Meadows are important for providing habitats for wild flowers. These provide nectar and pollen for butterflies, moths and bees. These in turn pollinate the flowers, so they can set seed. Some birds eat the insects, some eat the seeds. Mice and voles also eat the seeds. Sparrowhawks and kestrels hunt both the rodents and the birds.

How it was created
We were fortunate in inheriting lawn areas, which had been uncultivated for many years, except for an area near to the hedge, which were allotments during the war. Over the years we have been trying to develop three different areas of meadow, by mowing at different times. No wildflowers have been sown - we just let them grow from seed, which had lain dormant in the soil for decades. From the left, marked by white posts: spring meadow, mown only in summer; summer meadow, mown in the spring; fallow area, not mown at all. Mowing and removing the hay reduces the fertility in the soil, which favours a greater variety of plants. The summer meadow has suffered from the dry summers in recent years.

What happens there
We do a variety of education activities in the meadow, from collecting minibeasts to our bee game.