WORCESTERSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST
[South Midlands]
Nearest Town: Bromsgrove (4 miles)
OS Map: SO 960 649 (Landranger 150 and Explorer 204)
A unique, 15.5 hectare (39 acre) wood pasture, which contains some of the oldest trees in the county.
It is also known as Hanbury Woods.
Location and access: The wood lies on both sides of the B4091 leading south-east from Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove (A38) to Hanbury, about 2 miles north of Hanbury village. There is a car park at the northern end of the reserve, from where numerous paths allow access to the woods. The reserve is open at all times. Dogs allowed on leads.
Nearest station – Bromsgrove (4 miles)
Nearest Bus – Piper’s Hill (0 miles)
Features:
| ancient trees |
| woodland birds |
| over 200 species of fungi |
| dragonflies |
Woodlands have been grazed to create wood pasture since at least the Middle Ages a practice that is often associated with old commons, where the owner granted rights to commoners that allowed grazing by cattle, sheep, and pigs. Often trees were planted and protected to grow large timber as few self-set saplings were able to survive the grazing, giving rise to old, widely spaced trees with a grassy woodland floor with few shrubs – something between woodland and parkland.
The trees were often pollarded (branches harvested for small timber, cut at head height or above, out of the reach of grazing animals), and allowed to re-grow. The oldest trees on the common are several hundred years old, and many bear the signs of pollarding. This helped them to survive because they were of little timber value, and pollards are among the oldest trees we have in this country.
Many are ancient beech and sweet chestnut pollards together with big oaks, believed to be 300-400 years old, with spreading crowns typical of trees which have grown in open conditions.
These ancient trees are of course ripe for fungi and more than 200 species have been found. Associated with beech, the chanterelle mushroom with its elegant shape and frilled edge, is only found in the wild - efforts to cultivate chanterelles have never proved successful. They have a characteristic slightly spicy flavour and the aroma is fruity - like fresh apricots. The beefsteak fungus looks and tastes remarkably like beefsteak. It is pink inside, gelatinous and marbled, like steak and when young, it even bleeds a reddish juice when cut. As it ages, the colour fades to reddish-brown and the flesh dries out. The bracket fungus, which especially favours oak, is also common here and can grow to 10 centimetres in diameter perpendicular to the trunk.
All three species of woodpecker are attracted by the old trees,as well as tits and nuthatches. The old fish pond at the edge of the wood is inhabited by a variety of freshwater invertebrates and is worth visiting.
In the last century or so, grazing on the commons reduced substantially, allowing saplings to fill the spaces between the old trees, and the pasture has been lost. Although the wood is not rich in flowers, uncommon species such as bird's-nest orchid can be found.
Over the last decade the Trust has carried out some very careful selective thinning around many of the veterans which are under threat from overcrowding and shading by stands of younger beech trees. Much of the felled timber has been left on the ground to provide habitat for invertebrates and fungi.
More Information:
Fallen branches and trees are deliberately left on the ground on the reserve. These form essential habitats for important and extensive communities of special fungi and insects.
Please do not remove any fallen wood from the reserve.