Kennington

Bybrook Gt Stour

Conningbrook Lakes Country Great Stour Park SOUTH DYKES Town Centre

Willesborough South Ashford Frog’s Singleton Island Suddenly, you’re in the countryside! East Stour Aylesford Stanhope Stream YOU ARE South This Willesborough Dykes Greenway Path, launched Willesborough Purple loosestrife HemlockWater vole water-dropwort Local Nature Reserve HERE in 2014, now provides a wonderful traffic free route Other areas in the Green East Stour Corridor Park Farm between Park Farm and the town. It takes you alongside Other green spaces South Willesborough Dykes - one of the most valuable Spaans Teun Photo: Photo: Peter Trimming Peter Photo: National Cycle Route 18 sites in the Ashford Green Corridor, and the largest. Other cycle routes At over 200 acres, it’s a sizable tract of untouched countryside with a lot of wildlife interest. The Ashford Green Corridor Snipe Discover one of Ashford’s greatest assets! Since the middle of the 19th century Ashford has expanded but land close to the rivers has not been As well as the network of ditches, two rivers run through built on, due to the risk of flooding and because the Dykes – the East Stour and the . the Borough Council has protected it as green Both are good wildlife habitats for plants such as purple space. Some areas are designated as Local Nature loosestrife, insects like the banded demoiselle and one of Reserves. Britain’s fastest declining mammals, the water vole. The resulting undeveloped ‘fingers’ of land, around You might notice an area of tree planting and a hedge the rivers Great Stour, East Stour and Aylesford beside the path. Almost 4000 trees were planted by Stream, reach right into the heart of Ashford. Photo: Alpsdake Photo: volunteers to create new habitat for another threatened Collectively they connect to form the Ashford mammal, the dormouse. Meadow wild flowers line Green Corridor, which provides both people and This grazed marshland has been spared from the path, including species like black knapweed and wildlife with routes through the town and to the development partly because of its tendency to flood but musk mallow, all of which enhances the wildlife value countryside beyond. also because of its ecological value. Many of its important of the area. species are to be found in the man-made ditches that were dug centuries ago to help drain the land for farming. These include scarce plants such as water violet and a long list of aquatic insects. The Water violet Frog’s Island site is also important for birds which over- An Ashford Green Corridor leaflet, which includes walking maps and information on other areas of the winter here on the Corridor, can be downloaded as a PDF from wet , in www.kentishstour.org.uk or by scanning the QR code. particular an important population of snipe. Dormouse Tree planting Designed by Clarity Interpretation www.clarityinterpretation.com 01303 249501 www.clarityinterpretation.com Clarity Interpretation by Designed

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