The northern side is dominated by bracken, bramble, privet, hawthorn, cowslips and bell heather.
At the southern end of the reserve are damp meadows with hemlock and willowherb, and a dry meadow, which contains cowslips in the spring.
Children today still go out and pick bunches of cowslips in the surrounding countryside.
Other localities have neutral, deeper soil and cowslips, dog-violets and bird's foot trefoil are common.
One area is grazed by cattle and sheep, which is helping to bring back wildflowers such as cowslips, southern marsh orchids and goatsbeard.
Spring colour is provided by daffodils, cowslips and magnolia with roses, dahlias and wild orchids flowering in the summer.
I remember, as a child, picking cowslips.
The idea of spherical objects bouncing down hills, knocking sheep out of the way, and crushing the orchids and the cowslips is too horrific to contemplate.
