Supported by the grant scheme 'Wildspace!', the Local Nature Reserve project is an exciting new initiative designed to encourage residents and visitors to make the most of the town's three existing reserves and the four new ones that are likely to be created in the coming years.
Owned by the Council and managed by Sussex Wildlife Trust, Filsham Reedbed is one of the largest of its kind in Sussex and is among the town's most important bird breeding sites. As part of the Filsham Bittern Project, the Trust has changed the management of the water level by cutting back some of the reed to create more conducive breeding conditions for the scarce Bearded Tit of which five pairs have been sighted this year. Little Egrets (small white herons) now regularly use the shallow edges of the ditches as their launchpad for catching the fish that live in the water.
See them for yourself by taking a bus to Bexhill Road and stopping near the entrance to the Bulverhythe Recreation Ground car park. Here you will find a path that runs alongside the Combe Haven and leads onto the reedbed.
Also owned by the Council and managed by Sussex Wildlife Trust (with the help of the Hastings Conservation Volunteers) are the ancient woodlands and meadows of Marline Valley. The flower rich meadows are among the town's finest, particularly in the Summer months when the fair weather summons thousands of Common Spotted Orchids from the soil. Many unusual butterflies can be seen here including Grizzled Skippers in the meadows and White Admirals and Purple Hairstreaks in the woods. The Local Nature Reserve project will part fund improvements to paths and new information boards to help make this enchanting spot an ever better place to visit.
To visit Marline Valley, take a bus to Tescos then walk North using the cutthrough past the houses towards Napier Road. Follow Napier Road through to the Queensway where you will find the entrance to Marline Valley Local Nature Reserve. It goes without saying that extreme caution should be exercised when crossing one of the busiest roads in the town.
Owned and managed by St Helens Park Preservation Society, St Helens Wood is another stunning area of ancient woodlands and horse-grazed meadows. Path improvements will soon be carried out as part of the Local Nature Reserve Project and the joint BTCV/Hastings Borough Council Greenspace initiative.
To visit St Helens Wood Local Nature Reserve, walk down St Helens Park Road towards De Roemer Meadows, (the entrance of which is marked with a small sign). The entrance to St Helens Park Road is about 1km to the East of the Conquest Hospital entrance.
During the course of the Local Nature Reserve Project, it is hoped that four new reserves will be created.
The first of these will be Old Roar Ghyll, an ancient wooded gill stream in the North of Alexandra Park, past Buckshole Reservoir. The steep-sided sandstone valley is rich in ferns, mosses and liverworts and the humid habitat is faintly reminiscent of a rainforest.
The second reserve will be spread across Church Wood and Robsack Wood near Tescos and Church Wood school. This area of ancient coppiced woodland is a magnificent theatre for Bluebells, Wood Anemones and Ramsons as well as other more unusual plants such as early Purple Orchids, Wood Spurge and Coralroot.
The third will be the world famous Hastings Country Park, the only site in the town with the coveted European conservation designation "candidate Special Area of Conservation".
South Saxons Wetlands is potentially the fourth new reserve. This diverse collection of willow carr woodland, reedbed, meadow and freshwater stream is one of the few areas of open greenspace in the West St Leonards area.
To find out more about this exciting new project, contact Local Nature Reserve Officer Andy Phillips by calling 01424 781043 or by emailing aphillips@hastings.gov.uk
Developing the educational use of our Local Nature Reserves. An events programme for young people is due to start next year which will include pond-dipping, minibeast hunts, family bird watches and bat watches. Bug hunt & ponddipping equipment for educational activities has been bought using the Wildspace! money and are already being used in events throughout the town. A microscope (both for educational use and for volunteer use) has also been purchased.
This will provide the latest news, information and photos of the wildlife of Hastings & St Leonards together with details of the Local Nature Reserves and wildlife events.
This is currently being carried out to provide information that will help us protect this declining group of insects. Some bumblebee species such as the Brown-Banded Carder Bee and the Heath Bumblebee are becoming rare due to the loss of flower-rich meadows, acid grassland and heathland. The Local Nature Reserve project will contribute to the conservation of this very important group of insects.
Further partnership work with the BTCV and Hastings Borough Council partnership project 'Greenspace' and Sussex Wildlife Trust's 'Outreach Project for Schools' which will be working with Barclays in Hastings to help schools develop their grounds for wildlife and education.
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This page last updated: 17/10/2002