Hammer Bridge Meadow

Leaders: Frank Denham (site owner) and Andy Swan (HNHS Member)

The group convened in very pleasant weather in the garden of host Frank Denham’s garden for a welcome and introduction. It was explained that the site we were visiting lies between the two streams: the natural Wey stream and the mill stream of the water-powered hammer-mill iron works that was sited here in the 17th century. Later, and prior to the building of the railway route, the Wey valley bottom had a system of water meadows, which were no doubt rich in wildlife, to supply hay for horses on the Portsmouth Road.

Frank had taken over the site when it was wasteland, cleared it, and then established a regime similar to traditional hay meadow management, aiming to restore the rich flora and fauna that must have been there 200 years ago.

This was a site of Water Vole re-introduction, but they are shy and weren’t sighted. Trail cameras have proved that they survived the winter and are regularly present. We were impressed by the pond that Frank had dug, the bank of soil for burrowing insects and the “dead hedge”, also a refuge for invertebrates. The spectacle of the Beautiful Demoiselles fluttering in the sun was breath-taking. There was an impressive clump of Southern Marsh Orchids and several Common Spotted-orchids. It was interesting to see how specific plants were associated with specific insects: for example the picture-wing fly Tephritis hyoscyami on Lesser Burdock and Cionus weevils on Common Figwort. Tiny primitive pollen-eating moths of the genus Micropterix were found.

A supplementary short walk to a nearby patch of scruffy woodland succeeded in finding the target species – Bird’s-nest Orchid. This strange plant is typical of beechwoods on chalk, so its presence here is a welcome anomaly.