Daneway Banks near Frampton Mansell is the ideal wildlife watching experience – flowers galore, beautiful views, more butterflies than you can shake a stick at and a fabulous pub.
Yep, once more I’ve mixed wildlife watching with a pub stop. Do you notice a pattern here? I don’t know whether this reveals more about the character of naturalists than about wildlife but good pubs and nature reserves seem to go hand-in-hand. Well, all this surveying and watching wildlife does build up a thirst ….
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust looks after this nature reserve which nestles in the glorious Sapperton valley near Stroud. Apart from the Cheltenham to London train breaking the silence at intervals, the site feels like it’s in another world.
It’s also the place to see the stunning Large Blue butterfly which became extinct in the UK in 1979 but has been successfully re-introduced – the Banks was the first place in the UK where it made its re-appearance. It died out because we didn’t understand its ridiculously complex needs and destroyed its habitat – sometimes whilst trying to help it!
The real-life hungry caterpillar …
To say its life cycle is convoluted is an understatement: there’s more deception and killing than in a James Bond movie! Are you ready for this? OK, deep breath…I’ll try to keep it simple…
The large blue butterfly’s caterpillar eats the flowers of wild thyme until a certain age (the forth instar for those who know butterfly terminology) when it drops to the ground and starts to secrete a pheromone (a hormone) making it smell like the larvae of the red ant (I wonder why Lynx hasn’t thought of that one?).
This pheromone also makes the caterpillar start to behave like a red ant larva. The adult ants, thinking one of their young has got lost, drag the caterpillar down into their nest and start to look after it.
How does the caterpillar repay their hospitality? By eating the ant larvae, what else?! I don’t recall this option being on the menu of everything scoffed by that ravenous caterpillar in the well-known children’s book!
The caterpillar spends a warm winter in the ants’ nest, happily snacking on all the free grub burgers until the spring when it turns into a chrysallis.
When the caterpillar emerges as an adult butterfly, it scarpers out of the ants nest pretty quickly, ready to find a mate, lay eggs and start the whole cycle again. Incredible to think that such a gory story lies behind such a beautiful butterfly.
You’ll recognise the butterfly because it’s large (funnily enough) and a strong blue colour, even when it’s flying – though the black spots on its wings and the black borders around the edge make it appear more purple-blue than plain blue.
It’s on the wing (as naturalists say) from mid-June to mid-July. Even if you don’t see this butterfly, there are plenty of other lovely ones flying around the Banks at this time of year: marbled white, meadow brown, ringlet, small heath as well as cinnbar moths and tiger moths.
Plus, the flower show is glorious: pyramidal orchids, square stemmed St John’s Wort, centuary, yellow wort, bird’s foot trefoil, lady’s bedstraw, heath bedstraw, common scabious and loads more.
It’s a site to take your time visiting – just amble around watching the butterflies, finding the flowers and sitting on the beautifully decorated bench to enjoy the view. A significant part of the site is flat so a picnic might be in order as well.
Oh, and not forgetting to finish the whole experience off with a visit to the wonderful Daneway Inn. Mindfulness classes? Not needed after visit to Daneway Banks, you’ll be so relaxed you’ll be virtually falling over .. and I don’t mean after the pint or two at the Daneway!
When to visit: late-June to mid-July
Location: Daneway Banks is behind the Daneway Pub which is beyond Frampton Mansell, off the A419 Stroud – Cirencester road
How much time to allow: one hour as a minimum, and lots more if you want to see as much wildlife as you can plus visit the pub!
Terrain: the walk along the minor road from the Daneway to the reserve is uphill but once through the wide wooden entrance gate and onto the main path straight ahead, you’re more or less on the level.
The lovely bench is a little way along this path which is good for picnics. This path can easily be managed by all-terrain buggies, though I’m not sure about wheelchairs. Carry on and past the telegraph pole on the left, go through the gate a little way beyond. Here the paths to left and right are narrower, on slopes and the surface is rougher – however, it’s a good area for butterflies and ant nests. Flowers are all around the site right from the entrance.
Another route is to take the uphill path on your left straight after passing through the entrance gate. Follow this uphill and then to the right. The path levels off and carries on for quite a while, taking you through wonderful wildflower areas. Beyond the area on the right which is cordonned off, look for a right hand path that’ll take you over a stile and through a wooded area. This path slopes downward and eventually takes you to the gate near the telegraph pole (mentioned above) and onto the level path past the bench and returns you to the entrance gate.
This probably sounds more complicated than it is – basically the path is one big circular one.
Facilities: none on the site but drink, food and toilets at the Daneway pub just down the road. If you want to eat there on a Saturday or Sunday, book your table well in advance as it’s a popular place especially in summer (food stops at 7.30pm).
Directions:
From Stroud: from the A419 Stroud to Cirencester road take the turn to Frampton Mansell. Keep on the same road and drive through the village, along the country road through the countryside and to the edge of Sapperton where there’s a small cross-road (the Bell Inn is more or less in front of you). Take the left turn signposted to the Daneway. If you’re not visiting the Daneway, park in the layby on the left hand side just before the sharp right turn onto a bridge but if you are, park in the Daneway car park.
From Cirencester: on the A419 Cirencester to Stroud road, take the Sapperton turn-off, continuing straight over the crossroads, along the edge of the village to a mini cross-roads and turn left following signs to Daneway pub. If you’re not visiting the Daneway, park in the layby on the left hand side just before the sharp right turn onto the bridge but if you are, park in the Daneway car park.
You could park at the entrance gate to let anyone who doesn’t walk so well get into the site and then park the car back down the road or at The Daneway. t
After leaving the pub car park, walk along the road more or less in front of you (ignore the roads on the left or right) that goes uphill. About 200 yards up this slope, on the right hand side), is the entrance gate to Daneway Banks (opposite to the entrance to Siccaridge Woods).
A Year of discovering Stroud's wildlife 