AMBERLEY WILDBROOKS

Grazing marsh and ditches in a former floodplain
important for birds and plants

From the South Downs at Amberley Mount there is a stunning view
of the Wildbrooks. The River Arun traces a serpentine path across an extensive flat area of grassland, bounded on the horizon by hills and woods. The grassland itself is dissected by numerous ditches, mostly dug in the 1800s to assist drainage, but now supporting a fantastic array of wetland plants and insects. Here and there rushes add a darker tone to the fields revealing damper conditions; elsewhere dark green patches of willow and alder have formed miniature wet woodlands.

What you can see

Winter wildfowl during floods, including Bewick’s swans. Spectacular and rare wetland plants and insects, especially dragonflies.

Getting around

In order to avoid disturbance to birds in this very open landscape, access is restricted to the Wey South Path, which runs through the middle of the Brooks directly from Hog Lane in the village of Amberley – please park thoughtfully. Many of the ditches and all of the landscape can be admired from the path, that has a few stiles along its length and gets very boggy in places.

Tony Buckwell