To view a map showing many of our sites click here: drive.google.com/open?id=1BvevdnyHjWa0JtAzB8yZe-fOrCrKEHZn&usp=sharing. Locations are given as grid references and What3words addresses.
www.lincstrust.org.uk/nature-reserves/rauceby-warrenLNR = Local Nature Reserve
NNR = National Nature Reserve
SSSI = Site of Special Scientific Interest
See the Natural England website www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england for more information about LNRs, NNRs and SSSIs.
We usually undertake 25 workdays a year. We like to return to some sites regularly, so that we have the reward of seeing how our work is benefiting the plants and wildlife, but we also like variety in types of site and location, and we are much in demand, so there are quite a few sites that we only have time to visit occasionally.
HOME
Sites we visit regularly
Ashing Lane
Ashing Lane Nature Reserve is made up of areas of woodland and meadows of different ages, created by volunteers on what was once agricultural land. Watts Wood and Pickerings Meadow came first, in the 1990s, on land donated to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust (LWT). In 2009, a charity bought adjacent land for LWT to create new meadows and also Monks Wood, managed by Nettleham Woodland Trust (NWT). The final area was purchased by Lincolnshire Cooperative Ltd in 2012, to celebrate its 150th anniversary. It has since been planted and managed by NWT.
We planted some of the original trees in the new Monks Wood and now return each year to help NWT with ongoing maintenance of the whole reserve – managing the growing woodland, cutting back shrubs to keep paths clear, spreading woodchip on paths, putting wood stain on benches etc. We are always amazed at how much the trees we planted in Monks Wood have grown. This is a lovely reserve with varied habitats, including a pond and a lake.
Boultham Mere
An oasis of calm, just minutes away from the centre of Lincoln, with a lake, reed beds, and mature shrubs and trees. The reserve attracts breeding birds and overwintering wildfowl. During our visits we have cleared scrub, cut back encroaching willow, helped to maintain access steps, and kept pathways clear.
Cross O'Cliff Hill Orchard LNR, Lincoln
This traditional Lincolnshire pear and apple orchard is a Local Nature Reserve managed by Lincolnshire County Council and a small number of local volunteers. We've helped with hedge laying to improve boundaries, with scrub clearance to maintain an open habitat for the trees, and with the planting of traditional fruit trees to preserve this interesting orchard.
Fiskerton Fen
This nature reserve was created on a site previously used to extract clay to reinforce river banks. It is owned by the Environment Agency and managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. We have planted trees and bushes, restored part of a woven willow screen near the bird hide, cut back areas of scrub to maintain the variety of plants and habitats, trimmed branches and scythed grass to keep paths clear and cut back the hedge by the car park fence, repaired the fence and treated it with wood stain.
Hartsholme Country Park & Swanholme Lakes LNR/SSSI
Managed by the City of Lincoln Council, this is the best park in Lincoln! Over many years we’ve helped rebuild Black Bridge, created hidden glades in the woods, built a seat overlooking one of the lakes, restored areas of heathland, relaid paths, protected the banks of Hartsholme Lake with natural, living willow fencing and laid hedges. Swanholme Lakes is an important environment for aquatic plant life.
Liquorice Park Millennium Green, Lincoln
Once an orchard and meadow, with some allotments, this community space in Lincoln has fantastic views over the city. It features an orchard, grassland, scrub (including patches of blackberries), an arena and new community garden, all just a few steps from the historic city centre. Our work here has included tree planting, hedge laying, building a dead hedge and cutting back scrub near paths, to maintain a variety of habitats.
Rauceby Warren, near Sleaford
We have had several workdays helping to rebuild the dry stone wall which protects this Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve from the busy road (and the many cars which attempt to drive off the road!). We have cleared scrub to maintain the open grassland and pulled ragwort at this site and the nearby SSSI reserves of Moor Closes and Ancaster Valley, in parts of the reserves that will be grazed.
Scotgrove Wood, near Bardney
This wood of small-leaved lime, a Lincolnshire speciality, is part of the Bardney Limewoods NNR. The Limewood sites have been high forest or managed as coppice since at least the 11th century. We visit regularly to cut back scrub and to coppice trees to open out the main ride and to provide habitat variety.
Snakeholme Pit, near Bardney
A Butterfly Conservation managed nature reserve with a meadow, pond and areas of scrub. We've built steps here but a regular summer task is to rake up the cut hay once the wildflower seeds have dispersed so that the flower-rich meadow improves every year.
Thurlby Wood
A privately owned wood near Gainsborough where we have helped to coppice large areas of hazel to open up the woodland floor and improve habitats for all the wildlife; we've also planted some trees. Our work at this site also raises much-appreciated funds for the Group.
Whisby Nature Park, near Lincoln
A large reserve owned and managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. This LNR has a rich mosaic of wetland wildlife habitats, restored from old gravel workings. Our work here has included reclaiming grassland from encroaching willow scrub, tree planting, maintaining the footpaths on the site, reprofiling islands in the lake to improve them for nesting waterbirds, and cutting back scrub to improve habitat for nightingales.
Sites we visit less often
Ancaster Valley
A stee-sided valley of limestone grassland, scrub and woodland, owned by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. It is apparently one of the finest sites for limestone flowers in the country. We’ve helped to clear and control encroaching scrub to maintain this open flower-rich grassland.
Birchwood Nature Park
A small reserve of grassland, woodland and a pond at the edge of Lincoln, owned by City of Lincoln Council. We have cleared excess willow growth to maintain open woodland and created dead hedges to maintain boundaries and create habitats.
Bridge Farm, Snitterby
A privately-owned 37-acre farm, where we have coppiced blackthorn, planted new hedges, laid hedges and built dead hedges, to manage field boundaries and provide havens for wildlife.
Chambers Farm Wood, near Wragby
A part of the Bardney Limewoods SSSI/NNR, managed by Forestry England. A lovely place to visit and walk. Over the years we have coppiced blackthorn hedges to improve food and breeding sites for the Brown Hairstreak butterfly. We have also worked in the butterfly garden, including clearing planting beds and restocking with butterfly friendly plants, hedge laying and building a leafmould bin.
Coastal ECO Centre, Skegness
The Centre provides opportunities for communities and groups to get involved in a variety of outdoor activities, and the site includes a pond, grassland and woodland. Our work here has included building an insect hotel, creating dead hedges and cutting back scrub.
Gibraltar Point NNR/SSSI
A Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Reserve with an extensive range of sand dunes and salt marshes, and renowned for its bird life. It is home to one of the earliest of the 19 official Bird Observatories set up in Britain.
Hillside Community Gardens
A 2.5 acre community garden in uphill Lincoln, near the hospital, that is managed by Green Synergy. It has a lawn area, allotments, raised beds, large vegetable plots and fruit plants. We helped with the work in the early days of the garden, and have cleared, weeded, planted and pruned.
Langford Lowfields, near Collingham
A lovely RSPB reserve that is a wetland habitat on a large scale, with mature woodlands and meadows too. In partnership with Tarmac Quarry, the RSPB is creating the biggest reedbed in the East Midlands, and we have planted a lot of reeds to help with that ambition!
North Hykeham Millennium Green
A precious little reserve in the popular residential area of North Hykeham, near Lincoln. A walk round the lake is just a mile. During various visits we have removed tree guards from the trees planted in 2000-2001, helped with the management of the growing areas of woodland, built a dead hedge and laid part of a boundary hedge,
Saltfleetby Theddlethorpe NNR/SSSI
We have visited this reserve, managed mainly by Natural England but with parts managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, several times. It is an important dune habitat and a great place to enjoy the wonderful Lincolnshire coast and its wide-open skies. We have dug a pond, cut back scrub, cut down encroaching willow, and helped to clear footpaths. We've also helped out with Beach Watch to clear debris from the beaches.
Tunman Wood
A Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust site that has existed as woodland since at least 1774. Lovely bluebells in the spring, as well as lots of other woodland edge wild flower species. Our work usually involves coppicing as part of ongoing woodland management to maintain open habitats for the plants and wildlife that thrive in this wood.
Woodhall Spa Airfield
Once the home of RAF squadrons In WW2, this site was more recently a sand and gravel quarry, but now is managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. It has acid grassland, heathland, some marsh areas and open water, as well as buildings that have survived since the War. An unusual and atmospheric reserve, because of its history. We have helped with summer maintenance of putting wood preservative on fences by the path to a viewing area and for a winter task we removed scrub from a reedbank area and painted railings in one of the barns.
Sites where we have worked in the past …
Boultham Moor Wood
Removing some young sycamore trees to favour native species.
Frampton Marsh
Planting up blocks of reeds in a low-lying wet area created from farmland, to provide a habitat for bitterns, bearded tits and reed warblers. There are 'islands' of higher ground covered in flowers for bees, butterflies and other insects.
Kirkstead Mill
A private reserve, we've cleared scrub, created new pathways and planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs, but it's probably the delicious refreshments and warm welcome provided by the owner of this site that ensured the success of these tasks.
Lincolnshire Limestone Grassland Project - Life on the Verge
Life on the Verge, the largest wild flower survey of Britain's roadside verges, aimed to identify the most important roadside verges for limestone grassland wild flowers and wildlife in South-West Lincolnshire, North-East Rutland and East Leicestershire. We scattered green hay on verges within the project areas, to increase the wild flower populations.
Moor Closes
An important grassland site where we have helped with orchid counts to monitor the population of early marsh orchids, and also with ragwort pulling.
Skellingthorpe Wood
Coppicing in this ancient woodland and clearing the bridlepaths to maintain access.
Skellingthorpe Cycle Track
Part of the National Cycle Network. Coppicing willows alongside ditches and ponds.
Southrey Wood, near Bardney
Managed by Butterfly Conservation, and also part of the Bardney Limewoods NNR, we coppice hazel to generate new young growth to improve habitats for the local butterfly population.
Tortoiseshell Wood
Hay raking to scatter the wildflower seeds
AND AWAY
In the past we have had away weekends to enjoy nature conservation further afield, for example, Yorkshire, Norfolk or Derbyshire. Accommodation varied, depending on what the host organisation had to offer - village halls, youth hostels, bunk barns, etc. Since the Covid pandemic, a number of bunk barns have changed use and it has become harder to find accommodation, so we haven’t had any away weekends for some time, but we hope to organise something before too long.
Over the years, places we have visited for away weekends include:
Clumber Park: a National Trust site
North York Moors National Park: various sites, including the Dalby Forest, improving the habitat for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly.
Peak District, Derbyshire: usually based at the Peak Park Centre at Grindleford and working at different sites around the National Park - dry stone walling, clearing scrub, keeping footpaths clear.
Spurn Point National Nature Reserve: creating fences to encourage dune development, managing the sea buckthorn (an important food source and protection for migrating birds)
Tittesworth Reservoir, Staffordshire (in the Peak District National Park) – staying at a local volunteers’ centre and constructing a post and rail fence.
NNR = National Nature Reserve
SSSI = Site of Special Scientific Interest
See the Natural England website www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england for more information about LNRs, NNRs and SSSIs.
We usually undertake 25 workdays a year. We like to return to some sites regularly, so that we have the reward of seeing how our work is benefiting the plants and wildlife, but we also like variety in types of site and location, and we are much in demand, so there are quite a few sites that we only have time to visit occasionally.
HOME
Sites we visit regularly
Ashing Lane
Ashing Lane Nature Reserve is made up of areas of woodland and meadows of different ages, created by volunteers on what was once agricultural land. Watts Wood and Pickerings Meadow came first, in the 1990s, on land donated to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust (LWT). In 2009, a charity bought adjacent land for LWT to create new meadows and also Monks Wood, managed by Nettleham Woodland Trust (NWT). The final area was purchased by Lincolnshire Cooperative Ltd in 2012, to celebrate its 150th anniversary. It has since been planted and managed by NWT.
We planted some of the original trees in the new Monks Wood and now return each year to help NWT with ongoing maintenance of the whole reserve – managing the growing woodland, cutting back shrubs to keep paths clear, spreading woodchip on paths, putting wood stain on benches etc. We are always amazed at how much the trees we planted in Monks Wood have grown. This is a lovely reserve with varied habitats, including a pond and a lake.
Boultham Mere
An oasis of calm, just minutes away from the centre of Lincoln, with a lake, reed beds, and mature shrubs and trees. The reserve attracts breeding birds and overwintering wildfowl. During our visits we have cleared scrub, cut back encroaching willow, helped to maintain access steps, and kept pathways clear.
Cross O'Cliff Hill Orchard LNR, Lincoln
This traditional Lincolnshire pear and apple orchard is a Local Nature Reserve managed by Lincolnshire County Council and a small number of local volunteers. We've helped with hedge laying to improve boundaries, with scrub clearance to maintain an open habitat for the trees, and with the planting of traditional fruit trees to preserve this interesting orchard.
Fiskerton Fen
This nature reserve was created on a site previously used to extract clay to reinforce river banks. It is owned by the Environment Agency and managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. We have planted trees and bushes, restored part of a woven willow screen near the bird hide, cut back areas of scrub to maintain the variety of plants and habitats, trimmed branches and scythed grass to keep paths clear and cut back the hedge by the car park fence, repaired the fence and treated it with wood stain.
Hartsholme Country Park & Swanholme Lakes LNR/SSSI
Managed by the City of Lincoln Council, this is the best park in Lincoln! Over many years we’ve helped rebuild Black Bridge, created hidden glades in the woods, built a seat overlooking one of the lakes, restored areas of heathland, relaid paths, protected the banks of Hartsholme Lake with natural, living willow fencing and laid hedges. Swanholme Lakes is an important environment for aquatic plant life.
Liquorice Park Millennium Green, Lincoln
Once an orchard and meadow, with some allotments, this community space in Lincoln has fantastic views over the city. It features an orchard, grassland, scrub (including patches of blackberries), an arena and new community garden, all just a few steps from the historic city centre. Our work here has included tree planting, hedge laying, building a dead hedge and cutting back scrub near paths, to maintain a variety of habitats.
Rauceby Warren, near Sleaford
We have had several workdays helping to rebuild the dry stone wall which protects this Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve from the busy road (and the many cars which attempt to drive off the road!). We have cleared scrub to maintain the open grassland and pulled ragwort at this site and the nearby SSSI reserves of Moor Closes and Ancaster Valley, in parts of the reserves that will be grazed.
Scotgrove Wood, near Bardney
This wood of small-leaved lime, a Lincolnshire speciality, is part of the Bardney Limewoods NNR. The Limewood sites have been high forest or managed as coppice since at least the 11th century. We visit regularly to cut back scrub and to coppice trees to open out the main ride and to provide habitat variety.
Snakeholme Pit, near Bardney
A Butterfly Conservation managed nature reserve with a meadow, pond and areas of scrub. We've built steps here but a regular summer task is to rake up the cut hay once the wildflower seeds have dispersed so that the flower-rich meadow improves every year.
Thurlby Wood
A privately owned wood near Gainsborough where we have helped to coppice large areas of hazel to open up the woodland floor and improve habitats for all the wildlife; we've also planted some trees. Our work at this site also raises much-appreciated funds for the Group.
Whisby Nature Park, near Lincoln
A large reserve owned and managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. This LNR has a rich mosaic of wetland wildlife habitats, restored from old gravel workings. Our work here has included reclaiming grassland from encroaching willow scrub, tree planting, maintaining the footpaths on the site, reprofiling islands in the lake to improve them for nesting waterbirds, and cutting back scrub to improve habitat for nightingales.
Sites we visit less often
Ancaster Valley
A stee-sided valley of limestone grassland, scrub and woodland, owned by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. It is apparently one of the finest sites for limestone flowers in the country. We’ve helped to clear and control encroaching scrub to maintain this open flower-rich grassland.
Birchwood Nature Park
A small reserve of grassland, woodland and a pond at the edge of Lincoln, owned by City of Lincoln Council. We have cleared excess willow growth to maintain open woodland and created dead hedges to maintain boundaries and create habitats.
Bridge Farm, Snitterby
A privately-owned 37-acre farm, where we have coppiced blackthorn, planted new hedges, laid hedges and built dead hedges, to manage field boundaries and provide havens for wildlife.
Chambers Farm Wood, near Wragby
A part of the Bardney Limewoods SSSI/NNR, managed by Forestry England. A lovely place to visit and walk. Over the years we have coppiced blackthorn hedges to improve food and breeding sites for the Brown Hairstreak butterfly. We have also worked in the butterfly garden, including clearing planting beds and restocking with butterfly friendly plants, hedge laying and building a leafmould bin.
Coastal ECO Centre, Skegness
The Centre provides opportunities for communities and groups to get involved in a variety of outdoor activities, and the site includes a pond, grassland and woodland. Our work here has included building an insect hotel, creating dead hedges and cutting back scrub.
Gibraltar Point NNR/SSSI
A Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust Reserve with an extensive range of sand dunes and salt marshes, and renowned for its bird life. It is home to one of the earliest of the 19 official Bird Observatories set up in Britain.
Hillside Community Gardens
A 2.5 acre community garden in uphill Lincoln, near the hospital, that is managed by Green Synergy. It has a lawn area, allotments, raised beds, large vegetable plots and fruit plants. We helped with the work in the early days of the garden, and have cleared, weeded, planted and pruned.
Langford Lowfields, near Collingham
A lovely RSPB reserve that is a wetland habitat on a large scale, with mature woodlands and meadows too. In partnership with Tarmac Quarry, the RSPB is creating the biggest reedbed in the East Midlands, and we have planted a lot of reeds to help with that ambition!
North Hykeham Millennium Green
A precious little reserve in the popular residential area of North Hykeham, near Lincoln. A walk round the lake is just a mile. During various visits we have removed tree guards from the trees planted in 2000-2001, helped with the management of the growing areas of woodland, built a dead hedge and laid part of a boundary hedge,
Saltfleetby Theddlethorpe NNR/SSSI
We have visited this reserve, managed mainly by Natural England but with parts managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, several times. It is an important dune habitat and a great place to enjoy the wonderful Lincolnshire coast and its wide-open skies. We have dug a pond, cut back scrub, cut down encroaching willow, and helped to clear footpaths. We've also helped out with Beach Watch to clear debris from the beaches.
Tunman Wood
A Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust site that has existed as woodland since at least 1774. Lovely bluebells in the spring, as well as lots of other woodland edge wild flower species. Our work usually involves coppicing as part of ongoing woodland management to maintain open habitats for the plants and wildlife that thrive in this wood.
Woodhall Spa Airfield
Once the home of RAF squadrons In WW2, this site was more recently a sand and gravel quarry, but now is managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. It has acid grassland, heathland, some marsh areas and open water, as well as buildings that have survived since the War. An unusual and atmospheric reserve, because of its history. We have helped with summer maintenance of putting wood preservative on fences by the path to a viewing area and for a winter task we removed scrub from a reedbank area and painted railings in one of the barns.
Sites where we have worked in the past …
Boultham Moor Wood
Removing some young sycamore trees to favour native species.
Frampton Marsh
Planting up blocks of reeds in a low-lying wet area created from farmland, to provide a habitat for bitterns, bearded tits and reed warblers. There are 'islands' of higher ground covered in flowers for bees, butterflies and other insects.
Kirkstead Mill
A private reserve, we've cleared scrub, created new pathways and planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs, but it's probably the delicious refreshments and warm welcome provided by the owner of this site that ensured the success of these tasks.
Lincolnshire Limestone Grassland Project - Life on the Verge
Life on the Verge, the largest wild flower survey of Britain's roadside verges, aimed to identify the most important roadside verges for limestone grassland wild flowers and wildlife in South-West Lincolnshire, North-East Rutland and East Leicestershire. We scattered green hay on verges within the project areas, to increase the wild flower populations.
Moor Closes
An important grassland site where we have helped with orchid counts to monitor the population of early marsh orchids, and also with ragwort pulling.
Skellingthorpe Wood
Coppicing in this ancient woodland and clearing the bridlepaths to maintain access.
Skellingthorpe Cycle Track
Part of the National Cycle Network. Coppicing willows alongside ditches and ponds.
Southrey Wood, near Bardney
Managed by Butterfly Conservation, and also part of the Bardney Limewoods NNR, we coppice hazel to generate new young growth to improve habitats for the local butterfly population.
Tortoiseshell Wood
Hay raking to scatter the wildflower seeds
AND AWAY
In the past we have had away weekends to enjoy nature conservation further afield, for example, Yorkshire, Norfolk or Derbyshire. Accommodation varied, depending on what the host organisation had to offer - village halls, youth hostels, bunk barns, etc. Since the Covid pandemic, a number of bunk barns have changed use and it has become harder to find accommodation, so we haven’t had any away weekends for some time, but we hope to organise something before too long.
Over the years, places we have visited for away weekends include:
Clumber Park: a National Trust site
North York Moors National Park: various sites, including the Dalby Forest, improving the habitat for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly.
Peak District, Derbyshire: usually based at the Peak Park Centre at Grindleford and working at different sites around the National Park - dry stone walling, clearing scrub, keeping footpaths clear.
Spurn Point National Nature Reserve: creating fences to encourage dune development, managing the sea buckthorn (an important food source and protection for migrating birds)
Tittesworth Reservoir, Staffordshire (in the Peak District National Park) – staying at a local volunteers’ centre and constructing a post and rail fence.