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Swallowfield Meadow
Swallowfield Meadow is a Local Nature Reserve in Swallowfield, south of Reading in Berkshire. It is owned and managed by Swallowfield Parish Council. Geography and site The reserve features meadows, native hedgerows, a small copse, ditches, and seasonal ponds as well as the meadows themselves. History The area that is now the meadow was transferred to the Parish Council in the mid-1990s when houses were being built in the village. Before then the area had been a coal yard. On 15 July 2003, the area was officially designated as a Local Nature Reserve. Fauna The site has the following fauna: Mammals *European water vole Flora The site has the following flora: Trees *''Betula pendula'' *''Acer campestre'' *''Corylus avellana'' Plants *''Leucanthemum vulgare'' *''Knautia arvensis ''Knautia arvensis'', commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous perennial species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Description It is a perennial p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swallowfield
Swallowfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, about south of Reading, and north of the county boundary with Hampshire. Geography The civil parish of Swallowfield also includes the nearby villages of Riseley and Farley Hill, and is, in turn, within the Borough of Wokingham. Swallowfield has a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the south western edge of the village, called Stanford End Mill and River Loddon The village has a local nature reserve called Swallowfield Meadow. Swallowfield Park is a stately home situated in an estate half a mile north east of the village. The current mansion has been converted into exclusive apartments. Notable residents Swallowfield has been the home of a number of famous persons including Thomas 'Diamond' Pitt, the Governor of Fort St. George; William Backhouse, the Rosicrucian philosopher; Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon; and, in his childhood, Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon. The 19th century author Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east of Swindon, south of Oxford, west of London and north of Basingstoke. Reading is a major commercial centre, especially for information technology and insurance. It is also a regional retail centre, serving a large area of the Thames Valley with its shopping centre, the The Oracle, Reading, Oracle. It is home to the University of Reading. Every year it hosts the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Reading Festival, one of England's biggest music festivals. Reading has a professional association football team, Reading F.C., and participates in many other sports. Reading dates from the 8th century. It was an important trading and ecclesiastical centre in the Middle Ages, the site of Reading Abbey, one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berkshire in 1957 because of the presence of Windsor Castle, and letters patent were issued in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin, a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. The county town is Reading. The River Thames formed the historic northern boundary, from Buscot in the west to Old Windsor in the east. The historic county, therefore, includes territory that is now administered by the Vale of White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire in Oxfordshire, but excludes Caversham, Slough and five less populous settlements in the east of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. All the changes mentioned, apart from the change to Caversham, took place in 1974. The towns of Abingdon, Didcot, Far ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Water Vole
The European water vole or northern water vole (''Arvicola amphibius''), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair. In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years. Appearance Water voles reach in length, plus a tail which is about half the length of the body. Weights reported for adults are variable. It is possible for large, optimal adults to weigh as much as However, these are peak weights. Elsewhere, the mean body mass has been reported as , although this figure includes immature water voles. The minimum weight to successfully breed as well as to survive winter is reportedly in females and in males.Yavuz, Güliz, Ercüment Çolak, and Teoman Kankılıç. ''Investig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betula Pendula
''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia. The silver birch is a medium-sized deciduous tree that owes its common name to the white peeling bark on the trunk. The twigs are slender and often pendulous and the leaves are roughly triangular with doubly serrate margins and turn yellow and brown in autumn before they fall. The flowers are catkins and the light, winged seeds get widely sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acer Campestre
''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has been widely planted, and is introduced outside its native range in Europe and areas of USA and Western Australia with suitable climate. Description It is a deciduous tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter, with finely fissured, often somewhat corky bark. The shoots are brown, with dark brown winter buds. The leaves are in opposite pairs, long (including the petiole) and broad, with five blunt, rounded lobes with a smooth margin. Usually monoecious, the flowers are produced in spring at the same time as the leaves open, yellow-green, in erect clusters across, and are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a samara with two winged achenes aligned at 180°, each achene is wide, flat, with a wing. The two varieties, not accept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corylus Avellana
''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland England. The wood was traditionally grown as coppice, the poles cut being used for wattle-and-daub building and agricultural fencing. Common hazel is cultivated for its nuts. The name hazelnut applies to the nuts of any species in the genus ''Corylus'', but in commercial settings a hazelnut is usually that of ''C. avellana''. This hazelnut or cob nut, the kernel of the seed, is edible and used raw or roasted, or ground into a paste. The cob is round, compared with the longer filbert nut. Description Common hazel is typically a shrub reaching tall, but can reach . The leaves are deciduous, rounded, long and across, softly hairy on both surfaces, and with a double-serrate margin. The flowers are produced very early in spring, before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leucanthemum Vulgare
''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (french: Marguerite commune, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, and an introduced plant to North America, Australia and New Zealand. Description ''L. vulgare'' is a perennial herb that grows to a height of and has a creeping underground rhizome. The lower parts of the stem are hairy, sometimes densely hairy but more or less glabrous in the upper parts. The largest leaves are at the base of the plant and are long, about wide and have a petiole. These leaves have up to 15 teeth, or lobes or both on the edges. The leaves decrease in size up the stem, the upper leaves up to long, lack a petiole and are deeply toothed. The plant bears up to three "flowers" like those of a typical daisy. Each is a "head" or capitulum wide. Each head has between fifteen and forty white "petals" (ray florets) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knautia Arvensis
''Knautia arvensis'', commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous perennial species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Description It is a perennial plant that grows between . It prefers grassy places and dry soils, avoiding heavy soils, and flowers between July and September. The flowers are borne on inflorescences in the form of heads; each head contains many small florets. The head is flatter than in similar species, such as devil's bit scabious (''Succisa pratensis'') and small scabious (''Scabiosa columbaria''). There are 4 stamens in each floret, and 1 notched long stigma. The fruit is nut like, cylindrical and hairy, in size. It has a tap root. The stem has long stiff hairs angled downwards. The leaves form a basal rosette, are paired on the stem, the lowest typically long, spear shaped, whereas the upper are smaller. There are no stipules. Ecology It is occasionally used by the marsh fritillary as a foodplant instead of its usual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parks And Open Spaces In Berkshire
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. National parks and country parks are green spaces used for recreation in the countryside. State parks and provincial parks are administered by sub-national government states and agencies. Parks may consist of grassy areas, rocks, soil and trees, but may also contain buildings and other artifacts such as monuments, fountains or playground structures. Many parks have fields for playing sports such as baseball and football, and paved areas for games such as basketball. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities. Some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables and barbecue grills. The largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves In Berkshire
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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