Norfolk Roadside Nature Reserve is a scheme which was set up in the mid-1990s by collaboration between the Norfolk County Council and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust

Norfolk Wildlife Trust

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Norfolk, England, formerly known as the Norfolk Naturalists' Trust, is one of almost 50 wildlife trusts throughout the United Kingdom.Founded in 1926, it is the oldest of all the trusts....

. The aim of this scheme is to protect and promote the verges of Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

’s roadside, that contain rare and scarce plant and insect species. Many of Norfolk’s roadside verges have survived modern road improvements and as such are remnants of the natural grassland habitats that were once common and widespread in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

. There are currently 67 (October 2007) such sites around the Norfolk countryside, but more are added each year. Once each year every Roadside Nature Reserve is surveyed and recorded by a dedicated group of volunteers from the trust. Demarcation posts are sited at each end of the Reserves.

The verges

Many of the reserves can be found on roads that were laid down centuries ago and their routes have changed very little. In the past, farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

s and local people would use the verges to crop hay to feed their animals, who were also grazed on these verges as they were moved around the countryside. These practices produced a rich, bio-diverse grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

, that still exists on these verges.

Plants and wildlife

Some of the more unusual flora that can be found on these reserves are such plants as:

• Purple broomrape (Orobanche purpurea)
• Breckland speedwell (Veronica praecox)
• Crested cow-wheat (Melampyrum cristatum)
• Sand catchfly (Silene conica)
• Fragrant agrimony
  Agrimony
  Agrimonia, commonly known as Agrimony, is a genus of 12-15 species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with one species also in Africa...
  
   (Agrimonia procera)
• Adderstongue fern (Ophioglossum vulgatum)
• Dyer's greenweed
  Genista tinctoria
  Genista tinctoria, with common names: Dyer's Broom, Dyer’s Greenweed, Dyer's Whin, Furze, Greenbroom, Greenweed, Waxen Woad, Woad Waxen and Waxen Wood, is a plant species of the genus Genista.-Description:...
  
   (Genista tinctoria)
• Pepper saxifrage (Silaum silaus)
• Sulphur clover (Trifolium ochroleucon)
• Pyramidal orchid
  Pyramidal orchid
  The Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the Genus Anacamptis of the family Orchidaceae...
  
   (Anacamptis pyramidalis)

There are also rare fungi to be found such as Sandy Stilt puffball (Battarrea phalloides).The reserves also are used as conduits for many species and make ideal hunting grounds they are used by such species such as:

• Bat
  Bat
  Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
  
  s,
• Harriers
  Harrier (bird)
  A harrier is any of the several species of diurnal hawks forming the Circinae sub-family of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds....
  
  ,
• Owls
  OWLS
  OWLS is a mnemonic used by general aviation airplane pilots to assess an unprepared surface for a precautionary landing.Like all mnemonics this check has become part of aviation culture and folklore.OWLS:* Obstacles* Wind direction...
  
  ,
• Stoat
  Stoat
  The stoat , also known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip...
  
  s,
• Weasel
  Weasel
  Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
  
  s,

In the summer months butterflies and moths are attracted to the sites.

The Locations

Norfolk Roadside Nature Reserve
Norfolk Wildlife Trust
marker post	Location	Map Ref	Notes	Marker post
	Sustead Sustead Sustead is a small village and parish in the county of Norfolk, England, about four miles south-west of Cromer.The parish also includes the villages of Bessingham and Metton. The parish is bounded by Aldborough and Hanworth to the south, Roughton to the east, Felbrigg and Aylmerton to the north...  to Felbrigg Felbrigg Felbrigg is a small village just south of Cromer in Norfolk, England. The Danish name means a 'plank bridge'.Historians believe that the original village was clustered around its Perpendicular church, in the grounds of Felbrigg Hall, a Jacobean mansion built in the early 17th century, a mile to the...  Lane	TG186376
	Cromer Cromer Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish in north Norfolk, England. The local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The town is situated 23 miles north of the county town, Norwich, and is 4 miles east of Sheringham...  to Metton Metton Metton is a runny French cheese made in Franche-Comté, mostly used as an ingredient for making the Cancoillotte. The traditional process to produce Cancoillotte with Metton is to cook it in an earthenware pot with some water or milk, then to add salt and butter .-External links :* ]]...  lane	TG208303
|A148 A148 road The A148 is an English A road entirely in the county of Norfolk. It runs from King's Lynn to Cromer via Fakenham which it bypasses to the north.-King’s Lynn starting point:...  East of Hillington Hillington Hillington can refer to:* Hillington, Glasgow, Scotland* Hillington, Norfolk, England...	TF739259
|Sherbourne Sherbourne Sherbourne may refer to::* Sherbourne, Warwickshire, a village in Warwickshire, England* Sherbourne , a subway station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada* River Sherbourne, a river in Coventry and Warwickshire...  Road between Dersingham Dersingham Dersingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some north of the town of King's Lynn and north-west of the city of Norwich, opening onto the Wash....  and Fring.	TF707315	A long chalk verge with calamint, ox-eye daisy
| Church Lane, Wood Dalling Wood Dalling Wood Dalling is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some east of Fakenham, south-west of Cromer, and north-west of Norwich.... .	TG083267	A large population of early purple orchids, four kinds of sedge, primroses. Best in early May.