Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve

Lower Moss Wood offers a unique environment to study virtually any subject on the schools' curriculum. All over the country children are becoming more environmentally aware. We are all concerned about the rain forest and the ozone layer and the advantages of recycling and other world-wide issues, but whilst everybody is striving to save the planet the things that are on our own doorstep are being overlooked.

The reserve is managed in such a way as to encourage a wide variety of flora and fauna, and as a result Lower Moss Wood is teeming with wildlife and offers many different habitats to study. From a geological point of view the Wood has a variety of soil types and a varying water table which makes it an ideal location for studying soil formation. From a biological point of view our two ponds, drainage ditch and peat bog provide a wonderful opportunity for pH testing and studying a variety of species as well as food chains and plant community studies.

There is a half-mile circular path that meanders through the Wood, enabling many interesting observations without destruction of precious habitats. There are a number of vantage points to view the ponds, and hides overlook the peat bog and a wooded glade. At the start of the walk we have a classroom which is heated and serves as a study room and a refuge during inclement weather.

A trail around the perimeter of the Wood reaches out into the surrounding farmland, giving scope to study how farming and conservation can work side by side. Over the years farming methods have changed and the demand for bigger yields from existing fields has grown along with the machinery. Many farmers removed hedges to accommodate their needs, but evidence of the old field boundaries can sometimes be seen where trees that used to stand in the hedgerows still remain. With everything taken into account, you can develop an understanding of modern-day farming and how, through the course of history, we have changed the landscape.