Wild Lincolnshire_ The Lincolnshire Wolds

Introduction

The Wolds- an area of open fields, rolling chalk hills, freshwater rivers and streams. This stretch of countryside has some of the most beautiful scenery in the east midlands.

Above: Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape

The Lincolnshire Wolds is a landscape that some consider to be the finest in Britain. The landscape has important habitats for rare flowers and wildlife such as its ancient woodlands, calcareous grasslands, and chalk streams.

The Habitats of the Wolds

Farmland

Above: Field Poppies growing along the field margins.

Farming has been here for hundreds of years and can be traced back to the Saxons. Today traditional farming methods are still used.

Amongst the Oil-seed Rape birds such as Corn Bunting and Grey Partridge can be seen. Around the field margins, flowers such as Field Poppies and Corn Marigold can be seen growing.

Hedgerows next to open fields are also an essential feature of the farmland landscape.

Chalk Grassland

Above: Pyramidal Orchids at Red Hill Nature Reserve.

The Chalk grassland is a characteristic feature of the Lincolnshire Wolds and its flora is species-rich.

Chalk Streams

Above: Chalk Stream in Welton-le-Wold.

Chalk streams are another characteristic feature of the Lincolnshire Wolds. These chalk streams are crystal clear because the falling rain is filtered through the underlying chalk and emerges at ground level from springs and blow wells. These springs are the source of the chalk streams and are home to some rare plants and animals such as Water Crowfoot, Water Voles, Otter, Brown Trout, Brook Lamprey, Bullhead, and European Eel.

Water Vole (picture from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust)

Thankyou for reading, I hope this short post has shown you some of the variety that the Lincolnshire Wolds has in terms of habitats and wildlife.

If you enjoyed this post join me in my next post where I will be looking at the Lincolnshire's Lime Woods.