Highway Spinney, Leicester

Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary

Getting There

The site is open access and can be gained off Braunstone Lane at the corner of Braunstone crossroads or to the south off Wyatts Close and to the east near to Meadwell Road.  Parking is limited in the immediate area, but Meynell’s Gorse Park & Ride is located north of Braunstone crossroads and is easily accessible.

Further Information
Wild places

Total species seen at this site:

Description

Highway Spinney is a semi-natural broad leaved woodland and was designated a Local Wildlife Site in 1999. It lies at the edge of Leicester and is separated from its sister woodland, Meynell's Gorse, by Hinckley Road. Conservation work is undertaken by the Friends of Highway Spinney, supported by the council’s Leicester Environmental Volunteers.  Previously support was provided to the Group by Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire and The Conservation Volunteers.

Wildlife Highlights

There is a good range of mature trees, including oak, ash and wild cherry which contain woodpecker and rotten holes that support birds, insects and fungi,   The structure of the wood is well developed and continues to support a range of ground flora including a few ancient woodland wildflowers such as Wood Anenome and Wood Sorrel. A number of fungi can be found in the Autumn.

The Friends Group hold a regular Bird Watching event in spring and Fungi forage in autumn which has built up a reasonable amount of data over time.

 

The records and images below may include those from adjacent sites if the grid reference submitted with these records overlaps the boundary of this Wild Place.

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