Fencing – Castor Hanglands, A National Nature Reserve
Discover how our fencing team completed work at this Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Before
After
530 metres
Stock Proof Fencing Installed
4 Distinct Habitats
Woodland, Grassland, Wet-land, Scrub
2000 Years
History
Castor Hanglands is a nature reserve managed by Natural England and it’s partners. The history of the area goes back 2000 years with the western boundary of the reserve following King Street, a Roman Road connecting Castor and Bourne.
The woodland is thought to have existed for over 1000 years with Castor being mentioned in the Doomsday book. The name ‘hangra’ is an Old English word for wood on a hill. The woods later became part of the Medieval hunting Forest of Nassaburgh. During WW2 part of the land was used for training.
The grassland, scrub and wetland areas of the reserve are part of Ailsworth Heath. In 1953 the remaining areas of woodland and heath were declared as one of Britain’s first National Nature Reserves.
The rich history and it’s SSSI status meant our teams had extra precautions to take before and during carrying out work on site. This included ground scans for explosives, due to its previous use as a military training ground. As the scans came back as low to medium risk work could proceed. All equipment was meticulously cleaned before arrival at site and during works care was taken over any fuel refills, with spill mats being used. This ensured bio diversity was protected on this Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Natural England did all the clearance work before we arrived on site so we could proceed straight away with the fencing works. There was approximately 530 meters of new timber and high tensile galvanized stock proof fencing to install. As the ground was dry we could travel with vehicles and trailers along with the tracked post knocker. At the request of the customer we used a slightly higher than standard netting, 100cm as opposed to 80cm, as they didn’t want any wire strands above it.
