Our Woodland

An integral part of Highfields is our large mature woodland which is located centrally within the park. We believe it was planted in the late 1950’s or early 60’s but unfortunately had received little maintenance since then. We have spent a great deal of time re-opening the original rides (pathways) to form beautiful walkways for our customers to enjoy; the wild deer also seem a lot happier now they can get around easily along with the Buzzards who use the rides for hunting their prey.

The woodland is over 30 acres in size and benefits from a huge variety and combination of walks. In the denser areas in the middle it consists predominantly of Pine and Spruce tress whereas the outer edges are full of native broadleaf trees and mature hedgerows, a great home for the birds.

We are now working with the Forestry Commission’s guidance to restore and regenerate the woodland, encouraging more light to enter through the canopy above. This will provide new habitats for greater diversity. We hope to see a lot more butterflies and diversity of ground vegetation as we progress.

We have found an old Pond which the deer have been using as a watering hole although it is currently full of fallen trees and branches. A project for the near future will be to restore this pond and make a natural seating area nearby. A bird hive is also on the agenda along with the restoration and protection of a marsh area that we have also found.

We have already erected several Bird and Bat boxes and are committed to increasing the number of these every year.

The woodland is without doubt a long-term and ongoing project. Our customers are already enjoying its features and continually comment upon the improvements we are making. It’s great when everybody shares a common interest and we begin to see the fruits of our labour as the wildlife and its habitats establishing themselves amongst the trees.

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