Belhus Woods Country Park Belter
Belhus Woods Country Park was once part of the Belhus estate owned
by the Barrett-Lennard family.
The park has a rich mix of woodland, grassland and lakes. You can
fish, play games, picnic, cycle and horse ride here, or just sit by
tranquil waters and wander through the dappled light of the
woodland. Belhus has all types of grassland from mown grass kept
short for picnics to tall swards ideal for grassland butterflies
and sky larks. Lake margins and adjacent fields provide ideal sites
for family games, while the hay meadows are seas of green, rich
with colonies of plants and insects.
Past gravel extraction on the site created a series of lakes, they
now provide the visitor with a place to relax by, pleasant
waterside walks and also for anglers – good quality coarse
fishing. Two lakes have been set aside as conservation areas and
are havens for wildlife, but you can see a variety of wildfowl on
most of the lakes.
The ancient woodlands have changed little in shape and size since
at least 1777, but since then significant extra planting has
created new areas. They are home to rich communities of wildlife
and the Ranger Service manages them traditionally for both timber
and wildlife. Timber from Running Water Wood is used for thatching
and hurdle making, with the hazel plots cut on a regular eight year
cycle. This ancient management practice, called coppicing, benefits
the wildlife by increasing the amount of sun light reaching the
woodland floor allowing seeds to germinate and plants to thrive.
Early purple orchids, graceful ragged robins and a sea of
bluebells, all grow which in turn provide nectar and shelter for
insects and butterflies.