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Holt Island Nature Reserve

Holt Island Nature Reserve
Attraction: Nature & Wildlife
Activities: Walking, Running / Jogging
Admission Charge: Free
Age Range: Ages 11 to 18 years, Ages 5 to 11 years, Under 5's
Town: St Ives
County: Cambridgeshire
Telephone: 01480 451568
Opening Times: 10.30am to 5pm
Opening Days: Weekends Only
Opening Periods: All Year
Description
Holt Island Nature Reserve in St Ives is a small 7 acre nature reserve on an island located just off The Waits. It includes the remnants of the Osier beds cultivated many years ago. You can find many different plant species as well as insects, birds, small mammals and if you're lucky Muntjac Deer. 

Up until about 50 years ago the island was cultivated as a commercial Osier bed. Many St Ivians worked there cultivating and harvesting the willows for the production of baskets and other products. The island was very different from today.

Today the island is being developed as a small nature reserve. It has a wide range of habitats: home for insects, plants, birds and mammals. If you are lucky you may see small mammals such as voles, shrews and foxes, or Kingfishers, blackcap, chiff chaff and sedge warblers, Mutjac Deer, Purple Loosestrife and the Purple Admiral butterfly.

A wooden boardwalk has been constructed for visitors and to protect the fragile ecology and is suitable for wheelchairs and pushchair; although it is slippery when wet.  And high quality willow is being grown to re-ontroduce the traditional craft of basket-making.

The island is open all year but you must obtain the key from the St Ivo Recreation Centre between October and March. 


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