Wildlife Wanders: A Free Family Nature Walk

Open to children of all ages who can walk for two hours (accompanied by a parent or carer), the session offers an immersive journey through two of the NNR’s most special habitats: ancient woodland and chalk grassland. 

Led by knowledgeable guides, the walk will take families through Badgells Wood’s ancient woodland — where they’ll learn about veteran and ancient trees, the remarkable underground fungal network known as the *Wood Wide Web*, and the famous chalk bat cave (a collapsed medieval dene-hole that now shelters up to 20 bats of four species, including Daubenton’s and Brown Long-Eared bats). 

The route then opens out onto the Birling Estate chalk grassland, one of the UK’s rarest and most biodiverse habitats. Families will learn about conservation grazing with native breed cattle and sheep, and may encounter rare orchids — including Fly, Man and Bee Orchids — along with species such as the straw belle moth, found in fewer than ten locations in the UK, and nesting Barn Owls, Skylarks and Nightingales. Children will be equipped with wildlife checklists and magnifying glasses, and will have the chance to lift reptile refugia to look for basking lizards and snakes. 

The walk returns through a recently coppiced area, where families will discover how this ancient woodland management technique lets light flood in, boosts wildflowers, and creates layered habitats for wildlife — with sweet chestnut from the estate used sustainably in Badgells Wood’s own structures, including the play area and Woodland Kitchen. 

More information: Wildlife Wanders