Residents across Salisbury and the surrounding area are being invited to start their day in a truly unique way on Sunday 3rd May 2026, as Broken Bridges Nature Reserve launches its first community event of the year - A Dawn Chorus Discovery – on International Dawn Chorus Day.
The early morning event, organised by Charley Miller in conjunction with Ranger Alex Rose, offers participants the opportunity to witness the remarkable dawn chorus. This phenomenon features birdsong at sunrise and stands as one of nature’s most impressive seasonal events.
Starting at either Bemerton or Harnham end of the Broken Bridges Nature Reserve, the guided sessions will help participants learn to recognise different bird calls, discover more about local wildlife, and enjoy the peaceful beauty of the Reserve at its most active time of day.
Charley Miller said “We’re delighted to be launching our first event for the community. The dawn chorus is something really special, it’s a chance to slow down, listen, and connect with nature in a way that many people don’t often experience.”
Ranger Alex Rose added “This event is open to everyone you don’t need any prior knowledge. Whether you’re curious about birds or just want to enjoy a calm and inspiring start to your day, we’d love to welcome you.”
The event marks the beginning of a wider programme of activities at Broken Bridges Nature Reserve, aimed at encouraging local people to explore, enjoy, and support this valuable natural space. Jeremy Nettle Chair of BBNR said he was delighted that a programme of events “Nurturing Nature” was now coming together and hoped that they would appeal to all ages.
Spaces are limited, and early booking is advised.
Harnham resident Paul Stoney is organising a Deep Earth Walk around Broken Bridges, starting at the Harnham end of Broken Bridges (Upper Street) at 2pm on Sunday 26 April 2026.
The walk will take up to 3 hours following 4.6 km route around Broken Bridges and vicinity to represent the 4.6 billion years since the earth’s formation. Paul is inviting people to make a donation towards Broken Bridges and the Deep Time Walk project - www.deeptimewalk.org.
Please contact Paul on paul_stoney@yahoo.co.uk to confirm your place on the walk.
- April 2026
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We're delighted to welcome our new Rangers onboard as they start work with us in Broken Bridges.
Thanks to a National Lottery 'Awards for All' grant, Charley Miller and Alex Rose, young people with a passion for the environment, have been appointed as Rangers, to help us with organising conservation activities and supporting the many local people who want to volunteer with us.
Charley and Alex are members of the Wildlife and Wellbeing Community Interest Company based in Salisbury. Charley says “Wildlife and Wellbeing was set up in 2024 in response to the growing climate, biodiversity and human mental health crises. Our aim is to connect people with their local wildlife, for the benefit of their health and wellbeing."
Alex and I have a combined 20 years' experience in practical habitat management, including at Hazel Hill Wood near Salisbury. Alex added "I'm looking forward to this partnership, excited to build strong relationships for Broken Bridges Nature Reserve, and honoured to establish a rapport with the land.”
Welcome Charley and Alex!
- February 2026
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Over 80 people gathered in the lovely setting of St John’s Place in Lower Bemerton on January 17th 2026 to hear about progress, ask questions and meet the team.
Fascinating glimpses into the past of this historic site, where the papermill on the river is recorded in the Domesday Book, were provided by his personal knowledge and research by John Abbott and by Angie Watts who had worked on the farm in the period before its more recent neglect.
Thank you to all who attended. If you missed the day or want to catch up on progress, you can view Trustee, David Riddle's presentation here.
- January 2026
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Visiting Broken Bridges? A new detailed map is now available to view in the Downloads page.
- October 2025
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Thinking about leaving a legacy donation? Please visit our Downloads page for more information on donating to Broken Bridges Nature Reserve in your will.
- October 2025
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The trustees of Broken Bridges Nature Reserve are delighted to have completed the first cut of the meadows in years.
Trustee David Riddle says: “Our meadows used to be very rich in wild flowers - we have survey information from 12 years ago recording some very special species. Sadly, the lack of grazing and cutting in recent years has allowed coarse sedges to overwhelm the meadows, smothering the rare plants and we desperately needed to get it all cut.”
David went on: “In an ideal world we would mow and then remove the grass in bales, as this helps to reduce fertility which benefits the wild flowers. We tried with a horse drawn mower but were thwarted by machinery breakdown. This left us with a dilemma: should we just leave the vegetation to stand over winter and die down; or should we try to get it cut and leave the cuttings to rot down in situ? Neither option was ideal because we were leaving the nutrients from the mowings on the land either way. BUT because leaving it all standing would have made it even harder to mow next year, we decided we should try to get it cut now before the land gets too wet.”
Fortunately the Trustees were able to enter into a contract with the City Council’s Grounds Team with their extensive local knowledge of the meadows and they have now been cut for the first time in many years.
The aim is to re-introduce grazing as soon as the necessary fencing has been reinstated. Combined with annual hay cuts in years to come this will restore the rare floodplain meadow habitat along with its rich variety of plants and animals. The mowing just completed is the first step in the restoration process.
- October 2025
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We are looking for either a self-employed individual or an organisation with the passion and experience to deliver excellent Ranger services under contract to our new Nature Reserve at Broken Bridges in Salisbury.
You will work with the Trustees to coordinate and deliver a range of services including site maintenance, volunteer management, public engagement, monitoring and reporting.
This is a great opportunity to join this exciting venture from the start, building a great Nature Reserve for Salisbury that we can all be proud of.
Funding from the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’ programme for this contract is currently available of £10,000 per annum for 2 years.
Expressions of interest should be sent to info@mybrokenbridges.org.uk when more information will be provided. We look forward to receiving your proposal, outlining your skills and experience on no more than 2 sides of A4 paper. Closing date November 16 2025.
- October 2025
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Broken Bridges Nature Reserve has launched a new Facebook page to share latest updates, photos, upcoming events, and other content.
Simply search 'Broken Bridges Nature Reserve' on Facebook and follow our page! There's lots of new material posted, including news of an upcoming community event and updates on the summer mowing programme.
Do you have photos or stories to share? Tag Broken Bridges Nature Reserve in your Facebook post to share with others.
- October 2025
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Our new notice boards are now in place at both ends of the pathways to the reserve area. A huge thank you to John and the team at the men’s shed for the work to make this happen!
- August 2025
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A HUGE thanks to the team of 12 Broken Bridges Nature Reserve volunteers who recently surveyed Broken Bridges in advance of work by Wessex Working Horses in the fields.
This from one of our task leaders, Dudley Horn…
“I am pleased to report that the task (search of designated area for obstacles & debris was completed by 1145 this morning. Everyone pitched on time. This was followed by a safety briefing and task detailing. The volunteers were split into two teams equally assigned to Rob and Dudley. Teams all formed a line with about 2-3 meters in between and we did systematic sweeps across our assigned areas. Our poles and sticks were used to probe the ground to unearth any obstacles or material unevenness in the ground. We searched right to the hedge/treelines and searched therein and could find no signs of discarded fencing or barbed wire. None of the volunteers reported any finds or obstacles. After we cleared our respective areas, we cleared the gate of all foliage so that it can be accessed by the horses.”
Thank you to all our volunteers on the day for helping!
Interested in helping future work? Email info@mybrokenbridges.org.uk to be added to our volunteer database.
- August 2025
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The western meadows on Broken Bridges will shortly be cut by heavy horses. This will be the first step towards the restoration of the meadows to increase biodiversity, prior to the re-introduction of grazing next year.
Why not come along and watch the horses at work?
Monday 1st & Tuesday 2nd September – Mowing.
Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th & Wednesday 10th – Baling.
We are using horses rather than a tractor for this work as they cause less compaction of the ground and create slots with their hooves for the germination of wildflower seed.
Learn more about this fantastic team helping us at www.wessexworkinghorses.co.uk.
- August 2025
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We have had over 70 people sign up to be volunteers on the new Nature Reserve for which we are extremely grateful!
In early September we will be having the western fields cut using heavy horses. Before that, we need to ascertain if there are any obstacles in the ground which might be a hazard for both the horses, and the machinery. As these are old water meadows there may be hidden structures beneath the vegetation such as concrete, old bits of metal or fence posts and barbed wire and the original raised channels like those on the Harnham Water Meadows. We would like a team of about 10-12 people to walk these 9 acres, which are partly divided into 2 sections by a hedge. The group would spread out across the field each with a stick to locate and identify any hazards and mark these on the supplied map.
Interested in helping this or future work? Email info@mybrokenbridges.org.uk to be added to our volunteer database!
- July 2025
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On 27 June 2025, Broken Bridges Nature Reserve (BBNR) acquired 34 acres of land, formerly known as Fitzgerald Farm. The charity's immediate priority is to address the potential risk to the public caused by diseased or hazardous trees along public rights-of-way within the reserve.
Work is scheduled to begin on or about the 21 July 2025 and we hope will take just over a week.
The reserve contains an estimated 11,000 trees. Our initial examination of the estate identified 44 trees requiring closer inspection. Of those 44 trees inspected, 20 trees represent a potential significant threat to the public and require work as a matter of urgency, with 13 of them suffering from Ash Dieback. The planned works are as follows:
Tree surgeons will ensure minimal disturbance to wildlife, if conflicts arise, they will halt work to allow for us to reassess the risk to the public against the risk to wildlife. Removed wood will be repurposed to create local biodiverse habitats.
The recent tragic incident in Southend-on-Sea, where a falling tree caused the death of a 7-year-old girl and injured three others, underscores the importance of this work.
We apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your support as we complete this urgent work to keep the public right of way safe.
Broken Bridges Nature Reserve Trustees
- July 2025
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Catch up on more news? Check out the Downloads page for stories and updates from 2024 and 2025 in our archive.
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