PAGE 42 • FESTIVE NEWS • DECEMBER 2016
HEREFORD’S SPECIAL HAVENS
Hereford, a small rural city surrounded
by stunning countryside is doubly
blessed by having two wildlife havens
within its boundaries - the relatively
new Drover’s Wood and Lugg
Meadows, the largest surviving
Lammas Meadow in the country.
Named after the path once used by
drovers to walk cattle and sheep from
Wales to London, the three hectare
wood off King’s Acre Road, opposite
the Bay Horse Inn was planted by the
Woodland Trust in 2001 on land
donated by Gillian Bulmer. It has a
wide range of native broadleaf species,
natural hedgerows and even a few
ancient oaks. It is easily accessible via
a network of public footpaths.
On the other side of town is the Lugg
Meadow, a 330 acre flood plain of the
River Liugg with a connection dating
back to the Bronze Age. Cared for by
Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, the land is
grazed by Commoner’s livestock until
Candlemas on February 1 when the
land reverts to private owners and
between Candlemas and Lammas Day
on August 1, the owners can take a cut
of hay from their strips and parcels of
land, marked by dole stones, a method
dating back to the Bronze Age and still
practiced on the meadow today. There
are 90 of the dole stones still standing.
In spring and summer the meadow is
filled with a wonderful array of
wildflowers, especially the delicate,
jewel-like snake’s head fritillaries
flowering April to May many of them
white which is a rare sight. Lady’s
Smock flowers prolifically in early
summer before the meadow is
smothered in swathes of golden
buttercups. Orange tip butterflies are
seen from April while banded
demoiselle damselflies fly near the
river banks, The Curlew is an early
Spring visitor and if you are lucky you
will spot an otter in the Lugg
Units 6 & 7, Beech Business Park, Tillington
Road, Hereford HR4 9QJ
Tel/Fax: 01432 352152
Mobile: 07833 345455
Email: [email protected]
www.christines-catering.co.uk
Top: The Lugg meadows and river.
Below: A rare snakes head Fritillary on
the meadow
Right: Rare flora and fauna in Drovers
Wood.
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