RESERVE FACT SHEET

KEYWORTH MEADOW CONSERVATION AREA.

SIZE: 1 1/4 hectares. ................................................................ Click here for Site Map

Keyworth Meadow Nature Reserve Web Site .........................Click for Keyworth Meadow Article

STATUS: Keyworth Meadow was acquired by the Parish Council early in 1988, from Mr. Roger Twidale, who exchanged it for an area of land, owned by the Parish Council ,known as the, "Stone Pits."

ACCESS: Access to the conservation area is by walking down Main Street and virtually the entire length of Lings Lane. Seven-eigths the way down Lings Lane is a gate and stile on the right, this is the entrance to the conservation area. Please keep to the prepared footpaths in the area, straying from them can and will cause damage to the plants, and other habitats.

Will those people using the area, please park their cars in the village and not take them down Lings Lane. The nearest car parks are behind Gateway Super-market, and next to the Village Hall. Please carry a notebook and Pencil, so as to record any flora and fauna species found in the area, even if the species is common or on a published list

DESCRIPTION: The conservation area is the remnant of a once much larger Elite site, most of which is now arable. The conservation area consists of a good, damp neutral Grassland, an ox-bow pond, that still has a little open water but is succeeding to scrub, with some excellent standard Ash and Crack willow to 14m (there are also three further ponds in the area). The whole area forms the flood plain of Fairham Brook.

The areas flora contains six notable and special species (Pignut and Burnet Saxifrage are two of those species). To date over 60 species of flora have been identified in the area (a full list of all species of flora and fauna that are in the conservation area, are contained within the booklet).

The fauna in the area includes the Pygmy Shrew, Bank vole, Willow warbler and Moorhen. Regular visitors include the Grey heron, Fox, Tawny owl and Hare. Great-crested newts and Common frogs spawn in the area's ponds, which are also breeding ponds for such species as the Dragonfly and Damselfly. The ponds also contain many other various forms of aquatic insect life.

Butterflies in the area include the Peacock, Ringlet, Small Skipper and Gatekeeper.

People using the area, are requested not to pick or remove any plant, nor remove any eggs, spawn or movable habitat from the area. If you do, your actions may be a prosecuting offence under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.

CONTACT: John Towle, The Village Hall, Elm Avenue, Keyworth, Notts. Telephone Plumtree 2185 (Clerk to the Council).