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 originally surveyed in 2021 by NatureSpot, and then again in 2026, 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 being managed to help wildlife. The wildflowers and grasses are allowed to grow and bloom and additional native wildflower species have been added.
A list of all the species found at the site, together with any images taken, is shown below.
The verge runs along Main Street and is in two parts, divided by a road. The 'triangle' has two large Birch trees and is partially shaded but now supports a diverse range of species including Yellow Rattle, Oxeye Daisy and Black Knapweed. The eastern verge is also species-rich, but with a few areas dominated by coarse grasses.
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.