Soar-GUC, Abbey Park to Belgrave
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
Both river and canal segments can be reached by parking at the Abbey Park (northern) car park off Abbey Park Road. The River Soar segment can be explored along the Riverside Walk/Sustrans cycle way on foot or by bicycle. At the northern end car parking is available at the nearby National Space Centre or Abbey Pumping Station (during events only). Access is off Corporation Road to these car parks with extremely limited parking on the road.
Trends and Recent Developments along the navigable watercourse from Leicester to the Trent are as follows
A colony of the Scarce Chaser Dragonfly was discovered near Ratcliffe on Soar in 2016, with 12 individuals present in 2018. The nearest other sightings in VC55 are at Rutland Water.
The Willow Emerald Damselfly was first reported in VC55 in 2019 at the Eye Brook Reservoir Inflow and then from Watermead. This species is likely to spread to the whole Soar Valley in next 2-3 years. Most sightings are in September, the species prefer overhanging willows which are abundant.
Garden Angelica has spread northwards through much of the Soar Valley in recent years, the large globe-shaped flower-heads of this umbellifer are distinctive.
Corbicula flaminea, The Asian Clam is an accidentally introduced species speading south along the Soar Valley.
Please be sure to report any sightings of these species
Site species count:
This mile long section covers the independent routes of the River Soar and to the east the Grand Union Canal north from Abbey Park Road (B5327) to their confluence at Belgrave Lock (left-hand image above) just south of the recently created Ellis Meadows wild place. Tow-footpaths run along the western side of both the the river and canal segments. The area between the two watercourses is known as Wolsey Island after the former hosiery factory and the skyline is dominated by the preserved Wolsey Chimney monument. Much of this area has been undergoing redevelopment for housing in recent years. The futuristic shape of the National Space Centre on the west bank of the River Soar is also prominent landmark (see centre image above).
Birds
Herons, Cormorant, Kingfisher, Common Tern, Grey Wagtail. Swift, House and Sand Martin and Swallow.
Trees and Plants
Willow family several species, Alder, water meadows rich in flowers and grasses.
Water Margins: Purple Loosestrife, Indian Balsam. Garden Angelica (recent colonist), Lesser Celandine, Marsh Thistle, Marsh Woundwort, Water Mint, Water Figwort.
Aquatics: Arrowhead, Water Plantain, Floating Pennywort (a nuisance) and Yellow Water-lily (consult individual species pages for flowering season and known distributions)
Insects
Butterflies all common widely distributed species, Dragonflies Southern, Brown and Migrant Hawker, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, all 3 Chasers and Ruddy and Common Darters. Damselflies Beautiful Demoiselle, Common Blue, Blue-tailed, Large Red and Red-eyed Damselfly (favours lily pads). (Look at individual species pages for flight seasons)
Molluscs Giant Ramshorn, River Snail, Swan and Duck Mussel plus the invasive Zebra Mussel and Asian Clam.
Fish Perch, Pike, Tench and Roach
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.
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