Bude Marshes

A fantastic area of such abundant richness, you would never believe it was at the edge of Bude. The Local Nature Reserve provides a wonderful opportunity for locals and visitors to appreciate wildlife on their doorstep. Bude Marshes was declared a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in 1983 the first in Cornwall, in fact it had been identified as a wildlife amenity area as early as 1955! The reserve covers an area of 6ha (14.5ac) of mainly reed bed, wet grassland and willow carr. In 1999 the area was extended to 9.2ha (22.5ac) when the Environment Agency handed the management of an area of wet scrapes over to Cornwall Council. Pethericks Mill was designed to increase flood storage and the wildlife conservation value of the area as part of the Bude Flood Prevention Scheme. A footbridge (the Peter Truscott Bridge) was built in 2001 to give access from the canal towpath.

Bude Marshes has a variety of other habitats, supporting many other diverse plants and animals. The main habitat is the reed bed however there is also a fringe of wet woodland with alder and willow trees and flag iris in early summer, areas of open water which support colonies of various dragonflies and damselflies and and damp and dry neutral grassland around the edge of the old helicopter landing pad, both of which support good populations of Bee orchids in the drier grasslands and numbers of Marsh orchids in the wetter vegetation.

Otters in Bude
Otters are known to regularly use the area, the combination of the canal, river and marshes provides ideal habitat and foraging ground for otters. There have been numerous sightings of the Otters...