| Stoke Bruerne Brick Pits | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Nature reserve |
| Location | Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire |
| OS grid | SP 744 495 |
| Area | 6 hectares |
| Managed by | Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire |
Stoke Bruerne Brick Pits is a six hectare nature reserve in Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. [1]
Stoke Bruerne is a small village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, England about 10 miles (16 km) north of Milton Keynes and 7 miles (11 km) south of Northampton.
Northamptonshire, archaically known as the County of Northampton, is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015 it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and by seven non-metropolitan district councils. It is known as "The Rose of the Shires".
The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN) is a registered charity which manages 126 nature reserves covering 3,945 hectares. It has over 35,000 members, and 95% of people in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire live within five miles of a reserve. In the year to 31 March 2016 it employed 105 people and had an income of £5.1 million. It aims to conserve wildlife, inspire people to take action for wildlife, offer advice and share knowledge. The WTBCN is one of 36 wildlife trusts covering England, and 47 covering the whole of the United Kingdom.
This former brickworks was opened at the end of the eighteenth century for the construction of the Grand Junction Canal, and is on its bank. There are diverse habitats with grassland, ponds, a reed bed and a redundant arm of the canal. Invertebrates include white-legged damselflies and there are a variety of small mammals which provide food for barn owls. [1]
The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-passing the upper reaches of the River Thames near Oxford, thus shortening the journey.
The white-legged damselfly or blue featherleg is a damselfly of slow-flowing, muddy waters. It occurs from the Atlantic to Siberia and is often abundant throughout its range.
The barn owl is the most widely distributed species of owl and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as the common barn owl, to distinguish it from other species in its family, Tytonidae, which forms one of the two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical owls (Strigidae). The barn owl is found almost everywhere in the world except polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalayas, most of Indonesia, and some Pacific islands.
There is access from the canal towpath.
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