Waresley & Gransden Woods

Welcome to waresleywood.co.uk, a website dedicated to providing information on all topics relating to the Waresley and Gransden Woods reserves of The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

News - 17/02/2025

Due to the constantly rainy weather, the paths in the woods are very muddy, water-logged and slippery and really best avoided until the sun appears again. Visitors who enter the woods should take care, wear sturdy footwear and keep to the middle of paths.

One of the paths in the wood still remains temporarily closed until the ground dries enough for the removal of ruts along it. This closure means that the first section of the re-profiled "main ride" has become a cul de sac, without exit. The second, newly profiled ride section will remain closed for two years to allow the ground to resettle and re-vegetate.

Sunday work parties are running once a fortnight to the end of March. If you'd like to join us, contact me using the form on the About page. View the Conservation Work web page for more details of the work we carry out.

14/02/2025 - the female flowers of hazel are not easy to spot. After a bit of searching I managed to find one right by the ride. Next task was to get a clear, in-focus photograph! Result wasn't too bad, but I'll try to get greater magnification next time. To find out what we've seen throughout the year, visit my Sightings page here.

14/02/2025 - layering is a method whereby new hazel trees can be grown from existing ones. Selected poles are cut, bent over and buried in the ground, leaving a "growing tip" to hopefully root and grow independently. Providing some bark coverage is retained when cutting, the pole will continue to grow.

09/02/2025 - on February 11th 2024 we spotted early purple orchid rosettes in the wood so today was the ideal opportunity to search for them this year. As the pic shows, we found a tiny one!

09/02/2025 - today's work party was spent clearing bramble and coppicing hazel in the wood's meadow. In recent years the vegetation along the field boundary has been left to grow unchecked. To try and limit the spread of bramble into the meadow, trees and bramble here will be cut back to the field ditch.