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Holt Hall

Holt Hall is a field studies centre operated by Norfolk County Council which gives school groups from across the county the chance to get hands-on with nature. It has beautiful extensive grounds including lakes, woodland and campsites. There is even a ruined Victorian boathouse, and there lots of ghost stories as well. Visiting children must think they have arrived at Hogwarts! However the biggest menace in the woods from our point of view is the dreaded Rhododendron...

Click here for more about the oak pictured above

The Old Pit

Volunteers from North Norfolk District Council’s Workout Project were hard at work this winter, chopping back invasive scrub at this small site. A group from Norfolk County Council’s Holt Day Services attended regularly and were amongst the most active helpers. John Orris from the centre (based at Charles Road) said, “We really like the way our service users are integrated with the rest of the volunteers, and they really like coming out to make a positive difference to wildlife and green spaces.”

Even when snow was on the ground, at least 15 people turned out to clear away willow and bramble from the areas where orchids were growing before scrub took over.

In June our group returned to the site to see the results of their work and were rewarded by the site of thousands of common spotted orchids in flower. We estimated 24,000 common spotted orchids were present, along with 70 bee orchids. This picture shows one little corner of the site!

Fakenham Railway Cutting

An old abandonned railway passes right through Fakenham - and it has become a haven for wildlife. Part of the site (from Greenway Lane southwards to Holt Road) is publicly owned and can be walked along, although you will need a good head for heights as the access point at Holt Road has very steep steps.

Our group spent an afternoon surbeying the site for wildlife 'assets' and reported back to the Town Council, who are working with the County Ecologist to come up with a management plan.

We will now be working there early in 2011 to improve the footpath so that people can see their way through to the orther end. We also hope to install bird and bat boxes to provide extra shelter for wildlife using the site and surrounding gardens.

Holt Country Park

Our regular Monday afternoon at Holt Country Park has included cutting back the invasive Rhododendron plants which have been encroaching on the park, and managing woodland rides to allow space for native woodland flowers. We have been helped enormously here by a group of around 12 people from Holt Day Services, who have attended every week and worked really hard to help us tackle the invasive species. Already you can see the difference we have made here, and the Countryside Ranger certainly appreciates the way we have begun to tackle these jobs.

A survey of vegetation along a short stretch of one of the woodland rides showed that there is a lot more to the site than meets the eye.

Plantlife included:

Red campion, ground ivy, honeysuckle, herb robert, wood avens, chickweed, speedwell, goosegrass, dog rose, dandelion, rosebay willowherb, cow parsley, raspberry, clover, wild geranium, hogweed, bramble, thistle, nettle, buttercup, dock, plantain, lords &ladies, st. John's wort, holly and restharrow!

Over 25 species of flowering plant within a few metres makes this ideal habitat for butterflies and other insects, and we have been working hard to keep this diversity high, as this picture shows: we are using shears and slashers to keep rank vegetation in check and give the smaller wildflowers access to light.

See below for a bit of a giggle from our volunteers as they clear rhododendrons:

Thursford Woods

We really enjoyed a 'mystery tour' of sites around Fakenham, but especially the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Thursford Woods reserve, which is right on the A148 main road.

We found a little graveyard lost in the undergrowth, and this lovely pond which was certainly popular with the frogs and dragonflies.We hope to be wroking there this winter, and the Trust also hopes to aquire another stretch of woodland nearby for ourtdoor education.

Holt Lowes

We were lucky to have local expert Tony Leech show us around The Lowes Nature Reserve adjacent to Holt Country Park - many thanks.

We found planst such as milkwort, violet, red campion, tormentil, field woodrush, lady's smock, marsh valerian and even the rare insect-eating sundew! other sightings on the day included conifer conecap mushroom, tiger beetle, whitethroat, and the oak marble gall - a sign of an attack on the tree by a small parasitic insect.

Spout Hills and the old railway line

Walking from Spout Hills common to the old railway line in May certainly turned up some curiosities - from a pond that was relandscaped for an "It's a knockout" competition in the 1970s, to a victorian lime kiln (pictured).

We were especially pleased to see a good population of meadow saxifrage on a sunny bank, as this plant is so rare in the widre countryside that it is mainly found in churchyards. We also saw a caprinus mushroom, bogbean, corn salad, twayblade and a holly blue butterfly.

You can see more pictures of animals and plants we found at our wildlife guide page.