Photograph copyright Richard Cobden
Venue: Henfield, West Sussex, BN5 9SD
Woods Mill near Henfield is the headquarters of the Sussex Wildlife Trust – the county’s leading wildlife charity. Free to visit the nature reserve is a mixture of coppice woodland, meadow, and reed-fringed lake surrounding an old water mill that was given to the Trust in the mid 1960s.
Sussex Wildlife Trust has recently acquired new land almost doubling the size of the nature reserve to include marshy grassland, a stream and wonderful views of the South Downs.
Wildlife highlights at Woods Mill include nightingales, woodpeckers, warblers, turtle doves, dragonflies and a wide range of woodland, water and meadow plants. A circular nature trail guides you around the various habitats on the reserve. Along the way is a boardwalk across the lake, a bird hide and a wildlife garden. The Trust has also recently launched a free App for iPhone and Android smartphones – a multimedia mobile trail guide called the Sussex Wildlife Trust Explorer to help you get the most out of your visit to Woods Mill.
Woods Mill is also a centre for Sussex Wildlife Trust’s environmental education programme. The Trust provides high quality education and learning programmes for school children and other groups, covering a variety of curriculum areas with full classroom facilities and experienced leaders. Sussex Wildlife Trust also holds regular family events, various wildlife courses and a children’s summer holiday club at Woods Mill which inspire people of all ages to be enthused by nature.
Woods Mill is open to the public throughout the year with an all-weather path and boardwalk across the lake and reedbed. Just off the A2037 between Small Dole and Henfield, it’s free to visit, with a large car park and toilets. Dogs are not permitted. Access to the offices and toilets is suitable for people with disabilities, as is the nature reserve with its wheelchair friendly all-weather path.
For more information on Woods Mill and other Trust nature reserves please see the website www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk