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Happy Birthday! Swanwick Lakes nature reserve turns 25

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and NATS, the UK air traffic control service, celebrate 25 wild years at Swanwick Lakes nature reserve.

The nature reserve and popular education centre were created through an innovative partnership between NATS and the Wildlife Trust that began in the early 1990s when NATS moved their base to the site of the old brick works at Bursledon.

Together the organisations turned what was an abandoned clay pit into one of the Trust’s most popular reserves and a haven for wildlife and people to enjoy. Today, Swanwick Lakes boasts incredible lakes, woodland and wildlife-rich meadows that are home to an array of birds, butterflies and dragonflies, as well as stunning orchids and woodland flowers. 

Thousands of schoolchildren, families and local residents enjoy the nature reserve every year – whether taking a stroll or engaging in one of the many educational sessions or events run by the Wildlife Trust.             

Six things you probably didn’t know about Swanwick Lakes nature reserve:

  1. The local clay has been used for brickmaking since at least 14th century.  At the height of their production Redlands Bricks plc was making 24 million bricks per year from the clay excavated at Swanwick Lakes.
  2. In September 1974 local man Alfie Cox retired from working at the Redland Brick Company site at Swanwick.  He had spent the previous 25 years excavating clay from what is now New Lake.  Upon retirement Mr Cox was quoted in a local newspaper as saying ‘I’ll miss it.  When you’ve been digging a hole for 25 years, you get quite attached to it’.
  3. The London Clay beds that were excavated as part of the brickworks activity contained a large amount of fossils. Evidence of an amazing range of prehistoric creatures was uncovered, including the teeth of sharks.
  4. In 2013, 1045 species of invertebrates were recorded on the reserve.   One of the rarest of these is the Long-horned Bee – the females use the sunny, exposed clay banks to nest in.
  5. Out of 68 bird species, the rarest resident breeding bird is the Marsh Tit.  This small bird has a really distinctive call – it sounds like somebody sneezing.
  6. Over the last 25 years, Swanwick Lakes Nature Reserve has welcomed more than 42,000 children on school visits.

Commenting on the anniversary, Dawn Preston, Swanwick Lakes education officer, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said: “The reserve is a fantastic natural oasis in an otherwise urban area.  We are delighted that, through our partnership with NATS, we are able to give thousands of local children the chance to come here and discover our incredible natural environment.  It is so important that children can learn and play outside and connect with nature. What better place to do that than at Swanwick Lakes nature reserve?

Sean Allen, currently Head of Facilities Management at NATS, was project manager of the original construction.  He added “As the partnership between NATS and the Wildlife Trust has gone from strength to strength, so has the wildlife in the reserve. It’s amazing to think that not so long ago this used to be a quarry but thanks to our collective hard work, we’ve turned it into a vital haven for wildlife.”