Wymondham Local Group

A group of people stand around a gravestone at Wymondham Abbey, looking down at the ground. There is a glass box containing a stuffed bird beside the gravestone.

Wymondham Local Group event at Wymondham Abbey (credit: Nicola Cooke)

A message from the Co-chairs

Everyone is welcome to our Local Group. You do not need to be an expert, just come and enjoy our wonderful wildlife. We hold nine illustrated talks each year covering various aspects of wildlife and wild places. The talks are held in Wymondham at 7.30pm on the second Thursday of the month (except during June, July and August).

Our enthusiastic conservation teams are active during the autumn and winter months. From October through to March we help with the coppice management at NWT Ashwellthorpe, Lower Wood. We also maintain the glorious wildflower meadow of Hethel churchyard, NWT Hethel Old Thorn, and Toll's Meadow in Wymondham.

We publish our own newsletter called 'Swift' four times a year and attend local events to engage the public about wildlife conservation and biodiversity.

Anne Edwards and John Beckett – Co-chairs, Wymondham Local Group

A purple flower growing, surrounded by green grass, in a churchyard — A flower at Hethel Churchyard (credit: Hayley Strivens)

Our local area

The area of South Norfolk is made up of several historic market towns set in typical 'Claylands' farming countryside and river valleys. The ancient abbey town of Wymondham is set near to where the River Tiffey and the River Bays join, and is surrounded by a Local Nature Reserve, 16 County Wildlife Sites, and several small woodlands that are rich in wildlife.

Water voles, otters, kingfishers, great crested newts, and various species of orchids are often to be spotted along the river valleys and on many of the natural sites surrounding the town.