Do you have facts about the river sence in leicestershire?

Answer 1

The River Sence runs as a little stream through the Sence Valley and crosses the A447 one mile north east of Ibstock, Leicestershire. It runs to the south east of Ibstock and crosses the A447 again at The Bungalow, half mile south of the village and continues its journey through to Sheepy Magna. At Sheepy Mill the Sence is a river and contains brown trout. More information can be found on

http://wwww.forestry.gov.UK/website/Recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandDerbyshireTheNationalForestSenceValleySenceValleyForestPark

http://wwww.forestry.gov.UK/website/Recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/

EnglandDerbyshireTheNationalForestSenceValleySenceValleyForestPark

Sence Valley

The National Forest

Leicestershire

England

Ibstock and Heather are the nearest towns or villages.

OS Grid Reference: SK404113

Sence Valley Forest Park is a wonderful example of how a disused opencast colliery can be transformed into a diverse wildlife haven.

After being planted with over 98,000 trees this 150 acre site was opened to the public in September 1998 as part of The National Forest.

The park contains woodland, lakes linking to the River Sence, grassland and a wildflower meadow. Thanks to the varied habitat 150 bird species have been recorded at the park. An artificial Sand Martin nesting wall has also been constructed alongside the Horseshoe Lake. This along with the bird-hide makes the site an excellent spot for birdwatchers.

Mammals: Long grassy areas at the park have become home for many wild mammals including field voles, shrews, stoats, rabbits and foxes.

Signs are around that Water Voles are present on certain streams coming off of the River Sence and we are working to manage these sections to encourage these secretive and rare creatures to thrive.

It has recently become evident that otters too are once again using the River Sence, which flows through the park, as it's home. Work on encouraging otters to make the park their home more permenatly has begun.

With areas of woodland, water and open ground Sence Valley is a good area to watch out for bats. Among the species we know to be using the park are the Pipistrelle, Daubenton's and Noctule.

Birds: The forest park attracts a wide variety of bird species to the sight with an impressive list of over 150 different species being seen at the park since it's creation in 1998. The lakes provide habitat for species such as heron, coots, tufted duck, pochard, wigeon and great crested grebe. An artificial nesting wall on the banks of the Horseshoe lake provides much needed sites for Sand Martins visiting over the summer months. Kestrels successfully nest on site year on year and if you're very lucky you may even catch a glance at a Barn Owl or Short Eared Owl.

Insects and reptiles: During the summer months Sence Valley is awash with insects of all types. Butterflies which can be seen include Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood, Small skipper, Green Veined White, Peacock and Small tortoiseshell. Around the lakes damselflies such as Common Blue, Blue tailed and Azure as well as dragonflies like the Southern and Brown Hawker are also fairly abundant.

Habitats: Sence Valley is such a wildlife haven due to it's range of habitats. These include woodland (pine, mixed broadleaf and wet woodland), lakes, rivers and streams, seasonal wetland scrape, tusky grass areas and wildflower meadow.

How to get there:

On the A447 Ravenstone Road just North of Ibstock.