Wilderness Down
OS Map 189 TQ 957525 / TQ 957518 : Nr Charing
Post code: ME13 0HY
Spuckles Wood
Access is via public footpaths with stiles. At present there is very limited car parking in and around Stalisfield Green. These reserve consists of a total of 16 hectares of mixed ancient woodland on a chalk escarpment with a clay cap, less than ½ mile (0.8 km) to the east of Stalisfield Green, some 1½ miles (2.4 km) north of Charing. Spuckles Wood supports a diverse mixture of trees: field maple, oak, hornbeam, hazel, holly, beech, ash,spindle and wild cherry.
The woodland flora is correspondingly rich, with violets, primrose, sanicle, herb-Paris, yellow archangel and carpets of bluebell on the acid clay.
Wildlife Update
Agreement in principle has been reached with our new neighbour, Mr Paul Goddard, of Parsonage Farm. Mr Goddard would like the Trust to manage his parcels of woodland, adjacent to Spuckles and Kennelling Woods and has accepted Trust management advice on the conservation restoration and maintenance of the valley grassland, including the semi-improved chalk bank next to Spuckles. Ken West has persuaded a number of woodland owners to consider entering into agreements with KWT and thereby creating the possibility of an integrated conservation management complex, based around Spuckles Wood. t is hoped to arrange meetings with more landowners during the summer to further develop the initiative.
