RBC and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust celebrate 25 years protecting nature sites
Last updated: 29/7/2025
Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) are celebrating a partnership spanning five decades caring for key wildlife sites together.
Their partnership at Wilwell Cutting and Wilford Claypit stretches back to the 1980s with both sites having been saved at Public Inquiries before being taken into the ownership of RBC. The partners are now celebrating 25 years of joint working at the locations.
Wilwell Farm Cutting Nature Reserve off Wilford Road and Wilford Claypit in Compton Acres are owned by RBC and have long been managed by NWT with the support of local volunteers, ensuring both sites can continue to thrive as habitats for local wildlife.
Both green spaces are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), are free to visit, and have walking trails where residents can enjoy and explore nature.
Hidden gem Wilwell Farm Cutting Nature Reserve is considered one of the best wildflower sites in Nottinghamshire, covering eight hectares of land with more than 230 recorded species.
Grassland plants include large numbers of meadow saxifrage and great burnet. Around 20 species of butterfly have been recorded, including gatekeeper and small skipper butterflies. Southern marsh orchids and hemp agrimony also flourish around the site, despite the decline in water levels since the 1980s and a cleared marsh area has increased numbers of cuckoo flower, ragged robin, fool’s watercress and water figwort.
There is a wide variety of grasses, sedges and rushes with more than 60 recorded and the site also contains many tree species ranging from hawthorn to oak and many species of fungi, mosses and lichens.
Nearby, Wilford Claypit is a designated marshland, grassland and woodland area. It supports a variety of habitats and plant species, including bee orchid, yellow-wort, and yellow rattle with a healthy population of dragonflies and damselflies, including the impressive blue and green emperor dragonfly.
Partners met at the Claypit site on July 25 to mark collaboration across five decades of partnership and look forward to it continuing to prosper for the benefit of local residents and nature lovers.
RBC’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Environment and Safety Cllr Rob Inglis said: “This year we’re celebrating five decades of partnership and a quarter century of formal arrangements with NWT.
“We thank them and acknowledge our combined commitment to see Wilwell Farm Cutting and Wilford Claypit well managed and continue to provide flourishing habitats for wildlife, having recently committed to a new partnership agreement.
“We’re proud to have these two fantastic SSSI conservation sites here in the Borough that both have rich histories. Wilford Claypit was previously used by the Wilford Brick Company from 1895 to 1967 for clay excavation.
“Wilwell Farm Cutting is an abandoned railway cutting, dug in 1895 as part of the construction of the Great Central Railway, and is now one of the best wildflower sites in the county.
“They really are hidden wonders, and I encourage everyone to visit, get outdoors and explore nature on your doorstep.”
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said: “As we face up to the climate and ecological crisis it is vital that established nature reserves are well cared for and resourced and we are delighted to work with Rushcliffe Borough Council to ensure that these two precious and popular sites remain as havens for nature and people.
“The Trust is proud to have played a key role in protecting these sites for the people of Rushcliffe and to have worked alongside Rushcliffe Borough Council over many decades to care for them.
“Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is committed to creating a wilder Nottinghamshire for everyone and we can only achieve this by working with partners who share our values and Rushcliffe Borough Council has long demonstrated its commitment to enhancing the borough’s biodiversity through its Nature Conservation Strategy and other initiatives.”
In addition to the partnership relating to Wilford Claypit and Wilwell Farm Cutting, NWT works closely with RBC across a range of work including provision of ecological advice and supporting volunteers involved in the management of a number of other wildlife areas across the borough.
