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The custom route elevation is created when you use the distance calculator (above) to draw a line.
The custom route elevation is created when you use the distance calculator to draw a line.
The Cotswold Way runs right through this beautiful area of limestone grassland which is owned by Butterfly Conservation. The land is managed to encourage more butterflies by ensuring their food source is in abundance. In spring and early summer you can see cowslips, orchids and rare butterflies and all year round the views are stunning.
This reserve has two areas of limestone grassland, high on the Cotswold scarp slope, east of Cheltenham. There are marvellous views across the Severn Vale and beyond
Notable flowers
- Musk Orchid
- Bee Orchid
Features
The reserve has a very rich mix of limestone and neutral grassland types, with small areas of heath where thin deposits of ancient windblown sands overlie the Oolitic limestone. The southern half of the reserve, known as the Bill Smyllie Reserve, extends southwards as a narrow valley containing thickets of scrub. It is separated by a beech plantation from the northern half of the reserve, known as the Masts Field, which is within the Cleeve Common Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
More information is available in a PDF: Prestbury Hill Butterfly Reserve The Bill Smyllie Reserve and Masts Field