Darland Banks | |
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Type | Local Nature Reserve |
Location | Gillingham, Kent |
OS grid | TQ 787 657 |
Area | 29.1 hectares (72 acres) |
Managed by | Kent Wildlife Trust |
Darland Banks is a 29.1-hectare (72-acre) Local Nature Reserve on the southern outskirts of Gillingham in Kent. It is owned by Medway Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. [1] [2] [3]
Gillingham is a town in the county of Kent in South East England. For local government purposes it is also in the unitary authority of Medway. The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Wigmore, Parkwood, Rainham which has its own significant retail and leisure hub, Rainham Mark and Twydall.
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west. The county also shares borders with Essex along the estuary of the River Thames, and with the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. The county town is Maidstone.
Medway Council is the local authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined.
This area of grassland, scrub and woodland has diverse fauna and flora, including the largest population of man orchids in Britain. There are birds such as willow warbler, yellowhammer, linnet and lesser whitethroat. [1] [3]
The willow warbler is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly migratory, with almost all of the population wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The yellowhammer is a passerine bird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern subspecies is partially migratory, with much of the population wintering further south. The male yellowhammer has a bright yellow head, streaked brown back, chestnut rump and yellow underparts. Other plumages are duller versions of the same pattern. The yellowhammer is common in open areas with some shrubs or trees, and forms small flocks in winter. Its song has a rhythm like "A little bit of bread and no cheese". The song is very similar to that of its closest relative, the pine bunting, with which it interbreeds.
The lesser whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in western and central Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the Sahara, Arabia and India.
There is access from Darland Avenue.
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Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1958, previously known as the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. It aims to "work with people to restore, save and improve our natural spaces" and to "ensure that 30% of Kent and Medway - land and sea - is managed to create a healthy place for wildlife to flourish". In 2016 it had thirty-one thousand members and an annual income of £4 million. KWT manages fifty-four nature reserves, of which twenty-four are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, two are National Nature Reserves, nine are Nature Conservation Review sites, seven are Special Areas of Conservation, three are Special Protection Areas, seven are Local Nature Reserves, one is a Geological Conservation Review site, thirteen are in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and one is a Scheduled Monument.
The Swale is a tidal channel of the Thames estuary that separates the Isle of Sheppey from the rest of Kent. On its banks is a 6,509.4-hectare (16,085-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Sittingbourne to Whitstable in Kent. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site and a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Parts of it are a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserves, a Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserve and a Local Nature Reserve.
Oare Marshes is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserve, Ramsar internationally important wetland site, Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
East Blean Woods is a 151.4-hectare (374-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Herne Bay in Kent. It is also a National Nature Reserve a Special Area of Conservation and a Nature Conservation Review site. An area of 122 hectares is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust.
Hothfield Common is a 56.5-hectare (140-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-east of Ashford in Kent. It is also a Local Nature Reserve, and is part of the 86-hectare (210-acre) Hothfield Heathlands nature reserve owned by Ashford Borough Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust.
Queendown Warren is a 22.2-hectare (55-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Rainham in Kent. It is a Local Nature Reserve, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2, and a Special Area of Conservation.. It is in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust, and part of it is owned by Plantlife.
South Swale is a 410.5-hectare (1,014-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned by Kent County Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest
Burham Down is a 110-hectare (270-acre) nature reserve between Maidstone and Chatham in Kent. It is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation.
Lydden and Temple Ewell Downs is a 63.2-hectare (156-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Dover in Kent. It is a Special Area of Conservation and Nature Conservation Review site. It is also part of the 78.5-hectare (194-acre) Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature Reserve and the 90-hectare (220-acre) Lydden Temple Ewell nature reserve, which is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is in the South Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Darland's Lake Nature Reserve is a nature reserve south of Totteridge Village in Barnet, England. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet and was managed from 1971 by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, and more recently by the borough council. In 2007 the council spent £215,000 on repairing the dam and other works, and then proposed leasing the reserve to the Wildlife Trust. However, the transfer did not take place and the nature reserve is currently not managed. In September 2017 a trust was set up by the London Wildlife Trust and local residents associations with the aim of taking over the management of Darland's Lake.
Bramley Bank is a 10.3 hectare local nature reserve in Upper Shirley in the London Borough of Croydon. It is owned by Croydon Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Hutchinson's Bank is 21.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in New Addington in the London Borough of Croydon. It is owned by Croydon Council and managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Bennett's Hole is a 1.2 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Mitcham in the London Borough of Merton. According to the Natural England details page about the site, it is owned by Merton Council and managed by the council and London Wildlife Trust, but it is not shown on the Trust's list of reserves.
Wouldham to Detling Escarpment is a 311.2-hectare (769-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest which stretches from Wouldham to Detling, north of Maidstone in Kent. Part of it is a Geological Conservation Review site, and it is part of the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation and the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I and it includes three Kent Wildlife Trust nature reserves and a Local Nature Reserve,
Prince's Beachlands is a 6-hectare (15-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Sandwich in Kent. It is owned by Dover Town Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust as part of the Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes nature reserve. It is part of the Sandwich and Pegwell Bay Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Ramsar site, Sandwich Bay Special Area of Conservation, Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay Special Protection Area and Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The Larches is a 25-hectare (62-acre) nature reserve north-east of Detling, which is north of Maidstone in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Wouldham to Detling Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I It is also part of the North Downs Woodlands Special Area of Conservation, and Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,
Polhill Bank is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) nature reserve south of Shoreham, which is north of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is in Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Marden Meadows is a 3.7-hectare (9.1-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Marden in Kent. Part of the site is in the 5.6-hectare (14-acre) Marden Meadow nature reserve, which is owned and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust.
Sandwich and Pegwell Bay is a 615-hectare (1,520-acre) nature reserve Kent, managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is a National Nature Reserve, and it includes a Geological Conservation Review site, Prince's Beachlands Local Nature Reserve and two Special Areas of Conservation, Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast. It is part of Sandwich Bay and Thanet Coast Ramsar site and Special Protection Area. It is also of Sandwich Bay to Hacklinge Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest and Sandwich/Pegwell Bay Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.
Coordinates: 51°21′43″N0°33′54″E / 51.362°N 0.565°E
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.