Coombes Valley

Address: RSPB Coombes & Churnet Valley Nature Reserve, Bradnop, Leek, ST13 7EU

Grid ref: SK009534

Coombes Valley is a wonderful woodland reserve. It’s perfect for nature enthusiasts to explore and for families to have fun and play together outdoors. In spring and early summer, migrating flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers come to breed. In winter, redwings, fieldfares and winter finches are regular visitors.

Plan your visit

Reserve open daily 9am to 9pm (or dusk if earlier).
The public rights of way are open at all times.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free

Children: Free

Car park cost: £4 per car for non-RSPB members.

Facilities

Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets
Baby changing
Refreshments
Picnic area
Binocular hire
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop off-site

Accessibility

Download full accessibility statement (PDF)

How to get here

By train

The nearest railway station, Stoke on Trent, is 12 miles (19 km) away and has a taxi rank.

By bus

Bus no. 108 from Leek to Ashbourne. The bus stop is 1.2 miles (2 km) from the reserve entrance. Walk in Ashbourne direction and take first right turn (crossing the disused railway line). Follow this lane until you see the reserve entrance on the left.

By bike

National Cycle Network - traffic-free route: nearest access near Biddulph, about 12.5 miles (20.5 km).

By road

The reserve lies off the A523 road to Ashbourne, three miles (4.8 km) east of Leek. Leave Leek on the Ashbourne road. After passing Bradnop, turn up the minor road (and across a railway line) to Apesford (signposted to RSPB Coombes Valley) - the reserve is on the left after a mile (1.6 km).

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

No dogs allowed, except registered assistance dogs.

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Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 113Kb

Coombes Valley trail guide

Follow the fun! PDF, 1.7Mb

Coombes Valley children's play trail

Contact Coombes Valley

RSPB Coombes & Churnet Valley Nature Reserve, Bradnop, Leek, ST13 7EU
coombes.valley@rspb.org.uk
01538 384017
@RSPBCoombes
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Dipper

Look along the rocky stream for dippers' weird and wonderful behaviour.

Great spotted woodpecker

On sunny days from late winter onwards, listen for the drumming of male great spotted woodpeckers.

Pied flycatcher

They dash out from prominent perches in the trees to snap up flies in their beaks.

Redstart

Watch out for them in spring and summer shivering their reddish tails.

Woodcock

Watch for the shape of this chunky wading bird as it flies over woodland clearings.

In spring, Coombes is alive with woodland birdsong. From singing blackbirds to wrens, the dawn chorus is truly something special. It's also a great time to hear great spotted woodpeckers drumming throughout the woodland. Our star summer migrants, the pied flycatcher and redstart, can be seen in early May.

In early summer Coombes is still filled with birdsong. You can see pied flycatchers and redstarts. The spectacular greater butterfly orchid is in flower. In the hedges on the reserve, you might hear and see whitethroats and lesser whitethroats.

Fieldfares and redwings appear in numbers in October. Siskins and lesser redpolls appear particularly in the areas with alder trees. Down by the brook, if you're patient, dippers and grey wagtails may be seen.

Winter is a good time to watch for displaying raptors such as buzzards and sparrowhawks. The feeding station at the car park can be a good place to see great spotted woodpeckers at close quarters - perhaps a brambling if you're lucky. Early songsters like mistle and song thrushes will be bringing the woodland back to life on warmer, sunnier days.

About Coombes Valley

Habitat

Coombes Valley is a delightful oak woodland, with steep valley sides where you can find flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers.

Conservation

The management aims of the reserve are to continue the development of the woodland to high forest of oak and ash with a varied structure and biodiversity. The RSPB also aim to maintain and enhance the woodland ecology for the benefit of the breeding birds, and the nationally important assemblage of invertebrates, including the day flying argent and sable moth. In the grassland areas we carry out extensive grazing with traditional breeds of cattle and hay making. This is for the benefit of the important floristic communities which include species such as adders tongue fern and greater butterfly orchid.

Partners

Our work on this nature reserve is kindly supported by funds from Natural England, Forestry Commission and the Heritage Lottery Fund, RSPB local groups and supporters.

Site information

RSPB Coombes Valleys, situated on the southern edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands, is the oldest RSPB reserve in the Midlands. It opened in 1962 when it was home to the last breeding pair of sparrowhawks in Staffordshire. The nature reserve covers 100 hectares of mixed broadleaved woodland and grassland in a steep sided valley draining into the upper Trent.

The reserve is an important site for both upland and lowland woodland birds, in particular pied flycatcher, redstart, willow tit and wood warbler. Coombes Valley is designated as a Sites of Special Scientific Interest and is protected under law.

The reserve has a rich documented history. Medieval documents refer to Coombes Valley, describing it as a desolate waste. There are ghost stories and tales of a battle in the valley and the wood names reflect this, with both Ghost Ridge and Spiritholes Wood. The field system has long been farmed and large areas of the reserve remain as they would have been hundreds of years ago.

Latest blog posts

read our blog

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

There is a natural play trail including a canopy walkway, den building, fairy house village, mud kitchen and much more is available year round.

In August 2018 Great Crested Newts, a European protected species, found a new home in our pond dipping pond. Although this is brilliant news for this rare newt it unfortunately means we can no longer allow pond dipping as you must have a license to disturb these rare creatures. Pond dipping will now only be available to educational groups under the supervision of our contract field teacher Jo Douglas. For more information please contact Coombes.Valley@rspb.org.uk.

Please refer to our events page for updates on our events programme for families.

Leisure activities

There's a fascinating nature trail here so the reserve is a good place for people of all ages to get closer to nature, although the footpaths are steep in places.