Bourne Wood

THE TOWN'S most beautiful natural amenity is Bourne Wood, 400 acres of forest which are managed for timber production but also for nature conservation and recreations and are open to the public at all times with many secluded paths and woodland trails that attract many thousands of visitors each year.

There has probably been continuous tree cover on this site for the last 8,000 years and the present species are a mixture of broadleaf and conifer of all ages and their diversity has created ideal conditions for a wide range of wildlife. Once owned by the successive Lords of the Manor of Bourne, the wood is now managed by the Forestry Commission. In past years, the trees were heavily felled, during the First World War, for instance, to provide props for the trenches, but there is now a policy of re-establishing the ancient forest.

Many plants have survived and so make the woodland valuable in terms of conservation. The wild flowers that can be seen here in season include bluebells, primroses, wood anemone and nettle leaved bell flower while fallow deer are abundant and you may catch a glimpse of their smaller, shy cousin, the muntjac or barking deer. Other animals that frequent these glades are foxes, grey squirrels, owls, snakes, badgers and dormice and a wide variety of birds. Nightingales can be heard on summer nights and rare bats and dragonflies fly over the ponds at twilight. Seven species of bat have been identified including the rare Leisler's bat which was first discovered in nesting boxes in 1991 and is now closely monitored.

Deep in the woods are two lakes which were made by damming a small dip in the landscape in 1972 and these have become watering holes for woodland inhabitants and home to ducks, herons, many aquatic animals and several species of fish. The pool is a mass of rushes and sedge, white water lilies float on the surface and yellow flag grows in the margins of the lakes while fallow deer come to drink here in the evenings and early mornings and their hoof prints can often be seen in the soft mud at the water's edge. This is a marvellous sight if you are prepared to sit here until dusk or to get up at 4 am on a summer's morning for a rendezvous with these graceful creatures.

There are many seats around the wood with small brass memorial plaques remembering past walkers who have passed on and near to the main path from Beech Avenue is a copse of twenty small oak trees which were planted in January 1999 by the Friends of Bourne Wood organisation as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died tragically in 1997, and the spot was named Diana's Glade.

Diana's Glade