LEI Country

Grange and Battram Woods

Location plan for Grange and Battram Woods car park - SK425093 - view in Multimap or Streetmap format.

This is now a sizeable site which we have used for orienteering for many years. It is in several ownerships.

The earliest plantings were in Battram Woods acquired by the Royal Forestry Society with assistance from the National Forest, North West Leicestershire District Council, Leicestershire County Council and the Rural Development Commission. It covers 48 hectares and was planted out over about 3 years from 1998 and is now maturing nicely.

These woods were intended to be a flagship showing how to create and run profitable woodlands for future generations in crowded lowland Britain. The site demonstrates best practice in planning, establishing and running woodland with wildlife conservation, landscaping, access and interpretation as integral components. Over 80,000 trees were planted in a mixture of broadleaves and conifers, deciduous and evergreen trees, and native and introduced species. Fast growing poplars and cricket bat willows are grown on the wetter areas.

There are a number of unusual features including a group of 350 young English oaks and yews which form the Millennium Circle in the centre of the wood. In 2005, the RFS joined forces with The Woodland Trust and the Marie Curie Cancer Fund to plant a new commemorative wood of 600 saplings with 10,000 wild daffodils This is an ideal area for us given the variety of plantings and terrain. 20% is being left as open space, providing glades and paths which together with the existing extensive rides and footpaths, provide 4km of pedestrian access routes. Cycle tracks link with other long-distance cycle ways such as Sustrans.

This is only part of the story in that an even larger new development was undertaken next door at Ibstock Grange where Andrew Mosley planted a variety of trees both sides of the stream running out of the RFS site. A whole variety of new habitats are evolving, enhancing the biodiversity. The ponds and stream are managed as wetland habitats and the power lines that criss-crossed the skyline, have gone underground for visual and safety reasons. A few poles remain as perches for birds of prey which do assist navigation. In Grange Wood alone, over 109,000 young trees have been planted mostly native hardwoods including Oak, Beech and Ash. Small areas of conifers have been included to shelter the native trees and provide interest and colour in the winter months. Over a mile of new hedgerows and numerous parkland and specimen trees have also been planted and numerous wetland features created.

A number of other National Forest Tender schemes adjoin the two larger developments and are included on our map. Common Hill Wood is to the north and adds 15 hectares and Farm Park Wood to the south west is slightly bigger. Bigger still is Workman's Wood between Common Hill and Battram Woods. A further small development is known as Sparrow Walk and lies just over Pretoria Road from Common Hill Wood.

The whole useable area for our purposes is now over 600 acres.

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