How to get there:
Park adjacent to the Grantham Canal on Hollygate Lane or at the Grantham Canal car park on Main Road at SK 639 366 and walk east along the canal towpath. The most valuable wildlife area has now been destroyed by housing development; brown-field sites are usually very good but get the planning consents rather than the fields of arable monoculture next door. There used to be extensive patches of Bird's-foot Trefoil and Creeping Cinquefoil and Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper had been reported whilst Common Blue and Brown Argus were often in high numbers. Green Hairstreak also occurred in the Buckthorn at the edge of the car park, but that too has now disappeared. They have also been seen along the old railway line at SK 644 367 and may still survive.
The Country Park itself is to the west and consists of lakes and grassland mainly and it is good for odonata and orthoptera. Roesel's Bush-cricket and Small Red-eyed Damselfly are present as is Six-belted Clearwing, though you will need to use the appropriate pheromone lure to see the latter.
The marshy areas at the edge of the ponds hold scarce grasses including Hordeum jubatum, Polypogon monspeliensis and Poa angustifolia.
NGR SK 653 359
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