Whisby Nature Park Lincolnshire

Site Location Details

Site Details

Whisby Nature Park is managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust on behalf of its partners at Whisby - North Kesteven District Council and Lincolnshire County Council. The Natural World Visitor Centre is managed by Leisure Connection Ltd on behalf of North Kesteven District Council. The reserve comprises a complex of small, medium and large flooded gravel pits, most mesotrophic in nature. There are seven hides placed to overlook the various lakes, with four of them on Grebe Lake. The Pike Drain, a small agricultural channel of some local importance, flows west/east through the Reserve.

Some former pits in the area have been used as sediment lagoons and now support wet willow scrub. Of these, one has subsequently been cleared and developed into a clay grassland, and others are undergoing systematic coppice work to maintain more open scrub conditions. The majority remain as 'non-intervention' areas.
Dense Willow and Birch scrub can be found over wide areas, and a small Oak woodland of some maturity lies alongside the railway crossing.

Near to the sites of former gravel works, there are very dry, open expanses of gravel-pit waste, which are developing interesting communities of flowering plants. Small areas of sand and clay with very low fertility levels support moss and lichen populations. There are some more orthodox grasslands, both dry and wet, which support a variety of flowering plants in varying degrees. The richest by far is the Orchid Glade at Grebe Lake. Seven species of orchid can be found including the only known colony of Green-flowered Helleborines in Lincolnshire.

Address

Contact Details

Telephone: 01522 500676

Email: whisbynp@lincstrust.co.uk