A medium sized container on the trail, beside a sand quarry. The quarry is well fenced and there is no need to cross any fences to find the cache.
The Serpent Trail - A 64 mile long path that leads you through the purple heather, green woods and golden valleys of the Sussex greensand hills. The sandy heaths are rare and special places for people and wildlife.
ABOUT THE SITE
West Heath is owned and managed by Cemex aggregates.
Cemex has managed the site as a working sand pit in recent times. The site is coming to the end of its working life. The site is going to be restored by Cemex, with assistance from the SDNPA, to a heathland site. Only a small area is worked at any one time and restoration is taking place as work continues. Whilst not perhaps ideal management we do need aggregates for building and roads. The conservation of the restored land is likely to be far higher quality than the semi – intensive agriculture and secondary birch woodland that would have existed on the site.
NATURE & WILDLIFE
- This is a very important area of Lowland heath for sand martins. Good remnant heath remains around the edge of the site and there are large areas of worked sand pit under restoration. The sand faces are worked on annual rotation to accommodate sand martins which breed on the site.
HISTORY
West Heath is in the parish Harting and was a rabbit warren for the Lord of Harting in mediaeval times.
The Petersfield – Midhurst railway line ran alongside this site with a station at Nyewood.
HEATHLAND
Heathlands occur on infertile land with thin acidic soils. The soils are usually sandy and therefore free-draining so they do not hold water for long. Heaths are often subject to summer droughts. Fires are a constant hazard, particularly as much of the vegetation is very resinous adding to the fire risk.
Heathlands are a man-made habitat, created thousands of years ago by our ancestors to provide firewood, craft materials and grazing for livestock. They are very vulnerable to rapid loss and degradation, especially through neglect. Birch and Scot’s Pine seedlings soon take over and turn areas into woodland because they shade out the underlying heath vegetation.
The wide open landscape is dominated by heather, gorse and grasses which provide a superb habitat for invertebrates (over 5000), ground nesting birds and all six native reptiles. Many internationally rare species can be found on heathland.
95% of lowland heaths have been lost globally. 1,544 ha of lowland heathland can be found in the National Park which represents an important international resource.
PERMISSIONS
Cache placed with kind permission from Cemex.