What are my thoughts about Powerstock Common?
Well, it is in the middle of nowhere. Actually that is unfair, it is in the centre of the most unspoilt agricultural landscape in West Dorset. And, not that easy to find. Even the Dorset Wildlife Trust's [DWT] website describes it as 'hidden away in the West Dorset countryside'. Hidden it is down a labyrinth of narrow lanes, but once discovered I loved exploring just some of its 112 hectares (about 280 acres).
The village of Powerstock I know quite well, not least its lovely hostelry The Three Horseshoes. Dominating this small village is the church St Mary the Virgin, itself used in the television adaptation of Agatha Christie's 'A Murder is Announced' with the whole village represented as Chipping Cleghorn. Until the 1960s a railway branch line ran along the valley between Bridport and Maiden Newton. Long since disused, the bed of the railway now provides a northern boundary to the reserve, and a long flat walk.
Having explored only a small part of the nearby, albeit much hillier, Kingcombe Meadows NNR in the morning, a flat walk was most welcome to my wife and I in the afternoon. On arrival the sun had intensified and dare I say it it felt almost too warm. Brimstone and peacock butterflies were sporadically commonly on the wing and what also looked like a single specimen of a small tortoiseshell - though it was the briefest of glimpses, certainly not the marsh fritillary which is also found here. In the warm sun many an aerial butterfly territorial battle by the peacocks was taking place.
As yet another DWT reserve I had not visited before the decision was made to follow the longer waymarked path, rather than explore more randomly. On the reserve map this showed we'd pass through Wytherston Wood, through steep-sided railway cuttings, past a bat shed, then return via the central track through the Common itself and finally skirt past Wicker Coppice. What I was also to discover was that this now hidden, wild and undisturbed reserve in West Dorset has in fact been heavily influenced by human activity. For centuries it was grazed common land where also wood and its products were collected. The railway arrived and with it removed the right of commons, opening the area up for improvement. Attempts were made to fell trees and plough up for farming; many of the ancient oaks were felled with commercial conifer strands planted. During the 1960's charcoal burning occurred. However in the least accessible areas the ancient habitat of oak and ash remained untouched, which since 1975 when the DWT took over this area, has allowed regeneration to occur, with a little help or course, such as the removal of pine species and the grazing of the woodland to remove the understory.
Once again, this, the sixth reserve I've visited, felt materially different to all the others. Well developed ant hills are an obvious sign that, the once busy railway cutting, is now a quiet area for wildlife to flourish. These cuttings especially indicated summer promise for seeing many butterfly species on the wing, steep sided grassy slopes facing due south. All around, the open wood-pasture and coppiced areas played host to birdsong, chiffchaff, blackbird, song thrush, chaffinch, blue, great and long tailed tit, robin, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker and wren. At one point a pair of jays were raucously vocal, though unseen. Before long a male tawny owl hooted its presumed annoyance at being mobbed by these fascinating corvids. Maybe they were trying to rob the nest? I'm not sure, but as we were the only other living things in the reserve it made for an emotional day-time encounter.
Part way through the walk we passed a bat hut where presumably the lesser horseshoe bat roosts, one a handful of other bat species found on the reserve. Further along, with primrose coming into flower everywhere, I encountered my first dark edge bee fly (Bombylius major) of the year, and then saw well over a dozen more as we walked along. The primrose also hosting various solitary and bumble bees. There was an audible hum soundscape in the air.
After about an hour of walking we came to the end of the reserve and turned south. Ahead of us lay Eggardon Hill, overseeing the landscape as it has for millennia. I found it emotional viewing this landmark from this angle. Eggardon is my joint favourite view in England (the other being at Bickerton, in the Coquet Valley area of Northumberland). For decades I've stood on that hill looking down into Powerstock Common. Today I looked back from below, and felt very small and insignificant.
Reaching a gate we turned back to the car along the gravel track which dissects the reserve. What we had not realised was that, given we were looking to avoid hills, we'd walked in the wrong direction. The outbound journey had been flat, yet for the next thirty or more minutes we walked uphill, not steep, just a steady rising slog, which in normal circumstances would have been fine, but after this morning we were feeling quite weary. It didn't spoil our visit here at all, in fact those frequent stops to recharge ourselves allowed for further immersion in this large reserve. We finally reached the car after about two hours walking.
The only other person we saw was a farmer on his quad bike as we made it back to the car-park. Whoever says southern England is overpopulated needs to one day visit West Dorset. But, maybe I should not mention this to anyone?
Date of Visit : Wednesday 18th March 2026 - 13.45-15.45 hrs.
Selective species seen: Oak ash wood pasture with blackthorn, old mans beard and hazel understory. Peacock, Brimstone, small tortoiseshell? dark edge bee fly, red tailed bumblebee, solitary bee spp. Primrose, lesser celandine, rough grassland. Carrion crow, jay, jackdaw, herring gull, raven, chiffchaff, blackbird, song thrush, chaffinch, blue tit, great tit, longtailed tit, robin, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker and wren.
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