Habitat type: Valley woodland
Size of reserve: 2 hectares / 5 acres
OS map number: 104
Grid reference: SW 750 496
Best time to visit: All year
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Directions
Take the B3284 west from Truro. At Penwartha, turn sharp left on to a minor road and then immediately right down a small lane. The entrance is a little way down the valley on the left, after crossing a small bridge.
Access
Parking is difficult and the access road is a dirt track. On the reserve, the footpath is steep and uneven, so stout footwear is recommended. Visitors are asked not to stray from the paths because of mineshafts.
Characteristic wildlife of this reserve
The holly has long been considered a mystical plant with the power to protect against witchcraft. Being thorny with red berries enabled it to be incorporated into Christianity as an allegory of the crown of thorns with drops of blood. Naturalists also recognise it as a plant whose berries sustain a range of thrushes through the autumn and winter.
The tree creeper moves up tree trunks in a series of jerky movements, with the occasional sideways hop, to investigate crevices with its sharply pointed scimitar-shaped bill for a tasty meal. Because it cannot descend in the same way, the bird flies from the upper trunk down to the base of the next tree and starts the process again. It also uses its beak to excavate roosts.
Other information
The reserve was purchased in 1973 with a generous legacy from the late Mr R W Hayman.
There is a pattern of small enclosures on the reserve which indicate post-medieval activity.
An attempt was made to mine silver-lead ore here in the late 1800s, but this venture was found to be unviable.
