LOUTH AREA GROUP FIELD TRIP SATURDAY 25 JULY 2015

WILLOW TREE FEN - NEAR TO SPALDING AND 51 MILES FROM LOUTH

Willow Tree Fen has been transformed from arable land to a more traditional fenland landscape of shallow meres, seasonally flooded pastures, hay meadows and reed beds. There will be a host of birds and a good array of wild flowers and if we have a sunny day we should see butterflies

We will meet at 11.00 pm on Saturday 25 July at the car park adjacent to the main entrance to this recently opened LWT site. John Oliver the S E Lincs Warden will take us round the reserve and his tour will last about a couple of hours.

The main path around the site is a hard surface farm track whilst the other paths are mown grass. There are toilets at the car park but no refreshment facilities so it may be a good idea to take a packed lunch and certainly something to drink.

I have taken the instructions, shown below, from the LWT website.

Willow Tree Fen is situated between Baston and Spalding on the road that connects the small hamlets of Tongue End and Pode Hole. The reserve can be seen on the north side of the road, midway between the two hamlets. The entrance is opposite Bank House Farm, from here take the small bridge over the Counter Drain and follow the track down to the buildings. There is a small car park. Please scroll down to see the Google Map. The grid reference is TF181213.

Do not follow your Satnav to get to the nature reserve – it will take you down a very rough track. There is no access to the northern part of Willow Tree Fen from the A151 or West Pinchbeck.

NOW FOR SOMETHING ELSE

·         I hope that by now you will have seen the summer copy of LWT Lapwings magazine together with the LAG newsletter.

·         The newsletter contains one or two suggestions that you may care to follow during the school holidays. I have just read of another activity which could be very interesting and useful for all ages. This is the Big Butterfly Count, a project designed to locate and plot the density of the many beautiful lepidopterans that we have in the UK. Just go to bigbutterflycount.org for all the details. You could concentrate on the buddleias in your garden or the stinging nettles in the local hedgerow or spread your scope to any place that you visit.

 Ray.