{"id":1200,"date":"2013-02-16T10:07:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-16T10:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/?p=1200"},"modified":"2013-02-16T10:12:20","modified_gmt":"2013-02-16T10:12:20","slug":"time-to-get-the-hiking-boots-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alanrowley.info\/?p=1200","title":{"rendered":"Time to get the hiking boots out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been in Selston<\/a> for well over four years now and today, I realised that I hardly know the place. I came to this conclusion after visiting the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust<\/a>‘s website.<\/p>\n

\"English:<\/a>

Farmland in Selston. The M1 is to the right of this view, just over the hedge. Pinxton is in the distance. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

On their website, the Trust have a list of nature reserves in the county, and I discovered that I have one less than a mile from my home. Just off Salmon Lane, on the way to Annesley Woodhouse, is Annesley Woodhouse Quarry Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the Trust, the nature reserve ‘is one of the county\u2019s finest remaining areas of unimproved Magnesian Limestone grassland, and interesting plant species include rockrose, bee orchid<\/a> and common spotted orchid<\/a>. A range of birds breed on the site, including willow warbler<\/a> and redpoll. The sunny grassland slopes provide habitat for a wide range of invertebrates, such as butterflies. Species recorded include common blue, meadow brown<\/a> and small heath.’<\/p>\n

So what’s this to do with my hiking boots? Well, there are many footpaths and walks in the area, none of which I have explored yet. It’s about time I got my boots on, picked up my camera, and did some exploring.<\/p>\n

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