Suffolk is a county in East Anglia. It is bounded by Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. With an area of 1,466 square miles (3,800 km2), it is the eighth largest county in England,[1] and in mid-2016 the population was 745,000.[2] At the top level of local government is Suffolk County Council, and below it are five borough and district councils: Ipswich, East Suffolk, Mid Suffolk, Babergh and West Suffolk.[3] Much of the coast consists of the estuaries of the Orwell, Stour, Alde, Deben and Blyth rivers, with large areas of wetlands and marshes.[1]
Local nature reserves (LNRs) are designated by local authorities under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The local authority must have a legal control over the site, by owning or leasing it or having an agreement with the owner. LNRs are sites which have a special local interest either biologically or geologically, and local authorities have a duty to care for them. They can apply local bye-laws to manage and protect LNRs.[4][5]
Paths run along the canal and through reedbeds. There is also grassland with tall herbs, and the canal bank has rare wetland flora. Birds include kingfishers and reed buntings.[8]
This site has grassland, woodland and scrub. Almost 300 plant and six bat species have been recorded,[14] and there are around 200 ancient oaks, some of which may be 1,000 years old. There are a car park and a football pitch.[15]
This site has been managed as woodland at least since 1600, and it has several ancient oaks. There are also areas of pine, which are being thinned to create a more mixed woodland.[23]
This former quarry is now covered with woodland, grassland and scrub. There are many ancient trees, together with pollardedoaks and small-leaved limes, which had high branches removed, and coppicedhazel and lime trees, which were cut at ground level.[24]
This was formerly the garden of Combs Hall, which was demolished in 1756. Surviving features include earth banks and a round pond, which has frogs, newts, toads and many dragonflies. The meadow is grazed by sheep.[25]
Most of this former quarry is secondary woodland, but there are also areas of scrub, two spring-fed ponds and seasonal pools. In the north the site is a flat valley bottom, and it slopes up steeply in the south.[26]
This site has diverse habitats, including open water, alder carr woodland and tall fen. There is a large rookery high in the trees, and there are other birds such as siskins, chaffinches and redpolls.[27]
This was formerly part of the gardens of Gunton Old Hall, which was demolished in 1963. There are trees such as lime, oak and copper beech, a pond and green winged and bee orchids.[30][31]
The site covers the beach north of Aldeburgh and an area of lagoons and reedbeds which are protected as nature reserves.[34] It has a sculpture called Scallop by Maggi Hambling, designed as a tribute to Benjamin Britten.[35]
This is a footpath along a three mile stretch of a defunct section of the Stour Valley Railway. Much of it is covered with scrub and large trees, and it provides a wildlife corridor for a diverse range of fauna and flora through the centre of Haverhill.[36]
In the medieval period this site was turbary, an area which was dug for peat, and it later flooded and became a lake.[39] It has a reedbed, dykes, and marshes where wildfowl breed. Flora include ragged robin and southern marsh orchid.[40]
This linear site along the banks of a stream also has ponds, wet carr, woodland, wildflower grassland and willow scrub. There are ancient oak trees, and fauna include water voles.[44][45]
New saplings have been planted on the edge of this ancient, semi-natural wood of hornbeam and coppiced lime. There are many flowers in the spring such as bluebells, wild garlic and archangel.[46]
The lake is in former sand and gravel workings. It has diverse fauna and flora in aquatic, marsh and scrub habitats. There are grass and tarmac paths.[48]
The walk starts at the original station building in Hadleigh, which is now a private house. The route goes along a flat path, some of it on raised banks and other parts on downward slopes. Most of it is bordered by trees.[51]
This semi-natural wood on boulder clay is mainly pedunculate oak and ash, with a coppiced understorey mainly of hazel. The flora include 38 species indicative of ancient woodland.[54]
This site has acid grassland, a wildflower meadow and areas of scrub. Nearly 70 species of bird have been observed and 22 of butterfly, including the white-letter hairstreak.[56]
This ancient oak and hornbeam wood has an understorey of hazel. There are small-leaved limes in groups several metres in diameter, which are genetically one tree, as a result of coppicing decades ago.[57][58]
This ancient wood was formerly part of the Stoke Park estate, and it still has the remains of a Victorian drainage system. It was formerly called Fishpond Covert as it had a large fishpond. It is a mixed woodland with grass trails and glades.[59]
This site has ancient wetland with ponds and ditches, and there are locally uncommon species such as flowering rush, tubular water dropwort and round-fruited rush. There is also grassland which has never been ploughed, and it has diverse grasses and wildflowers.[7]
^"Protected or Designated Areas". Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Natural England. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
^ ab"Sudbury Common Lands". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
^ ab"Alderman Canal West". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 26 March 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^"Alderman Canal East". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
^"Bixley Heath citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
^"Bobbits Lane". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^"Bourne Park Reed Beds". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
^"Bramford Meadows". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
^"Bridge Wood". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 October 2016. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
^"Haverhill Railway Walks". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
^"Maidscross Hill citation"(PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Archived(PDF) from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
^"Mill Stream". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
^"Millennium Wood". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^"Moreton Hall Community Woods". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
^"Needham Lake". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^"The Pennings, Eye". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 3 January 2014. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
^"Pipers Vale". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^"Railway Walk, Hadleigh". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^"The Railway Walks". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^"Rede Wood". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^"Riverside Walk, Hadleigh". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
^"Sandlings". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
^"Spring Wood, Belstead". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^Mackay, Alison (September–December 2015). "Local Wildlife News"(PDF). Ipswich Borough Council. p. 6. Archived(PDF) from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^"Stoke Park Wood". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^"Tiger Hill"(PDF). Dedham Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Valley and Stour Valley Project. Archived(PDF) from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
^"Tiger Hill". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.