Pingle Wood and Cutting
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An ancient ash and maple woodland, with a fine meadow developed in the adjacent abandoned railway cutting |
This ancient semi-natural woodland of ash and maple adjacent to an old railway cutting. The disused track has developed into fine meadow grassland since the closure of the railway line in 1969. The cutting and wood form a complementary mosaic of mature woodland, developing scrub and grassland.
A colony of common spotted-orchids covers the cutting banks, and bloom in early summer. The woodland at the cutting’s eastern end was part of Pingle Wood before the track was laid; it still contains ancient woodland species. Early-purple orchids and twayblade are also found here.
Since 1969 we have recorded 50 bird species in the cutting. Many of these breed in the wood or surrounding area, including turtle dove and bullfinch – both scarce in Cambridgeshire. There are records of over 300 species of moth. In summer look for the six-spot burnet, a day flying moth with bright red and green-black wings. The adjacent woodland is a mixture of old coppice, ash and maple with semi-mature oak.
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Plants: Early-purple orchid, bluebell, primrose, wood anemone, ramsons |
Plants: Twayblade, salad burnet, kidney vetch, quaking grass Insects: Six-spotted burnet moth Birds: Turtle dove |
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