Soar-GUC, Belgrave to Watermead
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
Acces to the riverside footpath can be obtained from the road overbridges at Thurcaston and Loughborough Road. Access can also be gained from Watermead Park to the north where there is ample parking, or by parking on Oakland Avenue at Rushey Mead. This is reached from the northbound carriageway of the Melton Road (A607) just south of the A563-A607 crossroads (formerly known as the Thorn-EMI junction, and now the site of the Sainsbury's superstore).
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 stretch of the River Soar lies between the Ellis Meadows wild place and A563 Watermead Way (see centre photo above). The footpath runs along the eastern bank of the river throughout, there is marina linked to the river just south of the Birstall roundabout (a.k.a. Red Hill Circle).
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.
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.