Glasbury Cutting

This nature reserve used to be part of the railway line from Brecon to Hereford. Parts of the railway were built along the line of the earlier 1818 Brecon to Eardisley horse-drawn tramroad that carried coal and wool. The railway company opened the line for steam in 1864. In 1962 the line closed and in 1970 it became a nature reserve.

Location

The nature reserve is located on the eastern edge of Glasbury on Wye. Pass through Glasbury heading east along the B4350 towards Hay-on-Wye. After half a mile there is a large lay-by on the right hand side of the road, park here. On foot, retrace your route back towards Glasbury by walking along the grass verge on the lay-by side of the road. BE VERY CAREFUL, fast moving traffic uses the road and be wary of holes and obstacles on the verge. After approximately 200m, take the steep but short flight of wooden steps with a handrail leading up the embankment on your left. Climb over a stile to enter the reserve that follows the line of the old railway running directly away from you. Go over one more stile to get on to the reserve path that runs past the site information panel.

Nearest town: Glasbury. Post code HR3 5NS.

OS Map Reference

Main entrance: SO 185 395

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Know before you go

Size

2 hectares

Entry fee

Free

Parking information

Park in layby on the main road B4350 and then walk carefully back towards Glasbury along road verge to steps up to site.

Access

Unsuitable for wheelchairs. Please keep dogs under close control.

Dogs

Dogs permitted

When to visit

Opening times

Open access reserve.

Best time to visit

All year

About the reserve

Nature has now taken over and the embankments have become wooded with trees such as silver birch, ash and hazel. The embankment at southwestern end is cleared of vegetation to provide a home for meadow plants such as cowslips, oxslips and primroses.

In 2000 dormice were discovered at Glasbury Cutting for the first time. You are unlikely to see this golden brown creature moving about in the tree canopy, as it is nocturnal. However, it does leave clues – when feeding on hazelnuts, it gnaws a very neat and distinctive circular hole in the nut.

Habitats:

Brownfield, Lowland Meadows, Lowland Mixed Deciduous Woodland, Ponds

Species:

Ash, Blue Tit, Bramble, Cock's foot, Common Shrew, Cowslip, Dormouse, False Oat-grass, Great Tit, Green-winged Orchid, Hazel, Knapweed, Oxeye Daisy, Primrose, Ribwort Plantain, Silver Birch, Wood Mouse, Clearwing Moth.