PURWELL NINESPRINGS is a Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust nature reserve off Gypsy Lane, which is a path connecting Wymondley Road with Purwell Lane, north-east Hitchin. Reserve warden is Martin Ketcher, I am his assistant.
Purwell is a wetland site containing several habitat types including reed bed, sedge, ditches, woodland, a pond and a meadow. Work days are usually the first Sunday of each month from 10am. Volunteers are welcomed and any contribution from one hour to all day is gratefully appreciated. A more detailed description of Purwell Ninesprings is given below.
My favourite creatures are the reptiles and amphibians. I am enthusiastic about pondlife in general, and also appreciate our feathered friends, particularly Dunnocks (prunella modularis) for some reason. Here be external links.
Conservation affiliations:
Hertfordshire Natural History
Society
British Trust for
Ornithology
Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife
Trust
Hitchin Rivers Society
email: mick@harthouse.u-net.com
The area which includes the Reserve has been a wetland since pre-Roman times. A Roman villa once stood on rising ground to the east of Gypsy Lane, this was excavated in 1884 by William Ransom. The springs provided fresh water and the wetland birds, particularly Herons, both food for the table and sport in the form of hawking. Willows have for centuries been cropped for basket making and fences. The wood was planted during the 19th century. Purwell Mill was in use until 1924, the mill pond being fed by the River Purwell and the ditches surrounding the North Meadow. Old sluices still exist at certain points. In modern times water extraction has considerably reduced water levels and low lying areas have been infilled to create recreation grounds to the north of the Reserve.
The hedgerow separating the nature reserve from Gypsy Lane contains a variety of trees and shrubs such as Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Crab Apple, Oak, Ash, Field Maple and Hazel and provides a good habitat for several bird species including the migrant Whitethroat Sylvia communis. The stream on the eastern side of the path is often dry.
The pond is difficult to access but is easily seen from the playing field at the north of the reserve. The building up of the playing field by dumping rubble and other refuse has meant the pond retains water throughout the year whereas it was previously a more wooded area which dried up in the summer. Three plants dominate: Common Reed Phragmites australis, Reedmace Typha latifolia and Great Pond Sedge Carex riparia. Moorhens Gallinula chloropus feed in the open water but enjoy the cover provided by the emergent vegetation. The reed bed, most of which is beyond the hedge to the south of the pond is home to several pairs of Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus each summer. Water Vole Arvicola terrestris can sometimes be observed in the area.
Access to the reserve is gained from Gypsy Lane, the gate will be seen on the western side - please note that the large field gate is for access by cattle, public access is by means of the smaller gate a few yards to the south of this one. Once through the gate and passing a thick blackthorn hedge on one side and the drier of the reed beds on the other, the meadow will be seen in front of you. The wetter part of the meadow is an extensive sedge bed of Great Pond Sedge while the drier part is dominated by Great Willow Herb Epilobium hirsutum. Each year these plants die, adding to the tangled mass of damp, partly rotted vegetation known as peat. Unlike the peat bogs of the north and west of Britain, the water here is from the chalk and is alkaline. The combination of peat and alkaline water is a fen.
Meadow Sweet Filipendula ulmaria is a typical fenland plant best seen when its white flowers decorate the meadow in mid-summer. Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi has returned to the meadow where a cutting regime has controlled the more dominant vegetation. It will be noted that a large part of the meadow is now fenced off to allow cattle to be grazed thereon, this relieves the volunteers of the task of having to manually cut this area each year and the effects on the vegetation are being carefully monitored. Several pairs of Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus nest in the North Meadow. Not so long ago the meadow was a winter feeding ground for Snipe Gallinago gallinago and the reed bed held a large Bunting roost, unfortunately in recent years these species have become far less frequent visitors, in the case of the Buntings this reflects a national trend of declining populations.
The path around the meadow will lead you to the wood, notice the thinly spaced Alder trees on the woodland edge. This stage of the succession from wet meadow to wood is known as carr. The Alders are well suited to damp conditions and annually produce a good crop of cones which provide food for flocks of Siskin Carduelis spinus and Redpoll C. flammea in winter. The path penetrates into the wood along a dry ridge which finishes at a small brook. In this area you may find some plants of the biennial Small Teasel Dipsacus pilosus. Follow the path along a small stream and through the wood and you will eventually climb a stepped incline to the Dump.
The Dump is so called because the area has been built up with industrial waste. This is of a cindery/ash consistency and is beginning to be colonised by various plant life. From the dump you can look toward the wood and notice some of the tree species which include Scots Pine, Larch, Black Poplar, Ash, Oak and Holly. The Dump is surrounded by more trees and bushes and it contains a lot of dense bramble and and nettles. This area provides superb habitat for several common butterflies such as Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Orange Tip, Brimstone and Comma as well as an excellent area to see them. Similarly it is a good nesting and feeding area for birds such as Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. Proceed south through the scrub to Gipsy Lane. In places you can see the water of what is presently a fishing area, previously used as a water-cress bed. The water emerges from an impermeable layer in the Melbourne Rock to produce the "Ninesprings". The quality of the water is good and its temperature changes very little throughout the year.
(please inform me of any broken links)
North West Raptor Protection Group self explanatory, plus links to other sites
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds web site of the UK's largest conservation organisation,loads of links
Herts Bird Club site featuring items of local birding interest and general news and articles