Happy National Meadows Day!

I had a slightly premature celebration by joining a Wildlife Trust walk around Lavernock Reserve on the south Wales coast yesterday. It’s an interesting place that has only become a reserve relatively recently. Due to its prime coastal position, a gun battery was built here back in 1860s and added to during the Second World War – these now form a scheduled ancient monument.

The meadows sit upon a substrate of clay over Jurassic limestone and, thanks to the tremendous efforts of dedicated volunteers who work constantly to contain the invading scrub, the grasslands are home to many lovely plant, insect and animal species, as well as a succession of migrating birds in spring and autumn.