Bissoe Valley nature reserve

Habitat type: Heathland, woodland and open water Size of Reserve: 3ha (7.5 acres) OS Map No. 10 Grid reference: SW 771 413 Best time to visit: All year
Cornwall Wildlife Trust encourages the use of environmentally friendly forms of transport wherever possible. Click on the locator map above to go to the National Cycle Network website and view an Ordnance Survey map of this reserve highlighting nearby cycle routes.

Directions:

From the A39 at Devoran, 3.5 miles (6km) south of Truro, take the turning for Bissoe. Just after Bissoe, the road bends to the left and access is via a track off to the left.

Access:

Parking is available nearby, just a short walk from the reserve. A network of footpaths crisscross the reserve; some paths have shallow inclines but are generally well surfaced for easy walking. The Mineral Tramways Cycle Trail runs through the northern part of Bissoe Valley.

Classification

Description:

The reserve was a former mine site. A restoration programme set up in 1986 with assistance from Carrick District Council, has now made it a fine example of creative conservation work, with newly planted woodland, ponds and regenerating heathland.

Characteristic wildlife of this reserve:

The grayling butterfly’s elaborate markings - dark brown wings with black eye-spots - make it stand out from the many butterflies found here.

The scarce blue-tailed damselfly is a delicate species that may be found well away from breeding sites, establishing new colonies. Males of the species are similar to the more common blue-tailed damselfly and these are difficult to tell apart, the scarce blue-tailed having more blue colouration on its posterior segments. Immature females tend to be bright orange; the mature female has a greenish-coloured thorax and black abdomen. Adult damselflies have large eyes and long thin bodies with two pairs of long narrow wings which are held together at rest, unlike dragonflies which keep their wings out to the sides. They are predators, using their sharp mouthparts to feed on other insects caught in flight. Their larvae are aquatic, and are also active hunters.

Other information:

Near to the reserve is a chimney and other remains of the Point Mills Arsenic Refinery. The British Arsenic Company (later the Cornwall Arsenic Company) operated these works for a century, ending with the outbreak of World War 2. The arsenic was famed for its high quality.

The reserve was a gift from Carrick District Council in 2000.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust Nature Reserves

List of reserves ... Armstrong Woods Bakers Pit Beales Meadow Bissoe Valley Bosvenning Common Cabilla and Redrice Woods Caer Brân Carn Moor Chûn Downs Churchtown Farm Chyverton Devichoys Wood Downhill Meadow Fal-Ruan Estuary Five Acres Fox Corner Greena Moor Halbullock Hawkes Wood Helman Tor Kemyel Crease Kennall Vale Lanvean Bottoms Loggan's Moor Loveny Lower Lewdon Luckett Maer Lake Nansmellyn Marsh North Predannack Downs Park Hoskyn Pendarves Wood Penlee Battery Phillips's Point Priddacombe Downs Prideaux Wood Quoit Heathland Redlake Cottage Meadows Ropehaven Cliffs Rosenannon Downs St Erth Pits St George's Island Swanvale Sylvia's Meadow Tamar Estuary Tincombe Trebarwith Tresayes Tywardreath Marsh Upton Meadow Upton Towans Ventongimps Moor Welcombe & Marsland Windmill Farm

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