Wicken Fen Boardwalk Trail Guide
Click here to reload this
page with the a map (45784 bytes) showing the locations of the following:
This unusual hexagonal building was opened in 1970 as a laboratory and lecture hall. It is now
the visitor centre for the Reserve. It also houses the Property Manager's Office, the Education
Office, and a comprehensive display illustrating the development, history and management of the
Fen. The building's layout and display are soon to be updated.
The large wooden hut nearby is named after a Naval Training Establishment whose members
worked here voluntarily over the years. Now converted into dormitory-style accommodation, it
is regularly used by schools and voluntary work parties. It is available to hire for visiting parties,
volunteers and education groups.
A row of plots can be seen alongside the visitor centre, showing typical Fen plants. Reference to
this and the other labelled specimens nearby in the dyke may help you identify some of the plants
you can see on the Fen. The garden may look a little untidy at some times of the year, but this is
intentional!plant list
The easiest way to visit the Fen, the Boardwalk provides a route for everyone at all times of the
year. Originally intended primarily for wheelchair users, the walk is now very popular. It shows
a selection of the different habitats found on the Fen, and lets the visitor experience the
remoteness of the reserve, but never go too far from the visitor centre. The boardwalk, as well
as providing easier access to parts of the Fen, also protects the surface from trampling; in the past
this has led to colonisation of the paths by trample tolerant species uncharacteristic of the Fen and
the breakdown of the peat surface.
The Boardwalk is also an interesting habitat in itself. In summer, look out for lizards basking on
the boards. In winter, footprints in the frost show where the boardwalk is used as a thoroughfare
by many creatures other than humans!
The large field to the left is cut in summer. The middle is cut annually with the strips either side
cut in alternate years and the strip nearest the windpump cut two years in three. In the middle can
sometimes be seen hummocks of vegetation. These are old fire sites where the litter was once
burnt.
The windpump is a wooden building painted black, with four white wooden sails. It is about 10
metres high. This is the last working windpump of its type in the country. Windpumps such as this
were once commonplace in the Fens, pumping water from field ditches into larger feeder dykes.
Being at the mercy of the weather, they were superseded in turn by steam, diesel and electrically
powered machinery.
An interesting Victorian metal windpump belonging to a neighbouring farmer can be seen from
the public footpath at the far Eastern end of St Edmund's Fen. This pump is still operating today.
A similar pump is derelict in the same field, and a static tractor-powered pump is in the
undergrowth nearby.
The wooden windpump was reconstructed here in 1956. Having undergone a complete overhaul,
it is now occasionally used to help maintain a higher level of water over the Sedge Fen. The
original site of this pump was down in Adventurer's Fen. The site was not at the time owned by
the National Trust but is now a part of the Reserve.
These pits were dug in the 19th century in order to extract the Gault clay for brickmaking. Now
filled with water, they form an ideal habitat for a wide range of aquatic plants, and animals such
as dragonflies. The rare Marsh pea is also common around the edge.
Bladderwort (Utricularia) is abundant here, showing yellow flowers July-August. It is the Fen's
only carnivorous plant. Fortunately for the many visitors who pass by this pond the bladderwort
eats nothing larger than a water flea. It has on its roots tiny bladders, from which it gets its name,
and these roots float free in the water. When a flea swims by it triggers a trapdoor in the bladder
to open, sucking the creature in. The door shuts and the plant produces digestive enzymes which
dissolve the animal. This is how the plant gets essential nutrients. The water here is very poor in
nutrients which makes it ideal for the bladderwort. Indeed it cannot survive in enriched
water. Management at the reserve ensures that water is not accidentally enriched by agriculatural
chemicals and fertilisers.
In dry conditions wheelchair access is possible to a specially adapted bird hide.
Top: H. Fen woodland and hide
Here typical fen carr plants such as woody nightshade, marsh fern and skull-cap are in evidence.
A bird hide on a spur of the boardwalk looks over a specially created clearing and pond. Look out
for the "fen nettle" a variety of nettle with long, thin leaves which do not sting. But beware - there
are ordinary, stinging, nettles here too!
The dyke here was re-excavated in the early 1980s to increase the internal network of water
courses on the Fen in an effort to keep it as wet as possible. The dyke has been colonised very
quickly by a rich variety of invertebrates and aquatic plants; when cleared such ditches soon fill
with silt as do most areas of water on the Fen. In summer great numbers of whirligig beetles
gyrate on the water's surface and on fine days pairs of damselflies can be seen flying in tandem,
the male attending the female as she settles to lay eggs among the water weeds.
This is being cut specifically to encourage the larval foodplant of the Swallowtail butterfly, which
was reintroduced in 1993. Few plants have yet become established here, but an example of the
plant can be seen in the Demonstration garden.
The bank is the spoil heap for the dyke beyond, which was also excavated in the early 1980s It
offers a dry site for many insects, including bumblebees.
On the fringe of this small patch of carr are some large litter heaps which are permanent reminders
of the problems of disposing of the biennial spring litter harvest from the litter field on the right.
The uneven nature of the ground is due to the former practice of digging peat from trenches.
Demonstration digging was reinstated here in 1990. After a few trial trenches were dug the idea
was abandoned as the drainage was not suitable. Peat digging may be tried elsewhere in the
future.
The thick carpet of mosses in this patch of carr shows how damp it is here throughout the year.
The birches show the progression from carr to woodland, but some are dying because of the high
water levels.
This field is cut biennially in summer. In alternate summers the benefits of this form of
management are dramatically illustrated by a profusion of colour - provided by meadowsweet,
yellow rattle, marsh thistle, yellow loosestrife and many more herbs typical of damp ground.
The route passes through an arch of hawthorn and blackthorn and meets the path alongside
Wicken Lode, there is a fine example of guelder rose here.
As this sheltered drove faces south it is a good place to see some of the Fen's many butterflies.
Fast-flying yellow brimstone males can be seen on almost any warm day from March to
September. Brimstone caterpillars feed on both alder and common buckthorns. The large skipper
is abundant from mid-June to the end of July. In winter, when the watertable rises, you can see
from the position of mole hills how moles are forced into the higher ground of the bank.
Adventurers' Fen has been drained several times in the past and was reclaimed again for
agricultural use during the Second World War, destroying much of the botanical and
entomological interest. A fascinating account of this process can be found in a book by Alan
Bloom called "The Farm In The Fen". When it was handed back to the Trust in 1952 management
was directed towards improving its attractiveness to birds. Some 90 acres of wet grassland which
are grazed during the summer attract large numbers of wildfowl and waders when they are
flooded in winter and spring.
This area of the Fen is not all open to the public, but as it is lower than the main Fen it can be
viewed from this point and from the Tower Hide on the Nature Trail.
Much of Wicken Lode is still navigable but nowadays is only used by pleasure craft. The junction
between Wicken Lode and Monk's Lode marks a limit of navigation of the River Ouse. The
water-level is actually much higher than the farmland beyond the far bank.
The dead end of the Lode between this point and the William Thorpe Building is one of the best
places to find the rare Bitterling fish. In the UK this fish is found only here and in the Manchester
Ship Canal. It is thought to be an escape from domestic aquaria. The Bitterling has an
exraordinary lifestyle, with the female fish laying her eggs in the valves of freshwater mussels. The
larvae actually live amongst the gills of the mussel before emerging to take up a more normal fish
way of life.
The 130 acres of land between the Lode and the distant farm buildings is now also a part of the
Reserve, purchased in 1994 and being restored to wet grazing meadow. This area is known as
Priory Farm.
This triangle, bounded in part by Monk's Lode which flows in from near the Newmarket area and
by Wicken Lode, belongs to Wicken Parish Council. The area is common land, set aside for the
poor after the Fen strips passed into private ownership. Here villagers still have ancient rights to
collect sedge and dig peat. Residents of the parish have the right to collect as much peat and
sedge as they can by themselves, on one day of the year - Lady Day. This right is no longer
exercised. St Edmund's Fen lies beyond the line of taller trees which can be seen running along
the back of Poor's Fen. Most of this is mature carr and woodland.
An old story tells of the farmer who lived at Spinney Abbey Farm, who one Lady Day broke the
old custom and brought all his men with him to collect turf and sedge. The other villagers were
furious but could not stop him. As he loaded up his carts an old woman who lived across the
Monk's Lode came to the bank and cried across "I curse thee and all who come after thee!".
Whether her curse was effective or not cannot be proven, but it is recorded that all his children
born after that date were deaf and dumb, and within a few years he was destitute and had to sell
the farm. The remains of the old woman's garden can still be seen, and the tree that grows there
is locally known as "the witches tree".
Here the path enters a belt of mature scrub mainly of sallow and buckthorn. Bramble is prevalent
where light has penetrated gaps in the tree cover.
Here a number of young ash saplings have sprung up next to the path. These are the offspring
of the large tree just beyond the scrub.
The path runs alongside a strip which receives a biennial summer cut. Where litter has been
dumped and burnt and the soil enriched by the accumulation of fire-ash, there is an abundance of
hairy willowherb.
This raised bank is made of pale grey Gault clay excavated from the Lode during the 1960s.
Directly opposite is the site of the staithes from where sedge and peat would have been loaded
onto barges for transport. Piles of sedge and reed are still stored there today ready for sale to
thatchers.
Click here to see a map
of the Boardwalk Trail (.gif - 45784 bytes).
These Wicken Fen pages are supported by East Cambridgeshire On-Line News and English Nature.
Contact details for Wicken Fen are here. However, if you have any comment or questions regarding this Web site then you should contact ECOLN directly by emailing or phoning 01353 624814.
Home page |
News & information |
Plants & animals |
Search the site |
Message board
