One of the great things about the period immediately after the lockdown was being able to explore again. Much as we were incredibly grateful for our garden, there came a point when it just became necessary to get out of the house and have a change of scene. At the time, National Trust places like Hatchlands Park, Winkworth Arboretum, Claremont Landscape Garden and Polesden Lacey were all closed. Instead, I took a solo trip to Thursley Nature Reserve which is around a10 minute drive away and remarkably somewhere we’d not visited before. Thursley Nature Reserve is a truly special place, JD and POD would have loved it too. Sadly, they didn’t get to experience it as three days after I’d captured it in all its beauty, a wildfire tore through the reserve devastating some 470 acres including an estimated 200-300 animal and plant species.
Thursley National Nature Reserve is an 800-acre reserve and one of the largest remaining heathlands in Surrey with woodland, pine and peat bogs. Some 20 species of dragonfly and damselflies lived around the open ponds and ditches of the reserve along with an array of birds and a cuckoo called Colin. What made Thursley so special was the boardwalk, which spanned over a kilometre, and viewing platforms which provided visitors with access to the more boggy parts of the reserve. Most of these boardwalks were destroyed in the May 2020 fire but there are still footpaths that span the reserve from the car park through the woods and around the heathland. Here are a few photographs from before the fire to highlight how wonderful this nature reserve truly is.
The fire at Thursley Nature Reserve began on Saturday 30th May 2020. Richard Symonds captured it from the air, his remarkable drone footage showing the extent of the devastation as firefighters from Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex fought the blaze. It took 40 firefighters 3 days to get the fire under control and Thursley re-opened to the public in June 2020. We didn’t visit until late August when the photos below were taken. Thursley remains a beautiful reserve and while the devastation was heartbreaking to see, we saw signs of regrowth as we took a longer route around the reserve.
To date, the Thursley NNR Support Fund has raised over £30,000 to help towards restoring and preserving this important nature reserve. The money raised will go towards initial clearing works (making the area safe and promoting regeneration of the flora and fauna), preservation projects which focus on restoring the habitat for the remaining wildlife, replacing information boards and fire safety measures. Thursley Nature Reserve was, and still is, a very special place. The Thursley National Nature Reserve (NNR) will continue to work with stakeholders and Natural England in 2021 to find a long-term sustainable solution for the Thursley National Nature Reserve. While it will take years for this magnificent reserve to return to its former glory, we hope one day it will.
