Miles Collins

Photographs and information on Linwood Warren near Market Rasen…

Linwood Warren is a wooded area I stumbled across with my brother recently and what a find it proved to be. Truth be told we were looking for another, larger wood but this seemed like a good ’stop gap’ during a very cold winter’s morning.
Here is a place which looks incredible in a covering of snow, peaceful beyond imagination and hauntingly beautiful it truly is a hidden gem. Park at the entrance or on the roadside and begin your walk at the RK Cornwallis memorial, the wood is dedicated to Cornwallis who was chairmain of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust in the sixties. There are two walks which form a loop and bring you easily back to your starting point…

We began walking towards the ‘wet’ meadow on the Western loop which leads to a beautiful small pond lined with rushes and inhabited by amongst others, water voles and dragon and damsel flies. On a day such as this the pond becomes a mirror of ice and damselflies are a thing of a summer’s memory. We met Brian Oxborrow who is the project manager and he kindly explained the routes and told us about the variety of birdlife which can be seen here throughout the year. According to Brian there are sparrowhawks, woodpeckers, tawny owls, woodcock, nightjars, woodlarks, redstarts and even the odd snipe or six.

Linwood Warren in Winter

The trees in winter can create some spectacular scenery despite their lack of foliage, it was eerily quite when we were there save for two men rabbiting on the neighbouring field. It was one of those mornings when a number of factors combined to make for a feeling of time in suspension. It was as though the entire wood had gone into a deep sleep and our footsteps threatened to awaken it.

Linwood Warren

Taking the eastern route leads onto open heathland which is home to Hebridean sheep and Dexter cattle, these play an active part in maintaining the balance of the land by eating intrusive birch saplings and grasses whilst allowing other wild plants and flowers to thrive. The area is rich in heather and moss and attracts a huge variety of butterflies and moths in the summer months as well as grass snakes, lizards and adders. There is real history around here too, flint tools and Roman kilns have been unearthered as well as evidence of a 19th century rifle range and practice trenches from the first world war.

Fallen Tree at Linwood

This is a place I shall look forward to visiting throughout the year and shall post more photographs as and when the season allows it. The summer months will bring honeysuckles, lily-of-the-valley, sneezewort, marsh violet and devil’s-bit scabious so expect to see photographs depicting a much different landscape.

Frozen Pond at Linwood Warren

How to find Linwood Warren in Lincolnshire

OS: 121 • GR: TF 133877 • Map ref: 30
Linwood Warren is approximately 2.5 km (1.5 miles) east of Market Rasen on the south side of the Legsby road opposite the golf course. Follow the signs for Market Rasen on the A46 from Lincoln or Grimsby.