Morningside Meadows

Our latest feature on Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's 40 reserves focuses on MORNINGSIDE MEADOWS near Royal Wootton Bassett...

Morningside Meadows is located close to Royal Wootton Bassett and is home to some of England’s last remaining floodplain meadows. These seasonally flooded habitats have largely disappeared from our landscape, but were once commonplace along river valleys.

In April 2019, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust was able to transform the meadows into a public nature reserve, preserving the wildlife site for future generations, thanks to the generosity of its supporters and to a substantial grant from Biffa Award.

In the summer, the meadows are awash with waving grasses and wildflowers, and during a September walk, visitors should still see some betony, great burnet, common cat’s-ear and meadowsweet. The gently rolling topography of ridge and furrow, remnants of a medieval agricultural system, can be picked out by the different plant "The recently restored Wilts and Berks Canal runs through the reserve, providing an important wildlife habitat for water voles, dragonflies and kingfishers."

communities. The air hums with insect life, including bumblebees; marbled white, small copper and common blue butterflies; emperor dragonflies and bluetailed damselflies; and the forester moth, a species which is nationally threatened.

The recently restored Wilts and Berks Canal runs through the reserve, providing an important wildlife habitat for water voles, dragonflies and kingfishers. A tributary of the Brinkworth Brook, which feeds into the Bristol Avon, flows gently through the southern meadows. During the winter, snipe take advantage of the soft, damp earth to probe for insects.

To prepare for your visit, you can find all the pre-arrival information you need at www.wiltshirewildlife. org/morningside-farm-meadows.

Royal Wootton Bassett What3Words: ///analogy.eagle.neat

• Free and open to visit 24 hrs a day • Dogs on leads are welcome. • Total hectares: 25

• wiltshirewildlife.org

DIRECTIONS

Morningside Meadows can be easily reached along footpaths from Royal Wootton Bassett and Swindon. There are two public footpaths crossing the site and there is a towpath along the Wilts & Berks Canal that runs through the site. There is a small parking area near to the canal bridge on Chaddington Lane.

If driving Follow the postcode SN4 8QR, and the entrance to the reserve will be on your right hand side just after the railway bridge.

You might spot a flash of blue from a kingfisher

Great burnet flowers into late summer

The Wilts & Berks canal runs through the reserve