Work to improve the chalk grassland habitat at Cherry Hinton Chalk Pit nature reserve and maintain safe access to the site has been completed thanks to a grant of £2,000 from Cambridge Water’s PEBBLE fund.

Work parties of staff and volunteers made an impact into the removal of invading buddliea, scrub, rosebay willow herb and creeping thistle - and this has enabled visitors to better appreciate the delicate wildflowers that are now thriving and gradually colonising the bare chalk areas of this ex-quarry site. The bare chalk areas will continue to gradually evolve into 'early successional stages' (a 'successional habitat' is the first stage in a habitat’s journey towards becoming a forest. The early stages are beneficial to a wide range of invertebrates and lower plants including rare mosses and liverworts) and then through into species rich chalk grassland. During the work the reserve's volunteer warden, a regular visitor, helped with visitor enquiries, pointing out botanical interest and other wildlife sightings.

Another element of the funding went into tree surgery as and where needed, along with tree maintenance. Residents adjacent to the reserve are pleased to have had potentially dangerous trees cut back or removed, so there are no longer any concerns over the safety of the trees: visitor safety within the site is also improved.

All of these stages are an important part of the SSSI site, with threatens from invasive species that this project has helped to remove.