IF YOU want to get away from it all without leaving Redditch, look no further than Ipsley Alders Nature Reserve.
Already nominated as one of the top five reserves in the country, local activist Julian Prouse recently took Redditch Standard editor Ross Crawford on a tour of the hidden green haven.
Meeting at the car park at the end of Furze Lane we pulled on our wellington boots, went through the gate and set off across the boardwalk.
Ipsley Alders is a fen marsh, an area of land which, thanks to large scale drainage operations across the UK, is a threatened habitat.
It offers waterlogged conditions with natural spring waters saturating the soil and stepping off the boardwalk is not to be recommended until you get to the far side where a footpath takes over.
“I love it here,” said Julian. “I grew up on Dartmoor and being here is just like being there but without the hills. Sat on the boardwalk in the middle of the reserve there’s total silence, especially in summer when the leaves are on the trees. It’s beautiful.”
The site covers 18 hectares of land, roughly 45 acres, and is squeezed between Alders Drive to the west and Winyates Green to the east.
An information board reveals the marsh was probably owned by Ipsley Court, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and some of the old field boundaries still survive.
Back then, just as they do today, cattle grazed on the land and the reserve also boasts several ancient oaks, including one reputed to be 500 years old.
Designated a nature reserve in 1967 with the creation of the Redditch Development Corporation it was bought by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust in 1995 and is one of more than 70 sites owned or managed by them.
The reserve has been shortlisted as one of five nationwide vying for the honour of being named BBC Countryfile Magazine Reserve of the Year.
The winner will be decided by public vote – to cast yours, visit http://www.countryfile.com/ and go to nature reserve awards. The closing date is January 31, 2016.
