Churchtown Farm facts for kids
Churchtown Farm is a special place in Cornwall, England, where nature is protected. It's a community nature reserve located about a mile south of Saltash. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust owns and manages this amazing area. It has many different types of natural spaces, like grassland, wetland, woodland, and even old quarries. You can also find estuary mudflats and hedgerows here.
The reserve is part of the beautiful Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It sits between the Tamar and Lynher rivers, and also next to Forder Creek. Most of Churchtown Farm used to be farmland, with fields for hay and other crops. At 61 hectares, it's one of the biggest reserves managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
Farming for Wildlife
The way Churchtown Farm is managed today helps wildlife a lot. In the past, the farm focused on producing dairy products and crops. From the 1960s, many fields were farmed very intensely. This meant using lots of chemical fertilisers and heavy grazing, which made the soil very rich in nutrients. This kind of farming led to fields with only a few types of plants and not much variety in their structure. Fields like that don't attract many insects, animals, or birds.
To bring more wildlife back, the Cornwall Wildlife Trust is now using gentler farming methods. They are trying to lower the soil nutrient levels and encourage many different plant species to grow. This helps create a better home for all sorts of creatures.
Exploring the Quarries
Churchtown Farm has two old quarries called Forder and Lowhill. People used to dig for stone here in the 1800s to build roads. Lowhill quarry closed in 1915. The stone they took out was called horneblende dolerite. Today, both quarries are important geological sites because of their unique rocks and history.
Amazing Birds to Spot
The mudflats at Churchtown Farm are a fantastic place for birdwatching. You might see many different kinds of birds, especially during certain times of the year. Some of the birds you can spot include Oystercatchers, Dunlins, Egrets, Avocets, and Greenshank. These birds love to feed in the muddy areas when the tide is out.
