Wildflower meadows are wonderful. No question. As a lover of wild plants since my teens, I think that there is nowhere better to explore than a good grassland - whether a meadow in the strict sense (that is, mown for hay) or a pasture (grazed by livestock). The sheer diversity of meadows is astonishing: just in my home county of Kent you can explore flower-rich lowland hay meadows, sun-baked chalk downland, sandy and parched acid grassland, and damp, low-lying grazing marsh. Amazing, flower-rich grasslands have even sprung up on post-industrial sites in densest urban areas. Further afield are the upland hay meadows of northern England, cliff-top grasslands of the western coasts, the culm grasslands of the Southwest, and many more.  Each type of grassland has its own special species, its own plant and animal communities and its own distinctive feel.

Disastrous Decline

The loss of meadows in the 20th century has been catastrophic. A 90%+ decline has seen 7.5 million acres of meadow disappear, a catastrophe not just for wild plants, but for butterflies, bees, birds and all manner of wild animals. Perhaps as importantly, we've lost a major part of our cultural heritage - how many people are now lucky enough to live near a truly rich wildflower meadow?

Taking Part - National Meadows Day – 4 July

These are the reasons why it is so important to have the Save Our Magnificent Meadows project led by Plantlife. It is the UK’s largest partnership project transforming the fortunes of our vanishing wildflower meadows, grasslands and wildlife. They are also the reasons why it is an honour for the nature reserve at which I work - Ranscombe Farm in North Kent - to host a major event on 4 July for the first National Meadows Day. Organised by Medway Valley Countryside Partnership (one of the eleven partners in the Save Our Magnificent Meadows project), our Picnic in a Meadow day is one of a number of events across the UK which will give people a chance to visit, learn about and enjoy wildflower meadows and grasslands.

Growing Ranscombe Farm

Our reserve originally had only a few remaining acres of truly rich, old wildflower meadow. Over the last five years, we have been able to add to this around 60 acres of old set-aside land - thanks to the generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund and of course to all those National Lottery players - and a further 20 acres of former intensive arable land. Managing this area has meant we have needed to train and equip volunteers, acquire specialist hay-cutting machinery, and restore - with the help of our sympathetic tenant farmer - a conservation grazing regime using traditional breeds of cattle. A wide range of funders have helped us get all this under way, but we know that we are just at the start of a process of grassland restoration which will take years - probably decades.

But it's worth it. As a naturalist and reserve manager, I get a real kick from seeing rare meadow plants spread and increase, or finding (as I did this spring) one of the UK's rarest bumblebees busy visiting meadow flowers. But I get just as much of a kick from taking a group of schoolchildren to hunt meadow mini-beasts, or introducing adults to bee orchids and butterflies, and seeing the real joy, interest and excitement that wildflower grasslands bring to people. Roll on National Meadows Day!