Sharphill Wood receives its third Green Flag Award!
Last updated: 29/7/2025
Sharphill Wood near Edwalton has been announced as one of the UK’s best green spaces and has received its third consecutive Green Flag Award.
The 10-hectare woodland has been named among 2,250 other parks and green places across the UK, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces nationwide and across the globe.
The site became a nature reserve in 2010 and is managed in partnership with Rushcliffe Borough Council, The Friends of Sharphill Wood (FoSW) and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
The woodland is home to an array of local biodiversity and provides a valuable habitat for invertebrates, small mammals such as badgers, foxes, bats brown hares and rabbits.
Volunteers have been carrying out nest boxes for several years, and the latest spring bird survey recorded 27 species such as woodpeckers, treecreepers, nuthatches and jays.
There’s also an abundance of standing and lying deadwood providing an important habitat and supporting a range of fungal species.
Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Wellbeing, ICT and Member Development Cllr Jonathan Wheeler said: “We’re delighted to raise the flag and celebrate Sharphill Wood’s third Green Flag Award, showcasing the beautiful Nature Reserve as one of the best green spaces in the country!
“With three official entrances to the woods, visitors and dog walkers can enjoy views across Rushcliffe and further afield along 2.6km of footpaths and other nature trails.
“Thank you to the FoSW volunteer group, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, our officers and Streetwise team for their time and hard work in conserving this historic woodland.
“A special thanks to FoSW’s Equipment Manager Dave Nicholas-Cole who used some leftover stones to resurface some further paths, making it easier to walk around the site in all weather conditions.
“Working in partnership, we’ll continue to keep the site a scenic and peaceful place to visit with its thriving nature reserve and enhance biodiversity wherever we can.”
FoSW Chair Chrissie Wells added: “We’re really pleased to receive a Green Flag Award again. It’s a testament to all our volunteers and partners.
“The work we do is very important in protecting the green space and its wildlife so that there is a legacy for our children and grandchildren.
“It’s everyone’s collective and individual responsibility to preserve these special places, and we hope that more local people will get involved and help us in that rewarding work.”
The Friends of Sharphill Wood was formed in 2008 with the aim of enhancing the woodland for the local community and its flora and fauna.
If you would like to volunteer and join the Friends of Sharphill Wood group, email sharphillwood@yahoo.co.uk.
The Green Flag Award is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities.
The Green Flag Award scheme is managed by Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
Photo caption from left to right: Rushcliffe Country Park Manager Alastair Glenn, FoSW’s Equipment Manager David Nicholson-Cole, Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Senior Ecology and Sustainability Officer Paul Phillips, FoSW Chair Chrissie Wells and Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Wellbeing, ICT and Member Development Cllr Jonathan Wheeler.