The Adur & Worthing Wildflower Trail | Category: Wildflower Sites

Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve

Posted on 18 September 2023 by Sue Standing

The Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve extends along Shoreham beach from the land at Shoreham Fort to the Church of the Good Shepherd.

It is approximately 100 m wide from north to south in most places and is around 25 times longer in length at 2.5 km total area 26.2 hectares. About half or slightly less is vegetated shingle which is an internationally rare habitat as most shingle moves and prevents growth of vegetation. It used to be the only UK site of the Starry clover plant but it is now growing on Lancing Beach and in Hampshire.

The Friends of Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve (LNR) work to protect the LNR, and educate and help people enjoy it. So they run Beach Cleans, an annual Flower Walk, Rock Pooling when conditions suitable, Bird Walks, Lectures, Stands at outside events and other educational events. A marine biologist runs educational events for schools on the LNR.

The LNR is owned by Adur District Council and the Friends manage the LNR with advice from specialists and the Adur-Worthing District Council parks department.

Starry Clover on the reserve — Starry clover on the reserve

Shoreham Beach LNR — Starry clover on the reserve

The end of May is the best time to see the flowers. It has the rare Starry Clover, Trifolium stellatum, and a population of Yellow Horned Poppy. Guided wildflower walks by arrangement.

The Friends organise specialist surveys. In 2018 Graeme Lyons did the first extensive survey of the LNR invertebrates and in all he has found 249 species and over 10% of these have conservation interest. As some insects will only use one plant the maintaining of the habitat is important to for the continued support of this diverse population of insects.

Events notified by email to members and others requesting information about events.

Beach Cleans: friendsofshorehmbeach@gmail.com

Schools educational visits: stevep.savage@ntlworld

It is accessible anytime. There is a board walk for wheel chairs over most of the Reserve.

Visit the Friends of Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve website.

Eastbrook Community Gardeners

Posted on 18 September 2023 by Sue Standing

Secret gardens and wildflowers

We are a small group who came together because we are interested in improving Southwick and Fishersgate green spaces for the well-being of people and pollinators alike. Our primary focus is sowing wildflowers and planting trees.

We work on St Aubyns in Fishersgate and now have a base near Eastbrook Manor Community Centre called The Secret Garden-Fishersgate. We support Layland Court pocket park, Manor Court garden and the Friends of Southwick Square. We are waiting on Impulse leisure centre in Southwick to plant an orchard and a wildflower meadow.

For more information please contact

Secret Garden

Fishergate

West Sussex

BN41 1PN

eastbrookcommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden

Posted on 26 June 2023 by Sue Standing

Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden (CAWG) is located off Cortis Avenue, Broadwater, Worthing (BN14 7BG) . It is a small site (owned by Worthing Homes) about the size of a football pitch. It is managed by a constituted community group of volunteers. The site is gated for security as the original site was a fly-tipped playing field. As well as a refuge for wildlife in an urban area, we aim to be an educational resource for people interested in encouraging wildlife into their gardens.

The garden is open for visitors and volunteers every Wednesday and Friday between 10am and 12 noon, and also at those time on the 2^nd and 4^th Saturday of each month.

The site is managed to create a number of different wildlife habitats – trees and hedgerows, orchard, pond, wildflower meadow, herb garden, rough grass, nettles and brambles. Flowers planted for sun and semi-shade to attract pollinators, and we have a beehive.

The types of flower plants are quite numerous so examples only:

Dappled Shade – wood spurge, primrose, foxglove, honesty, dames violet, garlic mustard, red campion, cow parsley

Sunny – wild carrot, knapweed, scabious, oxeye daisy, teasel, mullein, mallow, white deadnettle, ragwort (for Cinnabar Moth), plus annual wildflower mix

Flowering Trees and Hedgerow – Buddleia, Bird Cherry, Spindle, Guelder Rose, Dogwood, Wild Rose, Hawthorn, Alder Buckthporn, Hazel, Sussex Heritage Apple Trees, Wild Service Trees, Blackthorn, Field Maple, Elderberry

The wildlife supported includes butterflies – Yellow Brimstone, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Small Copper, Red Admiral, Peacock, and various Moths, including the Cinnabar Moth.

Also a range of other wildlife – damsel and dragonflies, pond creatures, mini-beasts and bugs e.g. shield bugs, grass hoppers, beetles.

And of course, we always have a resident fox.

We can be contacted via our email address: corstisavewildlife@gmail.com or phone 01903 530780 to speak to the Secretary.
Cortis Avenue Wildlife Garden | Facebook

Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery

Posted on 26 June 2023 by Sue Standing

****2024 TOURS****

DATE	TIME	TOUR TITLE
April 6th	11:00	TBA (new tour for 2024)
May 4th	11:00	Alter Egos (retold)
June 8th	10:00-13.00	Extended tour morning
	11:00	TBA (new tour for 2024)

July 6th	11:00	TBA (new tour for 2024)
August 3rd	11:00	TBA (new tour for 2024)
September 7th	11:00	TBA (new tour for 2024)
October 5th	11:00	TBA (new tour for 2024)

PLEASE NOTE: There will be a Sunday tour in August. Details will follow nearer the time

Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery is an active cemetery located off South Farm Road, it comprises of approximately 14.5 acres of land and provides a peaceful haven for wildlife and residents alike. There is a rich selection of plant life throughout the cemetery: various grasses, deciduous and coniferous trees, bushes, and shrubs such as dog rose, holly and buddleia. Throughout the year, from spring to winter there are flowers to spot and enjoy, including snowdrops and primrose in late winter, lesser celandine in early spring and extensive swathes of oxeye daisies in summer.

Since 2008, volunteers with the Friends of Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery Group have been maintaining select areas for the benefit of insects and wildflowers. Throughout the cemetery there are several areas (totalling around 180m²) that have been designated “no mowing” areas, wooden markers have been positioned to indicate this to grass cutting contractors.

The main entrance is located on South Farm Road, between Ardsheal Road and Carnegie Road. On Weekends and Bank Holidays there is an entrance on Carnegie Road. Access is best during daylight hours: Monday to Sunday: 8:00am to 6:00pm from October to March, Monday to Sunday: 8:00am to 8:00pm from April to September. Main paths are wheelchair and pushchair friendly.

There is no parking available on site however there is ample parking on South Farm Road if required.

Volunteers are encouraged to assist with regular clearance days which run the last Saturday of every month between 10.00 am and Midday. This is currently on hold due to Coronavirus restrictions; however, it is hoped that this will return soon.

For more information on the Friends of Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery and volunteering opportunities check out their website: Friends of Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery (fbwc.co.uk) .

For general information visit: Broadwater Cemetery – Adur & Worthing Councils (adur-worthing.gov.uk)

Breathing Spaces Community Flower Farm

Posted on 21 June 2023 by Sue Standing

Breathing Spaces Community Flower Farm is located at the Maybridge Keystone Centre in Worthing. Breathing Spaces is now a Transition Town Worthing project and this is a volunteer-led community garden that provides the opportunity to connect with nature via tending a small urban flower farm There is space for growing wild flowers for the benefit of people and pollinators and this is being expanded in a strip along the back of the playing field.

Breathing Spaces started up a dedicated patch of around 4m² and have already established wildflowers in other growing areas around fruit trees and in long grass areas. Using donated wildflower plants and collected seed, they are creating a vibrant wildflower habitat. The long grass is cut down at the end of the season and cleared away in the traditional hay cut method. Examples of species include Campion ‘ragged robin’, Red Valerian, Dock, Sorrel, Cowslips, Yarrow, Tansy, Knapweed, Cornflower and Wild carrot.

The site is open during Maybridge Keystone Centre opening hours, the hours can vary so it’s best to check first before visiting. The flower farm is not wheelchair accessible at present, (although the Woodland Garden which they also tend is). The site is accessed by walking across part of the playing field. The best time to see the wildflowers is around Early Summer.

Volunteers are welcome on Thursdays between March and December, 10:30-12:30.

For more information visit Breathing Spaces.

Beggars Bush Wildflower Meadow

Posted on 21 June 2023 by Sue Standing

Beggars Bush wildflower meadow is located at Beggars Bush car park, Titch Hill Road, Sompting BN15 0AY.

The site is about 3500 square metres with a plethora of Chalk meadow flowers; eg birds foot trefoil, greater knapweed, restharrow, bladder campion, bristly oxtongue, ladys bedstraw, agrimony, yellow rattle. Only the last of these has been sown in. We cut and remove the grass in autumn, and spread it on the lower meadow extension area.

There are no restrictions, as it is an open access area and can be visited directly from the adjacent free public car park. Flowers are at their best in June-July.

Fly tipping and littering, and traffic speed have historically been concerns. The South Downs National Park Authority has been working with Sompting Estate and Lychpole Farm to fence and restore the flowermeadow areas and clear historic litter from the former lower carpark.

The project is also creating a new off-road path so that walkers heading towards Cissbury can return via Lychpole Hill SSSI chalk grassland, and get back to the carpark without having to walk on the road:

The new track will in the future be maintained mechanically by Sompting Estate’s Titch Hill Farm, and manually (eg litterpicks) by volunteers from Sustainable Sussex’s Community Farm. Where it passes through Beggars Bush Flower meadow, the Community Farm will assist with seasonal sheep grazing.

We can consider saving and sharing seeds for the future, however, for the time being we expect to need all the seed generated on site for the meadow’s southward extension.

For more information visit Sompting Estate and Sustainable Sussex

Breathing Spaces @ The Barnyard, Dankton Lane, Sompting

Posted on 26 April 2023 by Sue Standing

Breathing Spaces host monthly community volunteer sessions at Dankton Barnyard, Dankton Lane in Sompting. Here they have access to a small pre-established wildflower meadow rich in Knapweed, Wild Carrot, Golden rod, Yarrow, Scabious, St John’s Wort, Teasel, Corn Marigold, Toadflax, Hedge Parsley, Hogweed, Eupatorium and many more! The flowers are left to reseed and are not cut back so they are left for the benefit of wildlife.

At Dankton Lane, Breathing Spaces have permission from the landowners Sompting Estate to pick some wildflowers to add to their community supported bouquet scheme, but only a small proportion. As part of the management of the site they have been clearing invasive weeds such as brambles, thistles, nettles and hogweed, to make way for easier access and to allow reseeding with collected seed from the site. They have also improved the pond with the help of Sompting Estate and South Downs National Park Association and established a log hive for wild bees.

Visits to the barnyard are during the monthly Sunday morning volunteer sessions or by appointment only, as the gate is locked. It is also possible to view the site over the gate, which is on a footpath accessible from Herbert road Sompting or Lyons Farm, Worthing. There is no vehicle access. Please contact Breathing Spaces for more details Breathing Spaces Project

Ormonde Way Flower Verge, Shoreham

Posted on 18 June 2021 by Michelle

Local residents at Ormonde Way, Shoreham have planted up 5 areas of wildflowers along the grass verge bordering Brighton Road and Ormonde Way. Now in their 2nd year, the beds are establishing well and have a good mixture of poppies, cornflowers and oxeye daisies among other wildflowers!

What initially was an attempt by local residents to discourage parking on the verges, has now flourished into a little patch of heaven for pollinators and now provides visual interest for residents.

A good time to visit is during the summer when the flowers are in full flow, accessibility is good as it is located in a residential area with paved walkways.

Rosedene and “Forest of Rosedene”, Worthing

Posted on 11 June 2021 by Michelle

Residents Richard and Merry from Downlands Avenue, Worthing, have dedicated two sites to supporting nature in their local community.

“Rosedene” is a 30m² front garden at 39 Downlands Avenue, consciously planted with Vipers Bugloss, with other wildflowers emerging from the natural seed bank present in the ground. Ground is concrete overlaid with 100mm shingle, this provides a very dry, well draining, low in nutrient substrate perfect for established wildflowers favouring drier conditions . Plants are cut down only when seeds have dropped and replenished the seed bank in the ground. Accessibility wise, the garden is open to the pavement with no steps, so viewing this site is possible anytime during daylight hours. There is a seat available for visitors who need to sit down. The Vipers Bugloss flowers from May to August. Richard and Merry have installed a pond to catch rainwater from gutters via a water butt to support the water catchment of the garden. A public noticeboard is present which is used as a vehicle for posting information about nature.

A Blackbird enjoying the front garden at Rosedene

“Forest of Rosedene” is a substantial plot of around 100m² comprising of a mini forest area richly planted with various seedlings and seeds, including Elm Trees, Apple Trees and Cow Parsley. There is a good mixture of plants flowering at different times of the year and visitors are able to see various species of bees, moths and butterflies. Richard and Mary act as stewards of this precious piece of land for the benefit of wildlife. Future plans for the site include finalising a management plan and turning the forest into a trust.

This is a closed site and so visits are strictly by arrangement only. Please contact Richard at richard.battson@cooptel.net for more information.

Elm Trees and Cow Parsley can be found in the Forest of Rosedene

West Worthing Railway Station

Posted on 11 June 2021 by Michelle

The community wildflower patch at West Worthing Station is a relatively new area of planting totalling around 1M². It has been adopted by the Friends of West Worthing Station , with support from South East Communities Rail Partnership. The friends group have recently sown a seed mixture from the Friends of The Earth, plus an assortment of cornflowers and poppies. The group are hoping for a good display of wildflowers soon and are looking forward to develop the patch in the future. The volunteer group is an approved station partner, supported by the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership. Watch this space for more updates in the future!

The community flower patch can be viewed from a public access ramp to the south east side of the main entrance.

Secret gardens and wildflowers

thewildflowertrail