Chris Rand
This is one of a number of walks produced as part of the Summer in Queen Edith’s booklet in July 2020. You can find out more here about the booklet and the other walks and activities in it.
Click the map for a printable version.
Walk along the housing in Wort’s Causeway, look out for the gap in hedge by the bin, walk along the footpath (new housing development coming both sides of the road), cross the road carefully, carry on uphill and enter the reserve.
This walk takes the route of the Roman Road from Cambridge to Haverhill. Walk along the footpath between two hedges beside Wort’s Causeway – be very careful crossing Cherry Hinton Road at the four-way junction. You will then start to climb up to the chalk ridge of the Gog Magog Hills.
The Beechwoods themselves were planted on arable land in the 1840s. Disease and gales have taken their toll on the original beech trees but saplings have sprung up in the gaps. Look out for the carving of a wizard’s face in a tree trunk near the entrance and listen out for woodpeckers. There’s a noticeboard telling you things to look out for.
Before the walk, you might like to listen to this episode of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Ramblings’ with Clare Balding and Robert Macfarlane as they take a walk through Beechwoods nature reserves.
