Countryside Service
Milking Brook Valley, Heath Hayes
Milking Brook Valley is part of the green spaces laid out in the Development Master Plan for the Hawks Green area.
This plan, created in the 1980's, transformed the former agricultural landscape into the housing, retail and commercial developments that can be scene today.
Milking Brook Valley can be accessed from:
- the numerous links within the housing developement
- Hayes Way
- Deavall Way, here there is a small car park
- over the hill from Hawks Green and Mill Green Local Nature Reserve.
There are crushed stone paths but rest points are limited to around the pool near Deavall Way.
Wildlife in the Valley
The pool is stocked with coarse fish and may be fished on a permit available from the Countryside Service. This pool is also home to common water fowl such as Mallard, Coot, Moorhen and Canadian Geese and is popular place to "feed the ducks".
Beyond the pool is a small wetland that in spring turns a golden yellow with Marsh Marigolds.
Most of the trees you will see were planted in the early 1990's be members of the local community including the scouts and Gorsemoor Primary School.
These trees are now beginning to be thinned (pictured left), coppiced (below right)and layed to provide a multitude of homes for the many small birds that nest and feed in Milking Brook Valley.
The rarest of these is the Bullfinch which needs nest sites, buds, berries and seeds to thrive all of which are plentiful in the valley.
Before Tall, open scrub with few nest sites. | After Layed scrub with one years growth. |
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To maintain a diverse structure to the woodland and scrub not all of Milking Brook Valley is worked on in any one year. Instead a rolling programme of works ensures a variety of nest sites in the different ages of scrub laying.
The laying of scrub also helps adjoining houses as is provides an impenetrable barrier between the open space and properties.
Near Hayes Way the arable heritage of the area is kept alive with the cultivation of an area for poppies (red) ,cornflower (blue), corncockle (purple), corn marigold (yellow) and corn chamomile (white) which provides a splash of colour over the summer and early autumn. The seed produced feeds the wild birds over the winter.
Look out for cultivated ground in spring. Where you see this these bright flowers will grow over the next few months.
Milking Brook is a refreshing countryside walk to the shops, school or just for exercise (with or without a dog).
Telephone: 01543 462621
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