5 great reserves to visit in the Dedham Vale and Stour Valley AONB
PUBLISHED: 13:47 09 January 2019 | UPDATED: 15:16 09 January 2019
Sunset at Flatford (c) Nick Rowland, Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Archant
This beautiful part of the county on the Suffolk-Essex border is still as recognisable today as it was when painted by Constable and Gainsborough. Here you’ll find 5 great wild spots with rolling farmland, meandering rivers, meadows, ancient woodlands and a wide variety of local wildlife in a traditional English lowland landscape.
Footpaths along the banks of the River Stour and along the old railway line. See a variety of trees and plants, birds and water life.
2) SWT Arger Fen and Spouses Vale
A fascinating mosaic of ancient woodland, fen meadow and regenerating woodland.
Open water, fen and wet scrub, nesting sites for reed bunting, sedge and reed warbler.
4) RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden
A wildlife garden designed to pass on ideas that visitors can incorporate into their own gardens. Includes a trail featuring carved wooden garden creatures and a living willow tunnel.
Continuously grazed for centuries, the meadows have never been ploughed or treated with chemical fertiliser. A four-mile walking route takes in riverside trails, wild flowers, birds and mammals.
See it all
60 miles following the valley sides of the River Stour through Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, including Dedham Vale AONB.
__________________
Follow Suffolk Mag on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
