Laymoor Quag () is a nature reserve within the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

. Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust' The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS). The site is owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also resp ...

and managed under agreement by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust since 1982.

Location and history

The nature reserve is a site of wet heath and marsh about half a mile north-west of Bilson Green, Cinderford. It is accessed from the south by the Forest Vale Road or from the north via the Forest Vale Industrial Estate. The reserve is surrounded by embankments of the old mineral railway lines, which ran from the coal fields to Drybrook Road Station; it lies on the west side of a disused line that is now a forest ride. It is located on the Dean Coal Measures and was originally part of a thriving mining area. An embankment divides the reserve into two parts. The reserve is the last remaining relic of the wet

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

of the area. This once was extensive, but was lost to coal-mining and forestry activity in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Habitat

The wet heathland is situated within the wider pondscape, and provides a refuge for the

Great Crested Newt The northern crested newt, great crested newt or warty newt (''Triturus cristatus'') is a newt species native to Great Britain, northern and central continental Europe and parts of Western Siberia. It is a large newt, with females growing up to ...

, an important protected species. There are scrapes and shallow ponds which help to retain the wetness of the habitat, and these support the propagation of new plants and the populations of

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

. The variety of the habitat from sunny embankments to darker areas supports butterflies and fungi.'Heart of the Forest Wildlife Walk', March 2012, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Flora and fauna

The area to the north of the central embankment is heathland which supports

Purple Moor-grass ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid so ...

and Mat-grass. Petty Whin grows in abundance on this site and is the only recorded occurrence in the county. Heather and

European Gorse ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...

are also present. A range of typical heathland flowers flourish, including Heath Bedstraw, Lousewort,

Tormentil ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenn ...

and

Sneezewort ''Achillea ptarmica'' is a European species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the genus ''Achillea'' of the daisy family Asteraceae. Common names include the sneezewort, sneezeweed, bastard pellitory, European pellitory, fair-maid-of-Fra ...

. Trees such as

Silver Birch ''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 ...

and

Alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

grow on the embankment. The main hardwood trees on this site were felled a long time ago, but there are numerous dead stumps in the marshland. The area to the south of the central embankment is marshland, damp and water-logged. Rushes are abundant, and plants include

Marsh-marigold ''Caltha palustris'', known as marsh-marigold and kingcup, is a small to medium size perennial herbaceous plant of the buttercup family, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It ...

, Cuckooflower, Meadow-sweet, Ragged-robin,

Lesser Spearwort ''Ranunculus flammula'', the lesser spearwort, greater creeping spearwort or banewort, is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus ''Ranunculus'' (buttercup), growing in damp places throughout the Boreal Kingdom. It flowers June/July ...

and

Common Marsh-bedstraw ''Galium palustre'', the common marsh bedstraw or simply marsh-bedstraw, is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae. This plant is widely distributed, native to virtually every country in Europe, plus Morocco, the Azores, Turkey, Turkme ...

. The pond and spring at the eastern edge provide a swampy habitat which supports Yellow Iris, Skullcap and various bog mosses. A second pond dug in 1984 by the Forestry Commission is now well colonised, and supports a reported good population of dragonflies.

Conservation

The reserve has been grazed by Forest Sheep for a considerable period and action is taken to control invasive plants such as

Bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produ ...

. Measures have been taken to protect the Petty Whin by fencing.

Walks

There are two publications which detail walks, and places to visit, for recreation, and for observing particular wildlife in this part of the Forest of Dean. These are ''Where to see Wildlife in the Forest of Dean'' and ''Heart of the Forest Wildlife Walk''. 'Where to see Wildlife in the Forest of Dean', January 2012, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Publications

* Kelham, A, Sanderson, J, Doe, J, Edgeley-Smith, M, et al., 1979, 1990, 2002 editions, 'Nature Reserves of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust' * ‘Nature Reserve Guide – discover the wild Gloucestershire on your doorstep’ - 50th Anniversary, January 2011, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust * 'Where to see Wildlife in the Forest of Dean', January 2012, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust * 'Heart of the Forest Wildlife Walk', March 2012, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Forestry Commission
Nature reserves in Gloucestershire Forest of Dean