Great Bowden, Main St Verge
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
The verge is located on Main Street to the west of the village.
Road verge
Verge Update May 22 - Carolyn Ford
We continue to tend and monitor our first rewilded verges on Main Street; so far this spring we have renewed the scheme’s notices, repainted the blue hearts (cornflower blue), and attempted to reinstate the area dug-up by Western Power Distribution – a regular, if unwelcome, hazard on verges criss-crossed by the pipes and cables of utility companies. Fortunately, we had a few pots of wildflowers in stock and these plants have taken well in the dry solid clay. The Red Clover is already flowering and attracting bees. Given that establishing wildflower verges is a lengthy process, we are pleased with these two verges. The ‘triangle’ is doing particularly well; and given our ‘adventures’ last year (err... mistakes) when trying to establish Yellow (hay) Rattle we were relieved to find it has self-seeded and survived.
Site species count:
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.
The aim of the project is to demonstrate that by managing the grassland as a wildflower meadow it can support a much greater diversity of wildlife species. Different species come and go throughout the year so we will get a much better understanding of the biodiversity value of this site if local residents can add records of what they have seen. Please take a photo if possible and include it with your record, using NatureSpot's Submit Records form. Once checked and accepted your record and any photos will appear on this page!
The verge is now being managed differently to help wildlife. Mowing will cease between April and August to allow the grasses and wildflowers to grow and bloom. In some cases, verges will also have additional native wildflower species added, either as seed or as plug plants.
A list of all the species found at the site, together with any images taken, will appear below once the survey has taken place.
The verge is on a road corner and also runs along Main Street where it is backed by a hedge adjacent to a tennis court. A 0.6m strip has been mown along the hedge, presumably by the hedge owner. The eastern verge on the corner is dominated by coarse grasses, but the longer strip has more short grasses and flowering plants. Although species-rich, both sections have been planted with meadow flowers with cleared areas around the planted species, which makes it difficult to assess the original quality of the grassland habitat. It contains 10 species that are indicators for Local Wildlife Site designation but it is likely that most, if not all, of these have been recently planted.
The records and images below may include those from adjacent sites if the grid reference submitted with these records overlaps the boundary of this Wild Place.
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.