HISTORY OF MEON VALE
This former Ministry of Defence site is situated in the heart of Shakespeare country. It was open countryside and farmland until the Ministry of Defence (MD) purchased the land in 1940 and used it as an army training camp. After the Second
World War (1939 - 1945), the camp became a Central Engineers Depot. This consisted of a series of storage sheds and warehouses that used a rail system to connect to the Great Western Railway line. The Mob facilities closed in 1999.
St. Modwen, the UK's leading regeneration specialist, acquired the site in 2004 and is now creating a mixed-use development providing residential, leisure and employment facilities.
WOODLAND WALK
The Greenway at Mean Vale is a one mile-long footpath and cycleway that runs from Station Road in the north of Campden Rood in the south of the site.
It is an extension of the Stratford Greenway, the pedestrian and Sustrans cycle link that connects Long Marston to Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Greenway runs through the middle of Meon Vale and provides members of the public with access to 25 acres of woodland that can be enjoyed and explored on foot and bike.
WILDLIFE AT MEON VALE
The woodland surrounding The Greenway is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including birds, bats, insects, grass snakes, butterflies, moths and doormice. They find food and shelter from the many species in the trees, plants and vegetation which grow here - including fruit and walnut trees and cowslips, knapweed, wild carrot and tansy plants. The Greenway follows part of the course of Quinton Brook, which also provides a valuable wildlife habitat. Much of the brook was previously culverted, so St. Modwen has removed the concrete lining and re-profiled the banks with native wildflower, grasses and herbs, to welcome even more wildlife to live here.
Can you spot the water vole?
They are a shy species and you might not see any, but Quinton Brook supports a large population of water voles, which are declining in the UK and are increasingly rare in Warwickshire. This is because of habitat loss and fragmentation as well as predation by the American Mink, which escaped or were released from fur farms in the 1950s and 1960s and now breed in the wild.
The works to re-profile the banks provide perfect
opportunities for water voles to dig burrows, while the long grasses and herbs provide them with cover and food. You may see wooden rafts in the brook which are called 'Mink Rafts'.
These are used to monitor American Mink with the hope they can be eradicated from the area, thereby protecting our native water voles.