The Ridge

History

Although very little is known about the history of the site, the general area of Bramcote was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1771, and the land was put over to (unknown) agricultural use, possibly the grazing of stock.

From contemporary maps, the main woodland area (known as Alexandrina Plantation) appears to have been planted between 1836 and 1880 - possibly to commemorate the marriage of Edward VII to Princess Alexandra in 1863. Many of the older trees appear to have been coppiced at some in the past; possibly during the Second World War, when wood for timber and fuel would have been scarce.

The site was part of Bankfield Farm until the majority of the land was put over for residential development in the 1950's. The Rosegrower public house used to occupy the site of the former farm buildings, however the pub was demolished in 2009 and a care home now stands there.

The Sandy Lane Bridleway, running along the east side of the site, follows the Nottingham City boundary and was once the only route to the village of Wollaton, from the Nottingham/Derby road (the present A52).

On each side of the bridleway are remnants of hedgerows marking the boundary between the parishes of Wollaton and Bramcote. It is believed that these old hedges contain some of the oldest trees and shrubs on the site. Some species of plant inhabiting the hedge banks are usually only ever found on land that has been long associated with woodland.

Throughout the woodland are several sections of old remnant hedgerows, whose location imply that these once formed the boundary of the original plantation, and therefore probably date from the mid 19th century. However since farming ceased, the woodland has crept outside the line of this boundary. These 'hedges' presently exist as either mature standard trees or standing dead wood.

A cast iron boundary marker is located towards the southern end of the Bridleway: this dates from 1933 and commemorates the time when City of Nottingham was extended to incorporate the parish of Wollaton.

Although the Broom scrub in the centre of the site is not of direct historical importance, the name 'Bramcote' is derived from 'cottages in the Broom', and so may be considered to be indicative of the area long ago when the first Anglo-Saxon settlers arrived in the area.

Since the late 1950's, when the surrounding residential development began, the local community has enjoyed open access to the land to the west of the bridleway and over time has become a much valued local amenity, being frequently used by residents as a recreational amenity - primarily for walking, cycling, dog exercise and 'adventurous play'.

However access to the land to the east of the bridleway came much later - the area currently owned by Broxtowe Borough Council was, until the mid 1970's, part of Lowes Nursery: who specialised in roses. The section that falls within the city boundary used to be completely fenced off, but over time the fences have fell into disrepair and now numerous informal paths criss-cross the site.

Broxtowe Borough Council realised the value of the area as a recreational resource and the whole ridge was designated as an 'Area of Restricted Development' in 1975. This has safeguarded the area against further development and maintained the Ridge for recreation. It was this document that proposed that the area should 'be conserved in its wild state'.

A review of the plan in 1981 proposed the repair of eroded rights of way on the site. Also, it proposed that an access agreement should be sought with the owner of the northern section - no evidence of any agreement has been found. The 'Broxtowe Local Plan' (1994) re-affirmed the commitment to preserve the area in its wild state as a recreational amenity, and recognised the environmental and ecological importance of the site.

The next major event in the history of the Ridge came in April 1999, with the formation of The Friends of Bramcote Ridge, and any developments since this date are detailed elsewhere on this Web Site. Working to management plan for the area known as Alexandrina Plantation, created by one of the Friends's founding members, the friends set about caring for the site. A counterpart management plan for the area now known as Sandy Lane Open Space was produced a year later.

In 2005, Browtowe Borough Council made a Declaration that created two Local Nature Reserves on the Ridge, namely Alexandrina Plantation LNR and Sandy Lane Open Space LNR.