University of Reading: Celebrate National Meadows Day At Langley Mead

Come and celebrate National Meadows Day at Langley Mead nature reserve in Shinfield on Saturday 3 July.

National Meadows Day is an annual celebration of the beautiful wildflower meadows found throughout the UK. An open event is being held at Langley Mead, which is owned and managed by the University of Reading, between 10am and 4pm.

Visitors will get the chance to learn more about the restoration of the reserve, which is open to the public throughout the year, to a traditional floodplain meadow.

Langley Mead

Langley Mead is 18 hectares of countryside along the banks of the River Loddon, with a series of walking loops, wildlife habitats and areas of natural beauty. It is part of an ongoing project aimed at restoring agricultural land back into habitats for wildlife and plants.

Working closely with ecological planning consultancy, EPR Ltd, the University has used traditional management practices such as creating wildflower meadows, planting hedgerows and creating wetland features to successfully encourage greater biodiversity and environmental conservation.

Parts of the land are seasonally grazed by traditional cattle and a series of bird and bat boxes have been installed – including one for the resident barn owls.

Professor Mark Fellowes, Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Reading and ecologist, said: “Langley Mead is a beautiful open space that everyone in the community can enjoy – something that has been increasingly important to us all during the pandemic.

“It is also a fantastic example of how using traditional management practices can help plants and wildlife to flourish. This is very important to us here at Reading as we have a wealth of expertise and knowledge on why greater biodiversity is so vital to the world around us.

“I would encourage anyone with an interest in nature to come along to our event on National Meadows Day, it promises to be a fun-filled day.”