Walk 29 – Guided Nature & Conservation Walk Around Noar Hill
DATE: Tuesday 13 June 2023
TIME: 15:00
START LOCATION: Selborne Car Park (behind the pub)
DISTANCE: 2.7 miles
DURATION: approx 2/2.5 hours
Noar Hill, once the site of medieval chalk workings, is a 20 hectare nature reserve that is carpeted with an array of beautiful chalk downland flowers every spring and summer, with around eleven orchid species, including rare musk and frog orchid. The vibrant flowers and the butterflies that feed on them create an oasis of colour among the surrounding fields of crops. A walk through this unusual and historic landscape is always a fascinating experience with its ridges, banks and hollows that create little niches for all kinds of plants and animals. It is one of the few juniper sites in the south of England.
Melanie will be accompanied by William Selborne, who manages Blackmoor Estate, an arable and fruit farm that is part of the Selborne Landscape Partnership (a cluster of local farms who are successfully managing the local area for nature).
It is recommended that you bring a hand lens/magnifying glass/good camera and/or download the free plant ID app ‘Seek’ on your phone.
This walk is not suitable for children or dogs.
Walk Key
Walk Pace
Gentle
Walk Grade
Varying landscape with some more challenging slopes. Suitable for keen walkers or anyone who is reasonably active
Bring refreshments
Circular walk
No Dogs
Walk Leader
Melanie Oxley is a local botanist, ecologist and wildlife campaigner and a founder member of Plantlife, the wild plant charity. She has worked with not-for-profit groups and developers to try and secure the best outcomes for wildlife. Now retired, she assists local groups including the Petersfield Society and the Petersfield Physic Garden and is a Trustee of Petersfield Climate Action Network. She is also a Wilder Garden Champion with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
