Читать книгу Walking Hampshire's Test Way. The long-distance trail and 15 day walks онлайн

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The use of water meadows literally ebbed and flowed as the various periods of agricultural depression took their toll during the 19th century. More effective and cheaper sources of fertiliser also became available as farming methods improved with the consequence that water meadows gradually declined.

Plants and wildlife

The Test Valley is sprinkled with large areas of woodland including alder, ash, beech, birch, hazel, holly, hornbeam, lime, oak, pine, poplar, willow and yew. The woodland, together with the fertile and extensive tracts of rolling farmland and the River Test itself, provide a diverse landscape rich in wildflowers, plants and wildlife. Harewood Forest (Stages 3 and 4 and Walks 3 and 5) plays its part as a nationally important habitat populated by a wide variety of invertebrate species.

At Chilbolton Common (Stage 5 and Walk 7), 265 species of plant have been recorded including the southern marsh orchid and the snake’s head fritillary. At Stockbridge Down (Walk 10) at various times of the year, violets, wild thyme, horseshoe vetch, juniper and more than 30 species of butterfly including the chalk hill blue can be found. The River Test is of course renowned for its salmon, roach, bream, grayling, perch, brown trout and eel, all supported by a wealth of insects that are key to the retention of healthy fish stocks.