Herefordshire 2023 - October Visit - Part 5 Queenswood Country Park and Arboretum

 

Queenswood which is only 20 minutes away is a place where we all enjoy walking so we visited on the Saturday morning. Silly day to go really as it was packed!  

Queenswood comprises 123 acres of ancient mature woodland on Dinmore Hill which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and an arboretum with many species of rare and exotic trees from around the world.  

It was once part of a large area of ancient oak woodland which stretched to the Welsh Borders. A Royal Forest where only the king and his nobles could hunt venison. As deer and boar hunting became less popular the woodland was managed for timber and coppiced.  Much of what was left of King's Wood gradually became farmland and only this small remnant remains.  Its name was changed to Queen's Wood during the reign of Elizabeth I.  Some decades ago there were rumours that the wood would be sold to a property developer for the construction of bungalows. To prevent this happening the Herefordshire branch of the Campaign for Rural England raised funds to successfully save the wood.  When they could no longer afford to maintain it it was leased to Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and Leaf Sustainable Development.

Over time native species felled between 1914 and 1918 were replaced and a public appeal in 1953 led to the planting of an arboretum of 1200 rare trees to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.  

Many species of native trees have been recorded at the site and there are dormice hidden away and fallow deer.  There are a good variety of bird, wildflower and butterfly species.

There is a trail for families called the Gruffalo trail with statues to find.

We walked up to the viewpoint where you can see Bodenham Lakes in the distance which is another Herefordshire Wildlife Trust reserve.

We eventually followed the Deer Trail for a while which is quieter than the main routes.

Back on the Gruffalo Trail!

There is a very good shop selling goods on behalf of the Wildlife Trust and I bought some Christmas Cards. They had some really good books but I resisted the temptation!  We sat outside the cafe and had a lunch of cheesy chips.

As we left we spotted a display of woodland fungi collected by local naturalist societies for UK Fungus Day and there was a good selection. I was pleased to see Earth Star as I have never seen it before.

Here's the Earth Star in the centre

In the evening we went (early to avoid the crowds!) to have a meal to celebrate our wedding anniversary a week early at the C17th Fountain Inn in Tenbury Wells.  The food there is very good and there is a good selection of vegetarian dishes.

(I didn't take the camera so the photos of the pub are from an earlier visit)

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera - for some reason D didn't take photos this holiday. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Reference: "Fifty Gems of Herefordshire" by David Phelps Amberley Publishing 2022.