Category: Conservation

Caerthillian Cove on the south west tip of The Lizard peninsula is a site of botanical splendour. It is winter grazed by ponies to conserve its wonderful floristic diversity. In recent years the animals have been contained within temporary electric fencing. Despite being minimalistic this is still labour intensive, inconvenient for walkers, and detracts from…

There are still many World War and Cold War structures scattered across The Lizard landscape. They range from a WW1 Airship Station all the way through to secret WW2 radar and later Cold war installations, all of which required an elaborate network of buildings, roads and communications systems and barracks for the many personnel who…

Windmill Farm National Nature Reserve is a 200 acre site that is jointly owned by Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) and Cornwall Birdwatching and Preservation Society (CBWPS). The reserve is of interest to naturalists but also has a rich archaeological heritage ranging from Bronze Age Remains, Mediaeval field boundaries, 18th Century tenements and crofts, WW2 pillboxes…

Is there anything that is essentially more summertime than lying in a ripe flower-rich meadow? The grassheads have turned golden and hang heavy with seed that wafts in the gently cooling breeze. The air is alive with the thrumming and buzzing of foraging and pollinating insects that flit amongst the kaleidoscope of blooming flowers. Fortunately…

I was at a social gathering several years ago wherein I fell into conversation with a rather grand woman who enquired what I did for a living. When she learned that I was a nature reserve warden she wished to know more of what that exactly involved. I launched into a lengthy talk about the…

A team of experts with a variety of expertise largely disconnected from the restoration of holy wells and mostly, though not exclusively, members of the Meneage Archaeological Group (MAG) assembled on occasions during the last three years in a boggy corner of a field at Trelill Farm. It seems an odd place to house a…

Another great year at Windmill Farm! Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the CBWPS continue to provide excellent support to the upkeep, development and regeneration of the farm back to its natural habitat. Windmill Farm is, by design and nature, a boggy environment and heavy rain can cause the footpaths to become muddy – I advise that…

Once lost it can take a long time for species to come back to a site. It also takes a lot of many people’s efforts and their time to ensure the habitat conditions are right, that the necessary work is done in the right place and at the right time of year. So, it is…

A recent search for a suitable site to go rockpooling on The Lizard peninsula led two Natural England marine staff to Kennack Sands on a sunny blustery day in mid April. One of the first things we noticed was the expanse of exposed clay on the beach, following the offshore movement of much of the…

As a passionate conservationist, dedicated to protecting the Lizard wildlife, it may seem unusual, indeed downright contradictory, that I am also passionate about foraging for wild food. A few years ago I was invited to do a piece on Radio 5 Live about foraging for food from the wild. This was a live discussion with…

Visitors to Poldhu Beach might be shocked to discover that much of the sand has disappeared following the storms and high seas at the beginning of January, unveiling a very stony beach and lots of beach litter. Thanks to Friends of Poldhu, the litter has all been removed, but it will take months, if not…

The many thousands of locals and visitors alike which stream onto Kennack Sands during the Spring and Summer months may well be unaware that a National Nature Reserve backs onto the beaches where they will be spending time picnicking and body-boarding. With the exception of the occasional Outreach or educational activity the NNR team generally…

On The Lizard we can still enjoy relatively large expanses of heathland on a truly landscape scale. They are world famous for their unique assemblage of plants and animals and have been on the botanist’s ‘must see’ list at least since John Ray, the ‘Father of English botany’, made the first botanical record here in…

The Lizard Countryside Partnership now has a facebook page to keep abreast of happenings. This website has been up and running for 6 months now. We are pleased with the way it is being used to make information about the natural environment on The Lizard more easily available. But we think there is scope to…

Colourful mustard and phacelia within the wild bird seed mix plot If you’ve taken a walk around Lizard Point recently, you may have spied a blaze of blue and yellow adorning one of the arable fields near Housel Bay. This is a one hectare plot of wild bird seed mix, which has been planted as…

LAN is the acronym for the Lizard Ancient sites Network, a group of volunteers set up in 2009 to look after the prehistoric and early medieval sites on the Lizard peninsula. We work closely with Cornwall Council’s Historic Environment service, Natural England and the National Trust on the Lizard, and in the five years since…