Page 14 - Oundle Life January 2021

A few miles north of Oundle is a beautiful and ancient Wildlife Trust nature reserve: Southwick Wood, and neighbouring Short Wood. Southwick Wood contains a mixture of broad-leaved species - oak, ash, field maple, hazel and cherry, and much was replanted to replace elm trees felled in the 1960s due to
the ravages of Dutch Elm disease. This native woodland provides cover for a range of birds from willow warblers and woodcock to tawny owls.
Short Wood too has many large oak, ash
and field maple trees with small areas of dense blackthorn scrub, with lovely white blossom in spring. An existing fragment of the medieval Rockingham Forest, it is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and includes areas of managed hazel coppice – an ancient woodland skill which the Trust still practice as a
method of regeneration.
In both woods, spring sees iridescent
swathes of bluebells over much of the ground, along with other woodland flowers such as primrose. These blossoms and flowers are great for pollinators such as butterflies – it’s lovely
to think that speckled wood, gatekeeper and comma will once again be spotted in glades and rides come springtime.
Between the two woods lies Dodhaws Wood, echoing the ancient woodland which was once here. When purchased by the Wildlife Trust back in 2007 it was arable land but is now studded with young trees carried here by the wind and bird; minimal intervention will ensure it too becomes a rich wildlife haven as it slowly develops and evolves into a woodland.
www.wildlifebcn.org/nature-reserves/short- wood-and-southwick-wood
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WILDLIFE TRUST
An introduction to Short Wood and Southwick Wood