As the weather warms up, the buds on the trees Speckled wood Leaves activities & Walks open up, fi lling the woodland with green leaves. butterfl y Ecclesall Woods is Summer / Spring Woodland fl owers bloom and birdsong fi lls the air. Speckled wood butterfl ies home to over 15 species Woods Ecclesall are brown with creamy of trees – how many There is so much to see at this time of year. Can you patches on their wings. different leaves can you spot everything shown below? Don’t forget to take These butterfl ies love identify? Look out for partially shaded woodland the long, jagged edged pictures to share with other woodland explorers. with dappled sunlight sweet chestnut leaf, the and can often be seen lobed oak leaf or the #ecclesallwoods spiralling in the air to paper thin beech leaf. Can chase each other. Species you collect 15 different of butterfl y you may also leaves? see in the woods are red admiral, peacock, orange tip and meadow brown. Bluebells Grey heron Wood collier’s May is usually the best This tall, long-legged bird memorial month to see bluebells in makes a lot of noise when The monument in Wood 2 the woods. These fl owers it is nesting season. Its call says that “George Yardley, love ancient woodlands like is like a loud squawk. The woodcollier, was burnt to Ecclesall Woods and the grey herons at Ecclesall death in his cabbin on this display here is spectacular. Woods nest on the far place Oct 11 1786”. Wood Enjoy looking at and side of the bird sanctuary GEORGE YARDLEY collier was another name photographing the sea of in the tall larch trees that for charcoal burner, and purple created by these grow there. The most we there is a charcoal hearth fl owers, but please don’t have ever had here has very close to the memorial. pick them or stand on them been 9 nests – see how It is thought that he fell as they are delicate. many you can count and asleep while at work and if you can spot a huge the fi re got out of hand. heron fl ying overhead. Follow the map to fi nd the wood collier’s memorial. Can you read the names of his friends who paid for the memorial? Coppiced hazel Bracket fungi Ecclesall Woods is a wonderful place for a walk Coppicing is a traditional Bracket fungi feed on in all seasons. This leafl et includes three walks method of woodland wood, either as living of different lengths, so you can choose one that management, which has trees or dead logs, and suits you. It also includes activities and exciting been used for generations. the brackets are their things to look out for while exploring the woods. The hazel gets cut down to fruiting bodies. They a stump, but this does not kill form shelf-like structures the tree. Instead, in spring, singly or in groups and ------------------------- it produces new growth in normally stick out from Woodland Discovery Centre, the form of tall straight stems the trunk or branches. Abbey Lane, Ecclesall Woods, of wood. These stems can Brackets can be as small Sheffi eld, S7 2QZ be used for hurdles, broom as 1cm across or as big handles, fences, legs for as 1 metre! As you walk 0114 235 6348 furniture and many other through the woods see woodland.discovery@sheffi eld.gov.uk things. When you see a how many bracket fungi @ecclesallwoods coppiced hazel, see if you you can spot. #ecclesallwoods can count how many sticks ------------------------- of new growth you can see. Treecreeper Wood anemone Listen to the 2. Great spotted woodpecker The treecreeper is a small These white fl owers – listen for them drumming bird with a brown back, are one of the fi rst to woodland on dead wood. It usually white belly and a white appear in the woodland Birds use their voices for lots lasts only a few seconds stripe over its eye. It has in spring and cover the of reasons – to guard their with 8-12 beats and fades a thin beak that curves woodland fl oor like stars. territories, to attract a mate, to away at the end. downwards, that it uses to They usually fl ower from announce a predator is near 3. Song thrush – these probe insects and spiders March to May and have or perhaps just to sing! Listen out of the bark of a tree. 5 to 8 petals. They are a birds make a noise, then and see if you can hear any of repeat that noise 3-4 Treecreepers travel up good indicator that the these birds: trees, going round the woodland is an ancient times, then move on to a trunk, but they never travel woodland (meaning that 1. Chiff chaff – these birds different noise. back down – see if you trees have been here sound like they are saying can spot one going up a since the 1600s). their own name “chiff chaff tree in the woods. chiff chaff chiff chaff…” using two different notes again and again. Ancient woodlands. Enormous sweet chestnut Ecclesall Woods trees. Q-pits. A rustic coffee stop. Birdsong. D obcrob Whichever path you take through Ecclesall cr oft Ro Parkhead Ro Cricket Ground ad Woods, you’ll discover something delightful. Wood 1 Use this map to help you find a route that suits you. 30-minute stroll (suitable for pushchairs): Leave the Woodland Discovery Centre through the gate to the left of the car park and turn left. Continue down the slope until A you reach a wonky crossroads, take the second path and pass the b b e y fallen tree on your left. Continue on this path, past the beech tree L a n covered in fungi on your left. At the crossroads continue straight on. e When you cross a small, planked bridge, turn right. Continue to a crossroads with a beech tree and go straight on. At the next fork, take the right path. At the next junction take a sharp right, down the hill. Continue to the crossroads, turn left and walk back up to the Woodland Discovery Centre, through the gate on your right. th u ouo S 1-hour wander: d a oao R ll Leave the Woodland Discovery Centre through the gate to the left sa e cl of the car park and take the path to the right over the little bridge. c EnE EcclesalE n d o Turn left and bear left downhill to a bridge. Walk up the steps, turn w o o right and follow the bridleway. Take the left fork uphill at the next d R o junction. Turn left when you reach a fork in the path and continue a d uphill. Follow the path as it rounds to the left and begins to go downhill. Just before the next path on your right, look left to see the heron nests high up in the larch trees. Continue past the small path on your right. At the next fork, bear right. Go straight on at the next Road wdale Whhiirloowdal crossroads, signed to Abbeydale Road South. At the next junction Whhirlirlowdalele Rooa ad bear left At the gate turn left. Walk all along the bottom path until you get to a crossroads, go over the small, planked bridge. Continue AbA b b eey over a crossroads, past a path on your right, and at the next junction Whirlow Wheel y L a take the second exit leading uphill towards the Woodland Discovery n e Woodland Centre, through the gate on your right. Discovery Wood Collier’s Centre Monument ad Ro e R 2-hour explore: ag rs hehe t at n Wood 2 Leave the Woodland Discovery Centre through the gate to the left HaH e 5 c 252 s of the car park and take the path to the right over the little bridge. 6 e A6A r C y y Turn left and bear left downhill to a bridge. Walk up the steps, turn e e b b b Donkey b right and follow the bridleway. At the next junction turn right and go A A Field Whirlow Playing Field through the gate into the Donkey Field. At the next gate turn right and go down the steps. Turn right across the bridge, immediately left, and left again following the sign to Abbeydale Road South. At the corner with three gates turn left. Continue, cross the stream, and reach a th u oou gate. Turn left, cross a stream and turn immediately right, following the S d bridleway to Abbeydale Road South. Continue along this wiggly path e a n ooa a R LLa Bird Sanctuary past a double trunked oak tree on the left. At the next fork, bear right. le a b d m y i e Continue at the next crossroads to a gate. Abbeydale Road will LimbL b bbbeydal A be in front of you, turn left. Continue along this bottom path until you 1 A 2 6 meet a major crossroads. Turn right and cross Abbey Lane. Enter the A woods and follow the bridleway through wood 2 and cross Whirlowdale Ryecroft Road. In Wood 1 follow the bridleway to the Dobcroft Road entrance. Mill Abbeydale At the noticeboard crossroads go straight on, on the footpath signed Industrial Hamlet to Abbey Lane. Climb towards the top corner of Wood 1 and turn Picnic Area left on the footpath signed to Whirlowdale Road. Continue at the two crossroads to the road and cross over Abbey Lane.