The Thomas Lord is named after the founder of Lord's Cricket Ground who is buried in the nearby…
Our View
Beacon Hill NNR is a prominent chalk hill encircled by an Iron Age hillfort just off the A34 at the western end of the South Downs, near Warnford. Classic chalk grassland plants found here include wild thyme, squinancy wort, clustered bellflower, common rock rose, kidney and horseshoe vetch and restharrow. Less common species such as round headed rampion and field fleawort are also present. These flowers nuture rare invertebrates such a scarce solitary bee that resembles a small red-tailed bumble bee. It feeds on bird’s-foot trefoil and unusually nests in disused snail shells. The reserve is an excellent place for spotting butterflies such as the chalk hill blue, silver spotted skipper, brown argus and grizzled skipper. The reserve is also good place to encounter many of the declining farmland bird species such as linnet and yellowhammer. Raptors such as the red kite, buzzard and kestrel can be seen, as well as summer migrants like whitethroats, willow warblers and blackcaps.
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Discover Hampshire
Hampshire’s varied landscape of hills and heaths, downlands and forests, valleys and coast is without rival in southern England. Combine these varied landscapes and terrains with secluded and idyllic villages, complete with thatched and timber-framed cottages and Norman churches, elegant Georgian market towns, historic ports and cities, restored canals and ancient abbeys, forts and castles, and you have a county that is paradise for lovers of the great outdoors.
If you’re a walker, stride out across the high, rolling, chalk downland of the north Hampshire ‘highlands’ with far-reaching views, walk through steep, beech-clad ‘hangers’ close to the Sussex border. Or perhaps take a gentler stroll and meander along peaceful paths through unspoilt river valleys, etched by the sparkling trout streams of the Test, Itchen, Avon and Meon. Alternatively, wander across lonely salt marshes and beside fascinating coastal inlets or, perhaps, explore the beautiful medieval forest and heathland of the New Forest, the jewel in Hampshire’s crown.
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