IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Heathfield, NEWTON ABBOT, TQ12 6RD

A view from the Bridleway of the heathland, long rough grasses, Gorse bushes to the left in background, scattered trees mostly Silver Birch and small pools hidden by the grasses.

See Image; this is one of the smaller ponds.

"Chudleigh Knighton Heath is an SSSI held by the Devon Wildlife Trust leased from WBB Minerals, a ball clay extraction company who also provide funding for work on the site. The site is just beginning a new restoration period thanks to support from WBB Minerals. The nature reserve is 42 hectares of wet and dry heathland with pockets of scrub, small ponds and some interesting herb-rich roadside verges" http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/index.php?section=places:reserves&reserveid=311 . This is the largest of the ponds, almost all of which are clustered at the southern end of the reserve, close to the line of the former railway, which ran through the trees in the background.

Looking east to the bund screening the Chudleigh Knighton ball clay quarry from the B3193 and the nature reserve.

The main part of the heath, also shown in Image This is Bovey Tracey Bridleway 14, making its rather boggy way to meet the road from Dunley Cross, where the cars are parked beyond the gates. "The nature reserve is 42 hectares of wet and dry heathland with pockets of scrub, small ponds and some interesting herb-rich roadside verges" http://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/reserve/Chudleigh+Knighton+Heath/ . It's a good place for nightjars in summer.

The bund screens the quarry from the B3193, foreground, and the Chudleigh Knighton Heath nature reserve across the road.

The Exeter-Plymouth cycleway is in the foreground. The Newbridge clay waste heap looms, left Image Image The silhouetted conifers, right, are Higher Brock's Plantation, according to the Devon A-Z.

My disposition inclines me towards nervousness whenever reading a notice like this, especially when it affects a nature reserve. Sibelco have been drilling five 10cm test holes, to asses the mineral reserves. This explains the curious tracks Image] Image] that remain from the work, which ended on 30th November 2019.

Taken five years to the day after Image Not a coincidence; I'm here for a T point (see Image). As Jeff mentions, the reserve is managed by Devon Wildlife Trust; I have a friend who investigates beetle traps here. The bridleway is numbered Bovey Tracey 14.

A close look at the track shown in Image], and the imprint of matting, presumably, to lessen the damage done by bringing drilling machinery onto the site - see Image