In January 2010 Sharphill Wood was declared a Local Nature Reserve; Rushcliffe Borough Council, The Friends of Sharphill Wood and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust will be at Sharphill Wood at 11.00am on 7 July 2010, to celebrate this declaration with the assistance of children from Ruddington and Radcliffe Day Nursery.

We invite you to help us to celebrate this event, if you can, please join us at the northern entrance of the wood (this can be accessed from Peveril Drive, by following the public footpath due south), a map is attached. A short ceremony marking the Local Nature Reserve status will be held at the entrance and will be followed by a guided walk around the wood lasting approximately 1 hour.

On the evening of 22nd September 2009, a survey of Sharphill Wood for bats was carried out by the Friends supported by NWT staff who are members of South Notts Bat Group. The weather was a little cool and windy, which will influence the surveys as sometimes bats choose not to emerge from their roosts to feed if the weather is cold, windy or raining. However, the survey did reveal the presence of 3 species of bat using the wood

The purpose of a management plan is to describe each site and to decide what prescriptions or actions are required, by whom and by what date, so that the site can be improved in line with the management objectives.

Download an MS Word version of the Management Plan here.

Friends of Sharphill Wood

Founded 22 January 2008, Second Annual Report

May 2010

This is the second annual report of the Friends of Sharphill Wood (FoSW) Group.

In 2010 the Group met 10 times. At April 2010 there were 53 Friends.

The second Annual General Meeting on 12 May 2009 elected Kate Troy (Chair), Richard Steer (Vice Chair), Chrissie Wells (Treasurer) and Bill Logan (Secretary). Ruth Walker was appointed Working Party Coordinator. Due to ill health, Kate stood aside and since 10 November 2009 Richard has acted as Chair.

Ruth found this Early Purple Orchid, Orchis mascula, among the nettles in Sharphill Wood.   The leaves were darkly spotted.   According to the description at the field guide for British Orchids;

"When the flowers are just opened the scent is usually sweet, like honey, but soon smells strongly of tom-cat's urine"

So check before trying to smell it.

If you have like me found yourself upside down in the mud thinking "This would be a good place for some steps" then you will be interested to hear that BTVC volunteers have built some steps to make the paths easier under foot in a couple of places.

Thanks are due to the Notts Wildlife Trust who helped arrange this work.

Hello! I’m Jeremy and I live in Sharphill Wood. I’m a green woodpecker, you know, and I am quite shy – if I see you watching me I will hide behind a tree trunk. You can see me all year round in the Wood. I eat insects and ants if I can get them! There are not enough of us in Britain so people like my Friends look out for us when they can.

Visitors to the wood will have noticed that some conservation work has been carried out over the winter. It seems appropriate at this time to explain the current situation regarding the wood and the surrounding arable land.

Firstly, some important milestones have been reached and are worthy of note:

In 2001 Sharphill wood was designated as a “site of importance for nature conservation” (SINC) and noted as a “mature, mixed deciduous woodland of botanical and zoological interest”.

In 2009 Nottinghamshire County Council recognised the footpaths leading to, and within, the wood as legal rights of way for pedestrian access.