At Mill Place, Cirencester, the grassy area between the houses and millstream has been transformed into a wildflower meadow. The patch nearest the main lawn has been planted with primroses, cowslips and snake’s head fritillaries, to form a spring flowering meadow. Once these have flowered, the grass is cut back to medium length. A mown path separates this meadow from the summer flowering meadow created in the longer grass under the apple trees. The plants here include colourful knapweeds and field scabious.

Geoff Stansfield, a keen amateur naturalist, identified over 50 different species of plants in the meadows, with 30 different species of insects, including 10 species of butterfly, as well as a good number of birds attracted by the plants and insects. The success of converting this patch of land, in the middle of Cirencester, into a valuable nature reserve, rewards the effort that went into making this a small haven for wildlife.