Dorset Wildlife Trust Project: Peascombe

 I arrived in bright strong sunshine, I left Dorset Wildlife Trust's Peascombe nature reserve in sunshine, but in between times after being caught in a thundery downpour, I resembled a wet badger.

 

Due to on going care for my ninety-four-year-old father, and somehow damaging my knee which made walking painful, and a large number of events and courses I'd chaotically booked myself on, my Dorset Wildlife Trust project had been placed on the back seat recently. However, with my knee almost back to normal, it was good to return to my self-imposed project. And today I aimed to visit the 3 hectare Peascombe reserve near Loders, not far from Bridport.

I know the out-of-the-way rural village of Loders (officially Lower Loders) fairly well as a day visitor, but not the reserve. However on arrival I soon realised I had actually driven past it for years and not realised it was here. Hidden away off a very narrow hollow way, or sunken track (named Smishops Lane) this hollow way meanders out of Loders but, due to a landslip, most of Smishops Lane is now closed to vehicular traffic.

Smishops Lane - now closed to traffic

I parked in the village and walked the short distance up the lane. Dappled sunlight filtered through a tunnel of trees, it was a beautiful day. At the crest of the hill, what looked like an ex-railway gate highlighted the entrance into the reserve. At the entrance coppiced hazel, a few oak and lime trees dominated, while a chiffchaff serenaded my arrival. 

Once through the large gate, it was a short walk to a kissing gate leading into the reserve proper which was predominantly made up of grassland with a small stream. I stood at the top of a steep slope looking down and across a rolling and quiet landscape, quiet, that is, apart from the sound of grass strimming in the distance. However what I did note was rain advancing rapidly towards me. Showers had been forecast today, though they had not materialised, until now. A clap of thunder alerted me to the fact that torrential rain would soon arrive, which as it turned out became a half an hour deluge with thunderous accompaniment. Foolishly, not being dressed for a British day, I took shelter in the adjacent allotments, under a tree - don't try this at home. 

Eventually the rain and thunder passed and I wandered back to the reserve to find myself walking amongst vegetation two feet high, mostly of extremely wet grass. Within minutes I was tremendously moist below the knee. To be honest I was a little disappointed at first. What I'd hoped would be a wildflower meadow bejewelled with flowers, resembled, at first glance, an intensive grassland with species like Yorkshire fog, Timothy and cocksfoot predominating. The site is, I had read, summer grazed to help with the nature conservation efforts, though, given the height of the grass, I doubt any cattle have been set on here this year. However closer inspection revealed more.

Germander speedwell was everywhere on the upper slopes, along with cuckoo flower and meadow buttercup, though all were partly obscured by the lush herbage. The reserve is roughly a triangle in shape formed on a steep slope surrounded by a mixed species tree and hedge boundary. It is an open access reserve, but I followed the indistinct paths created by other walkers.

At the lower part of the reserve, the path I followed progressed under a lovely spreading pedunculate oak, it felt as if I was entering a secret landscape. And I was in many ways. This area was, for me, the more interesting. There is a shallow stream, dried up on my visit, which from distant viewing contained varied flora including sweet rush and a huge patch of greater stitchwort. The stream is bordered by a path, raised up above the ground, bordered with old coppiced tree species. It had a hidden feel though sadly after the rain shower, bird and insect life was minimal, just a chaffinch, robin and jackdaw broke the silence (the strimming had stopped). As a result of now having sodden shoes as well as trousers I didn't linger here too long. Consequently, during my visit I saw no invertebrates on the wing.

Dried up stream bed.

The reserve has three entrances to it, and is seemingly a well used site by local people, which is a little surprising given how out of the way this is, though it does lie on the village edge. I was warming to its delights during my hour wandering about. Sadly no bullfinch, which had been my target species, though at the opposite end of the reserve long tailed tits flittered above my head. I exited the reserve via a different gate which led into another hollow way, Whetland's Lane, the verges of which were almost totally dominated by wild garlic.

The grassland sloping down to the stream and mature trees

Looking into the reserve from Whetland's Lane

The stream crossing Whetland's Lane

Whetland's Lane

And for me, on this visit, the importance of this site became apparent. It sits quietly in a varied landscape of hills, valleys and woodland. Its lower slopes are wet tussock grassland with a varied herbage, the upper slopes providing more dry meadow species, while surrounding the reserve are mature trees, hedgelines, hollow ways and farmed grassland. That juxtaposition of habitats is what makes this reserve special. As I squelched back up Whetland's Lane I ignored my waterlogged shoes and enjoyed the peace and quiet of this location, although the stimming had restarted, with the emerging sun.

Whetland's Lane entrance

Date of Visit : 14th May 2026. 14.30 to 15.30hrs
 

Selective list of species  - Chiffchaff, robin, blackbird, jackdaw, woodpigeon, long tailed tit. Grass species including cocksfoot, Timothy, Yorkshire fog. Dock, cow parsley, wild garlic, sweet rush, nettle, meadow buttercup, germander speedwell, cuckoo flower, greater stitchwort. Quite a few molehills. Hazel, pedunculate oak, lime spp.