Down Grange Meadow (Basingstoke)

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The meadow is our largest site and has great potential for improving biodiversity. The site is 6½ hectares in total, of which 5¼ hectares is grassland. The rest is a mix of mature woodland, plantations of various ages and hedgerows.
The site is open to all and is used by a wide range of individuals, group and families. We are trying to introduce more structure to the site by planting shrubs and trees and clearing areas and re-seeding with wild flower mixes. Areas close to some of the footpaths have been sown with native wild flower mixes that will add to the appearance of the area. Other areas well away from the footpaths have been seeded with wild flowers specifically for butterflies and other insects.
We have also planted tree and shrub “islands” away from footpaths and these appear to be encouraging ground nesting birds such as Grey Partridge as well as rabbits! The Partridges did not nest this year, but half a dozen were seen on the site in mid summer.
From our experience with the creation of our Community Copse, we have leant that just scraping an area clear of the grass, while it may not look good in the first six months, can yield dividends in later years. A year after clearing theCommunity Copse site we got Cornflowers. This species is classed as “Endangered” and is protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act, 1981. In 2009 we also recorded our first Common Spotted Orchid as well! At the end of September we discovered a rare fungi, the Bearded Tooth (Hericium erinaceum). This has been recorded less than a dozen times in north Hampshire since 2000.
Future plans include creating a number of hedges to provide additional habitat for birds and insects. These hedges of native hardwood tress and shrubs will divide up the southern part of the site into a number of “habitat rooms” so that they can be managed separately.