Lose Yourself In Our Wild Meadows Project

The UK has lost around 90% of its wildlife-rich grassland since the 1930s and this has led to huge declines in bees, butterflies and other species.  Calcareous soils and steep slopes once made the district a stronghold for meadows and other species-rich grassland, but the numbers of areas supporting such habitats has significantly decreased in recent years.

In response, Bath and North East Somerset Council is helping to reverse this trend by the introduction of a network of meadows across our parks and green spaces.

These meadows are in existing parks and green spaces in areas identified by ecologists and parks managers and are managed and monitored to maximise their benefits to wildlife.

The meadows are attracting a range of wildlife such as butterflies like the Small Copper and Marbled White 

 

Small Copper

Wildflowers such as Cowslips and Greater KnapweedGreater knapweed

And larger animals such as Bank voles and Slow worms. bank vole

The meadow areas also provide food for songbirds and you might want to listen out for the ‘laughing’ calls of Green woodpeckers as they forage for ants in the new habitats.

What you can do to help?

Explore the meadows: we want you to wander through and enjoy them. We will be mowing paths and borders through the areas so that you can explore them but if you want to stray off the path, you might want to wear long trousers to avoid scratches and stings.

Please look after your meadows: please help to keep them litter free and don’t forget to clean up after your dog. Our teams will also be doing their best to keep the meadows litter-free, but please let us know if this is not the case. 

Tell us if you know of other areas that might benefit from the same treatment: particularly in places where you might have spotted wildflowers recently or where you remember seeing them in days gone by.

Please remember that long grass can be a home to natural hazards. Bees, horseflies and ticks can all make a home in meadows. Ticks are small spider-like creatures which feed on the blood of animals and people and are often found in dense vegetation or long grass, so it is advisable that you check yourself and your pets once you get home if you've been walking through long grass.

You can find out more about ticks on the Council's health awareness pages at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-publishes-new-tick-leaflets-to-remind-people-to-be-tick-aware


The scheme started in parks and open spaces in Bath in 2015 and then rolled out across the district.

We have introduced meadows to the following parks and green spaces:

Alexandra Park
Archery Field
Bathford Open Space                   
Backstones Open Space
Beacon Hill
Bloomfield Open Space
Carlton Road and Arms Court
Corston View
Hantone Hill, Bathampton
Innox park
Kensington Meadows
Lambridge Street Open Space
Larkhall Recreation Ground
Marshfield Way
Northfields Open Space
Pennyquick Park
Royal Victoria Park
Rudmore Park
Rush Hill Open Space
Springfield Park
St Saviours Open Space
Summerhill Road
Walcot Open Space
Weston Recreation Ground
Haycombe Drive
Widcombe- along the banks of the river

To find out more about the scheme, or if you want to tell us more about your local meadow and what you’ve found there, please contact Paul Pearce, Parks Projects Manager on 01225 396879 or email: paul_pearce@bathnes.gov.uk

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