Kempston Wood End
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Introduction
Straddling a clay ridge in the Marston Vale with gravel/loamy soils
at its northern and southern extremities. It is one of the few
ancient semi natural woods of any size left in the Marston Vale
Community Forest area, it is close to Bedford and Milton Keynes and
has several large villages nearby. The wood is easily accessible on
foot and has a network of paths already in existence. Although
previously there has been there has been involvement of local
volunteers in the management of the wood this has declined to a
minimal involvement at the time of reviewing this plan
Kempston Wood is predominantly Oak, Ash and Field maple with much
of the ash of ancient coppice origin. The site is recorded as
woodland as far back as the 14th century and was intensively
managed for coppice materials until the mid 19th century. The under
storey consists of Hazel, Hawthorn, Midland hawthorn, Blackthorn,
Dogwood, Spindle, Elder, Wayfaring tree, Wild privet, Elm and Crab
apple. There are areas of good Ash and other shrub regeneration up
to about 20 years of age. The previous records of excessive deer
damage do not now apply, this may be due to the increased us of the
wood by dog walkers.
There are many veteran trees within the wood of particular note are
those that occur on an old woodbank running just in side the
present eastern boundary of compartment 1 and 2. This line of trees
continues north west into the main body of the wood and marks the
boundary of compartment 2 and 3. The trees are mainly pollard Field
Maple and Oak, many of which are hollow. In addition is the hundred
or so large overstood Ash coppice stools scattered throughout all
compartments, several of these have begun to fall apart under the
weight of uncut coppice stems. There is no information concerning
the fauna and fauna that any of these veteran trees may support,
historically there were parts of Greater Kempston Wood managed as
Wood pasture.
Old ecological data record the wood’s rich ancient woodland
flora including Butterfly orchid, Goldilocks buttercup, Common
spotted and Early purple orchid, Adders tongue fern, Pendulous
sedge, Small teasel, Twayblade, Wood millet and Ragged robin. Many
of these species may still exist within the wood and there will be
other species of interest not yet found, particularly those
associated with the old trees.
The central ride running SW-NE across the wood gives excellent
views to the north and south and provides opportunity for ride
improvement.
Start/Finish Point
Tithe Road. This is located near Gibraltar, just outside
Bedford. The nearest station is Bedford St Johns. Plan your journey
to the start point by bus from Bedford St Johns station by using
the below journey planner. The start point is in the
Bedford PlusBus zone.
You can buy tickets to Bedford St Johns on our website.
Weather Forecast
Below is the weather forecast for Bedford.
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