A nature reserve on the Somerset Levels

The Somerset Levels lie across the neck of land that separates Devon and Cornwall from the rest of England. Originally marshland, they were drained by monks in the Middle Ages and are now used mainly for grazing cattle. They do still flood, most notably recently in the winter of 2013-14 when the village of Muchelney was an island for several weeks and the inhabitants had to go shopping by boat.

Thanks to the BBC for this map

They aren’t startlingly pretty or dramatic like other places in this country but I love them. I think this is because they give the impression of being closer to their natural state than most British countryside. There aren’t many houses, for obvious reasons, and keeping the water out is a constant battle – involving sluices, pumps, sea defences, ditches and dredging. It wouldn’t take long, one feels, for the area to revert.

    Because the Levels are so different from hilly and increasingly busy Devon, Frog and I often visit on our ‘days off’, having lunch in Glastonbury with its delightful eccentric inhabitants and then walking. One place we’ve never been able to walk however is a nature reserve that we pass on the road as dogs aren’t allowed – until last week when Frog’s recent retirement meant that we could go out on the dog’s day-care day. Now at last, I thought, I could experience the real wild Levels.

    Somehow though I was disappointed.

    Perhaps it was the fence around the edge keeping out predators like foxes. Perhaps it was the quantities of serious birdwatchers with their telephoto lenses. Perhaps it was the neat walkways and the signs everywhere telling you what to look for.

    I felt like a zoo animal, confined to an artificial re-creation of my natural habitat.

    Of course at the moment reserves are vital for preserving species, but I can’t wait for the day (which has to come) when the countryside is reversed, when wildness is the norm and reserves are where we grow our food. (For more on this see https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/ .)

Here, anyway, is what we saw.

We started off at the reed bed. The swishing noise of the wind through the reeds was lovely.

The reed walk

Then we walked past some ditches and pools.

A secret willow-fringed pool

Purple loosestrife, a damp-loving plant

I had to look up this butterfly when I got home as I don't know much about butterflies - and I think it's a painted lady. I knew the plant however. It's hemp agrimony -  another damp-lover.

Then we sat on a floating platform on the edge of a small lake which reminded me of the Norfolk Broads. (I had difficulty taking photographs because the sun was so high and strong that all I could see on the screen was myself. The picture below may be slightly wonky.)

The small lake

At one point we had to cross a track or ‘drove road’ as they’re called on the Levels. Drove roads look inviting but they aren’t public footpaths and are often blocked with gates, barbed wire and ‘private’ notices. True to form there was a big notice here warning visitors to cross quickly and not stray up the track - for their own safety and that of the cattle driven along it. Hmph.

The out-of-bounds drove road

We ended up at the bird hide and information hut. As I read the board, I noticed movement above. Oh how clever, I thought: there’s a moving exhibit. When I looked up I realised that it wasn’t just moving. It was alive. And, judging by the amount of droppings on the floor, had made the hut its own.
    But it wasn't an endangered species, and it certainly wasn't on the board's list of creatures to look out for.
    That's real nature for you, I thought - it doesn't follow the rules.

    It was the best bit of the walk.

The anomalous pigeon