Things to do in Sharpness, Gloucestershire

One of the finest surviving traditional hay meadows in Gloucestershire, Clarke's Pool Meadow is a sanctuary for small mammals and meadow flora.

Visit WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre set on the eastern side of the River Severn Estuary in Gloucestershire, England. Explore our wetlands with fun activities for all the family.

A secluded reserve, sheltered by hedges and scrub, carpeted with wildflowers and home to many butterflies.

This nature reserve safeguards one of the only two remaining British locations of limestone woundwort.

A great place to come to admire one of the remaining marshlands in the Forest of Dean. Cannop Bridge Marsh has a wealth of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies in the summer and is a great place to try to spot nuthatches, treecreepers, woodpeckers and reed buntings.

For fantastic views across the Severn Vale towards the Forest of Dean, Coaley Peak is hard to beat.

The meadows and ancient woodland at Ridley Bottom have an undisturbed atmosphere, with old limestone hedgerows, grassland flowers and a quiet atmosphere that attracts a variety of birds.

Slow worms warming themselves up under rocks, lizards basking on sunny gorse, woodcocks performing their 'roding' display flight at dusk and evidence of hazelnuts chewed by dormice – these reserves are peaceful and beautiful open landscapes.

Woorgreens is found in the heart of the Forest of Dean, and is home to a range of wildlife that live within its marsh, lake and heath habitats. Now considered threatened, heathland once covered large areas of the Forest of Dean.In the spring and summer it's a great place to spot dragonflies and damselflies or look for reptiles. Bird life is abundant, both on the lake and the surrounding heathland and woodland edges - listen out for the sound of the cuckoo, look for shy crossbills in the woodland edges, or look for hobbies chasing dragonflies over the lake.

A chain of reed beds close to the Severn Estuary and an important feeding and resting place for migrating birds.

Part of what once was a large wet heathland covering Cinderford, Laymoor Quag bursts with plant and insect life in the spring and a great place to look out for dragonflies in the summer months.

Edgehills Bog has a peaceful atmosphere and is a relic of, the once widespread habitat, wet heath.

Lancaut lies in one of the four most important woodland areas in Britain, the site is very rich in wildlife with over 350 plant species recorded and a wide range of birds around the wood and south facing cliffs such as peregrine falcon and raven. Cormorant and heron frequent the river, and occasionally a seal will pop up in the river on a spring tide. A great place with stunning iconic views from the cliffs.

Ban-y-Gor nature reserve is a secluded and mystical woodland with large ancient coppice and pollards carpeted with ferns and mosses. A single path descends via a small glade towards the River Wye.

Lower Woods is one of the largest ancient woodland in the south-west, and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Areas of grazed common land and wide grassy pathways known as ‘trenches’ separate 23 individual traditionally coppiced woodlands, the boundaries of which have remained unchanged for centuries.

Piercefield woods are the gateway to the Lower Wye Valley, stretching for over 3km along the river from near Chepstow castle in the south to Wyndcliff woods and the Eagle’s Nest in the North.