The Three Copses
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Temple Copse, Tinker's Copse and Jock's Copse are 3 closely linked areas of woodland, located in the Binfield parish of Bracknell. Despite their small size, they are classified as Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) and Local Wildlife Sites as they are valuable wildlife habitats, providing an oasis within the urban area for the local flora and fauna.
Facilities and key features
- Wildlife
- Local flora and fauna
- Yellow primroses and carpets of bluebells in April and May
- All three species of woodpeckers and tits
- Oak and hazel are the main tree species. These provide a large amount of acorns and hazel nuts, which are an important food source for squirrels and birds such as jays, particularly in the autumn/winter months.
- Golden boughs of hazel coppice
- Woodmice
- Specimens of the Wild Service Tree (BAP)
- Badgers looking for worms and grubs at dusk
Events and activities
- Walking
- Cycling
Surfaced paths provide suitable conditions all year round
History
These 3 small ancient copses used to be set in an open rural farmland landscape. House building in the 1990s enclosed the woodland, which had been derelict and unmanaged for quite some time. An old air strip prior to 1930s ran between Jock’s and Tinkers Copse. The name 'Jock' refers to a Scottish vagrant who frequented the copse in the early 1800s (per R. Mosses).
How to get there
View a map of the location
- Jock's Copse can be accessed from Boltons Lane.
- There is a small entrance to Temple Copse off Dunford Place, from Boltons Lane or by foot and bicycle from Gough's Lane Cycle path. Roadside parking is available.
- The entrance to Tinker's Copse is located off Boltons Lane. Roadside parking is available.
Management
The sites are actively managed on a hazel coppice rotation to encourage wildlife with the coppice used as a sustainable product.
Tinkers and Jock’s Copse are part of the Cut Countryside Corridor, which is a group of public open spaces currently undergoing enhancement works as a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG).
The Cut Countryside Corridor route forms a circular walk from Tinkers and Jocks Copse in the east to Larks Hill in the west with linking sites between.
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