SUTTON BONNINGTON MEADOW AND SPINNEY

Five hectares of meadow land between Main Street and the River Soar were acquired by the Parish Council in 1980, and in 1991, a 3000 sq mtr spinney was planted in the centre of the site. The woodland was allowed to develop with little professional management until it was surveyed in 1993 by Dr Peter Anderson and some of his students from Nottingham university. This group came up with a proposed management plan for the area, which was passed to the parish council for consideration. Approaches were made to Rural Action and to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme to help fund the management proposals.

In 1995, Phase I of the development scheme got under way, with funding from Rural Action. Volunteers worked to fence the woodland and meadow, plant extra trees, create woodchip paths and undertake other maintenance tasks. In 1997, Phase 2 work focused on the meadow, ponds and hedgerows, leading to the development of a nature reserve with educational access under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

Initially, work at the Spinney and Meadow was undertaken by a small group of parish councillors, together with Dr. Anderson. However, following an article in the village newsletter, a Support Group has been set up, which meets monthly to discuss management of the area and the work has been divided into different sectors - management and advice, interpretation boards. fencing and hedge maintenance, pond creation, education pack, paths and seats, wildlife and wildflower survey. In 2002 the site became the third reserve in south Notts to be given Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status.

For information about the Spinney and Meadow Nature Reserve, contact Mr Bradley, clerk to Sutton Bonington Parish Council, on 0115 983 0318.

(extract from a report on an RA21 visit in RA21 Newsletter)

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