Habitat type: Woodland and coastland grassland
Size of reserve: 7 hectares / 17 acres
OS map number: 108
Grid reference: SX 436 491 (main entrance from car park)
Best time to visit: All year
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Directions
From Millbrook, head for Cawsand and Rame. In Rame, turn left just before the church and follow the road to the Battery.
Access
Car parking is available. Footpaths are good and a boardwalk allows wheelchair access to a viewing platform.
Characteristic wildlife of this reserve
The lower lip of the bee orchid flower resembles the body of a queen bee in colour and shape, evolved to attract male bees to bring about pollination. However, in Britain this ruse is usually unnecessary as the plants self-pollinate easily; a puff of wind is all that is needed. This orchid’s annual cycle is unusual because the above ground parts dry off at the end of the summer and the plant survives in an underground tuber, which stores food over the winter. The bee orchid thrives in short turf, usually on a calcareous substrate. So, in Cornwall, it often occurs on dunes and coastal blown sand. The bee orchid is sporadic in nature and numbers at a location can vary enormously from year to year.
Other information
The reserve is on the site of a former defensive and strategically placed Battery, constructed in the late 1800s and used throughout both World Wars. It is still possible to appreciate the formidable scale of these defences.
One of the earliest and largest guns installed was hauled by eighty horses over a period of two weeks up specially constructed steps at Penlee Point. At its first firing, the gun split its concrete bed and was then removed, to be replaced by six smaller guns.
