Dobcroft Nature Reserve

Dobcroft is a 5 acre nature reserve managed by Intact which is maintained by fabulous volunteer led Friends of Dobcroft and Land Management Team. It is a protected due to the rare Great Crested Newt which inhabits this natural haven in the heart of the Ingol community.

In 2018-2019 Intact was fortunate enough to secure some funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help start the ‘Discovering Dobcroft’ project. This proved to be very successful, enabling us to recruit and train volunteers to look after our bees, and the land, which consists of ponds, woodland, and grasslands. Volunteers also built bird boxes, bat boxes and benches, learnt willow weaving and took part in a whole range of activities, such as our Heritage Open Day, bat walks, talks and photography. Surveys were also carried out in which showed that the site is home to a variety of fauna. More species of flowers and grasses could be present in the seed bank. Small mammals and invertebrates have also been recorded. There are nearly 400 identified species now recorded.

You can find out more by reading our Evaluation Report – Discovering Dobcroft: Our Community’s Heritage.

One of our volunteers who became a beginner beekeeper said:

“I never realised how amazing bees were, they are so clever and I have a much deeper appreciation for them, and am so grateful for intact for running this course and having their own apiary, so we can learn as I would never be able to do this at home, as I couldn’t afford it, or have the space for them. Plus having mentors to help learn more each week is really important. Thank you to HLF.”