Besthorpe, Nottinghamshire

Besthorpe is a small village in north-east Nottinghamshire close to the border with Lincolnshire. It is a Civil Parish in the Newark & Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census is 195. The village is on the A1133 between Newark and Gainsborough, and is 1.5 miles north of the larger village of Collingham, North East of Newark on Trent. The village lies 1 mile east of the River Trent and the River Fleet flows South to East parallel with the village & A1133. Besthorpe acquired Conservation Village status in 2006 because it has maintained much of its original layout focused on Low Road and the Green.

Two key environments meet in Besthorpe. To the north and east the East Nottinghamshire Sandlands are an increasingly rare habitat supporting grass heaths, bracken, gorse and broom with mixed small-scale plantations of birch, oak and Scots pine. The River Fleet and the fields to the west are part of the Trent Washlands which provide the village with its River Meadowlands landscape of meadow and river pastures, extensive grasslands and meandering river channels. More detailed commentary can be found on the website of our local Newark and Sherwood District Council.

Seasonal changes in the environment and its related habitats provide a diversity of floral and faunal species making a visit in any season a rewarding experience.

The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have spent many years reworking old sand and gravel quarries into a major Nature Reserve (officially opened in June 2011) and over 100 species of birds have been recorded including key colonies of tree-nesting cormorants, a major heronry and sand martins. In 2013 a number of little egrets raised their chicks here – considered to be the most northerly such colony in the UK. The Nature Reserve is easily accessible from Trent Lane and the road to the carpark runs alongside an SSSI meadow noted particularly for its flowers including Great Burnet. In the spring a range of wild flowers including orchids can be found around the reserve. Further information on the Nature Reserve can be found at the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

Besthorpe works in partnership with the Wildlife Trust and is a 'Wildlife Friendly' village. A recent community project created a wildflower meadow on the playing field and a community orchard has been started next to this.

With a grant from the Trent Vale partnership and advice from Notts Wildlife Trust a large group of village volunteers set to work to create a summer wildflower meadow. Planted two years ago the meadow had a tough start with a long dry period after autumn seeding. Generally it has had a remarkable second season with previously close cut playing field grass, which showed little sign of interest, blossoming over a long summer season. Butterflies, moths, bees and birds are now very evident and there is a range of insects hidden in the undergrowth.

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