brilliant white wings, tipped with black.
The White admiral is a striking black-and-white butterfly with a delicate flight that includes long glides. It prefers shady woodlands where it feeds on Bramble.
The striking black-and-white checks of the marbled white are unmistakeable. Watch out for it alighting on purple flowers, such as field scabious, on chalk and limestone grasslands and along…
This dainty white butterfly is now only found in a few parts of Britain, where it flutters slowly through woodland clearings.
So-named for the silvery-white appearance of its leaves, the White willow can be seen along riverbanks, around lakes and in wet woodlands. Like other willows, it produces catkins in spring.