Ridley Bottom Nature Reserve, Gloucestershire

Ridley Bottom is a small, little-known nature reserve, along minor roads 4 miles from Chepstow - north along the B4228 then east on Rosemary Lane a short distance and finally north a few hundred feet along Kelly Lane, parking at the start of the entrance path.

The reserve is rectangular in shape, divided into four equal sections - three fields with wildflowers, and a patch of ancient woodland, where the trees include silver birch, pedunculate oak, ash and small-leaved lime, and are connected to a larger wooded area to the north, Turnips Grove.

The woodland contains a range of common indicator wildflower species including wood anemone, primrose, sanicle and, most abundantly, bluebells, this in common with the nearby Park and Poor's Allotment reserves. The wood is also good for early purple orchids, which are also found in the meadows, along with at least four other orchid species: common spotted, common twayblade, heath spotted and lesser butterfly.

It may only take about half an hour to walk through the woodland and inspect the meadows, but the place is quiet and pretty, a good place to visit in spring and summer.

The Reserve

A small amount of parking is available on Kelly's Lane, with rather more along Rosemary Lane. From the road, the path heads east, through a belt of woodland, entering the reserve after 300 feet, running along the northern edge, then continuing towards Turnips Grove. Another short path forks south, through the bluebell wood, to the three fields, of which that to the northeast has the most wildflowers. An abandoned caravan sits at the entrance, green with moss and algae. All the meadows are cut for hay in July, after which they are grazed by sheep, until the end of the year. The three fields have retained their varied flora since their small size made them uneconomical for recent development; they have not been subject to use of pesticides and fertilisers.