If you’re a regular visitor to Wandlebury Country Park, you may have noticed something missing recently. Most of the Belted Galloways, a familiar sight on the grassland, are currently nowhere to be seen.
They haven’t gone far.
All but two of the familiar Belted Galloways with their curly coats and white stripes have been moved to new grazing sites, including Coton Countryside Reserve and Barnwell Meadows (next to the Leper Chapel in Cambridge), bringing conservation grazing into new landscapes, including right into the city.
CPPF works in partnership with Ed Wombwell, our countryside manager, and his conservation grazing business The Wandering Herd. Using cattle to manage grassland is one of the most effective and least intrusive ways to care for these habitats. Grazing helps remove excess nutrients from the soil and keeps scrub under control, reducing competition from dominant grasses and giving rarer plants, including orchids and other specialist species, the space they need to thrive.
Without cattle, this work would need to be done mechanically. Cutting and collecting grass is more disruptive to wildlife, more labour-intensive and far less effective at creating the varied conditions many species depend on. Cows do the job slowly, selectively, and in partnership with the land.
Moving the cows to Coton and Barnwell Meadows enables conservation grazing to support biodiversity across a wider range of sites, including urban green space. It also gives the meadows at Wandlebury a rest and avoids over-grazing.
At Coton Reserve the cows are in Long Meadow and grazing will continue there for another two months. We have had to close this area to the public whilst the cows are there, to avoid them escaping. Once their work there is done, they’ll move on to Middle Green to continue grazing.
And yes, they’ll be back at Wandlebury.
So if you’re wondering where the cows have gone, the answer is simple: they’re busy elsewhere, quietly improving habitats, one meadow at a time.
Photos: Creative Eye
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