WORCESTERSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST
[South Midlands]
Nearest Town: Worcester (6 miles)
OS Map: SO 751 522 (Landranger 150 and Explorer 204)
A corner of old England nestling in the Leigh Brook Valley - 27 hectares (67 acres) of old valley meadows, woodland and orchard. The reserve has a small (unstaffed) information centre and marked trails.
Location and access: About 7 miles (11 km) west of Worcester. From Worcester, follow the A4103 Hereford road. Turn right at the small roundabout at Bransford, then left along the Bransford to Smith End Green & Alfrick Pound road. Park in the lay-by on the right before Bridge's Stone bridge. There is a disabled parking space on the left at the entrance to the reserve.
The reserve is open at all times. Trail leaflets are available from the small information centre at the front of the warden’s house and there is a toilet here.
Picnic benches are provided at the entrance to the reserve for visitors use. Picnics are not permitted elsewhere. Please keep dogs on leads at all times. Paths can be uneven and steep.
Donations welcomed.
Group visits by arrangement through the wardens - tel 01886 832065
Nearest station – Worcester (6 miles)
Nearest Bus – Alfrick Pound (50 yards)
Features:
| otters have returned |
| wild flowers |
| birdlife |
| over 30 species of butterfly |
You enter the reserve through an apple orchard with old lichen-encrusted trees which attract nuthatches and green woodpeckers. In autumn and early winter butterflies such as red admiral and peacock, or birds such as redwing and fieldfare, feast on the fallen fruit. In one corner of the meadow is a small observation area that overlooks a bank where kingfishers nest each year.
The centrepiece of the reserve is the Leigh Brook itself, which has cut a winding valley with steep woodlands and rich meadows. Look out for grey wagtails or even dippers on the brook. In winter the brook-side alders are good places to see flocks of long-tailed tits and siskins. Dragonflies and damselflies thrive here in spring and summer and otters have returned in recent years
There are three meadows, each rather different. Big Meadow is a hay meadow, with flowers such as knapweed, ox-eye daisy and yellow rattle together with a scattering of green winged and spotted orchids.
Papermill Meadow is an old pasture on slightly more acid soil. This is a favourite hunting ground for buzzards which breed in the valley and can normally be seen circling over the reserve. Tor Meadow is a small hay meadow with orchids and cowslip.
Butterflies frequent all three meadows; more than 30 species have been recorded including common and holly blue, brimstone, purple hairstreak and white admiral. Each meadow is maintained by a particular regime of hay cutting and/or grazing.
Woodland occupies about half the reserve. On the steeper slopes and in patches by the brook, the trees were coppiced until 50 years ago. Coppicing has been resumed to encourage the marvellous carpet of bluebell and other wild flowers such as yellow archangel, stitchwort and wild garlic. Wild service tree grows in profusion here and both native species of lime occur amongst the predominant oaks and hazels. Dormice are being encouraged through the provision of special nest boxes, as are many species of bird including pied flycatcher. The woods are rich in fungi.
Originally The Knapp reserve consisted of 6 hectares of orchard and woodland, donated to the Trust by Hugh and Shifa Doncaster in 1968. Since then the Trust has been able to acquire further blocks of land with financial support from other conservation bodies and from Christopher Cadbury.
There is also a leaflet, ‘Wildlife and Landscape trail’, which links the Knapp, Crews Hill and Ravenshill reserves. You can download this from our Activities page.
More Information:
There are numerous public footpaths accessible from our reserve but please be aware that some of these routes have stiles.