To help celebrate the 13th Annual Cache In Trash Out Weekend, the Hilsea Rangers (Portsmouth City Council Countryside Service) have kindly agreed to host another CITO event at Hilsea Lines, Portsmouth and explorer_olway will be your host.
This event is organised for Sunday 26th April from 10.00am to 11.30am.
Please arrive shortly before 10am so that a health & safety briefing can be given as well as litter pickers and bags given out. You may wish to bring food and drink. There is a lot of car parking near to the co-ordinates or in the nearby Peronne Road and Scott Road.
History of Hilsea Lines
This valuable nature area has developed on a site that was originally a military base.
The first defences, built 1544, protected the city and port of Portsmouth from inland attack for 300 years, before the existing Lines replaced them in 1871 when the renewed threat of a French invasion prompted the construction of stronger defences.
This two-mile long structure of chalk and earth ramparts 9m high and 20m wide, has six bastions of bombproof casemates and a moat to the north. The expected invasion never happened and Hilsea Lines have never been used in battle.
Most of the original structure is unaltered today. The Lines were designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1964, and gained Conservation Area status in 1994 in recognition of the value, not only of the monument, but also of its setting.
Hilsea Lines wildlife
The site of Hilsea Lines has become the most varied wildlife haven on Portsea Island, containing within its 80 hectares woodland, hedgerows, meadows, both fresh and brackish water areas, marshland and coastal habitats. Here is a small selection of the wildlife to be found here:
- mammals and birds - Field Vole, Kestrel, Dunlin, Kingfisher
- reptiles and beetles - Smooth Newt, Stag Beetle
- butterflies and moths - Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, Garden Tiger Moth, Emperor Dragonfly - the largest British dragonfly
- flowers and plants: Lords and Ladies (Cuckoo Pint), Bee Orchid, Yellow Flag, Common Walnut Tree (not native to Britain but were planted in this area by the military to be used for rifle stocks and butts).
The moat at Hilsea Lines
The moat at Hilsea Lines, originally a single body of water, is now divided by a series of footpaths and bridges into four separate areas. These range from a pure seawater lagoon near Hilsea Lido with a good variety of crabs, shrimps and eels to two freshwater moats whose natural vegetation affords excellent wildlife habitats for water birds and insects.
The freshwater moats are used by Portsmouth and District Angling Society. Contact them direct to find out more about fishing at Hilsea Lines.
The final moat is brackish water. This moat has an interesting contrast of habitat to the other moats and has flora and fauna that have adapted to the partially salty conditions.
Management of Hilsea Lines
A Countryside Ranger oversees the day-to-day care and protection of of the Hilsea Lines Conservation Area and all the wildlife habitats.