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Holly butterflies, Hay Rattle and Healing- a guided walk in the grounds of Westbury Arts Centre with Milton Keynes Natural History Society

Westbury Arts Centre

By Katherine Bull


I went with ten others on a on glorious July morning on a guided walk to find out more about the plants and insects in the grounds of Westbury Arts Centre



Led by Martin Kincaid and Jenny Mercer who are Members of MK Natural History Society and who both volunteer in the garden, we heard why there is such a wealth of biodiversity at Westbury Arts Centre.


Martin explained that the aim of the grounds was to make them both attractive to wildlife and beautiful to look at. The grounds are home to a rich array of wildlife as a result of the range of habitats for wildlife at Westbury, including meadows, waterside, areas of bramble and thistle, trees, shade, old orchards, sunny garden borders and also the old brickwork and woodwork of the Westbury farmhouse.


Areas of grass are left unmown and are homes for grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars, as well as wildflowers such as Black Medick, Bush Vetch, Herb Robert and Common Ragwort. The latter is toxic to livestock but very good for insects. We also spotted Hay Rattle, which is known as a ‘meadow maker’ as it is vital in helping establish species-rich wildflower meadows. The unmown area at Westbury currently has about 10-20 different meadow plants and Martin explained it is only about one quarter of the way to being a full meadow. Thistles and brambles are removed from this area to encourage biodiversity. We saw a number of meadow plants which have been used in the past for medicinal purposes such as Prunella, also known as Self Heal, which is still used in traditional Chinese medicine for healing wounds.


We saw a Pyramid Orchid, which first appeared five years ago at Westbury and is usually only found on chalk downs such as the Chilterns, but is now commonly seen around Milton Keynes. Martin explained that it could have arrived by fungi that helps spread the seeds.


It was a delight to see so many butterflies including Holly Blue, Ringlet, Peacock, Gatekeeper, which loves wild carrot (pictured) and a Comma (pictured). Martin shared that he, along with many other experts, thought there are fewer butterflies around this year, possibly as a result of the cold wet weather this spring causing the pupae to die.



We spotted the bat box under the weeping willows, reminding us that there is an opportunity to take part in a Bat walk Thursday 5 September, 19.15- 21.30   To find out more, please visit our website Bat Walk Westbury is also a home to Westbury Bee Group, find out more about their Bee Festival, Apiary Tours, Beekeeping Course and more here click here

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