Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia)
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Welcome to Hartslock
Written by ChrisR   
Saturday, 12 June 2004

Hartslock Nature Reserve is located on the north side of the Thames between Whitchurch and Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The site is owned by The Wildlife Trust for Berks, Bucks & Oxon (BBOWT) and managed by its staff and volunteers.

The reserve is a beautiful south facing, unimproved chalk downland hill with stunning views over the Thames and Goring Gap region. The grassland is surrounded by ancient hedges and mixed Yew woodland and, although it is only small (11-acres or 4.4 hectares), it is home to a very wide variety of plants and animals, some of which are extremely rare. For this reason the government has designated it and the surrounding area a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSI) and the whole Goring Gap region is an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' (AONB).

The wildlife on Hartslock is typical of unimproved chalk downland but unfortunately, due to modern farming methods and the increasing pressures on land in the south of England, this kind of habitat is becoming increasingly rare.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 April 2008 )
 
Hartslock gets bigger!!
Written by ChrisR   
Wednesday, 16 April 2008

It's with very great pleasure that I can announce that this winter, after long negociations with our neighbour, BBOWT signed a lease on the area of downland to the south-east of the existing reserve. This agreement will run for 15 years (with a 10-year get-out clause) and will be revenue neutral to BBOWT as it will be paid for by grants that would have gone to the owners. 

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 April 2008 )
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Mapping the orchids - 2008
Written by ChrisR   
Wednesday, 16 April 2008

We usually start to look for the rare orchids (Lady, Monkey & hybrid) on sunny days in February but we only start really serious mapping and counting in March. It is important to know how the colony is doing so that we can plan management work on the site and report the statistics back to BBOWT and other conservation organisations. 

Last Updated ( Saturday, 27 December 2008 )
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© 2009 Hartslock Nature Reserve
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