Broadway Gravel Pit

Broadway Gravel Pit by Richard Kenyon

Broadway Gravel Pit by Richard Kenyon

Broadway Gravel Pit

1.6ha
No dogs
1 hide
Volunteer Group
Plenty of plants, birds and mammals have colonised this seasonally-flooded former gravel pit.

Location

1/4 mile west of Broadway on Childswickham Road
Broadway
Worcestershire
WR12 7NT
A static map of Broadway Gravel Pit

Know before you go

Size
2 hectares
P

Parking information

There is no parking on-site

Walking trails

The Wychavon Way runs within 100m of the reserve.

Access

Keep to marked paths and steps; paths will be muddy and slippery when wet, take care as pools are deep.

Dogs

No dogs permitted

When to visit

Opening times

Dawn to dusk.

Best time to visit

All year round

About the reserve

This seasonally-flooded gravel pit features open water, scrub and carr woodland and it's worth a visit at any time of year.  In spring visitors can hear chiffchaffs, cuckoos, bullfinches and yellowhammers.  Visit in summer and keep a look out for treecreepers, blackcaps and mixed tit and warbler flocks foraging in the trees.  Mallards, moorhens and coots breed here and visiting birds include snipe and mute swans.  Visit in autumn for whitethroats, marsh tits and robins before returning in winter for flocks of long-tailed tits.

Dragonflies and damselflies inhabit the open water where levels fluctuate depending on the season (may be dry in summer).  More than 160 plants have been recorded across the site - mare’s-tail (uncommon in Worcestershire) can be seen throughout June and August.  Sharp-flowered rush, creeping bent and water speedwell can also be found. There are five species of willow on the reserve (white, grey, crack, goat and osier), which support a wide range of insects.  Over 150 species of moth are known to feed on the foliage where aphids, leaf beetles, weevils, sawflies and gall wasps can also be spotted.  The willows also provide nesting sites for several species of bird.

The reserve is owned by Wychavon District Council but managed by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

Contact us

Tomos Holloway
Contact number: 01905 754919

Environmental designation

Local Wildlife Site (LWS)

Location map