About the reserve

Cribbs Meadow is a small but intricate mosaic of diverse habitats, made up of grasslands, two ponds and a disused railway line, where scrub and mature trees are taking back the land. A walk here is quiet and peaceful, especially in the spring when birdsong fills the air. If you look closely in the spring, you might be lucky enough to see great crested newts dancing in the ponds.

In later spring and summer, if you look closely, you’ll be able to spot beautiful orchids, including green-winged and common spotted. Other wildflowers include adder's tongue and cowslip (in the spring), agrimony, great burnet and yellow rattle (in the summer). The railway line has a partial covering of trees and scrub with buckthorn and dogwood, overtopped by oak, ash and crack willow in places. Keep an eye out in the summer for butterflies like grizzled skipper and green hairstreak in the grasslands.

The distinctive field pattern in this area probably dates back to the 16^th Century. The reserve, together with the field to its north, was glebe belonging to the Vicar of Edmondthorpe until 1921, though cut by the railway in 1893. The reserve's name derives from Cribb's Lodge to the south-west, commemorating the last bare-fist prize fight in England at Thistleton Gap, two fields to the south on 28th September 1811, between Tom Cribb and Tom Molyneux.