Upwood Meadows National Nature Reserve is a traditional meadow managed through conservation grazing and has one of the highest levels of floristic diversity in the county.
Upwood Meadows
Location
near Ramsey
Cambridgeshire
Know before you go
Parking information
There is a small car park at the entranceGrazing animals
Grazed during summer and autumnWalking trails
The reserve can be muddy and occasionally flooded in wet weather
Access
Not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs
Dogs
When to visit
Opening times
Open at all timesBest time to visit
Spring and SummerAbout the reserve
Designated a National Nature Reserve for its floristic diversity, Upwood is awash with life. The greatest display is in Bentley meadow where medieval ridge-and-furrow and the many ant hills provide differing microhabitats for plants and invertebrates. Here plants including cowslip, green-winged orchid, saw-wort, dropwort, sulphur clover and Dyer's greenweed provide summer-long colour and nectar sources for bees and butterflies.
The surrounding mature hedgerows and veteran trees provide nesting habitats for many birds including Turtle Dove,Blackcap and Whitethroat and food for winter visitors such as Fieldfare and Redwing. Dew ponds dug in each field originally for watering livestock, are now breeding grounds for Great Crested Newts, dragonflies and damselflies.
Further information on the history of Upwood Meadows, by kind permission of Huntingdonshire Fauna and Flora Society, is available to download below. A digital version of the Upwood Meadows leaflet is also available.