Day 1 - Looking through to The Sanctuary Nature Reserve

We walked along the perimeter of The Sanctuary nature reserve, which is next to Pride Park stadium. The reserve, a former gas works tips, covers ten hectares, and now teems with birds, dragonflies, amphibians and wild flowers. It is closed off to the public, to conserve the area, but has viewing platforms around the site. An artificial sand martin hide has been built to attract the birds. The Sanctuary has been a site of controversy, when plans to build a cycle track on the reserve were halted to preserve the vast range of wildlife on the site. Unfortunately now, the perimeter of the site has been neglected and signs giving information about the reserve and what wildlife can be found there are faded and obscured by vegetation. The group were all surprised to find that such a species-rich area was in the middle of Derby city centre and were also sad to see how run-down the outside of it was. Alex, our Living Landscapes Officer, also pointed out some Japanese knotweed growing around the site.