Wild places

The oldest building in the suburb of Belgrave, Leicester is St Peter’s church of which parts date back to the 12th century when the church was much smaller than the present building.

The church has been closed for approximately five years, but the churchyard is open to members of the public and to enable access to the Garden of Remembrance created for the internment of ashes of local families who have a general connection with the parish of St Peters.

Stafford Orchard is a small park in the centre of Quorn. The site is primarily a grassed area, and also includes a sensory garden, children's play areas and wooden sculptures. Buddon Brook runs along the south-eastern perimeter of the site, providing an important natural feature for wildlife in the area.

Stanford Reservoir straddles the borders of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire with the larger part in Northamptonshire. It is the base of the Stanford Ringing Group so generates lots of records.

This verge is being managed to improve biodiversity as part of the County Council/Parish Council verges biodiversity trial. It was surveyed in 2021 by NatureSpot volunteers but we would welcome additional wildlife records from the community, whether plants, animals or fungi.

Stoke Dry is a tiny village of around 14 houses, just two miles south of Uppingham. It overlooks Eyebrook reservoir and has views into Leicestershire & Northamptonshire across the Welland valley. St Andrew's church dates to the 12th century and has a number of medieval paintings inside which may be of interest. It is built of honey-coloured stone, like many of the surrounding buildings. The churchyard is fairly small and sits on a mild slope, with the entrance at the bottom.

This woodland lies to the north of Eyebrook Reservoir. Stoke Dry Wood was created in the early 1950s by the joining of Stoke Great and Stoke Little Woods through the planting of the intervening field with conifers. The original woodlands were clear-felled and the whole planted with oak and spruce. The conifers were then removed in the early years of the twenty-first century.

This verge is being managed to improve biodiversity as part of the County Council/Parish Council verges biodiversity trial. It was surveyed in 2021 by NatureSpot volunteers but we would welcome additional wildlife records from the community, whether plants, animals or fungi.

Stokes Wood park covers an area of approximately 7 hectares and was purchased by the council in 1959 and originally used as allotments.  A small recreation area was created in 1989 and shortly after in 1993, it was laid out as a nature park which incorporated the recreation ground and diverse habitats that form the park today.

This delightful arts and crafts cottage is nestled into a Charnwood hillside amidst acid grassland and shrubs. There is also a large semi-natural oak woodland which is open to visitors.

This verge is being managed to improve biodiversity as part of the County Council/Parish Council verges biodiversity trial. It was surveyed in 2021 by NatureSpot volunteers but we would welcome additional wildlife records from the community, whether plants, animals or fungi.

Stretton Wood (30.75 ha/75.98 acres) lies North of the small villages of Stretton and Clipsham and borders Stretton Lakes and George Henry Wood. Public footpaths run throughout. It is ancient woodland on Glacial Boulder Clay, but was cleared and planted with conifers in the early 1960s.

Planted in 2004 as part of the National Forest tender scheme and covering an area of 25.4 ha (62.8 acres), Sunnyside lies within walking distance of the village of Packington. This wood is characterised by broad open rides giving views across the surrounding landscape. A bird hide overlooks the wetland and a viewing platform in the woodland clearing on the high ground enables good views all round. 

Swadlincote Woodlands is an attractive greenspace close to the town centre with excellent access for people. Over the past 20 years a former landfill and open cast site has been transformed into 33 hectares of woodland. The park includes open space, woodlands, play areas and a point for viewing across the town and valley. A network of footpaths criss-cross the site and link to existing access points.

The Incline was constructed in 1832 as part of the Leicester to Swannington Railway which helped transport coal and passengers to Leicester from Swannington and the surrounding villages and mining pits.  It was built to overcome the steep slope formed by the Thringstone Fault where land dropped away sharply on a 1:17 slope for about 700m.  A coal powered steam engine at the top of the Incline operated a cable to transport the coal trucks up and down the slope.  The Midlands Railway too over the line in 1845 and extended it to Burton-on-Trent.

The reservoir, built around 1896, lies just south of Quorn, and is about a mile long by half a mile wide. The Great Central Railway divides the reservoir into two; the northern section is the larger. There is no access to the reservoir margins, but both sections are easily viewed from public roads.

Swithland Wood is located on the edge of Charnwood Forest. It lies some 6 miles north west of Leicester and some 7 miles south of Loughborough, and near to the east entrance to Bradgate Park.The wood is ancient oak woodland covering 146 acres and a remnant of the original Charnwood Forest Oak Woods. It is rich in a wide range of flora and fauna and has an extensive network of footpaths. Within the wood are former Swithland slate quarries.

Syston Lake has been owned by the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust since 2011. The site is part of the important River Soar corridor and contains open water and grassland on restored former gravel workings. 

Teigh is a small village 5 miles north of Oakham and Rutland Water. The church was mostly rebuilt in 1782, but the base of the tower has survived from the 13th century with some 14th century work above. The churchyard can seen in its entirety from the road that winds around the perimeter due to the low wall and minimal foliage, but there are also a few mature trees and a large area of wildflowers to the back end of the churchyard.

Created in the early 1990’s as part of the commercial development of land to the south west of Lubbesthorpe Way. The area was designed to prevent rain run-off from the development overloading the Lubbesthorpe Brook. Previously the land was grazing fields but was “sculptured” to form a large dry lagoon. Several locations were planted with a variety of trees and shrubs, most not native to UK!