Great Glen Community Wildspace currently manages several areas in and around Great Glen under licence from the landowners. These include three very different areas, Burton Brook Wildspace, the Sence ‘meanders’, and the Embankments.
The map showing the location of these areas in the village is below.
Burton Brook Wildspace
This area was created following work by the Environment Agency in 1998, as part of a flood alleviation scheme, to collect excess water from the Burton Brook in the event of heavy or excessive rain. It is about 9 acres in area and can be accessed by the footpath at the rear of the Pug & Greyhound pub on London road, or via the footpath leading from the end of The Nook nearby.
Here there is a diversity of habitat including a large pond, stream, weland area with reed bed, wildflower bank, hedging grassland and native trees. There is a satellite image of the area below:
Embankments over the A6 near Orchard Lane
These embankments flank the farm track over the A6 dual carriageway, and can be reached by walking along the track from Orchard Lane in the village. They are northwest of the new crematorium that has been recently and were built during construction of the A6 bypass during 2005. With permission from the landowner the Wildspace group manages the site for the benefit of a variety of wildflowers and have replanted a hedge with hawthorn and native trees. We have recently mown the largest of the four embankments, with the aim of encouraging more unusual wild flowers to thrive.
Sence ‘Meanders’ This is the area along the riverside in the Recreation Ground within the village (see map above). It can be accessed via the entrance from the Recreation Ground (via the playing fields), or by a track from Bridgewater Drive. The area consists meadows, a small community orchard and some wetland habitat along the river. The managed area also includes land adjacent to houses in Bridgewater Drive further north along the River Sence.
Here is a picture after mowing and raking the grass on one of the embankments on October, though it is difficult to show its size without an aerial photograph!
