News Desk: Tel: 01380 840584 Email: news@kanaltimes.co.uk
By Susan Litherland
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Pictures by Bob Naylor
The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust canalside nature reserve at Jones’s Mill near Pewsey was once a managed water meadow. It is now home to rare flora
and fauna — as well as a herd of Belted Galloway cattle.
Belted Galloway cattle live in the reserve
Jones’s Mill is a fenland reserve. It is a wetland with peaty soils fed by natural
springs on the outskirts of Pewsey.
The River Avon runs through the valley on its way to Salisbury and numerous
springs, dotted along the northern valley slopes, nourish the surrounding water
meadows and wet woodland, also known as carr.
It is this particular habitat that gives the reserve its unique ‘lost world’ feel.
On entering Jones’s Mill, the Vera
Jeans Nature Reserve, from the Dursden Lane kissing gate, a seemingly typical
West Country view unfolds before one’s eyes; a wide expanse of grassland dotted with flowers dips softly into a
tree-lined valley, and the fields beyond, framed by hedgerows and trees, are
spotted with grazing cattle.
The scenery is unarguably beautiful, but one has to venture into the heart of
the reserve to discover its true and
remarkable nature, in places more akin to that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Lost World’ than to that of a Thomas Hardy classic.
The River Avon runs through the reserve
Step back in time
Walking through the alder-carr is like taking a step back in time.
The tall alders blot out the brightest sun and immediately shroud you in a
surreal shade; the dark peaty ground satisfyingly squelches with every step
taken as the trees creek in the light breeze and water trickles from the nearby
river; the bristly horsetail fern lines the soggy trail, and bird calls and
sudden flapping of wings take on a new mysterious charm.
It’s enough to make you feel like an intrepid explorer.
Horsetail
The horsetail, which stands tall and firm with a body of spikes, looks more like
a bottle brush than its namesake.
It’s one of the world’s oldest plant species having been around for an estimated 350 million years.
They have a high silica content, which is believed to have protected them from
hungry dinosaurs. This abrasive property also made them popular for use as
scrubbing brushes; in fact they have been commonly known as ‘scouring rushes’ or ‘pot-scrubbing ferns’.
Horsetail — seen all over the reserve
Tussock sedge
The alder-carr leads on to another unique habitat: the tussock sedge fen.
Resembling small haystacks, the tussock sedge is now a very rare species in
Wiltshire.
As it grows, the dying leaves build up around the plant making a little hill or
‘tussock’.
But not all of the reserve is sheathed in such primordial mystery, and the fen
will burst into colour come late spring
and summer with the golden hues of the yellow flag iris, the white of the rare
bog bean and the maroon of the delicate water avens.
Butterflies and dragonflies will dance around adding specks of colour as they
fly by, and robins, blue tits and chaffinch will fill the air with song as they
perch themselves high on the trees above.
Tussock sedge — very rare in Willtshire — can be found in the reserve
Transformed
In the summer, the water meadows are transformed from a field of green into a
sea of gold when a succession of yellow flowers come into bloom; first to
appear are the marsh marigolds followed by irises and then the yellow trefoil.
Here you are likely to see the green-veined and orange-tip butterflies which
both feed on the cuckoo flower, one preferring its flower, the other its
leaves.
Working mills
The land at Jones’s Mill was the site of seven working mills (one of which is believed to be Jones’s Mill) as recorded in the Domesday book.
In the 17th and 18th centuries it was used as traditional water meadows
and in the first half of the 20th century part of it was used for growing
watercress for the London markets.
Clues to its past as a working water meadow are still evident; the raised panes
and hollows, old sluices and leats that still channel water today, testify to
its heritage.
Water meadows were a popular method of encouraging an early crop of grass for
grazing through controlled flooding, but were labour intensive and fell into
disuse in the late 19th century
Yellow iris or flag
This is broken in places by the white and pink hues of the cuckoo flower and
the southern marsh and common spotted orchids.
Walkways take you above the boggy ground through the reserve
and maybe one day dormice will return.
Badgers have made this field their home and a number of sets, old and new, can
be seen on this grassland as well as along the southern bank of the river.
Jones’s Mill is wet all year round — so it’s a good idea to wear a pair of wellies even on a summer’s day and to stick to the suggested routes marked in places by a railway sleeper
boardwalk, which raises you above the ground.
Following the trail will take you through the mosaic of
habitats that makes up this reserve.
Belted Galloways
The fen is not a stable environment and it needs to be managed to prevent it
from turning into woodland.
The vegetation is kept in check by a herd of belted Galloways, which thrive on
the rough coarse vegetation that grows on the fen, helping maintain a
rich diversity of plants.
Miss Vera Jeans
The central and most important part of the land on Jones’s Mill, was donated to the Trust in 1980 by Miss Vera Jeans, a local lady who
loved the water meadows.
She gave the land, which had been in her family since 1905, on condition that
it was kept as a marshy area.
The herd of belties together with dedicated volunteers are ensuring her wish
remains a reality.
Access is possible throughout the reserve because of the raised walkways
Getting there:
► Park in the Pewsey Wharf car park and walk east, towards Wootton Rivers, for
about 15 minutes and turn rightinto the Reserve through a kissing gate just
after the canal bridge. (SN9 5JN)
► From Pewsey, take the B3087 towards Burbage. Turn left down Dursden Lane, just
before a white cottage. The Reserve entrance is just over the railway bridge.
(SN9 5JN)
Volunteering:
To find out more about how you can help with the work of the Wiltshire Wildlife
Trust go to: wwt-volunteering
