Dry Sandford Pit - Saturday 7th October 2023 - Blog by Eleanor, photos by Kevin, Michele and Sally

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There was the promise of sunshine and warm, dry weather as we met in the car park at Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve.

This former quarry is a remarkable site and is now a nature reserve managed by BBOWT.  There are cliff faces containing fossils dating from when this area was a warm, shallow sea and there is also a fen containing plants such as marsh helleborine.

Adrian, our leader for this session, briefed us on our tasks. The main one was to clear reeds and grass from part of the fen and to cut down the sprouting willows.

The other task was to clear vegetation from in front of the cliff face so visitors could get a clear view.

We set to work, scything, raking and carrying the piles of vegetation to the heaps as well as cutting down the willows, which were sprouting everywhere.

We had to be careful where we trod as the ground was very soggy in places, which is, after all, what you would expect on a fen. The people clearing in front of the cliff face didn’t have this problem.

At last it was tea break time. We enjoyed sitting in the sun and some of us were reluctant to get back to work. By the end of the morning we had cleared a lot though there was plenty more to do. We brought cut willow branches to replenish the barrier between the footpath and the fen as we want to discourage walkers and their dogs from going into the fen, just admire it from above as they walk by.

Working on the fen

Clearing in front of the cliff




Graham with a heavy load

Interpretation board

Jan dragging

Adrian removing a sapling

Kevin mattocking

Helen smiling


Tea break

Marsh Helleborine

Work is finished for today

Bee holes in the cliff face

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