Houghton Regis Marl Lakes

Houghton Regis Marl Lakes is a 20.1 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire. It was notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in 1988.[1][2]

Houghton Regis Marl Lakes
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of SearchBedfordshire
Grid referenceTL008235
InterestBiological
Area20.1 hectares
Notification1988
Location mapMagic Map

The site is a large disused chalk quarry, and it is listed by Geo-East as a "Chalk Place to Visit" due to its exposure of Totternhoe stone.[3][4] It is a rare example of standing water in chalk. It is important both ornithologically and for its range of dragonflies. There are two marl lakes, one deep and one shallow, which have aquatic plants and molluscs, with fens in a waterlogged area between the lakes.[1]

The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire managed the site between 2011 and 2015.[5] A Trust noticeboard at the northern and southern entrances to the site names it as Houghton Regis Chalk Pit. The Wildlife Trust BCN produced newsletters during their management period and these are retrievable online. Volunteers helped with tasks at various times.[6] Youth Ranger activities,[7] took place and these included tasks such as scrub-clearing using conservation tools and controlled bonfires. The Chalk Pit regularly appeared in Wildlife BCN's North Chilterns Chalk volunteer programme[8]

References
  1. "Houghton Regis Marl Lakes citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  2. "Map of Houghton Regis Marl Lakes". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  3. Chalk Places to Visit in Bedfordshire, Geo-East Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Geo-East, The East of England Geodiversity Partnership
  5. Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (January 2015). "A Nature Conservation Strategy for Central Bedfordshire" (PDF). Central Bedfordshire Council. pp. 27–28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  6. http://www.hrnd.co.uk/2013/06/volunteering-opportunity.html
  7. http://www.hrnd.co.uk/2014/02/houghton-regis-chalk-pit-youth.html
  8. http://www.hrnd.co.uk/2016/01/north-chilterns-chalk-volunteer.html

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