Pamber Forest
Download the latest edition of the Pamber Forest Newsletter, covering the first three months of the year. Previous issues can be downloaded from the wildlife and landscape features page.
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Pamber Forest is a large ancient woodland site traditionally managed by coppicing and grazing. The site was notified as a SSSI for its diverse invertebrate populations and flora. Click here for more on wildlife and landscape features. |
Seasonal Update
So far this winter could not have been more different from the last two, with exceptionally mild weather. This means that there are already signs of spring with plenty of bird song and catkins ready to burst. Winter birds are at their easiest to see now with no leaves on the trees so look out for the mixed flocks of small birds that will contain up to five species of tit with nuthatches and treecreeper and goldcrest. There are huge a number of redwing around at the moment although they can be difficult to get a good view. The easiest way to locate them is to listen for their high pitched ‘seep’ as they fly around, but you do need good hearing to hear this. There are also unusually high numbers of redpolls around and this has been shown by our bird ringer catching one for the first time. If you are out and about at dusk or later then tawny owls will be hooting well and you may be lucky to see woodcock. Everything else is quiet at the moment apart from our chainsaws as we coppice, and during this work we find the signs of some of our more elusive wildlife. As we coppice if we fell trees with old squirrel dreys we always pull them apart to see if anything else has been using them and often find signs of woodmice or yellow-necked mouse but already this winter we have found two summer nests of dormouse with their characteristic balls of stripped honeysuckle bark, always a welcome sign that these very elusive creatures that will be deep in hibernation now, have been active in our coppice in the summer months.
How to get there
Nearest Town: Tadley ½ mile,
Grid Reference: SU 616 608
To get there: from Basingstoke take the A340 to Tadley then at the first roundabout turn right. At a T junction turn right into Pamber Heath, after about 500m turn right into Impstone Road and just as the road veers right park in the gravely area on the left.
Public transport from Basingtoke is via bus, Jazz 2, get off just before you reach Tadley at Skates Lane, at the Tadley and 30mph sign you will find a track leading onto the reserve.
Getting around
On the reserve there is a large network of wide rides and tracks and smaller paths. From the Impstone Road car park follow the public bridleway down to the stream. Just before the bridleway meets the stream a kissing gate on your right leads into the reserve. A self guided trail starts from here, download a leaflet or pick one up from the dispensers provided. The trail is about 2 miles and covers all of the habitats on the site.
During wet weather at any time of year the site can be very muddy so suitable footwear is advisable.
Contact information
Contact: Graham Dennis, Tel: 01189 700155, Mob: 07770891126, grahamd@hwt.org.uk
Find your way there by SatNav
Our reserve descriptions include maps and information on how to get there. To make things even easier, we have set up POIs (Points of Interest) for some of our larger reserves, which you can download into a satnav.
Download to your computer, the files which contain the POI definitions for Garmin and TomTom satnavs and the small logo which will show where the reserve is. To download these files, right click on the links above and choose Save Target As ... (or similar).
You will need to consult the satnav manual to find out how to load the POIs (HIWWT_reserves.ov2 for TomToms or HIWWT_reserves.csv for Garmins) and the logo (HIWWT_reserves.bmp) onto the satnav device.
