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About the Group
and the Reserve
The Moor Green Lakes Group (MGLG) was established in 1993 as an organisation to
help manage the Moor Green Lakes Nature Reserve in Berkshire, England. Our aims are:
-
to improve the Reserve for wildlife
-
record and monitor that wildlife -
enhance the facilities of the Reserve for
members of the Moor Green Lakes Group and other visitors.
The Group operates in conjunction with
CEMEX, the site owners and the
Blackwater Valley
Countryside Partnership both of which bring resources and expertise in active
conservation within the 30 kilometres of the Blackwater Valley.
For the past 50 years
or so gravel has been extracted from the
Blackwater Valley, stretching westward from Sandhurst to Eversley where it
continues today. Moor
Green Lakes is the result of restoration of part of that area. Land north of the
river stretching for 2.5Km to the
west of the Reserve, which is presently being worked, will ultimately become a
major extension of the Reserve, more than
trebling its size.
The
existing Reserve occupies
36 hectares (90 acres) north of the River Blackwater and lies
in the boroughs of Bracknell Forest
and Wokingham, in
Berkshire, England. It comprises three lakes: Colebrook North, Colebrook South
and Grove
Lake; click
here for an
aerial view. The main access point for the Reserve is
the
Car Park
off Lower Sandhurst Road in Finchampstead, Wokingham. Note that this is a
private Car Park and is locked at night.
It is usually open from approx 08.00; the lock-up
time is displayed on a notice in the Car Park and at the top of the news column
on this page. Due to recent work to
improve the drainage in the area, there is
 no
longer any roadside parking just
outside the car park, however there is room for a car at the bottom end of Dell
Road, just west of the car park; but please don't block the field gates.
Alternative Parking
is available off Mill Lane near the sailing club at Horseshoe Lake.
If visitors identify
any Health and Safety issues on the
Reserve, then please report them to the Site Liaison Officer - details on the
Contacts page. The
Reserve map shows
the features of the reserve, including location of two viewing hides for use by
members of the Group. Access to the Reserve
is along the footpath running south from the main Car Park, past Colebrook Lakes
North and South, to meet the
Blackwater Valley Path. The
Colebrook Hide is on the spit between the lakes and has wheelchair access. The Blackwater Valley
Path runs beside the
river along the south of the Reserve. A bridge crosses the river 100m to the east of the path from the car park
and leads to Yateley. A bridleway runs in parallel with the path
from the car park to the river bridge. The path from
the river bridge to Mill Lane is part of the
Three Castles
Path, a ramblers route running between Windsor and Winchester. The
hide at Grove Lake is situated on the south-east corner and can be accessed by
the footpath from either car park, being closer to the Mill Lane entrance.
The wildlife on the
Reserve has been recorded and monitored by the Moor Green Lakes Group since
1993. Nationally rare plants are present on the Reserve and the site is of local importance for wintering wildfowl. Tern
Island on Colebrook Lake North has hosted one of Britain's largest inland nesting
colonies of Common Terns and Black-headed Gulls.
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[Current Weather]
[River Level]
Latest Group News
The car park is currently locked at:
8pm
The
annual
Bird Species Lists and the
Bird Migration
Statistics have been updated with information from the 2010 Annual
Report which will be available in the next few weeks.
22 July 2011
The
June Bird Summary has been added to this website.
2 July 2011
The
May Bird Summary has been added to this website.
1 June 2011
The Moor Green Lakes Group seeks a new Bird
Recorder.
More
information here.
10 May 2011
The
April Bird Summary has been added to this website.
3 May 2011
Additional links have been provided between the historic monthly bird
summaries to make it easier to research what migrants have been
recorded, and what might be seen in the future and when.
24 April 2011
The
March Bird Summary has been added to this website.
2 April 2011
Work proceeds on repairing the
stock fence which surrounds the Reserve. Two kilometres of fence has been
repaired by volunteer work parties over the winter. A contractor has started
work on replacing 900m of fence along the south of Colebrook Lake South and
east and north of Grove Lake. The contract work will take about 4 weeks.
16 March 2011
2011 Open Day
Following the success of last year's Open Day,
the Moor Green Lakes Group is planning to hold a similar event on the 21st
August - note this date is different from the that given in the recent News
Letter. More details nearer the day. If you missed last year's event, this
video clip produced by Adam Leech, gives an idea
of just some of the activities to expect.
6 March 2011
The
February Bird Summary has been added to this website.
1 March 2011
On
the 5th of February the Surrey Hedgelaying Group laid 83 yards of the thorn
hedge between the bridleway and footpath, north of the Cut Bridge.
6 February 2011
If you spot any faults or
mistakes or have any comments or suggestions on this website, then please let me know at:
webmaster@mglg.org.uk
Previous news items are in the
[News Archive] |
