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 - 24/08/2024

This week sees the start of a series of forestry operations occurring in the woods. Due to these operations, Waresley and Gransden woods will be closed to the public from August 21st for 6 to 8 weeks. Brownes' Pieces will remain open. Further details on the closure can be found on the Trust's website here.

Conservation work parties will be starting for the 2024-25 conservation season on the 8th September. 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.

21/08/2024 - work has started to re-profile the remainder of the main ride. This section of the ride will be widened and a cambered top created, which will then gradually slope into a ditch to collect water. This work will match that undertaken in 2021 when the first part of the main ride was re-profiled. The ride will remain closed while the work continues and for a lengthy period afterwards to allow the ground to resettle and vegetation to regenerate.

21/08/2024 - the slats and handrail on the bridge across Waresley Dean brook (the one furthest from the main entrance) have now been repaired. A big shout-out to Simon and the reserves team for their work in making this bridge safer to use.

06/08/2024 - as mentioned in the update below, the rides and glade within the woods have now been mown. The ride sections left uncut last year have been cut this year. I helped the WT reserves team brushcut the ride edge and ditch too! The main ride (pictured) was completely cut in readiness for the re-profiling work that will be starting soon.

25/07/2024 - the rides in Brownes' Pieces have now been mown as part of the annual cycle of maintenance. In the coming weeks the rides within the woods will be cut as well, a prelude to the conservation season that will open in September.