Mere Sands Wood - Lancashire

Location:

Grid Reference: SD 447157, Landranger 108, Explorer 285

Nearest town: Ormskirk (5 miles)

Leave the A59 in Rufford onto Holmeswood Road (B5246), after 1-mile turn left at the Nature Reserve and Meresands Kennels signs.  The car park is at the end of the lane.

Facilities:

Car Park by Visitor Centre

Visitor Centre with disabled toilets (opening hours only)

Wheelchair and 2 Electric Buggies

6 fully accessible hides

Meadow walk

End Lake platform

Hot Drinks Machine

Contacts:

Manager: Kim Neale

Reserve Tel No: 01704 821809

Fax: 01704 822195

E-mail : mailto:lancswtmsw.cix.co.uk

Website:

http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/lancashire/html/reserves/mere%20sands%20wood.htm

Opening hours/Admission

The Visitor Centre is open every day 9.00am to 5.00pm (closed Christmas Day), and has a sightings board with daily updates on bird species, numbers and unusual sightings of all kinds, as well as attractive and informative displays.  The staff or volunteer wardens are always on hand to answer your questions about the Reserve. From Easter until the end of August the Car Park and hides are open 9.00am to 8.00pm

The facilities and Car Park are free but a donation of £2.00 is suggested

Description of Reserve

The reserve is owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.  The reserve covers 42 hectares (105 acres) and is made up of lakes, mature broadleaved and conifer woodland, sandy, wet meadows and heaths.  Sand on the site proved to be of value for glass making and extraction companies quarried the site between 1974 and 1982. During this period, the Trust members and the local community worked with the County Council to require the extraction company to landscape the site into a nature reserve once the extraction was completed. On completion of the sand winning in 1982, the Trust acquired the site.

There are three waymarked trails available to guide you to some of the Reserves' features, all of which are suitable for most wheelchair users.  The Blue Trail is a 1.25m (45 mins) circular route passed 4 hides, a viewing platform and a bird feeding station through birch woodland adjacent to a series of connected lakes.  The Meadow Walk (Red Trail) is a 1/4m (10 mins) circular route past meadow edge, returning via a short strip of Birchwood.  The White Trail is a 1.5m (60mins) circular route, which takes you through birch, oak, beech, and pine woodlands past one hide and a viewing platform.  This trail is also suitable for most motorised wheelchairs.  Those parts of the way-marked paths that are not public rights of way are closed on Christmas day only.

All the hides and viewing platform are wheelchair accessible.  The paths around the reserve are mainly level apart from one area that has a few slopes.  However this area is accessible with the new electric buggies.  These are available from the Visitor Centre as is the wheelchair.  There is no charge for the buggies but donations are welcome.  If you are coming to the Reserve you can phone beforehand and reserve one of the buggies.  The Centre is manned at all times during opening hours i.e., 9am until 5pm. 

Wildlife

Winter wildfowl populations include nationally important numbers of Gadwall and Teal, as well as Widgeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye and Goosander.  Locally important species include Mandarin Duck and Kingfisher and there are annual sightings of Willow Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.  Breeding species include Great Crested and Little Grebes, Shelduck, Gadwall, Pochard and Tufted Duck, alongside Little Ringed Plover and Lapwing.  Birds that breed in the woodland include Sparrowhawk, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper, Redpoll alongside the common Tit and warbler species.  Turtle Dove and Quail breed occasionally. Other raptors seen include Osprey, Kestrel, Buzzard, Little and Tawny Owls. In all, over 170 bird species have been seen on the Reserve, of these 60 are known to have bred.

Fifteen species of dragonfly are seen regularly from May to October including ten breeding species such as Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer and Migrant Hawker. 

Wet grasslands and dry heaths occur on areas refilled after sand extraction and now support many wildflowers including Marsh Helleborine, Common Spotted, Early and Southern Marsh and Bee Orchids and notable populations of Golden Dock, Yellow Bastsia, Yellow Wort, Lesser Centaury and Royal Fern. 

Over 200 species of Fungi have been recorded on the reserve.  As the reserve has developed, the diversity of butterflies, dragonflies, moths and other invertebrates has increased. 

Some of the 17 species of mammal include Water Vole, Fox and Roe Deer, Pipistrelle, Noctule and Daubenton’s bat.

The geological interest warranted the Reserve being designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1985.

The Report Compiled by Raymond Meredith