Twentywellsick Wood Nature Reserve

Twentywellsick Wood is a typical but small example of oak/birch woodland mostly on steeply sloping ground. It features a number of associated woodland bird species such as nuthatch, treecreeper, wren, robin and two species of woodpecker. Other species can often be seen passing through; for example, long-tailed tits flit from tree to tree as they move through the valley. The occasional hooting of tawny owl can be heard in the autumn months as territories are set up in the area.

The steep bank is covered by thin acid soils giving rise to a ground layer dominated by bilberry and wavy hair-grass, with occasional bracken. The high rainfall levels support a number of typical mosses such as Hypnum cupressiforme and Dicranella heteromalla. Other higher plant species of note include the delightful golden rod and hard fern. At the bottom of the slope the soils become deeper, more clayey and less acid allowing a wider range of higher plants such as bluebell, red campion and wood stitchwort to grow. Here the canopy contains a number of large ash trees as well as an understory of hazel.

Back on Twentywell Lane, the reserve entrance is a narrow gap in the stone wall. The reserve slopes steeply down to the railway. It is suggested that visitors keep to the upper part of the site and do not descend to the lower area. Most of the reserve can be adequately seen from the footpath. The oak woodland requires little day to day management. Practical conservation tasks include repairs to boundaries, removal of species such as rhododendron and sycamore and the collecting of litter. This reserve is leased from Mr MJ Soar and Mr CP Soar of Nottinghamshire.

Directions

Twentywellsick Wood is situated on Twentywell Lane above the Sheffield to Chesterfield railway line and close to the village of Dore, in south-west Sheffield. By car, the reserve can be approached by taking the A621 Bakewell road from Sheffield. After a section of dual cariageway, Dore Railway Station is signed on the left. 200 yards after this a left-turn into Twentywell Lane should be taken. The road winds its way uphill and a small woodland (the reserve) can be seen on the right-hand side of the road. Continue past the reserve as the road straightens out and Twentywell Road is on your right. Turn into this road and park safely to avoid any obstruction.