Brian and Angela Nicholas
Mole Valley, Exmoor
An unploughed meadow with over 170 species of plant recorded
Our river meadow nestled in the Mole Valley covers 14 acres and is a County Wildlife Site.
There is no record of the meadow ever being ploughed and it has taken 30 years of management and farming organically to reach its present state
Wild flowers such as Orchids and Yellow Rattle first appeared around the margins of the meadow and quickly spread across helped by the occasional flooding of the River Mole bringing seed down from Exmoor.
Over 170 species of plants have been identified by the Devon Botany Group, some of which are Devon rarities
In summer, the Meadow Brown and Silver Washed Fritillaries put on a spectacular show. The meadow is bordered by the River Mole with its Otters, Dippers and Kingfishers. There are seventeen bat species who feed over the meadow and Devon Wildlife Trust collect seed from the meadow each year for distribution to other sites.

Other "Me and my Meadow" stories

Cami and Jamie’s meadow
Dartington Estate
Cami Rose and Jamie Perrelet's stewardship of The Meadow, a wild pollinator and honeybee sanctuary, on the Dartington Estate, Totnes.

Charlotte Oliver
South Hams
Charlotte's managing her fields as hay meadows and is rewarded with orchids, sweet hay and a host of insects, moths and butterflies.

Robin and Veronica Aaronson
Ideford
A labour of love: The restoration of a previously unmanaged flood plain meadow.

Geoff Hearnden
Carrapitt Farm, Bridford
A working farm that has evolved over 40 years into a nature reserve, including turning ten acres of agriculturally improved rough grassland into a species-rich wet meadow.