West Blean

West Blean is ancient semi-natural woodland protected by a SSSI, 5km north of the city of Canterbury in Kent, England that also includes Thornden Wood

Location

Sandwiched between Blean Woods and East Blean Woods some 5km north of Canterbury City centre, there are woodland car parks on Thornden Wood Road which runs between Greenhill (Herne Bay) towards Canterbury. From the south, leave Canterbury through Tyler Hill and continue for a few miles until you see a turning on the right marked Greenhill, which is Thornden Wood Road. Bus 6a and 4a from Canterbury Bus station.

Status

SSSI

Access

There are firm level paths from the car parks into the woods including a two mile track that passes right through the reserve.

Points of Interest

This reserve makes up a substantial portion of the Blean complex, potentially covering thousands of hectares, and forming one of the largest concentrated tracts of ancient semi-natural woodland in England. The reserve itself covers some 489 hectares purchased in December 2003 and the Trust continues to seek further opportunities to expand the site.

West Blean (and Thornden Wood) forms an important part of a wider conservation jigsaw, linking the Blean Woods National Nature Reserve in the west with East Blean Woods in the east, and thereby establishing a continuous nature conservation complex owned and managed by a partnership of bodies including other conservation organisations, statutory bodies and local planning authorities

40% of the reserve is densely planted conifer plantation and 40% is sweet chestnut coppice plantation. The remaining 20% is mixed native deciduous woodland. Nightjars and nightingale are present. Common cow-wheat, the foodplant of the caterpillar of the heath fritillary is already present in some parts of the wood. In the coming years, Kent Wildlife Trust will be working to remove the conifer plantations and restore the ancient woodland habitat and associated species. The Trust will also establish and maintain an annual coppice management programme, which will benefit the nationally rare heath fritillary and white admiral butterflies, and many other species, including bluebell, wood anemone, long-eared owl, yellow necked wood mouse and dormouse. In the even longer term the aim will be to diversify the sweet chestnut coppice by restoring native coppice species such as hazel, hornbeam and oak.

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