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 - 04/12/2024

One of the paths in the wood still remains temporarily closed until the ground dries enough for rut removal 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 now running once a fortnight, for the 2024-25 conservation season. If you're interested in joining 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.

04/12/2024 - today I joined the Trust's reserves and wilder countryside teams for a session of tree planting in the wood. Between us we managed to plant 350 new saplings in a couple of the recently felled areas. Planting will continue into next week.

01/12/2024 - despite the intermittant rain, a good start was made on the coppicing of the new glade-side section on today's work party. Many of the hazel found here were cleared, revealing a number of aspen trees. These will be felled in January to let more light onto the woodland floor in this section.

01/12/2024 - the Candlesnuff fungus is a common fungus that can be seen in woodland at this time of year. Its fruiting bodies are erect, stick like or forked, black and hairy at the base and powdery white at the tip. Usually found growing on dead or rotting wood.

17/11/2024 - as you can see, the volunteers on today's conservation party have made short work of the remaining hazel in the coppice section. Just a few larger trees and hazel stumps remain, these I'll remove with a chainsaw shortly. On the next session we'll start clearing a new section in the glade.