Bodmin Airfield is one jewel in a collection of invaluable wildflower ‘Donor’ sites available through the Meadow Match project- our dating agency for wildflower meadows. Here you can find over 150 different plant species, including three species of Orchid – the Southern marsh, Heath spotted and Greater butterfly Orchids (plus hybrids!). All on a small private airfield in the centre of Cornwall!
Bodmin Airfield is now registered as a County Wildlife Site thanks to the commitment of Jay Gates, the Airfield Manager with support from Ian Bennallick Cornwall County Recorder and from Wildflower Collective.
‘Bodmin Airfield is one of the largest remaining examples of a traditional hay meadow in the South West’, Jay Gates, Airfield Manager, Bodmin Airfield
See our online presentation where Jay Gates, Bodmin Airfields’ Airfield Manager, tells us more about this special site
How we help Bodmin Airfield manage their wildflower seed and hay
Rare biodiversity treasures like Bodmin Airfield are invaluable in our fight to help nature thrive and to mitigate climate change. We need to protect and monitor what we have and use it sustainably to help others create more wildflower habitat.
This is why Wildflower Collective helps the team at Bodmin Airfield to protect and enhance this special site by managing the demand for the seed and hay from interested landowners, land managers and farmers. Wildflower Collective works in collaboration with local botanical and insect recorders to make sure the site is regularly monitored, is managed and harvested sustainably and records where the seed goes.
The seed and hay from Bodmin Airfield is already supporting the National Trust, the Duchy of Cornwall Estates, Cornwall Council and many private landowners and farmers to become ‘Receptor’ sites of this vital wildflower seed. The Airfield has also been able to donate their seed to the local schools and community.
Key Species at Bodmin Airfield:
Orchids: Southern marsh, Heath spotted and Greater butterfly Orchids.
Hybrid Eyebright
Yellow Rattle
Common Knapweed
Sweet vernal-grass
Oxeye daisy
Betony
Birds-foot trefoil (greater and Common)
How do I get seed and hay from Bodmin Airfield for my meadow creation project?
If you would like to enquire about the seed or hay from Bodmin Airfield please get in contact with us using the button below or email us at info@wildflowerCollective.org.uk. We run various projects which help landowners, managers and farmers create more wildflower meadows and work in collaboration with local contractors to find a fair price for their hay to use as ‘green hay’ or for bale grazing.