Welcome to Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve. This is a new version of our website, and is still a work-in-progress. Please be patient, and check back occasionally to see how it progresses.
Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve is an urban nature reserve in the heart of the southern part of Cheltenham. It was once part of the Great Western Railway on the Cheltenham to Banbury line but after the closure of this route in the 1960s it was taken over by Cheltenham Borough Council who designated it a kilometre-long, nature reserve.
There is a wide variety of natural habitats represented in this small area which stretches from the back of the Travis Perkins on Mead Road, under Pilley Bridge on the Old Bath Road, almost to Sandy Lane. For wildlife it is a corridor, or if you are a bat a flyway, from close to Leckhampton Common into the heart of the southern part of the town.
View Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve in a larger map
(apologies for odd formatting – I am working on it!)
The Friends of Pilley Bridge Nature Reserve was formed in 2012, and is run by a group of enthusiasts and volunteers. Our aims are to protect and improve this environmentally important area
as a reserve for wildlife and as a resource for the enjoyment of nature by the local community. With the aid of experts in their fields of study we are recording the flora and fauna within the
reserve and providing data for use by local wildlife organisations. A management plan will be implemented to create greater diversity of wildlife. This work has already started with the thin
ning of the trees to bring back the butterflies and bees which have become fewer as the trees have shut out the sun.\
We hold regular work parties, and occasional other events and activities, both for adults and children.