| The ancient market town
of Bingham, population approximately 9000, lies on the edge of
the beautiful and unspoilt Vale of Belvoir and is within easy
reach of Nottingham, Grantham and Newark. The Town itself covers
some 20% of the parish, which is otherwise almost entirely given
over to agriculture. Whilst there are no woods or major watercourses
within the parish boundary there are many areas and sites that
serve as valuable habitats for wild life. In the Town itself there
are house gardens, the recreational areas and sports fields, the
churchyard and the cemetery. Outside the Town are the hedgerows,
many of which date back, at least, to the period of enclosure
in the late seventeenth century and, in some cases, a century
or more earlier than that. Running through the parish are two
railway tracks - the busy Nottingham Grantham railway line and
the now dismantled line, which connected the Town with the markets
at Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough. The latter line, running
south-east from the Saxondale end of Nottingham Road across the
parish boundary and beyond, has been developed into a conservation
area known as the 'Linear Park'
and is rapidly becoming the focus of the natural history interest
in the parish. It is in the Linear Park region that the nationally
rare Four-spotted Moth can be seen. All of these areas support
a surprising variety of wildlife and each plays an important part
in helping to preserve the Town's natural history.
The butterflies
and moths, wild flowers, trees
and birds of the parish, all of which
are dealt with on other pages, are generally easy to observe.
On the other hand, while there is no doubt that mammals and reptiles
are part of the wild life population of the parish, changes in
land use and farming methods seem to have made them less numerous.
Older residents will tell of seeing grass snakes in the area near
Car Dyke and the railway line. These may have been forced away
by the new and nearby industrial estate and housing developments.
Foxes move across the agricultural land as they hunt rabbits,
hares and other small animals; they are also seen from time to
time in and around the Town cemetery and the Banks. Grey squirrels
can be seen along the Linear Walk as well as in the cemetery,
whilst many house gardens provide a habitat for the now less frequently
seen hedgehogs that feast on the slugs and snails that the popular
plantain lily (Hosta) garden plants seem to attract.
Information about the trees
and shrubs that grow in the parish can be found by moving to the
Surveys page.
If you have any information
or queries about Bingham's wildlife contact BHTA.
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